Thursday, October 21, 1999 - The Michigan Daily - 17A

lets' nine lives finally
un out against Braves

WLANTA (AP) - The New York Mets had
been rising from dead so often and for so long
that people had come to expect it, especially
the players themselves.
that's why they took the end so hard.
Any team can fall behind 5-0 when it's just
orie loss from elimination. But to come back
and tie it 7-all, take an 8-7 lead and blow it,
and then take a 9-8 lead in the 10th and blow
thet, too?
that's special.
hat's amazin'.
'*at's the 1999 New York Mets.
it's so typical of what's gone on," Al Leiter
said early Wednesday as players milled about
the visitor's clubhouse at Turner Field. "I
thought for sure we would win this."
They didn't, and winter at Shea Stadium
started Wednesday. The Mets, the team that
.u t would not die, finally drove a stake
through their own heart at 12:38 a.m., when
Kenny Rogers walked in the winning run that
g Atlanta a 10-9, 11-inning win and a 4-2
v ry in the NL championship series.
'm a big boy," Rogers said. "I can handle
it. God thinks I can handle a lot. He can lay
off me now."
More than an hour later, Mike Piazza final-
ly emerged from the showers and talked about
the amazin' three weeks - the seven-game los-
ingstreak that put them on the verge of wast-
inga wild-card lead for the second straight
year, the three-game sweep of Pittsburgh on
the final weekend that forced a tiebreaker
anst Cincinnati, the first-round upset of
Arizona that began with Edgardo Alfonzo's
ninth-inning grand slam and ended with Todd
Pratt's 10th-inning homer.
Then there was the Braves' series, losing
the first three games but clawing back and
forcing a return to Atlanta on Robin Ventura's
15th-inning grand slam-turned-single Sunday.
Until the first inning in Tuesday night's
finale, when Leiter allowed his first five bat-
ter 'o score, the teams never had been sepa-
ra by more than two runs at any point, in
any game.
And even then, the Mets came back again,
wit Piazza's two-run homer off John Smoltz
tying the score 7-7 in a four-run seventh.
Still, it wasn't enough. John Franco could-
't hold an 8-7 lead in the eight, and Armando
Benitez wasted a 9-8 lead in the 10th.
"We've gone a lot of miles," Piazza said
oftly in a corner of the room. "There's a lot
f guys that matured in here. There's a lot of
t that have learned so much, not only
ibout themselves, but what it takes to get to a
Wold Series, not only the tangibles on the

boxscore."
When the Mets showed up at Port St. Lucie,
Fla., in February, they were an entirely differ-
ent team. Since then, they've added Shawon
Dunston, Darryl Hamilton, Orel Hershiser
and Rogers. Benny Agbayani emerged during
the season, and Melvin Mora and Pratt took
star turns in the playoffs.
"I love this team," said Mora, who last year
was playing pro ball in Taiwan. "This is a
great team. I've never played with a team like
this before. Now that I know what goes on in
this league, I'll be better."
Hamilton, acquired just before the July 31
trade deadline, talked about how many players
"ran out of gas," that they were too banged up
at this point to perform up to their abilities.
Piazza and many Mets repeatedly said they
"left it all on the field."
Leiter remembered back to last year, when
the Mets went 0-5 in the last week and fell
one win short of forcing a wild-card playoff.
That, he said, was a "flop."
This wasn't.
"It's a damn good stepping stone to get to
the next level," he said. "It's a great group of
guys. With a tweak here and there, there's no
question we can get to the next level."
The Mets know their weak spots: atrocious
outfield defense and shaky starting pitching.
While Leiter is an ace, Ricky Reed, Masato
Yoshii, Bobby Jones are on and off.
It's not clear if Orel Hershiser will be back.
First, he wants to explore whether Cleveland
wants him as its manager. Rogers' return also
is uncertain, especially after his Game 6 per-
formance.
And there are few pitching options on the
free-agent market, with David Cone perhaps
the best available starter willing to play in
New York. Re-signing John Olerud would
appear to be the first priority.
But on Wednesday, all of that could wait.
About an hour after the game, nearly half
the team was still in the clubhouse, most
wearing orange Mets' T-shirts, so proud of
their accomplishments, even in defeat. It
seemed like they wanted this season to go on
and on.
They had moved the folding chairs set up in
front of each locker and formed a circle.
"Come on, have a beer," Franco yelled to a
teammate across the room.
By now the girlfriends and wives were in,
consoling, just wanting to be part of the
moment.
"I think every guy in this room should be
proud of the way we handled ourselves,"
Franco said. "We're champions in our own

AP PHOTO'
The 1999 Mets refused to die. New York barely made the playoffs, squeezed by the Diamondbacks in the wild card, and almost came back to tie
". ... e games apiece - after being down 3-0 to the Braves.

Buddy Bell accepts Colorado job

~~9'

NVER (AP) - The Colorado
11c es are ready to adopt the Buddy
ystem.
Describing himself a player's manager
vho will emphasize defense and team
:hemistry, Buddy Bell was hired
ednesday as the Colorado Rockies'
iew manager.
Bell, 48, who managed the Detroit
Tigers-from 1996-98, becomes the third
nanager in the
Rockies' seven-year history, succeed-
n Jim Leyland, who retired after this
vc n.
Bell, who worked for the Cincinnati
Reds for the past year, most recently as
director of player development, signed a
htee-year contract believed to be worth
ibout $2.25 million.
Dan O'Dowd, hired as general manag-
:r a month ago, called Bell "the perfect
'it for this ballclub. He knows the game.
-e knows how it should be played, and
S ill demand that from each and every
>Rof'our players. He understands the
mportance of creating an atmosphere
whee every player has the potential to
play to the best of his ability."
Bell, 48, manager of the Detroit Tigers
frm 1996-98, met with O'Dowd on
Monday and Tuesday. He has been con-
sidered the favorite to succeed Jim
Le9land, who retired at the end of the
eason.
Bell played 18 seasons with four
n-r league teams and compiled a 184-

277 record as Detroit's manager before
being fired in September 1998, with
three years left on his annual $550,000
contract.
Bell previously was bench coach for
the Cleveland Indians from 1994-95. He
spent this year as the minor league direc-
tor for the Cincinnati Reds, one of his
fomier teams.
One negotiating key was Bell's will-
ingness to move from his home in
Cincinnati.
The Rockies want to avoid a repeat of
this summer when Leyland lived in the
Colorado clubhouse while his family
stayed in Pittsburgh.
Bell said Monday he is fond of
Cincinnati but "you have to move on
sometime."
He will receive a base salary of about
$550,000 next season, but a radio and
television package will raise that to
around $750,000, the Post reported.

Before meeting formally with Bell,
O'Dowd held interviews with several
other candidates, including Arizona
Diamondbacks bench coach Carlos
Tosca, Cincinnati coach Ken Griffey and
Florida Marlins minor league manager
Lynn Jones.
O'Dowd also spoke with New York
Yankees coach Willie Randolph by
phone. Randolph did not travel to
Denver because the Yankees are playing
in the American League playoffs.
The Rockies began searching for a
manager after Leyland retired with two
years left on a three-year, $6 million
deal.
Leyland, who led Colorado to a disap-
pointing 72-90 record, could remain
with the team in a lesser role.
Atlanta Braves hitting coach Don
Baylor managed the Rockies from their
inception in 1993 until he was fired after
the 1998 season.


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