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Agbayani: Prediction just a joke

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 21, 2000

NEW YORK -- Credit Benny Agbayani with the first error of the World Series.

Seems the Mets outfielder spent part of Thursday's off-day on the talk-show circuit, visiting with radio jock Howard Stern and TV host Regis Philbin. Asked by each for a prediction, Agbayani said he thought the Mets would in five games, and didn't think twice about what he said.

At least not until Friday's New York Post made it front-page news:

"Mets slugger Agbayani: WE'LL WIN IT IN 5."

"I was just joking," Agbayani said over and over Friday. "If I was able to predict what was going to happen, I wouldn't be playing baseball."

Mets manager Bobby Valentine joked that he tried to take the heat off Agbayani, asking him which game the Mets were going to lose.

The Yankees, for the most part, didn't make that big a deal of Agbayani's comment. "Maybe they will (win in five) and he's just smarter than the rest of us," bench coach Don Zimmer said.

But pitcher David Cone said the incident provided a telling example of the dangers of an all-New York World Series.

"You could see how naive some guys are," he said. "They make an innocent mistake, and it's front-page news."

NOW BATTING: Valentine threw another changeup Friday, deciding to start Todd Pratt at catcher tonight and use Mike Piazza as the designated hitter.

Asked why Piazza would be the DH, Valentine deadpanned: "He's not catching and I'd like to get his bat in the lineup."

Actually, he said the main reason is that he considers Pratt, who did not get one at-bat in the NLCS, the best right-handed hitter among the non-starters. Valentine figured to use Pratt behind the plate because he is much better at throwing out runners than Piazza.

"I was starting to get spider webs and cobwebs on me," Pratt said. "It's nice to feel I can contribute again."

The choice of Pratt was bad news for former Devil Ray Bubba Trammell, who is 7-for-18 against Yankees starter Andy Pettitte but will start the game on the bench.

FIRST AT SECOND: The Yankees unveiled a mild surprise too. While manager Joe Torre decided to keep Chuck Knoblauch at DH, he will start Jose Vizcaino at second base ahead of Luis Sojo. Vizcaino has had success against Mets starter Al Leiter (a .526 average), and Torre said he considers Vizcaino and Sojo "interchangeable" defensively."

REMEMBER ME?: This is a big series for Mets starter Al Leiter. Since he grew up in New Jersey, there is a lot of emotion regarding the Subway Series angle. There is also revenge. Leiter was a second-round draft pick of the Yankees in 1984, but pitched only 22 games for them before being traded to Toronto (for Jesse Barfield) in April 1989. Leiter has World Series experience with the Blue Jays and Marlins, going 1-0 with a 6.11 ERA in five appearances (two starts). Pettitte is 2-1 with a 4.98 ERA in four World Series starters. Overall, he is 8-4, 4.89 in the post-season.

BACK IN THE SWING: Jose Canseco will be put back on the Yankees active roster, with the possibility that he could pinch hit in the games at Shea Stadium or DH if Knoblauch is moved to second in Game 2. "Hopefully I'll get an at-bat," Canseco said. "You're happy any time you can help out your team."

DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN: Don Larsen, who pitched a perfect game in the last Subway Series in 1956, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch tonight to Yogi Berra, his catcher in that game. ... New York native Billy Joel will perform the national anthem before tonight's game.

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Gary Shelton