By: Mario Mancini
Many kids will talk about how they’re going to be a major league ballplayer or cop when they grow up, but how many get say they’ve actually had the chance to do both? According to an exclusive report by The New York Post, Retired NYPD Officer Steve Dillon climbed the mound at Citi Field to play in the Old Timers game last month — his first time donning a Mets uniform since the 1960s. Dillon, now 79, played for the Mets from 1963 to 1965 before taking on his second calling as a New York City police officer.
Larry Celona and Evan Simko-Bednarski of NY Post write that dozens of Dillon’s relatives were in the stands to cheer him on the field, including his son Steve Dillon Jr., who shares not just his father’s name but membership in the same two exclusive New York City institutions — the NYPD and the Queens ball club.
From 1963 until 1965 Dillon played for the Mets before joining the NYPD. Dillon retired from the NYPD after a long and distinguished career. Dillon’s son and namesake, Steve Dillon Jr., also followed in his father’s footsteps, but in reverse order. Dillon Jr. joined the NYPD and, when he retired, went to work for the Mets as Senior Head of Security.
“I was so proud of my father,” said the younger Dillon to The New York Post, who now works as the senior director of security for the Mets after retiring from the NYPD as a detective with the Emergency Service Unit. “I never saw him pitch [before Saturday].”
“I remember some of my friends said they were going to take the police test, so I went, and 11 months later, I got a call,” Dillon Sr. said.
“I loved being a cop. Every day was different,” the elder Dillon said. “I loved helping people. That was rewarding, also. The people respected you, not like today. I wouldn’t want to be a cop today.”
Getting back on the baseball field was a dream come true, said Dillon, who was the oldest to play for the Mets at this year’s Old Timers Day.
“I trained for a couple of months for [the game], I didn’t want to embarrass myself,” he said. “I think the training paid off.” Dillon Sr. pitched to Mookie Wilson and Daniel Murphy.
The younger Dillon said fans still mail his ex-Met dad baseball cards asking for an autograph.
“Someone said it was worth $17.95,” Dillion Jr. said of a card signed by his pop.
“But it might have gone up after [last month’s game],” the son quipped.
The younger Dillon followed his father into police work, attracted by the camaraderie of the job.
