There aren’t too many people in this world who feel for Mike Piazza. Count Met teammate Cliff Floyd among the handful.
Floyd understands something that many people don’t get: It’s lonely at the top of one’s field.
“I feel sorry for everybody like that, as good as he is – Sosa, Bonds,” Floyd said. “You hope you give him opportunities also. You want the pressure off him sometimes.
“He’s the big man, and everybody knows he’s a Hall of Fame catcher. But he ain’t going to come through all the time. When he’s hot, you’re going to get pitches to hit. So you’ve got to be on the top of your game.”
For the moment, Floyd is at his peak. His return from a strained right quad has coincided with a resurgence that had the Mets 2½ games out of first place entering last night. Floyd’s been coming up clutch ever since his activation from the DL last Thursday, with the Mets winning five of six games since he returned.
“Trust me, it ain’t me,” Floyd said. “We just all believe in one another. We always said when things start to go well, it starts to become contagious. We start feeding off one another.”
On Tuesday night, Floyd’s two-run homer off Matt Morris in the sixth inning changed the game’s momentum for good. Floyd got the Mets within 4-3, and his game-winning single to right with two outs in the ninth gave the Mets their 10th win in 15 games – bringing the team within one victory of .500. These are heady times in Flushing, now that Floyd’s here.
“He’s left-handed, first of all, which takes pressure off [Piazza],” catcher Jason Phillips said. “The pitcher’s not as comfortable when he has to face two big bats in the lineup like that.”
Added Mike Cameron: “The presence of having him in the lineup is important for this ballclub. He’s one of those pieces that helps this team tick. Obviously, the clock is running well right now.”
Without Floyd, the Mets were too righty-heavy. Karim Garcia was the only lefty power threat in the lineup after Floyd pulled his quad in Puerto Rico on April 11. He was batting .304 (7-for-23) with two homers, eight RBIs and four runs since his return.
As Piazza said yesterday, the biggest change is that opposing managers now must decide which slugger they want their pitchers to face and which to avoid. And any time a lefty reliever comes in against Floyd, chances are he’ll quickly be removed before facing Piazza, who’s notoriously dangerous against southpaws.
There’s one caveat.
“You still have to hit the pitches,” Piazza said with a laugh.
When Floyd signed a four-year, $26 million pact before the 2003 season, he came to New York with some question marks. He was often injured, and the Mets were a team in transition. While those questions still linger and the Mets are still flirting with mediocrity, give Floyd credit for seeing himself as someone in charge of turning around the franchise.
“I’ve been on some teams – including last year’s [Met] team – where the mood pretty much was down,” he said. “Last year’s stuff is over, but I’m just saying we know the difference.”
