Those Mets

14-1...METS CELEBRATE PAST, CRINGE AT PRESENT

The Mets made a weekend out of celebrating four members of the best team in franchise history, the 1986 squad that won a club-record 108 games and one of the more dramatic World Series in baseball history. But when the festivities ended, the Mets had to play one of the worst teams in the major leagues, the Arizona Diamondbacks. And in a three-game series, the Mets looked more like the Diamondbacks than the record-setting team that was being honored. After an awful start by Jon Niese on Sunday, the Mets lost, 14-1, to the last-place Diamondbacks, who entered the game with fewer victories than all but two major league teams. Niese and two relievers combined to give up 16 hits, four of them home runs, in what was one of the Mets’ ugliest pitching efforts of the season. The Mets have won one of their last nine series, and the loss dropped them into fourth place in the National League East, at least for a few hours. The loss — far worse than any defeat the 1986 Mets ever experienced — created a sharp change in emotions at Citi Field, where the day began with a mood of warm nostalgia for the Mets’ last championship team. Four key components of that team — General Manager Frank Cashen, Manager Davey Johnson, and the star players Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry — were inducted into the Mets’ Hall of Fame in an on-field ceremony before the game. Each inductee was feted with a video tribute showing highlights from that historic season and gave a brief speech. The fans applauded throughout, reveling in happy memories of accomplishments that have yet to be duplicated. Then the game began, and the 35,014 in attendance came to a sudden realization: this year’s Mets do not resemble the 1986 team. It was actually the second reality check of the weekend. The first came Saturday, when General Manager Omar Minaya neglected to make any deals as the trading deadline came and went. Minaya expressed optimism that he could still make a deal for a player who cleared waivers in August, but the Mets’ lack of aggression, combined with deals made by the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies, could be interpreted as the team realizing its chances to make the playoffs were slim. The series with the Diamondbacks certainly seemed to indicate as much. One of the players whom the Mets did not want to trade was Niese, a 23-year-old left-hander who has been an unlikely stalwart in the team’s rotation. He had given up only nine earned runs in his last six starts before Sunday. Niese (7-5) held the Diamondbacks hitless for three and a third innings Sunday. Then he imploded, allowing five consecutive hits, including a three-run home run by Adam LaRoche. An inning later, Niese surrendered another three-run home run to LaRoche. Coming off the field, the Mets were booed as loudly as the 1986 stars had been cheered before the game. Over all, Niese allowed seven runs, six of them earned, on seven hits and three walks in four and a third innings. His replacement, Elmer Dessens, was no better, allowing two more home runs in two and two-thirds innings. The four home runs allowed matched the Mets’ season high. And although few fans were around to watch Dessens’s replacement, the oft-jeered Oliver Perez, he pitched even worse, allowing four runs on five hits and one walk in two innings. He was booed repeatedly by those who remained. Meanwhile, the team’s struggles at the plate continued. The Mets came into Sunday’s game with a team batting average of .210 since the All-Star Break, losing 11 of 16 games. They mustered only three hits in eight innings against the 23-year-old Diamondbacks starter Daniel Hudson, one of two players acquired from the Chicago White Sox on Friday for starter Edwin Jackson. (NY Times)