Mets set to pack their bags
March 31, 2005 - Pedro Martinez rolled his new Mets suitcase through the clubhouse as if it were an indication of achievement. "See, I think I made the club," he said, just in the way John Lennon ad-libbed at the end of "Get Back" by the Beatles, "...And I hope we passed the audition."

Pedro Martinez

Other Mets embraced their luggage as genuine proof of accomplishment and were delighted. And Victor Diaz loaded his bats and other implements of destruction into a clubhouse shopping cart and rolled it to his car, wishing there had been a larger market for his skills.

Cutdown Day 1 was over. No tears detected, no cheers heard and, really, no surprises, either. Diaz and Aaron Heilman were optioned to the minor leagues, moves that had been anticipated, even though the club is intrigued by Diaz's bat and impressed somewhat by Heilman's March renaissance.

Veteran Gerald Williams and catcher Joe Hietpas, who was 0-for-10 this spring, were reassigned to the minor league complex. And Kerry Robinson was released because there was no need for him at Triple-A.

The day was nothing approaching the Cutdown Day horror once described by former Mets manager George Bamberger. As Bamberger told the story, he had summoned a young, headstrong pitcher to his office late in camp when he was the Brewers' manager in the late '70s.

Before delivering the bad news, Bamberger blew some smoke at the pitcher to soften the news. "Son, you've had a nice spring, showed us that you've got..." The pitcher interrupted him by removing a knife from his back pocket.

Bamberger vividly recalled the words he heard next: "You cut me, I cut you." The manager's response was to step back and say one word aloud: "Hondo."

Frank Howard, then a coach and still 6-foot-8 and 315 pounds of life insurance, entered the office and suggested an alternate means of expression to the young pitcher.

Told of that tale earlier this spring, Willie Randolph wanted to know the sizes and weight classes of his Mets coaches. "No Hondo's here," he said. "And, I hope, no knives."  

Randolph reminisces with old friend
March 30, 2005 - At Mets camp Wednesday, Willie Randolph was greeted by a familiar face, ex-Met Elliott Maddox, who was Randolph's roommate with the Yankees in 1976. Maddox stopped by to congratulate the Mets skipper and express how proud he was of him.

Maddox, who is black, clearly knew the distinction Randolph holds. He hadn't been keeping track. But he had been with the Yankees in Cleveland on April 8, 1975, when Frank Robinson broke the managerial color line with the Indians. He recalled the feeling Wednesday morning.

Maddox, who played three seasons with the Mets, had made his New York debut four years earlier as the Yankees' right fielder, then center fielder. He and Randolph were teammates in 1976 when Maddox joined the team after rehabbing his knee. He had injured the knee as a Yankee playing at Shea Stadium in 1975. Maddox said he has undergone 22 surgeries on the knee since then.

"When I got back to the Yankees [in 1976], I was Willie's roommate once in a while, but more than that, I was his big brother," Maddox said. "I showed him around the league a little. I liked him then. I like him now. And I'm so happy for him."

Randolph recalled the relationship he had 29 years ago. He had learned second base basics from the Pirates and then the subtleties of the position from Sandy Alomar with the Yankees in Spring Training 1976. Now, he and Alomar tutor Kaz Matsui.  

Galarraga retires after 19 years, 399 homers
March 29, 2005 - A personnel assessment no member of the Mets heirachy wanted to touch became a different kind of baseball no-decision Tuesday. When Andres Galarraga stepped away from baseball, ending an extraordinary playing career, the Mets sidestepped a potentially uncomfortable situation. 

Mets' Zambrano has makings of ace
March 24, 2005 - Victor Zambrano is prone to wildness and usually makes up for it by pitching out of trouble, but the Mets would love to see the young right-hander harness his dynamite slider and become a more complete pitcher in 2005. 

Mets, LA make Ishii for Phillips deal official
March 20, 2005 - After losing Steve Trachsel to a back injury, the Mets filled their need for a No. 5 starter by acquiring Kaz Ishii from the Dodgers in exchange for catcher Jason Phillips. 

Trachsel diagnosed with herniated disc
March 15, 2005 - 3/15/2005 | Steve Trachsel, who has pitched more than 173 innings in each of the last nine seasons, could miss up to six months after it was learned the right-hander has a herniated disc. 

Glavine faces more dental work
March 10, 2005 - Tom Glavine can pronounces his S's properly now, and there is no pain lingering from the taxi accident in which he was involved last August. But there is dental pain in his future.

Now that a bone graft is complete and permanent post replacements can be put where the two upper front teeth were knocked out, the lefty has to have holes drilled in the new bone.

"The bone graft was more painful than the accident," Glavine said. "And the drilling's probably not going to be fun. So I want to wait until after the season, probably October, to get it done. Or hopefully November."

Incidentally, Glavine now fastens his seat belt "within the first few rolls of the tires." He was fastening his seat belt when the accident occurred some 30 seconds into his trip. 

Mets notes: Heredia to have hand examined
March 3, 2005 - Southpaw Felix Heredia suffered numbness in his hand while pitching an inning in Wednesday's Grapefruit League opener against Washington and was sent back to New York on Thursday for an examination.