Monday Morning — April 14th, 2003
This is a busy week for the Mets. After finishing up their road trip to San Juan to face Los Expos, they head to Pittsburgh to face the Pirates. After that it's back home for a weekend series against the Marlins.
Kiner Opposes Rose Reinstatement - Longtime Mets announcer Ralph Kiner was in Pittsburgh last week, where the former Pirates hitting star was honored with a sculpture in his likeness. During that trip, Kiner spoke out opposing Pete Rose's reinstatement to baseball because Rose disgraced the game with his gambling. While Kiner said that he had no personal grudges against Rose, who was accommodating and friendly when Kiner interviewed him as a Mets broadcaster, Kiner stated, "Pete Rose is the guy who didn't back up the integrity of the game."
Something's Missing - And that something was Tsuyoshi Shinjo's beloved glove. The custom made glove with three pockets that the versatile outfielder has used for the last 13 years. The glove that is so beloved that Shinjo puts it in his carryon luggage rather than risk checking it. The only glove he has ever used in a game, dating back to his minor league days.
But fear not - Reuben Rivera has not been skulking around the Mets clubhouse. Rather, Shinjo sent what he describes as being part of his hand to the La Tijera Bootery in Los Angeles for a much needed facelift. This is the fifth such procedure the old and worn glove has had.
The glove was repaired quickly, but because overnight Saturday delivery was not available in Puerto Rico, the beloved mitt won't be returned to Shinjo until Tuesday in Pittsburgh. In the meantime, Shinjo was ready to play when needed with his one month old practice glove.
Busy Back Home - While in his native Puerto Rico on Saturday, Roberto Alomar took time out to speak to 400 youngsters at the Roberto Clemente Sports City Center in Carolina.
Meanwhile, on Saturday night, Alomar scored his 1,417th career run, putting him ahead of Clemente for the most runs scored among Puerto Rican-born players.
Hall of Shame? - Last week the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York canceled a 15th anniversary celebration of the film Bull Durham that had been scheduled for April 26-27. Dale Petroskey, the Hall of Fame president and an assistant press secretary in the Reagan administration, said in a letter to two of the film's stars, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, that the reason for the cancellation was the couple's stated opposition to the war in Iraq. Robbins replied that he had been looking forward to the event as "a weekend away from politics and war," and criticized Petroskey for choosing "to use baseball and [his] position at the Hall of Fame to make a political statement." Robbins closed his letter with the following sentence -- "Long live democracy, free speech and the '69 Mets -- all improbably, glorious miracles that I have always believed in."
Rant of the Week - As my regular readers are aware, I have promoted The Super Joe Show on MLB Radio since its inception last year. I was all prepared to listen last week, when I discovered that MLB is now charging $9.95 for the season for its listeners to enjoy its shows. Granted, $9.95 for the season is not a huge sum. Nonetheless, I'm ticked off. While MLB Radio is fun, I've always felt that it's primary purpose was to promote Major League Baseball, as well as its players. The concept of paying money for the privilege of listening to baseball's advertising, no matter how creative and entertaining it may be, simply sticks in my craw. While I wish Joe and the other players who have shows a successful and enjoyable season, I regret to say that I won't be listening to the shows this year.
Special Feature: Baseball as America
Special Feature: Talkin' Baseball with Terry Cashman
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 , and www.mets.com reports.
