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Mariners vs. Yankees |
Mets vs. Cardinals
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Tuesday, October 17
Piazza, Zeile get redemption
Associated Press
NEW YORK -- As Bobby Valentine worked his way through the
champagne and mobs of people inside and outside the New York Mets
dressing room Monday night, he came across Mike Piazza.
He just smiled at his catcher, celebrating his first National
League pennant.
"I just passed Piazza," Valentine said, "and I was thinking
how happy I was for him to go to the World Series."
The manager called Piazza one of the greatest players he's ever
managed and deserving of a chance to be on the big stage of the
Series. If he was happy, it hardly matched the joy of the catcher.
"It's a great feeling," Piazza said. "It's like a dream. It's
so satisfying. We all pulled together and that's what feels great.
We're just so happy. We worked so hard."
Piazza said this title did not belong just to the players.
"One thing can't be discounted," he said. "The fans kept us
determined to play better. It's great to share it with them."
After slumping in September, Piazza played well throughout the NLCS, going 7-for-16 with two home runs, three doubles, four RBI, five
walks and seven runs scored in five games. It was an offensive
renaissance for the catcher.
All summer long, Piazza put up MVP numbers. He had three grand
slam home runs, a sixth straight season with over 30 home runs and
a fifth straight year with over 100 RBI. He passed the 250-homer
mark for his career.
There was a 21-game hitting streak during which he hit .360 and
a stretch of 15 games in which he drove in at least one run -- the
longest major-league RBI streak in 78 years.
Then, beat up from catching, he struggled through a September
slump that dropped his average for the season to .324.
"To have a tough September, maybe was a blessing in disguise
because it was almost like guys said to themselves, 'Mike's been a
big part of this team, but we're not going to win with just him.'
"Everyone took the initiative to say 'Mike's gonna do his job,
we gotta do ours, we gotta pick him up.' "
Zeile gets revenge
Todd Zeile was seeing red: Cardinal red.
"Earlier in the series, I lied and said that it didn't make any
difference," he said, his face flush with the joy of his first
championship. "Well, it makes a difference."
Zeile was talking about his days with the Cardinals, who brought
him up in 1989, then dealt him to the Chicago Cubs in 1995.
"I really don't have any vindictiveness or animosity toward the
Cardinals," he said after telling the Mets he wanted to speak in
the interview room. "I still have a lot of fond memories. But it
was nice to perform well in their home ballpark and then to finish
them off.
"I have to admit, I don't know really why it is exactly, but it
does feel a little bit better to do it against them than it would
somebody else."
His house in California already has an Olympic gold medal,
courtesy of his wife Julianne McNamara, who won it in gymnastics in
1984. Soon, the Zeiles may have a World Series ring, too.
He bounced around the majors, like a ship from port to port,
mooring in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Florida and Texas
before the Mets called in December.
"I've played for a number of teams. It's been hard to find a
home," he said.
The Mets were desperate. John Olerud took his Gold Gloves to his
hometown of Seattle. Then the notion hit. Sign Zeile and move him
from third back to first.
He was durable, not spectacular. He played in 5,582 2-3 innings
the past four years, the most in the majors.
If not for a dinner last December at El Torito, a Mexican
restaurant in Southern California, he might not have been playing
for New York.
Zeile and his wife went to dinner with his agents and discussed
whether he should re-sign with Texas or make the move to New York.
While munching on chips, he made his choice.
"Todd said, 'Let's make this real simple. I have three years
left in the game: Which team do I have a better chance of winning a
World Series with?"' agent Seth Levinson recalled.
Now Zeile knows. And, after the game, he didn't hide his
preferred opponent: the team that eliminated Zeile's Rangers in
1998 and 1999.
"To be perfectly honest, I'd love to play the Yankees," he
said. "I don't see any reason to pull punches at this point. I'd
love to see a Subway Series. I have some unfinished business with
the Yankees."
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