GaryMrMets
05-06-2003, 02:18 PM
http://www.nynewsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-mets063270880may06,0,5211935.story?coll=ny%2Dmets% 2Dheadlines
Round 3 for Mike, Mota?
Piazza mum about facing his nemesis from spring training
By Bob Herzog
STAFF WRITER
May 6, 2003
Maybe there really have been too many things going on in Mike Piazza's baseball life for him to have thought about the possibility of facing Dodgers reliever Guillermo Mota in a three- game series at Shea Stadium that begins tonight.
A new manager. New teammates. Several injuries. An unusual trip to Puerto Rico. A slow start at the plate that he has overcome, albeit without much production. Recurring throwing problems against opposing base-stealers. A painfully slow start for the Mets that has left them in last place.
Still, it's hard to imagine that Piazza hasn't dreamed up a scenario or two regarding the prospect of facing Mota this week for the first time since March 12. On that hot night in Port St. Lucie, Mota drilled Piazza in the left shoulder with a pitch, precipitating a wild bench-clearing melee.
Mota threw his glove at Piazza, hitting him, then retreated to the safety of the dugout. That angered Mets manager Art Howe - "He can backpedal faster than I can run forward," he snapped that night - and several Mets players, who didn't hesitate to use the word "coward." Piazza tried to get at Mota in the Dodgers' clubhouse after the game - the pitcher already had left - and eventually wound up with a four-game suspension, the same as Mota.
Enough here for a juicy story line, don't you think?
"I've got nothing to say about it," Piazza said after Sunday's game in Milwaukee. "I don't think about it. I just think about helping the team. I just play ball."
Piazza, like many professional athletes, possesses an incredible ability to block out distractions and focus on the task at hand. But anyone who witnessed the crazed look of anger on his face as he tried to fight through several bodies to get at Mota that night knows that was no ordinary beanball incident.
In fact, it was the second straight spring training in which Piazza confronted Mota after being hit, adding to the bad blood that definitely is out there. Asked if any of that blood is bubbling beneath the surface of his calm exterior, Piazza looked a reporter right in the eye and said with a grin, "No. That's for you to write about."
There undoubtedly will be plenty to write about if Mota does make an appearance, which is quite likely. He has been superb as the Dodgers' setup man for closer Eric Gagne, posting a 1.59 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 17 innings in 15 games. He hasn't pitched since Friday, so he will be well-rested.
"In a three-game series, you'd expect him to pitch," general manager Steve Phillips said, adding that the Mets' emphasis must be on getting back into the National League East race and not about retaliation. "We've got to worry about what we're doing on the field."
Howe, who showed more outward emotion that night than at any other time so far in his Mets tenure, called the incident "ancient history. I don't think I have to remind them about it."
Maybe not. But if Mota faces Piazza late in one of the games, Shea Stadium surely will be buzzing. Players in both dugouts and members of both bullpens will be on the edge of their seats. Bob Watson, Major League Baseball's discipline czar, also should be watching, at least tonight; he's expected to attend the game.
"There won't be any warnings," Watson told The Associated Press yesterday. "There's no need for that. But I think everybody's gotten the message."
Maybe Dodgers manager Jim Tracy, who strongly disputed the Mets' claim of intent on Mota's part and was angry about Piazza's clubhouse foray, will avoid a showdown. After all, Piazza is 5-for-8 against Mota. Or maybe Piazza will show the same restraint against Mota that he has shown in two separate incidents with Roger Clemens.
But you have to believe that the first time Mota jogs in from the visitor's bullpen this week is not going to be the first time Piazza has thought about him.
Today
Dodgers at Mets
7:10 p.m.
TV: MSG
Radio: WFAN (660)
Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.
Round 3 for Mike, Mota?
Piazza mum about facing his nemesis from spring training
By Bob Herzog
STAFF WRITER
May 6, 2003
Maybe there really have been too many things going on in Mike Piazza's baseball life for him to have thought about the possibility of facing Dodgers reliever Guillermo Mota in a three- game series at Shea Stadium that begins tonight.
A new manager. New teammates. Several injuries. An unusual trip to Puerto Rico. A slow start at the plate that he has overcome, albeit without much production. Recurring throwing problems against opposing base-stealers. A painfully slow start for the Mets that has left them in last place.
Still, it's hard to imagine that Piazza hasn't dreamed up a scenario or two regarding the prospect of facing Mota this week for the first time since March 12. On that hot night in Port St. Lucie, Mota drilled Piazza in the left shoulder with a pitch, precipitating a wild bench-clearing melee.
Mota threw his glove at Piazza, hitting him, then retreated to the safety of the dugout. That angered Mets manager Art Howe - "He can backpedal faster than I can run forward," he snapped that night - and several Mets players, who didn't hesitate to use the word "coward." Piazza tried to get at Mota in the Dodgers' clubhouse after the game - the pitcher already had left - and eventually wound up with a four-game suspension, the same as Mota.
Enough here for a juicy story line, don't you think?
"I've got nothing to say about it," Piazza said after Sunday's game in Milwaukee. "I don't think about it. I just think about helping the team. I just play ball."
Piazza, like many professional athletes, possesses an incredible ability to block out distractions and focus on the task at hand. But anyone who witnessed the crazed look of anger on his face as he tried to fight through several bodies to get at Mota that night knows that was no ordinary beanball incident.
In fact, it was the second straight spring training in which Piazza confronted Mota after being hit, adding to the bad blood that definitely is out there. Asked if any of that blood is bubbling beneath the surface of his calm exterior, Piazza looked a reporter right in the eye and said with a grin, "No. That's for you to write about."
There undoubtedly will be plenty to write about if Mota does make an appearance, which is quite likely. He has been superb as the Dodgers' setup man for closer Eric Gagne, posting a 1.59 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 17 innings in 15 games. He hasn't pitched since Friday, so he will be well-rested.
"In a three-game series, you'd expect him to pitch," general manager Steve Phillips said, adding that the Mets' emphasis must be on getting back into the National League East race and not about retaliation. "We've got to worry about what we're doing on the field."
Howe, who showed more outward emotion that night than at any other time so far in his Mets tenure, called the incident "ancient history. I don't think I have to remind them about it."
Maybe not. But if Mota faces Piazza late in one of the games, Shea Stadium surely will be buzzing. Players in both dugouts and members of both bullpens will be on the edge of their seats. Bob Watson, Major League Baseball's discipline czar, also should be watching, at least tonight; he's expected to attend the game.
"There won't be any warnings," Watson told The Associated Press yesterday. "There's no need for that. But I think everybody's gotten the message."
Maybe Dodgers manager Jim Tracy, who strongly disputed the Mets' claim of intent on Mota's part and was angry about Piazza's clubhouse foray, will avoid a showdown. After all, Piazza is 5-for-8 against Mota. Or maybe Piazza will show the same restraint against Mota that he has shown in two separate incidents with Roger Clemens.
But you have to believe that the first time Mota jogs in from the visitor's bullpen this week is not going to be the first time Piazza has thought about him.
Today
Dodgers at Mets
7:10 p.m.
TV: MSG
Radio: WFAN (660)
Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.