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Look back at: Divisional Playoffs |
League Championship
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Monday, October 23
Mets have lost their way since winning pennant
By Bob Klapisch
Special to ESPN.com
Step into the Mets' time tunnel, travel approximately one week back and
chances are you'd be coated in champagne, struggling to hear a single
intelligible word in their otherwise delirious clubhouse. The Mets had just
clinched their first National League pennant in 14 years, and were openly
rooting for the Yankees to meet them in an old-fashioned New York street
fight.
"I'd by lying to you if I said I wanted to face anyone other than the
Yankees," Al Leiter said at the time. All around the room, the Mets uttered a similar "We
Own the World" mantra. It was tough talk, loud talk. The baseball community
listened in amusement, wondering if the Mets were really capable of taking
down an October monolith.
Well, a week later and two games into the World Series, we hardly
recognize the Mets. They've been beaten twice with their two best pitchers, Mike Hampton and Leiter; saw their closer, Armando Benitez, blow a ninth-inning
save in Game 1; and in the world of macho posturing, appeared too passive
after Roger Clemens flung a bat at Mike Piazza in Game 2.
They Mets are home for Games 3, 4 and possibly 5, but that's not
to say they're safe or even happy. In the aftermath of the bizarre
Clemens-Piazza incident, the Mets seemed confused and in disarray.
In fact, for the first time this season, the Mets failed to stand united
in their reaction toward the Rocket. Some, including general manager Steve
Phillips, applauded Piazza for not throwing a punch at the Yankee, which the
executive said, "might've started a riot. I think Mike's restraint showed incredible
strength on our part."
But both Hampton and Lenny Harris disagreed, saying they would've
retaliated immediately.
"If anyone throws a bat at me, I would've punched him," Hampton said. Even more outrageously, Turk Wendell said he would've pulled the Mets off the
field, even if it meant risking a forfeit.
To this, Bobby Valentine shook his head and said, "that's why Turk
Wendell will never be a manager of a team or a leader of men. He's a great
relief pitcher, but he won't be a manager."
Valentine is right, of course: The Mets need to win a game, not a
fistfight. But the clubhouse is filled with the sense of disbelief that,
somehow, the Yankees have seized the initiative in the Series.
Whether it was by failing to win Game 1, when Benitez was just two outs
away from a 3-2 victory, or not responding to Clemens' bizarre behavior -- if
not with a fight, then with an outburst of runs -- the Mets are wondering what
went wrong.
"The Yankees gave this amazing ability to do all the little things
right," Todd Zeile said. "They manage to beat you in the little ways, which is why
they're so good."
In other words, the Mets are learning how wide the gulf is between the
Yankees and the Cardinals and Giants in the NL playoffs. In particular, the
Mets say they were shocked at how quickly the Cardinals surrendered in the
final two games of the NLCS, as Tony La Russa allowed both Darryl Kile and Pat
Hentgen to absorb far too much early-inning punishment.
As for the Yankees ... well, they're a different beast, motivated by a
merciless owner. Zeile didn't quite say the Mets are intimidated by their
inter-city rivals, but he made his point with the following anecdote:
"Of all the teams I've ever played on, the one that had the most success
was the Marlins," Zeile said. "That's because we had 16 or 17 rookies that
didn't care about the Yankees or even know about them. They were just excited
to be playing in Yankee Stadium, so they played the games there like it was
their last ones. And that's why they won."
Could the Mets really be feeling October pressure? Yes and no. Actually,
it's the Yankees, despite their obvious resiliency, who appear wearied by the
process. Joe Torre, in particular, seems to be paying the price for
defending Clemens -- even as the manager backed off his angry stance following
Sunday night's incident, saying he now "understood" why the Mets were so
provoked.
Still, Torre doesn't look like a man who hasn't lost a World Series game
since 1996, and Valentine doesn't look like a man who's only 18 innings away
from being swept. He said, "I hate losing, and I hate the fact that we're
down 0-2, but I love this. I love everything about it."
That's because Valentine is an optimist, and despite odds and logic which
suggest otherwise, still believes Rick Reed and Bobby J. Jones can keep the Mets
alive long enough for another set of appearances by Leiter and Hampton.
The Mets may or may not be justified in that faith. But right now, it's all they have.
Bob Klapisch of the Bergen (N.J.) Record covers baseball for ESPN.com.
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