RMJ 175 August 9

SATURDAY, AUGUST 9 ● New York, vs Mets

I woke up late — 11:00 — and went for a paper, some coffee, and a muffin.

One thing about this season: I haven’t worked out much, and I haven’t eaten much.

I suppose I always thought I would immediately get fat and feel unhealthy if I didn’t work out all the time. Instead, I have felt pretty good, and I haven’t gained any weight.

I’m glad I don’t have to find time to exercise. I’m as busy as I want to be. I am looking forward to working out again this fall. That’s when I turn to basketball and volleyball, instead of jogging and doing the lab-rat thing at a health club.

 

Gerry called and asked me to come up. I can tell he is itching to do something.

The one thing that can surely be justified is a backup catcher. This type of deal doesn’t have much romance. It’s more of a defensive tactic: buying insurance while Tony Eusebio is out with knee surgery.

I’m not that excited about it, but if Brad got hurt, we’d be in trouble. The acquisition of a weak-hitting catcher may be useful, but it isn’t very exciting.

I’ve been talking with Biggio, and I think the guys are looking for us to do something provocative. If we traded Derek, no matter what we got, it would change the clubhouse atmosphere completely. This could be a big plus, or have no consequence. It’s hard to say.

We could also call up Mitch Meluskey to be the backup catcher. Mitch is a guy who has been somewhat lazy and absent-minded in the minors. There is some doubt about his dedication.

But Mitch can hit. He has hit everywhere, including AAA New Orleans. The word is that he’s not ready to handle the defensive end of it; I would like to see for myself. He would probably only start four or five games before the rosters expand anyway, if Brad stays healthy.

We could make some kind of major deal involving Derek and one of our prospects. This would be the most-aggressive move, and it could be a good one. My feeling is that I would like to send a message that we expect to get better — not just hold on to our lead.

We talked with Matt Galante about Mitch. He didn’t offer much encouragement. We’ll just have to wait and see which deals become available.

 

I wrote a speech for pregame delivery. It was all about not trying too hard, but yet staying focused, executing plays. Taking advantage of opportunities. It was to tell them that we, as coaches, have confidence in them. That we are good enough to beat any team on any given night, including the ’27 Yankees or The Big Red Machine. That the worst thing we can do is underestimate our own ability and start feeling sorry for ourselves.

I was going to say,

I wasn’t really excited about this. I have my doubts about the effectiveness of talking your way out of trouble. But I felt like I had to do something — that I couldn’t just stand by and let our lead slip away.

I was saved by a quirk in the pregame schedule: the Mets had a promotion on the field, so we had to hit in the cages. This created a situation where the whole team was never in the locker room at the same time.

I could have called a meeting, but I didn’t. Gerry came in, and we continued to talk trade. We slid into the game like an oyster, and came out like a pearl.

 

Chris Holt pitched heroically. We made two inning-opening errors, and he bent but didn’t break. Bagwell hit a home run, but the Mets tied us at 3 halfway through.

Bobby Valentine used Turk Wendell and Mel Rojas to get them involved in a win, and I thought he was doing the right thing until I saw Rojas: he wasn’t throwing very well at all, and we jumped him big-time. Bagwell hit another home run, and we won 8-3.

It was a big game for Russ Springer. He got a strikeout with the lead run on third and one out in the eighth, then got the next out and eventually got the win.

So now Bagwell is back, the losing streak is over, and I don’t have to make a speech.

We had Wagner warmed up to close, then Bagwell made it a blowout. We decided to let Billy finish anyway, hoping he would have an easy inning and get the confidence back and the feel of closure.

I told Gonzo that the best part of it for me is that I don’t have to give my Knute Rockne speech, and he laughed.

 

There was a lot of banter on the bus ride back to Manhattan. I’m happy, but not delirious. We still have four singles-hitters at the end of our lineup, and only average fielding. If we are going to have a really good year, it’s going to be a result of excellent pitching. This is a possibility, but it’s still iffy.

Wagner will have to come through, and Kile will have to continue. He pitches tomorrow.

I’m not quite giddy, but I’m feeling a lot better.