metmagic
07-29-2004, 08:22 PM
http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/nym/news/nym_gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20040729&content_id=813337&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp
funny article! :D
MONTREAL -- Mike Cameron's day started out on a sour note on Thursday when several fans were rude to him in the team hotel while seeking an autograph.
It didn't get much better for the Mets center fielder when he got to Olympic Stadium, either, as a notorious local fan, known simply as "George," engaged Cameron in a lengthy discussion/heckling session during New York's batting practice.
"George" is a fixture at the 'Big O' and he is known for riding opposing players. Earlier this week, he even got into an argument with Mets media relations director Jay Horwitz because of the way he was jeering Mike Piazza in batting practice. On Thursday afternoon, though, Cameron decided to fight back and have a little fun in the process, issuing a friendly wager with "George."
If Cameron hit a homer, "George" had to go to the second deck of the left-center field bleachers, far away from the players and even farther away from home plate. If Cameron struck out twice, he'd give "George" his hat.
Well, Cameron won the bet and then some, smacking monstrous homers in his first two at-bats, stealing a base in the fifth and making a pair of flashy Willie Mays-style basket catches in center field as the Mets upended the Expos, 10-1, to salvage a split of their four-game series before 20,042 fans. It was the second-largest Olympic Stadium crowd this season.
Cameron's effort overshadowed sterling efforts from Al Leiter (7-3) and Eric Valent. Leiter gave up one run in six innings and regained the Major League ERA lead at 2.18, while Valent became the eighth Met to hit for the cycle.
The Mets jumped on Expos' closer-turned-starter Rocky Biddle in the second inning, with Cameron leading the way. He blasted a 1-0 offering from Biddle over the center-field fence after Ty Wigginton led off the inning with a single. As he crossed the plate, he smiled and yelled at "George" before heading into the dugout.
When Cameron was preparing to bat in the third, "George" told him he would be moving, but Cameron issued a stay.
"I told him I would go in the ninth inning," "George" said during the fourth inning. "I told him I was going to go and he said, 'No, stay here and watch this.' Then he hit another homer. The second one he called."
The homers were Cameron's 19th and 20th of the season, eclipsing the 18 he hit last year with the Mariners and leaving him five shy of the 25 he hit with Seattle in 2001 and '02. He also became just the third Mets center fielder to smack 20 homers in a season, joining Tommie Agee (26 in 1969 and 24 in '70) and Brian McRae (21 in 1998). It was the 10th multi-homer game of Cameron's career.
Cameron also looked every bit the Gold Glover in center field. He raced down a long Terrmel Sledge fly in the second inning, making an over-the-shoulder basket catch for the first out of the inning. In the fourth, he robbed Sledge again, also making an over-the-shoulder basket catch, this time before running into the wall.
Valent, making his first start in left field since May 30, singled in the second inning in his first at-bat, then doubled in the third inning, both hits coming off Expos starter Rocky Biddle. He then blasted a two-run homer in the fifth off Sunny Kim and completed the cycle in the seventh with a triple off Roy Corcoran.
funny article! :D
MONTREAL -- Mike Cameron's day started out on a sour note on Thursday when several fans were rude to him in the team hotel while seeking an autograph.
It didn't get much better for the Mets center fielder when he got to Olympic Stadium, either, as a notorious local fan, known simply as "George," engaged Cameron in a lengthy discussion/heckling session during New York's batting practice.
"George" is a fixture at the 'Big O' and he is known for riding opposing players. Earlier this week, he even got into an argument with Mets media relations director Jay Horwitz because of the way he was jeering Mike Piazza in batting practice. On Thursday afternoon, though, Cameron decided to fight back and have a little fun in the process, issuing a friendly wager with "George."
If Cameron hit a homer, "George" had to go to the second deck of the left-center field bleachers, far away from the players and even farther away from home plate. If Cameron struck out twice, he'd give "George" his hat.
Well, Cameron won the bet and then some, smacking monstrous homers in his first two at-bats, stealing a base in the fifth and making a pair of flashy Willie Mays-style basket catches in center field as the Mets upended the Expos, 10-1, to salvage a split of their four-game series before 20,042 fans. It was the second-largest Olympic Stadium crowd this season.
Cameron's effort overshadowed sterling efforts from Al Leiter (7-3) and Eric Valent. Leiter gave up one run in six innings and regained the Major League ERA lead at 2.18, while Valent became the eighth Met to hit for the cycle.
The Mets jumped on Expos' closer-turned-starter Rocky Biddle in the second inning, with Cameron leading the way. He blasted a 1-0 offering from Biddle over the center-field fence after Ty Wigginton led off the inning with a single. As he crossed the plate, he smiled and yelled at "George" before heading into the dugout.
When Cameron was preparing to bat in the third, "George" told him he would be moving, but Cameron issued a stay.
"I told him I would go in the ninth inning," "George" said during the fourth inning. "I told him I was going to go and he said, 'No, stay here and watch this.' Then he hit another homer. The second one he called."
The homers were Cameron's 19th and 20th of the season, eclipsing the 18 he hit last year with the Mariners and leaving him five shy of the 25 he hit with Seattle in 2001 and '02. He also became just the third Mets center fielder to smack 20 homers in a season, joining Tommie Agee (26 in 1969 and 24 in '70) and Brian McRae (21 in 1998). It was the 10th multi-homer game of Cameron's career.
Cameron also looked every bit the Gold Glover in center field. He raced down a long Terrmel Sledge fly in the second inning, making an over-the-shoulder basket catch for the first out of the inning. In the fourth, he robbed Sledge again, also making an over-the-shoulder basket catch, this time before running into the wall.
Valent, making his first start in left field since May 30, singled in the second inning in his first at-bat, then doubled in the third inning, both hits coming off Expos starter Rocky Biddle. He then blasted a two-run homer in the fifth off Sunny Kim and completed the cycle in the seventh with a triple off Roy Corcoran.