Yells for Ourselves by Matthew Callan

Author:Matthew Callan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inkshares
Published: 2019-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

Jet Lag

THE METS SPIN their Japan trip as an overwhelmingly positive experience, perhaps sensing that their adventures east will catch the blame should they struggle after returning home. To prove they’re experiencing no jet lag, the Mets play themselves to a tidy win in their home opener on April 3. Though gray skies hang over Queens the afternoon of April 3, rain does not materialize and all else proceeds in a sunny manner. Al Leiter tosses eight excellent innings against the San Diego Padres (who project to be no better in 2000 than their “Marlins West” campaign of 1999), while a Derek Bell solo shot in the bottom of the eighth scores the winning run, earning the outfielder a thunderous curtain call from the Shea crowd. Armando Benítez earns the save in the ninth and expends only seven pitches to do so. Per the tradition set in 1999, the Mets’ 2–1 victory is capped by playing the “mojo risin’ …” coda of The Doors’ “L.A. Woman.” See? Nothing has changed, Jim Morrison assures everyone.

The promise of opening day dissipates in the days that follow, as temperatures plunge and the Mets’ bats are chilled. The righty Bobby Jones, making his first start in almost a year following an injury-plagued 1999, fails to make it out of the third inning in a shutout loss. The next day, Mike Hampton coughs up four runs in less than six innings while his teammates commit unsightly blunders on the basepaths and in the field. Following the two losses to lowly San Diego, they split two games against the Dodgers before a freak snowstorm cuts the series short. Bobby Valentine proclaims the snowy weather to be a portent of “another regular, wacky, abnormal season” and thanks it for giving a day of rest to an already overtaxed bullpen.

Once the Mets hit the road, the climate improves somewhat, but the results are no better. A three-game set in Philadelphia begins on April 10 with two unsightly losses to a Phillies team that is again rumored to be shopping all of its stars. Even when the Mets move on to Pittsburgh and claim their first series of the season, the victories are not without pain, as both Bobby Jones and Rickey Henderson are lost to injury. Soon afterward, Al Leiter complains of a sore groin, and Darryl Hamilton hits the disabled list with a toe injury so troublesome it shelves him for several months and prompts him to seriously consider retirement.

Then it’s Bobby Valentine’s turn to injure himself with a new controversy. During the Mets’ series in Philadelphia, a student invites him to speak at the Wharton School of Business, followed by a Q&A on the current state of the Mets. That state being rather precarious at the moment, and Valentine being Valentine, the manager answers with an unwise level of candor. He admits he didn’t like the signing of Todd Zeile to play first base and confesses he’s just as baffled as anyone about why Masato Yoshii was traded away.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.