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Mariners vs. Yankees |
Mets vs. Cardinals
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Monday, October 16
NLCS notebook: Mets want new stadium
By Jayson Stark
ESPN.com
NEW YORK -- It was one of the biggest nights in the history of Shea Stadium. But will Monday also be one of the final big nights in the history of Shea Stadium?
Mets CEO Fred Wilpon said Monday that even as a Subway Series loomed right over the next No. 7 train platform, talks were underway that could render both New York stadiums obsolete.
Wilpon said that "active on-going conversations" were taking place between the Mets, the Yankees and the city that could lead to the construction of a new stadium for the Mets in Queens and a new Yankee Stadium at a site to be determined.
The Mets favor a retractable domed stadium that would be located adjacent to Shea, which then could be either torn down or renovated as "a state-of-the-art football stadium," Wilpon said. Asked if the Mets preferred that site because it was the only site or because it was the best site, he replied: "We think it's among the best sites.'
"You can dream about playing in Manhattan," Wilpon said. "But we don't think that's reasonable. I don't think you can find many places in Manhattan where you could build a stadium."
George Steinbrenner, of course, has long talked about trying to build a stadium in New York. And that's just one reason that the Yankees and Mets might not get their new parks at the same time -- if they get them at all.
"I would hope we could do it (get the go-ahead on new stadiums) at the same time," Wilpon said. "But I don't know that that's the case. They have different issues than we do."
Wilpon also said that while both teams are talking to the city simultaneously, "there are no formal ties." So it's possible one team could get its stadium construction started before the other.
Despite all this, Wilpon was careful to stop short of saying the Mets were "close" to a new stadium deal.
"It's a difficult process in New York," he said. "That's the business I'm in, you know -- development. I know people who see a new building going up and they'll ask, 'How long did it take to build?' And I say, 'It took us 26 months for the construction, but it took 35 months of planning."
So Wilpon termed the new parks "a possibility, not a probability." But a Subway Series and all it entails might well change the probabilities.
"It can't hurt," he said. "It can only help."
Extra bases
The Cardinals shook up their lineup for their second go-round against Mike Hampton. J.D. Drew was out of the lineup, replaced by Ray Lankford. Tony La Russa also started Placido Polanco at third base instead of Fernando Tatis and moved him up to second in the order. Edgar Renteria was dropped to sixth in the order and Carlos Hernandez to the No. 8 hole.
La Russa said he wanted to get Polanco "an early at-bat against Hampton" because of his good numbers against Hampton (10-for-23) and because he's "one of our best hitters against left-handed pitchers." La Russa said that while he thinks Drew "has stuff ... I like the way Ray swings the bat" and wanted to give him a shot to start against Hampton.
Wilpon was quoted in the New York Daily News as saying that a new deal for manager Bobby Valentine will "get done." But he was dodging questions about Valentine's status before Game 5. When asked about his manager, he replied: "Did you just ask if it was going to rain? I think it is going to rain. That's what you asked, right?"
Not only did the Mets become the first team in postseason history to hit four straight doubles Sunday night. But no National League team has ever hit more than four straight doubles in any game -- postseason or regular season. Last time it happened: April 13, 1997, when the Cardinals did it against the Astros.
The Cardinals' Game 5 starter, Pat Hentgen, was only the fourth pitcher since 1969 to not start in any of his team's first seven playoff games -- and then be chosen to start in a later game. The last one was Rocky Coppinger, for Baltimore against the Yankees in Game 4 of the 1996 ALCS.
The Mets were trying Monday to undo a very strange trend in the NLCS: Before them, the last five teams to take a three-games-to-one lead in an NLCS all lost Game 5. Those five were the '99 Braves (against the Mets), the '98 Padres (against the Braves), the '96 Cardinals (against the Braves), the '92 Braves (against the Pirates) and the '90 Reds (against the Pirates). Before this year, the only team in NLCS history to win a Game 5 after winning three of the first four was the '89 Giants (against the Cubs).
The 11 extra-base hits Sunday in Game 4 were tied for the second-most in any postseason game ever played. The record is 14, by the Indians and Red Sox in last year's ALDS. The other game with 11 was Game 5 of the 1906 World Series, between the Cubs and White Sox. Frank Isbell hit four doubles for the White Sox in that one, in case it had skipped your memory.
Spotted outside the door of a Shea Stadium luxury suite Monday: "The Hillary Doormat." It featured a color photo of famed New York senatorial candidate Hillary Clinton on the center of the mat, accompanied by the quote: "I've always been a Yankee fan."
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