Nymet31
02-23-2003, 02:09 PM
The skipper speaks: "I like what I've seen from him. He's all business. He has a nice bat and he works hard. He's been with the organization. So if anyone has an advantage it's going to be Ty." -- Art Howe on the third base battle between Ty Wigginton and Jay Bell.
Physical fitness: Roberto Alomar's arm remained a tad tender on Saturday but not enough to prevent him from throwing. He made all of his throws though not at 100 percent. Grant Roberts and John Franco reported no pain after throwing Friday other than normal stiffness.
Around the horn: Bell is proving to be an asset in camp in more ways that just being competition for, and mentor to, Wigginton. The veteran infielder was at first base early in the morning during baserunning drills, helping out Mo Vaughn. Around noon, he was standing on the platform behind one of the batting cages chirping out encouragement and advice to Russ Johnson.
"Jay is very versatile," Howe said. "He brings something to the party. He's really a student of the game. He can help in so many ways. He saw that Mo was the only first baseman we had during the drills so he decided to go over and help because Mo would have been winded, after running all those drills alone. He's very observant."
Howe indicated that he would want to keep Bell around this year even if Wigginton won the starting job. Bell said before camp began that he wouldn't want to be a backup but appears to be softening on that stance.
From the clubhouse: With all their recent signings, the Mets are running out of locker space. A new locker had to be brought in for Tony Clark while Osborne took over a locker from one of the team's equipment managers.
Did you know? The Mets will play a pair of intra-squad games next week at Thomas J. White Stadium. Both games will start at 11 a.m. and donations will be collected for a pair of charities. Donations will be accepted on Monday for the Squad 288, Hazardous Materials One in Maspeth, Queens. The firehouse, which is only a few minutes from Shea Stadium, lost 19 of 49 firefighters on Sept. 11, leaving 50 children without a father. Donations will be accepted on Tuesday for The Brian Cole Scholarship Fund, set up to honor the former Met prospect who was killed in an automobile accident in 2001.
Off the field: Catcher Mike Piazza will be shooting a commercial at Thomas J. White Stadium Monday morning for the new Major League Baseball Authentic Collection. The 10-time All-Star will be the centerpiece of the advertising campaign for the new line of clothing, which includes the Mets' new orange batting practice jersey. ... Several other Mets, including Al Leiter, Mo Vaughn and Cliff Floyd, filmed promos on Saturday for the Mets trip to Puerto Rico in April. They also filmed announcements for the armed services overseas, thanking the soldiers for what they have been doing in the Middle East.
A bad break: Pitcher Jason Middlebrook got a bit of bad news Saturday morning when the team informed him that he actually had an option remaining and could be sent down to Triple-A Norfolk at the end of camp. The hurler arrived in Spring Training under the impression that he had no options, a belief the club shared. But Phillips and his staff went back over all the transaction paperwork regarding Middlebrook and discovered that a clerical snafu had occurred.
"Everyone kept telling me that I had no options and I didn't think a whole lot about it," said Middlebrook, who is competing with David Cone, Aaron Heilman and Mike Bacsik for the fifth spot in New York's rotation. "It wasn't something I was too focused on. I took it for granted. That's how things were.
"I'm not going to think about it now, when I'm trying to get guys out and preparing to pitch. Hopefully I'll be pitching for this organization. That's my goal. If I have an option left, I have an option left. What can I do?"
Phillips said that he didn't have a strong preference where he would like to see Middlebrook, be it in the bullpen or the rotation. But he wasn't about to make any commitments as to where he envisioned Middlebrook when the season opens, though his having an option does give the club flexibility.
"It's good news for us," Phillips said of the option. "It's probably not great for him."
Numerology: The Mets are running out of numbers. After giving Clark 00 on Friday, Osborne was given 88 on Saturday.
Quoting 'em: "This is Geritol row." -- David Cone on the locker arrangement in the clubhouse. Cone, John Franco, Al Leiter and Tom Glavine all have adjoining lockers.
