Monday Morning — June 2nd, 2003
The Mets homestand continues this week. After today's off day, the Brewers come to town. Then Interleague play begins with the Seattle Mariners' first visit ever to Shea Stadium.
Cone Retires - On Friday, 40-year-old David Cone announced his retirement from baseball. Cone, who pitched for the Mets last Wednesday after coming off the disabled list, cited his arthritic left hip as the reason for his retirement. At Friday's press conference he thanked the Mets for giving him one last shot at pitching, saying, "I wouldn't have traded it for anything."
The Captain Returns - The same day that David Cone retired, the Mets activated team captain John Franco from the disabled list. Franco underwent Tommy John surgery on May 15, 2002, and has recovered from the procedure much more quickly than initially expected. After pitching well in rehab outings in St. Lucie and with AAA Norfolk, Franco was ready to return to the Mets.
Franco wasted no time getting back to action. Friday night, Franco jogged in from the bullpen to the "Guess who's back?" verse of Eminem's "Without Me" and then his customary "Johnny B. Goode," as well as a thunderous standing ovation from the Shea faithful. He capped off his return by pitching a scoreless eighth inning. Welcome back Captain!
Other Roster News - Prior to last Tuesday's game, David Cone and Rey Sanchez were activated from the disabled list. In order to make room for them on the roster, Timo Perez was placed on the disabled list to nurse his strained calf muscle, and Jaime Cerda was sent to AAA Norfolk.
On Saturday, Mike Stanton was placed on the disabled list with an inflamed left knee. The move was retroactive to May 22, so Stanton is eligible to be activated on Friday. Mike Bacsik was brought up from Norfolk to take Stanton's place on the roster.
On Sunday, Pedro Astacio was placed on the disabled list because of tendinitis in his right shoulder. Right hander Jeremy Griffiths was called up from Norfolk to fill that roster spot
Health Updates - Rumors are that Mo Vaughn will undergo season-ending arthroscopic surgery on his arthritic left knee. Reportedly Vaughn was ready to discuss his decision on Friday, but general manager Steve Phillips felt, with David Cone's retirement and John Franco's return from the disabled list, that it wasn't the right day for such an announcement.
Mike Piazza was at Shea on Friday to receive treatment for his torn groin muscle. He is reportedly "black and blue down his leg." There is still no estimate on when the All Star catcher will be able to resume playing.
Tug Comes Home - Beloved Mets Hall-of-Famer Tug McGraw returned home to Philadelphia last week for the first time since his surgery to remove a malignant brain tumor in March. For more about McGraw's press conference at Veterans Stadium, click here.
Rainy Day Bonus - Fans who skipped Saturday's game against the Braves because of the foul weather shouldn't throw out their tickets. Holders of unused tickets to the May 31 game can exchange them for tickets to the Mets/Marlins series taking place June 24-26, subject to availability. The middle game of that series, June 25, is the rescheduled Cap Night promotion -- the first 30,000 fans in attendance that night will receive a blue batting practice cap. If you wish to take advantage of this offer, send the tickets, along with your name, address, daytime phone number, and first and second choice games to -
Mets Ticket Office
Shea Stadium
Flushing, NY 11368-1699
This offer is only available by mail, and the deadline for the unused tickets to be received at Shea is Monday, June 16.
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.
