Monday Morning, August 12, 2002
After today's off day, the Mets are back at Shea to face the San Diego Padres and then the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Los Mets en Español - Wednesday night's game will be telecast in English on MSG and in Spanish on FSNY. The next Spanish FSNY broadcast after that will be September 3rd.
Scheduling Change - Thursday afternoon's game, originally scheduled to air on FSNY, will be broadcast on WPIX instead.
Roster Moves - Edgardo Alfonzo was placed on the disabled list with a strained oblique muscle, retroactive to August 4th. Marco Scutaro was called up from Norfolk to take his place.
Mark Little, who was optioned to Norfolk when Ty Wigginton was called up, cleared waivers - he had until yesterday to either accept his assignment or declare himself a free agent. Wigginton, by the way, is the first Met to ever get four hits in his first start!
Met Milestone - Mike Piazza hit his 327th home run as a catcher last Tuesday, tying Johnny Bench for second place on the list of all time home runs by a catcher. Carlton Fisk leads the list at 351.
Streakin' - Mark Guthrie's scoreless innings streak ended last Sunday at 27. He fell two-thirds of an inning short of Jesse Orosco's all time Mets' team record for a reliever, set in 1985. The all time team record for a starter is held by Jerry Koosman, with 31 2/3 innings.
Union Matters - Vance Wilson, Al Leiter's assistant player representative to the players' association, will attend today's executive board's meeting in Chicago. Players are expected to set a strike date in that meeting.
Welcome Back - In Milwaukee last week, it was nice being there on the day that John Franco threw for the first time since his Tommy John surgery in May. Although Franco threw before the gates were open to fans, I had a chance to ask him how the session went and received a thumbs up as my answer. Here's hoping that the team captain has a speedy and complete recovery!
Hurting from Head to Toe - Rey Ordoñez has an infected toenail condition, which has been slowing him down at shortstop and around the bases this week. On top of that, he jammed his nose while sliding headfirst into first base Wednesday night - lingering dizziness kept him out of Thursday's game.
Rallying the Troops - Bobby Valentine had a clubhouse meeting before Thursday's game to refocus them after Wednesday's flat performance. What he said must have been good, because they beat the Brewers 9-0 that day!
Ouch! - Mets Vice President of Media Relations Jay Horwitz was in the press box last Sunday when he was hit in the chest by a Mo Vaughn foul ball! Horwitz required a lot of ice treatments in the aftermath, but was ultimately fine.
New Man of the Month - Last week, Jay Payton had been named the John J. Gerald Met Player of the Month for the month of July. However, as Payton was traded to Colorado before he could receive the honor, the award was given to Mike Piazza instead. Piazza was presented with the award and a watch prior to last Monday's game.
Hall of Famer - In a special ceremony prior to Sunday's game, the late Tommie Agee will be inducted in the Mets Hall of Fame.
Answering Back - In papers responding to Fred Wilpon's Federal lawsuit seeking to enforce the contract to purchase Nelson Doubleday's share of the New York Mets, Doubleday accuses the Commissioner's office of acting in cahoots with Wilpon in order to put an artificially low value on the team. The following day, Wilpon filed papers seeking to dismiss Doubleday's allegations and pointing out that Doubleday was aware of any potential conflicts of interest before he approved of the use of the independent appraiser.
South of the Border - The Mets and the Dodgers have agreed to play two exhibition games in Mexico City during spring training next March.
He's a Hot Dog - Or a sausage, at least. Broadcaster Matt Laughlin participated in Milwaukee's famous Sausage Race prior to the 7th inning of last Thursday's game. Laughlin was the Polish Sausage - he didn't win, but he was pleased enough not to fall down in the awkward, tall suit. Bobby Valentine actually tried to trip him, not realizing that it was Laughlin inside the suit!
Special Guest Bat Boy - Last week, 13-year-old Matt Conroy joined the Mets in Milwaukee and St. Louis and was a bat boy for the road trip. Conroy, whose father perished in the World Trade Center on September 11th, forged a friendship with Bobby Valentine last fall, and was Valentine's guest on the road trip. On Thursday night, Valentine took the youngster to see the sights of St. Louis, including the city's famous Arch.
On a Personal Note - Thanks to kcmets.com writer Joe Pendal and his family for their hospitality last week. It was great finally seeing you in person after all these years!
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.