Coming up: Full-squad workouts continue Sunday morning at 9:30.
Physical fitness: Roberto Alomar's arm remained a tad tender on Saturday but not enough to prevent him from throwing. He made all of his throws though not at 100 percent. Grant Roberts and John Franco reported no pain after throwing Friday other than normal stiffness.
Around the horn: Bell is proving to be an asset in camp in more ways that just being competition for, and mentor to, Wigginton. The veteran infielder was at first base early in the morning during baserunning drills, helping out Mo Vaughn. Around noon, he was standing on the platform behind one of the batting cages chirping out encouragement and advice to Russ Johnson.
"Jay is very versatile," Howe said. "He brings something to the party. He's really a student of the game. He can help in so many ways. He saw that Mo was the only first baseman we had during the drills so he decided to go over and help because Mo would have been winded, after running all those drills alone. He's very observant."
Howe indicated that he would want to keep Bell around this year even if Wigginton won the starting job. Bell said before camp began that he wouldn't want to be a backup but appears to be softening on that stance.
From the clubhouse: With all their recent signings, the Mets are running out of locker space. A new locker had to be brought in for Tony Clark while Osborne took over a locker from one of the team's equipment managers.
Did you know? The Mets will play a pair of intra-squad games next week at Thomas J. White Stadium. Both games will start at 11 a.m. and donations will be collected for a pair of charities. Donations will be accepted on Monday for the Squad 288, Hazardous Materials One in Maspeth, Queens. The firehouse, which is only a few minutes from Shea Stadium, lost 19 of 49 firefighters on Sept. 11, leaving 50 children without a father. Donations will be accepted on Tuesday for The Brian Cole Scholarship Fund, set up to honor the former Met prospect who was killed in an automobile accident in 2001.
Off the field: Catcher Mike Piazza will be shooting a commercial at Thomas J. White Stadium Monday morning for the new Major League Baseball Authentic Collection. The 10-time All-Star will be the centerpiece of the advertising campaign for the new line of clothing, which includes the Mets' new orange batting practice jersey. ... Several other Mets, including Al Leiter, Mo Vaughn and Cliff Floyd, filmed promos on Saturday for the Mets trip to Puerto Rico in April. They also filmed announcements for the armed services overseas, thanking the soldiers for what they have been doing in the Middle East.
A bad break: Pitcher Jason Middlebrook got a bit of bad news Saturday morning when the team informed him that he actually had an option remaining and could be sent down to Triple-A Norfolk at the end of camp. The hurler arrived in Spring Training under the impression that he had no options, a belief the club shared. But Phillips and his staff went back over all the transaction paperwork regarding Middlebrook and discovered that a clerical snafu had occurred.
"Everyone kept telling me that I had no options and I didn't think a whole lot about it," said Middlebrook, who is competing with David Cone, Aaron Heilman and Mike Bacsik for the fifth spot in New York's rotation. "It wasn't something I was too focused on. I took it for granted. That's how things were.
"I'm not going to think about it now, when I'm trying to get guys out and preparing to pitch. Hopefully I'll be pitching for this organization. That's my goal. If I have an option left, I have an option left. What can I do?"
Phillips said that he didn't have a strong preference where he would like to see Middlebrook, be it in the bullpen or the rotation. But he wasn't about to make any commitments as to where he envisioned Middlebrook when the season opens, though his having an option does give the club flexibility.
"It's good news for us," Phillips said of the option. "It's probably not great for him."
Numerology: The Mets are running out of numbers. After giving Clark 00 on Friday, Osborne was given 88 on Saturday.
Quoting 'em: "This is Geritol row." -- David Cone on the locker arrangement in the clubhouse. Cone, John Franco, Al Leiter and Tom Glavine all have adjoining lockers.
Coming up: Full-squad workouts continue Sunday morning at 9:30.