Monday Morning, July 15, 2002
The Mets finish up their homestand with a two game series against the Florida Marlins. Then they are off to Montreal for two games, followed by a weekend series in Cincinnati.
All Star Notes - Mike Piazza, the Mets' lone representative on this year's All Star team, was an ESPN color analyst for the Home Run Derby last Monday and had the National League's first RBI on Tuesday night.
Congratulations to Binghamton Mets shortstop Jose Reyes, who was the MVP of the RadioShack All-Star Futures Game! Reyes, who hails from the Dominican Republic, helped the World team defeat the USA team 5-1 with a standup, 3-RBI triple in the game! The bat from Reyes' triple was sent to Baseball's Hall of Fame. Reyes appeared in the game along with teammate Justin Huber.
In the Triple-A All-Star Game, Norfolk's Marco Scutaro was 1-2 with a double while teammate Jason Phillips singled in his only at-bat. In the Double-A All-Star Game, Binghamton's Aaron McNeal was 1-2 with an RBI single while Saul Rivera pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
Mookie Wilson was honored at the All Star festivities for his key role in the 1986 World Series.
Vacation Delay - Last Sunday's game against Florida, which included four rain delays, ended six hours and twenty-eight minutes after the opening pitch was thrown at 4:05 PM. As a result, ten of the twenty-five Mets missed private flights to their All Star Break destinations. In the rush to make his flight, Shawn Estes left his glove behind, meaning that he was unable to play catch with Steve Trachsel in the Bahamas as planned. Trachsel found other available partners, though, and was able to keep loose during the break.
Union Matters - Vance Wilson represented the Mets at last Monday's Player's Association meeting in Chicago.
Rey-sing Eyebrows - More than a few people felt it was odd that Rey Ordoñez visited Marlins pitcher Michael Tejaro in the Marlins clubhouse after Florida defeated the Mets last Saturday. Ordoñez congratulated his fellow Cuban defector on his victory on the eighth anniversary of Ordoñez's defection to the United States.
Health Notes - Kane Davis, who was originally scheduled for surgery on July 1st, had his operation last Monday at New York's Hospital for Joint Diseases. Mets team physician Dr. Andrew Rokito, assisted by Dr. Martin Posner, underwent flexor tendon repair and ulnar nerve transposition of his right elbow. The 27-year-old reliever should be ready to pitch again by spring training.
Roger Cedeño was suffering from severe vomiting last weekend in Miami, requiring a trip to the hospital for intravenous fluids. Vance Wilson exhibited similar symptoms, but not as badly as Cedeño did. It is unclear whether the duo suffered from a flu bug or food poisoning.
Grant Roberts, who was recently activated from the disabled list, left last Sunday's game with right biceps tendinitis. After pitching in last Friday's game, Roberts went back on the 15 day disabled list with right shoulder tendinitis.
David Weathers bruised his left ribs while playing with his son during the All Star Break. Although he's experiencing discomfort, he's nonetheless available to pitch.
Roster Moves - Mark Corey, who had a seizure last month after smoking marijuana, was activated off the disabled list on Friday but then immediately optioned to Norfolk. However, when Grant Roberts was placed on the 15 game disabled list after Friday night's game, Corey was called back up to the majors in time to pitch in Saturday's game. Corey, who has been entered into MLB's Employee Assistance Program, will likely be subject to random drug testing as a result of his admission of marijuana use.
Done Deal - Binghamton's Saul Rivera was traded to the Montreal Expos on Saturday as the player to be named later from April's Scott Strickland deal. As mentioned above, Rivera was one of Binghamton's two representatives at last week's Double-A All Star game.
Trouble in Paradise - As reported in the July 1st Monday Morning Mets column, Mets co-owner Nelson Doubleday has publicly voiced complaints about the appraised value of the Mets, and has threatened to sue in order to invalidate the appraisal on the ground that it is fundamentally flawed. This appraisal is an important matter, because Doubleday has contractually agreed to sell his share of the team to co-owner Fred Wilpon. Wilpon, beating his partner to the punch, filed suit in the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn last Thursday, seeking to enforce the agreement at the appraised value. Independent appraiser Bob Starkey valued the team at $391 million, a figure that Doubleday calls artificially low. However, as both sides approved of the independent appraiser at the start of the process, it's going to be difficult for Doubleday to meet the high burden of proof it would take to vacate such an appraisal.
On the Fast Track - Aaron Heilman, the Mets' first round draft pick in 2001, was promoted from Double-A Binghamton to Triple-A Norfolk last Friday!
Meeting a Nemesis - Last Friday, during a speaking engagement at the Baseball Fever Camp in Demarest, NJ, Tony Tarasco met Jeffrey Maier for the first time. Tarasco was an outfielder for the Baltimore Orioles in 1996 during the American League Championship Series when Maier, then 12 years old, reached over the right field wall at Yankee Stadium to grab Derek Jeter's fly ball and turn it into a home run, denying Tarasco the chance to make the catch. Maier is a counselor at the camp, and he and Tarasco had a pleasant conversation.
New Location - Last month, Armando Benitez was upset when the empty locker next to his was assigned to rookie Jaime Cerda. As a result, when this homestand began Cerda was reassigned to another locker on the other side of the clubhouse.
Honoring Lost Heroes - In a pregame ceremony last Saturday, the Mets honored the families of the 343 firefighters who perished on September 11th. Approximately 100 of those firefighters' children were on hand for the ceremony and the game.
Those wishing to contribute to the scholarship fund for these children, checks can be made payable to:
Uniformed Firefighters Association
204 East 23rd Street
New York, NY 10010
Remembering Bygone Days - Tonight and tomorrow, as part of the Triumphant Glory Series, the Mets will be clad in 1986 uniforms. Their opponent, Florida, will wear 1952 Miami Marlins' uniforms.
Condolences - Go out to Mets Vice President of Corporate Sales Paul Danforth, on the death of his father, Dan Danforth, right before the All-Star Break.
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.
