IN his best revival-meeting mode, Steve Phillips responded to a query about why Met fans should stay interested in his team by preaching about the salvation of a season.
“[The fans] have a chance to witness the greatest comeback in Met history and be part of it,” Phillips exhorted before last night’s loss to the Cubs.
Phillips, as he has for much of this season, placed his faith in the power of healing of his many injured and the good record book, which he believes promises better things from his plagued offense. Except here we are to tell you, brothers and sisters, that the Red Sox have been beset by more serious aches and pains and that the Cub lineup is even more inferior than that of the Mets.
Yet, those two teams – the long-suffering Jobe of franchises – have defied these problems and their history to make serious postseason assaults. Meanwhile, the shames of Shea have assured that in 2001 there will be no Miracle Mets. Phillips is still selling. But as when he mentions Rey Ordonez or Todd Zeile to other teams, no one should be buying.
If more evidence were needed of this futile pennant defense – and it really shouldn’t be – the Mets lost 3-0 to the Cubs with their familiar offensive display, which is to say pathetic. Joe McEwing had three hits and the rest of the lineup had two. The Mets loaded the bases with none out in the first and did not score – and there was no surprise.
Edgardo Alfonzo rejoined the lineup, which Phillips painted as a meaningful moment in the season, much like Jay Payton’s return was supposed to be meaningful and Benny Agbayani’s and Al Leiter’s and … well, you get the point. This represented the eighth time they were shut out and the 33rd time they have scored two or fewer runs.
The Cubs managed just one run in Rick Reed’s seven innings and it came on a homer of biblical proportions over the left-field bleachers by Sammy Sosa. But why pitch to Sosa, who is even more of an island in the Cub lineup than Mike Piazza is with the Mets, especially with Rondell White out with a groin injury? You know what they would call Agbayani in Chicago? The cleanup hitter.
Yet, the Cubs – behind their power arms – have the NL’s second-best record and the Mets are trying to hold off last-place Montreal. Phillips said he thinks the division and wild-card winner will both win under 90 games. To win 89, the Mets would have to go 53-25 the rest of the way. And no team with an MVP race among McEwing, Desi Relaford and Tsuyoshi Shinjo is going to play .679 for a sustained period. Heck, the Mets need a 12-game winning streak simply to reach .500.
No, the best the Mets can do now to retain their fan base is be entertaining. But even that is difficult. Last week, they had a battle of Darryl vs. the manager. In a better day, that would have been worth weeks of coverage, analysis and fallout. But these are not better days.
The Darryl who verbally challenged Bobby Valentine was Hamilton and, thus, the issue was like the team: lacking life, interest or a future. Hamilton is now home in Houston, drawing the rest of his $3 million 2001 paycheck the same way he did the past three months – by doing nothing. Aptly for this Met season, that is symbolic, metaphoric and pathetic.
The best health news involving the Mets yesterday was not about Alfonzo, but that New York treasure Bob Murphy was back on the job following a battle with pneumonia that led to heart failure. “The doctors told me I was a very sick guy,” the radio legend said. Murphy’s return to the microphone must serve as the happiest recap at Shea these days.
After last night’s game, the Mets had a Fourth of July celebration and to say it would be the only fireworks in their dismal season would be both trite and true. The only highlights this year have been the blond streaks in Robin Ventura’s hair. In fact, the biggest news of the last week was that Piazza had gone platinum. That it overshadowed his fractured big toe said much about the 2001 Mets.
It left us with this question for this season, who dyed first, Piazza or his team?
