Tri-Star Pictures
The New York Mets paid tribute to late Hollywood icon Robert Redford on the night of his passing by working in an homage to his beloved baseball film The Natural during the broadcast of their win over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday, September 16.
On Tuesday, news broke that Academy Award-winning Hollywood legend Robert Redford — best known for his work in films such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting Three Days of the Condor, All The President’s Men, and many more — had passed away at the age of 89 years old.
In addition to his storied career as an actor, Redford was also a Oscar-winning filmmaker, as he won Best Picture and Best Director for his work on the 1980 film Ordinary People.
Given that SNY — the local New York City TV station that air Mets games — is already known for its creative, cinema-inspired broadcasts, it was only, well, *natural* that the team paid tribute to Redford.
New York Mets broadcast pays awesome tribute to late actor Robert Redford on the night of his passing
Tonight’s tribute to Roy Hobbs and The Natural. RIP to one of the greats, Robert Redford pic.twitter.com/u7roXZRlMF https://t.co/VxVdj1n1xS
— John DeMarsico (@JohnDeMarsico) September 17, 2025
The Natural, directed by Barry Levinson and released in 1984, saw Redford star as Roy Hobbs, an unknown yet supremely talented baseball player who returns to the sport 16 years after his promising career was derailed and helps turn around the last-place New York Knights as a middle-aged rookie.
Coincidentally enough, SNY’s tribute to Redford came just a few hours after broadcast director John DeMarsico — who has been making a name for himself this season with his cinematic homages — announced that he and his team at SNY won a Sports Emmy Award.
Some personal news pic.twitter.com/TvFZYT7UKA
— John DeMarsico (@JohnDeMarsico) September 16, 2025
Baseball is cinema. And don’t you ever forget it. Rest in Peace, Robert.