NEW YORK (AP) -This season is sure to end differently than the last two for the New York Mets.
For one thing, the schedule culminates with a home game against Houston, rather than Florida. Second, they’ll be playing at cozy Citi Field, not leaky Shea Stadium.
Both are big reasons for optimism.
It was the feisty Marlins who knocked David Wright, Jose Reyes and the Mets out of playoff contention each of the past two years, beating New York on its home field in the final game of the season.
Now, with Francisco Rodriguez anchoring a rebuilt bullpen, the talented Mets think they can avoid another late meltdown and christen their new park with a championship.
“It’s a new team, plus we’ve got a new stadium. The feeling is everyone is excited,” right fielder Ryan Church said. “We open up a brand new page with Citi Field, a new part of Mets history. I’m just looking forward to it. It’s going to be a special year.”
lubhouse.
“We’ve got the pieces it takes to win it all,” ace pitcher Johan Santana said.
But frustrated Mets fans have learned to be leery – and this team has been favored before.
Those stinging losses to Florida concluded consecutive September collapses that have become a defining hallmark in franchise history, right along with Tom Seaver, Mike Piazza and big Shea.
New York led the NL East by seven games with 17 to play in 2007 before going 5-12 down the stretch in one of baseball’s biggest flops. The tumble began with 17 games remaining again last year – the Mets held first place by a season-high 3 1/2 games before finishing 7-10.
Both times, Philadelphia rallied past New York en route to a division title. Last year, the rival Phillies surged all the way to a World Series championship, too. And in the offseason, Philadelphia ace Cole Hamels called the Mets “choke artists,” the latest in a series of verbal barbs between the teams.
“That’s OK,” Mets manager Jerry Manuel said at spring training. “I’m glad we’re still being mentioned.”
Thoughtful and soft-spoken, Manuel enters his first full season running the team. He took over on an interim basis when Willie Randolph was fired last June and led New York to a 55-38 record the rest of the way, good enough to keep the job.
Now, the Mets need to figure out how to finish.
al two months, a dreadful bullpen was the biggest culprit for last season’s collapse.
New York had 29 blown saves in 72 chances a year ago, including an NL-high 16 after the All-Star break. The club’s 4.25 bullpen ERA ranked 13th in the league.
So general manager Omar Minaya went out and signed Rodriguez to a $37 million, three-year contract after he saved a major league-record 62 games for the Los Angeles Angels. Also at the winter meetings in Las Vegas, Minaya traded for reliever J.J. Putz, an All-Star closer himself in 2007 with Seattle.
Putz will serve as K-Rod’s eighth-inning setup man, giving the Mets an enviable 1-2 punch at the back of the bullpen and turning a glaring team weakness into a sudden strength – at least on paper.
“I think our expectations are probably higher than anybody else’s,” Putz said.
Led by Wright, Reyes and Carlos Beltran, the potent offense scored 799 runs last season, tied with Philadelphia for second-most in the National League behind the Chicago Cubs (855). The lineup looks top-heavy, but New York is hoping for a bounce-back year from second baseman Luis Castillo.
Carlos Delgado is another key. He slumped badly last year until late June, then was unstoppable the rest of the season. Now 36, which hitter will he be in 2009?
in 49 games after he was called up from the minors in August.
“The offense has never been the question. They are going to score a lot of runs. And now the pitching staff, we have to protect the lead,” Rodriguez said.
Outstanding during his first season in New York, Santana leads a capable rotation that includes Mike Pelfrey, Oliver Perez, John Maine and new No. 5 starter Livan Hernandez.
Santana is coming off arthroscopic surgery Oct. 1 on torn cartilage in his left knee. Tightness in his pitching elbow caused a scare early this spring but he’s set to start the season opener Monday in Cincinnati.
Maine missed the stretch drive last year, then had a bone spur shaved in his right shoulder at the end of September. He struggled in Florida but expects to be healthy.
“It’s been a really long spring training, and I think a change of scenery will do everybody some good. We’re ready to go,” Maine said.
So is $800 million Citi Field, an intimate venue designed to invoke the warmth of Ebbets Field, beloved home of the Brooklyn Dodgers until 1957.
Now standing and sparkling in what once was the Shea Stadium parking lot, the new place was set to open Friday night with an exhibition game against Boston. It seats approximately 42,000, down from about 57,000 at Shea.
The old ballpark, by the way, was reduced to rubble. By winning in 2009, maybe the Mets could do the same to their painful memories of the past two seasons.
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AP freelance writer Laurel Pfahler in Port St. Lucie, Fla., contributed to this report.
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