| | NEW YORK -- On a night when the New York Mets moved one win
away from playing for the National League pennant, their manager
found himself on the hot seat again.
Bobby Valentine, often the center of controversy, was in that
familiar position following publication of an article in this
week's Sports Illustrated. In the story, Valentine talked about a
team meeting the Mets players held in Philadelphia when the team
was in the middle of a seven-game losing streak that nearly cost
them any chance at the playoffs.
"You're not dealing with real professionals in the clubhouse,"
Valentine said in the article. "You're not dealing with real
intelligent guys for the most part. A lot can swim, but most of
them just float along, looking for something to hold on to. That's
why, I'm sure, they're having a players-only meeting. Because
there's about five guys in there right now who basically are
losers, who are seeing if they can recruit."
Mets general manager Steve Phillips, who fired three of
Valentine's coaches earlier this year, told reporters the remarks
were "an ill-timed fire."
Valentine said there were some inaccuracies in the story but did
not deny the tenor of the story.
After the Mets' 9-2 win over Arizona on Friday night, Valentine
said the controversy clearly had not affected the players.
"Like I said before the game, they don't care about any of that
nonsense," he said.
First baseman John Olerud said he had not seen the article.
"It's hard for me to comment on it. I don't know what was
written or what was said."
Reliever Dennis Cook said, "I don't want to comment on it until I read it and I probably won't read it until the end of the season.
I don't know anything about it."
During his tenure with the Mets, which began at the end of the
1996 season, Valentine has feuded publicly with a number of
players, including Pete Harnisch, Todd Hundley and Bobby Bonilla.
Harnisch and Hundley are no longer with the team and Bonilla spent
most of the season on the disabled list.
Bonilla often has been criticized for non-production this season
in which he made $5.8 million.
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Mets vs. Diamondbacks series page
Mets easily handle D-Backs despite not having Piazza
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