Monday Morning, March 18th, 2002
Two weeks to go until Opening Day! The little Mets action available to fans in the New York area this week is spread all around. MSG will show this afternoon's game, Saturday's game will be available on WPIX and WFAN, and Sunday's game will be on FSNY.
On the Mend - Last Monday morning, Bobby Valentine was in the Lawnwood Regional Medical Center in Fort Pierce, Florida, passing a kidney stone that was causing him a tremendous amount of pain. But, trooper that he is, afterwards he headed to the Thomas J. White Stadium, where he managed the Mets to a 5-0 victory over the Dodgers.
Valentine isn't the only one recovering from kidney stones - Mets scouting director Carmen Fusco had a stone removed on March 8th.
Causing a Stir - Early in spring training, Mike Piazza commented publicly and criticized baseball owners for apparent infighting and for fostering a chilly relationship with the player's union. The comments have caused such a stir among the owners that the Commissioner's office issued an edict prohibiting the owners from speaking to the press, or to each other!
Now That's Relief - Last Thursday, Armando Benitez received his 2001 Rolaids Relief Man Award trophy during a pregame ceremony. Benitez then presented the trophy to Bobby Valentine, whom he described as being "like my second father." Valentine was touched by the presentation, and said that he would display the trophy in his restaurant in Queens so that he could share it with Benitez's fans. Benitez also received a ring from Rolaids, which he planned to give to his mother.
The only damper on the celebration was the fact that the Rolaids Relief Man Award media guide didn't feature Benitez on the cover, opting instead to showcase Mariano Rivera of the Yankees and Trevor Hoffman of San Diego.
Maybe He Should Carry American Express - With tighter security measures in place, a guard at the Thomas J. White stadium asked Tom Seaver for his pass last Monday. Seaver did not have a pass, but identified himself. The guard then recognized the Hall of Fame pitcher, and allowed him into the stadium.
Another Lefty Helps Estes - Fred Wilpon, co-owner of the Mets and a southpaw on Sandy Koufax's Lafayette High School baseball team, gave some pointers on pitching mechanics to Shawn Estes last Monday.
Cups of Coffee - Last Wednesday, the Mets released Mark Sweeney and Danny Peoples. Sweeney was obtained in January in the deal that brought Jeromy Burnitz to the Mets, while Peoples was obtained from Cleveland in the Roberto Alomar deal last December. Sweeney signed a minor league deal on Saturday with the San Diego Padres, for whom he previously played during the 1997-1998 seasons.
New To The Mets Family - Congratulations to Jeromy and Krissy Burnitz on the birth of their second daughter. Grace Burnitz was born last Tuesday and tipped the scales at 7 pounds, 9 ounces. Grace suffered some minor complications following her birth, so Burnitz stayed on the West Coast a few days longer than originally anticipated.
Hey Dude, Where's My Car? - Tony Tarasco's BMW was stolen the first week of spring training. It was found in Fort Lauderdale last week, on cinderblocks and totally stripped. All was not lost, though - a book and toy belonging to Tarasco's daughter were recovered with the vehicle.
March Madness - There are three NCAA pools going on in the Mets clubhouse - Shawn Estes has a point-spread contest, Mike Bacsik is running a bracket pool, and there's a general winner-take-all pool as well. Estes, a native of San Bernardino, California, continues the Mets' West Coast NCAA pool tradition - last year's pool was run by Seattle native Glendon Rusch, and the previous several years it had been headed up by Bobby J. ("Fresno") Jones.
Moonlighting - Bruce Benedict, former Braves All-Star catcher and current Mets coach, was in Albuquerque, New Mexico last week officiating his first game as a NCAA basketball tournament official.
Hail to the Champions - Or at least to the co-champions. Last Monday, players, coaches and executives of the Brooklyn Cyclones received their championship rings. The Cyclones shared the New York-Penn League title with Williamsport - their championship series was called off after the September 11th attacks.
The Wearin' O' The Green - On St. Patrick's Day, the Mets wore white and green caps with a shamrock on one side and a leprechaun on the other. They also decorated the bases at the Thomas J. White Stadium with green shamrocks for the day.
Unless otherwise stated, these stories have been extracted from reports on www.nydailynews.com, www.nypost.com, www.nytimes.com, www.njo.com, www.newsday.com, www.bergenrecord.com, AP , www.metsonline.net, www.mets.com reports.
