You Can Call Me Al:Mets Fans and Owners Deserve Each Other

By Nicholas Stix A few weeks ago, Al Leiter came to town for a visit. For seven years the 39-year-old lefty, the owner of one of baseball’s most effective cut fastballs (the other being Mariano Rivera’s), was the ace of the New York Mets’ pitching rotation. In 2003, New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon paid lefty Tom Glavine, a ‘sure-fire future 300-game winner,’ a fortune to come to town, and installed him as the team’s ace. Glavine bombed, going a combined 20-28 over the next two seasons, and the team is still stuck with him, though oddly enough, I’ve never heard anyone speak of the Mets as being “stuck.” While Leiter did not have top seasons, he still whipped Glavine, going a combined 25-17 in 2003 and 2004. And with Glavine now only up to 264 wins at age 39, it looks increasingly unlikely that he will ever make it to the promised land. At 2-4, he’ll have to go on a roll, just to end up with a .500 record this year. Prior to Friday night’s game, Glavine was 1-4, with an ERA way over six. He caught a big break that night. An umpire named Davidson, who had been out of Major League Baseball since 1999, was working the game, and apparently he had a soft spot for Glavine. Six years ago, the ump had thrown in his lot with a megalomaniacal union boss, who made insane demands which resulted in the umpires who followed him getting fired. Davidson started his comeback last year in the A League, the lowest-level minor league affiliated with the major leagues. Hence, Davidson wasn’t umpiring in 2003, when the new strike zone was put in effect, which was devised partly in response to Glavine’s longtime shenanigans, in “expanding” the strike zone. Glavine whined all that season about the calls he was -- or rather, wasn’t -- getting. Conversely, on Friday night, Davidson made several bad calls on Glavine’s behalf. In addition to giving the lefty a generous strike zone, the ump cut the lefty a rare break. On one low pitch, Mets catcher Mike Piazza “caught his balance” after catching a low pitch, by sticking the ball in the dirt. Umpires automatically make the catcher hand over any ball that goes into the dirt, and give him a new ball. The reason is that any foreign substance on a ball or change to its texture or shape can change its aerodynamics, causing it to move in unusual ways. Pitchers love those unusual movements, which fool hitters – and sometimes catchers, too. (In his classic baseball book, Ball Four, former Yankees hurler Jim Bouton told of how when Yankees Hall of Fame lefty Whitey Ford was past his prime, catcher Yogi Berra -- another Hall of Famer -- used to find every possible pretext for putting the ball in the dirt, or scuffing it against his shin guard while rearing back to throw it to Ford, in order to help along the aging pitcher’s stuff. But that was over forty years ago; soon thereafter, umpires started cracking down on such antics.) But Davidson let Piazza throw the dirty ball back to Glavine. On the next pitch, the St. Louis batter hit a come-backer, which Glavine turned into an inning-ending, 1-6-3 double play. With Davidson’s help, Glavine threw seven shutout innings, en route to only his second win of the season. Owner Fred Wilpon likes to present himself more as running a mom-and-pop store than a cut throat business. When Wilpon okayed the signing of Tom Glavine, Glavine was supposed to bring some class to town. And so, one of the first things Glavine did, with Wilpon’s tacit approval, was to publicly trash just deposed Mets manager Bobby Valentine. Why would a “classy” guy like Tommy Glavine trash a man he had never even played for, and who had just been fired from his job? And why would a “classy,” mom-and-pop kind of guy like Fred Wilpon enjoy seeing Glavine kick a guy while he’s down? Bobby Valentine was merely the man who had rescued a lost franchise, and who with Gil Hodges and Davey Johnson, was one of the three most successful managers in Mets history. Valentine’s intelligence, intensity, work ethic and demanding nature turned around the franchise, and in seven years (1996-2002), got the Mets to the playoffs twice, including their first World Series appearance (2000) in 14 years. During the heart of those years, the Mets had the best infield in all of baseball. Valentine is a notoriously difficult man. Although from Connecticut, he is a “type A,” New York kind of guy. If he was extremely intelligent helming the Mets, he also was at times too clever for his own good. There was the time that he got thrown out of a game and snuck back onto the bench, wearing a Groucho disguise. He didn’t fool the umpires. Another time, he decided to try and motivate the team by badmouthing his best, most selfless player, catcher Todd Hundley, suggesting that Hundley was out partying too late before day games. Apparently, Valentine was making it up. On the other hand, after 911, Valentine frequently visited Ground Zero to cheer on and cheer up the recovery workers. The bottom line is, with a .534 winning percentage, “Bobby V” did a great job as manager. For years before and for two years after his tenure, in spite of Fred Wilpon signing big-name players to overpriced contracts, the Mets were laughingstocks; they were never laughingstocks on Valentine’s watch. After firing Valentine, Wilpon hired a nice man named Art Howe as manager, who in two seasons never won more than 67 games. * * * Al Leiter wasn’t just a great guy on the mound, who last year still broke 90 mph with his fastball; he was great in the locker room, and the gregarious New Jersey native was the team’s unofficial ambassador to the world. When he wasn’t playing, Leiter, a paunchy bundle of nervous energy, ran around doing good deeds in the New York metropolitan area. And before the 2004 season, he even went on a diet and lost his paunch. He was too good to be true. Last year was the last on Leiter’s contract. He wanted so much to finish his career with the Mets, that he was willing to compromise with management. If the tam had offered him a contract low on base pay and heavy with incentives, he still would likely have signed. Instead, the Wilpons – father Fred and son Jeff – in effect told Leiter, ‘Don’t let the door hit you … on the way out.’ So Leiter signed with the Florida Marlins, with whom he had won a World Series ring in 1997. (He won his first ring with the Blue Jays in 1993.) At present, he’s not pitching any better than Tom Glavine. When Leiter took the mound against the Mets, I expected the fans at Shea to give him a standing ovation; I know I would have. Instead, I heard a smattering of boos against a backdrop of silence. That’s the kind of mercenary attitude you expect from Yankee fans. Flushing is not The Bronx! I’m sorry, Al. You deserved better.