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Mets' wild ride comes to a disappointing end

[AP photo] Mets pitcher Al Leiter (22) reacts as he leaves the mound after giving up two runs on a single by Yankees' Luis Sojo during the ninth inning of Game 5 of the World Series Thursday at Shea Stadium. Mets catcher Mike Piazza, left, and manager Bobby Valentine stand on the mound.

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 27, 2000

NEW YORK -- The Mets came back from adversity, from injury, from distractions through the season.

But they couldn't come back to beat the Yankees, ending their wild wild-card ride with a Game 5 loss on Thursday.

"There's a lot of heavy hearts in our clubhouse right now," manager Bobby Valentine said. "I'm very proud of the team. They set out to get here. They also wanted to win."

Still, the Mets had plenty to be proud of. They won 94 games, one fewer than the Braves, then eliminated the only two NL teams with better records, the Giants and Cardinals, in the playoffs.

"I don't think your season is a failure if you get to the World Series and lose," Mets general manager Steve Phillips said.

M-V-P!: Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter was named Series MVP for hitting .409 with two homers and a five-game Series record of 19 total bases. "You could have picked a name out of a hat," Jeter said. "It seems like we have a group of 25 MVPs."

BUBBA MEETS BIFF: Thursday turned out to be a big night for former Devil Ray Bubba Trammell. First he taped a spot with Biff Henderson, the famous sidekick from the Late Show with David Letterman, that will air Monday. Then he started in the Mets biggest game of the season, going 1-for-4 with a walk and scoring the Mets first run.

Trammell seemed more nervous about taping the Letterman spot than making his first post-season start. Henderson inquired of Trammell about which stadium had the drunkest fans, then asked Trammell, "Have you ever had a teammate pat you in the a-- a little too long?" Said Trammell: "Not that I can recall."

SUNSET FOR ZIMMER?: It has become almost a rite of fall, questioning whether Don Zimmer will return for another season in uniform. Zimmer, who will be 70 in January, said he hasn't decided.

"I don't know what I'm going to do, and if I did I would tell somebody," Zimmer said Thursday. "I have an apartment up in Westchester that I have year-round and the landlady there is waiting for me to tell her if I'll be back next year."

Zimmer, a long-time Treasure Island resident, said he'll talk with his wife, Soot. "I hope he comes back," manager Joe Torre said. "But you know him; he's emotional."

FEELING AT HOME: What's good enough for the rest of baseball isn't good enough for the Yankees. Not George Steinbrenner's Yankees, anyway.

Steinbrenner decided that the furniture that every other team makes do with in the cramped visiting clubhouse at Shea Stadium wasn't going to work for his team, so he had a truckload of chairs, two training tables and a leather couch from Yankee Stadium shipped over on Wednesday morning.

Ironically, the couch was among the things damaged when water from a burst pipe flooded the clubhouse during Wednesday's game. The clubhouse was clean and dry, but, according to reports, somewhat aromatic on Thursday.

WHAT'S THAT?: It used to be that the loudest noise at Shea Stadium came from low-flying jets on their way to or from La Guardia airport. But the music coming out of the new sound system may have topped that. "I like rock concerts," Yankees rightfielder Paul O'Neill said, "so when I say it's loud, it's loud."

MISCELLANY: The teams combined for 88 strikeouts, most in a five-game Series. ... The championship was the 26th for the Yankees, more than any other pro sports franchise. The Montreal Maroons/Canadiens won 23 Stanley Cups. No other baseball franchise has won more than nine. ... The only other teams to win as many as three straight titles: the 1949-53 Yankees, the 1936-39 Yankees and the 1972-74 A's. ... The championship was the 63rd for a New York team. ... National ratings for Fox's broadcasts of the first four games fell 24 percent from last year, keeping the Series on pace to be the lowest rated.

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Gary Shelton