The tabloids, of course, had absolutely no mercy. They even agreed on exactly the same back-page screamer of a headline:
“CLOD HUNDLEY!”
Todd Hundley, a man of uncommon grace, whose fourth game as a left-fielder for the Mets was an inglorious and humiliating butcher job that accounted for all the Phillies’ runs in a 4-2 win Thursday night, was grimly, gamely, admirably back in left again Friday night. With a smile on his face. And with dread in his heart.
The Mets really have no other choice.
In the misfortune of Hundley and in the failure of Mike Piazza to instantly transform the Mets into wild-card contenders is an object lesson for the Phillies that screams as loudly as the tabloid headlines.
The Mets have committed exactly the sort of miscalculations that the Phillies are trying to avoid.
New York has traded for the big-ticket item and is playing a man out of position, hoping to cash in now and worry about the long-range implications later. The Phillies are not waiting until tomorrow to worry about tomorrow. They are insistent that they will not deviate from their build-with-youth commitment. All they need do is look at the Mets to see the wisdom in the path they have chosen.
The Mets, whose desperation and frustration is only deepened by the raging success of the Yankees, gambled that they could make a run at the postseason and to do so were willing to trade away promising young prospects for Piazza. Who, of course, is a catcher. As is Hundley. Two players, only one chest protector.
Hundley has only just returned to active duty after surgery on his right elbow. He certainly isn’t ready to make a catcher’s throw, and may never be again. But his bat, swung from both sides, is a boomer. Room must be found for him.
Conventional baseball wisdom is that the only two positions you can “hide” a player are at first and in left, and the Mets already have John Olerud, who is their best hitter, at first. In actual fact, there is no safe place on a major-league field. Inevitably, the ball will find you.
It found Hundley, again, again and again Thursday night, and there ensued grievous misjudgments, a dropped pop fly and an egregious succession of errant throws. The Phillies gleefully ran wild. There is no sympathy when the game is on. Hundley was a wounded zebra, and the Phillies reacted like starving lions.
The Mets fans, however, did lay off Hundley in an impressive display of tolerance and forbearance. They forgave him for striking out in the first inning Friday night with a man on, and when Kevin Jordan lifted a fly to him in the second inning and he made a routine catch, they cheered him. They were genuine cheers, too, not derisive ones.
They did not accord Piazza the same leniency.
It is eight weeks since the Mets acquired Piazza and they entered Saturday one game below .500 since he joined them. The fans have to vent on someone, and Piazza is the convenient target.
He isn’t doing anything to dissuade them. While he had a bases-empty double Friday night, Piazza is not hitting with runners in scoring position. His first four times up Thursday night, he left strandees, and each trot back to the dugout was through a gauntlet of booing that, while not quite Philadelphian in volume and ferocity, was fairly impressive nonetheless.
This is a relatively new experience for Piazza. In Southern California, he was idolized, not roasted.
As for Hundley, you feel for him, but at the same time he also bears responsibility because he forced the Mets’ hand, demanding a no-trade clause. In return, he said he would be willing to learn to play left. The Mets agreed, reluctantly, knowing if they can’t or don’t keep Piazza and if Hundley is never able to catch again, they are left without some of their best prospects plus a catcher.
Or left-fielder.
Hundley obliged every interview request Friday night. He even submitted to TV interviews before and after batting practice. He even had a smile for one particularly loud and persistent taunter who serenaded him with vituperation from the very first row. I don’t recall any athlete dealing with such embarrassment with such grace.
He smiled.
“As you may have heard, maybe the best thing about baseball is that you only have to wait until the next day,” he said.
Sometimes that’s the good news. Sometimes it’s the bad.
