Mets have been searching the Hollywood stars while drafting

New York Mets farmhands Pete Crow-Armstrong and Tommy Wilson have more in common than just their hopes of playing major league baseball. Each is the son of an actor.

From the ball going through Billy Buckner in 1986 to the tears shed by Wilmer Flores at Citi Field in 2015, it is no secret that the New York Mets tend to have a flair for the dramatic. In recent years, the love of drama for the Mets has taken on a completely new meaning.

The first-round draft pick of the Mets in the 2020 draft, Pete Crow-Armstrong, drew eyeballs for a couple of reasons. First, Crow-Armstrong’s abilities in the outfield are simply dazzling, and his bat will only grow as he develops as a player. The second reason that the pick received so much attention was because of Crow-Armstrong’s mother.

Ashley Crow has appeared in several productions but is perhaps known mostly for her role in Little Big Leagues. The film revolves around a 12-year-old who suddenly finds himself as the owner/manager of the Minnesota Twins following the death of his grandfather.

A major plot point of the film is one of the Twins players falling in love with the 12-year-old’s mother. The actress that plays the mother? Ashley Crow. It is ironic that 26 years after that film came out, Crow’s son will be gracing the field professionally.

Oddly enough, this isn’t the first time in recent history that the Mets have drafted the child of a professional actor. Thomas Wilson isn’t a name that most people would recognize off of the top of their heads, but the character he is known for is synonymous with 1980’s culture.

Wilson is best known for his portrayal of Biff Tannen in the Back to the Future trilogy. Wilson’s character is a bully on camera, but his son Tommy Wilson is a bully on the mound. That’s why the Mets selected him with the 560th pick of the 2018 draft out of Cal State Fullerton.

Wilson is starting to show some nice development in the Mets minor league system. He averaged 7.6 strikeouts per nine innings between High-A and Double-A last season, while also managing to pitch a complete game for the Rumble Ponies. Should Wilson continue to fine-tune his control, he could be a player that could find himself working his way up through the Mets minor league ranks.

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Drafting a player is always a risk because it truly is not known if he can translate his level of play to the professional level until he is put to the test. The parents of both Pete Crow-Armstrong and Tommy Wilson were able to shine brightly under the bright lights of Hollywood studios, so it will be interesting to see if they’ll be able to shine under the floodlights of Citi Field.