Now I see why you feel it is ok for a player to do that, because a mets player did it. If that were a Yankee one you would want to hang him from the highest gallows.
Mets blanked by Astros
Angry Randolph benches Reyes; offense manages four hits
HOUSTON -- Even before his abundant and conspicuous skills propelled Jose Reyes into international baseball prominence, he was identified routinely as the force most critical to the Mets' offense, the player whose on-field demeanor established tone and tempo for his teammates and whose energy fueled colleagues and made opponents marvel.
"You can't take your eyes off that kid, Reyes," Braves manager Bobby Cox has said. "He does so much."
Eyes follow Reyes when he does so little as well. So when he didn't run out a ground ball Friday night, his inaction hardly went unrecognized -- or unpunished. The Mets shortstop, the National League All-Star shortstop, watched his nearly foul ground ball turn into the third out of the Mets' eighth inning. Then he watched the remainder of their 4-0 loss to the Astros from the dugout bench, sent there by a miffed and disappointed manager, intolerant of partial effort.
Willie Randolph excused his leadoff man before Reyes returned to the dugout following his misdemeanor -- not an unprecedented one. Then when nine thoroughly unpleasant innings were complete, the manager excused nothing about Reyes' lack of effort.
"I won't tolerate that from anyone," Randolph said. "It doesn't matter who it is."
The loss, another to a left-handed pitcher -- Wandy Rodriguez -- had underscored the Mets' need for right-handed-hitting reinforcements. And another unsuccessful start by winless rookie Mike Pelfrey emphasized the team's need for a productive and healthy starting pitcher.
The primary issues on Friday night, though, were Reyes' transgression and his manager's forceful response. Randolph wouldn't stand still for Reyes' standing still. He pulled no punches after he had pulled his shortstop.
"If you can't get out of the box," Randolph said several times, "you don't play."
The manager indicated that the punishment he imposed doesn't necessarily end with one missed inning. Reyes could be excluded from the lineup Saturday as well, potential discipline several teammates privately endorsed Friday night.
"I don't know yet. We'll see," Randolph said before leaving Minute Maid Park. "I have to sleep on it."
Reyes acknowledged his mistake and its impact.
"With my speed, when I slow down, it doesn't look good," he said. "No matter what the score is, I have to run. I have to run every time.
"I just froze. Hopefully it doesn't happen again. Hopefully I don't do that again."
He said the ball he hit, batting right-handed, appeared to him to roll foul. Third baseman Mike Lamb played it, and when Reyes appeared tethered to the batter's box, he took several steps toward first base and made his throw, leaving Rodriguez three outs to achieve before he accomplished his first big-league shutout.
Reyes saw Randolph direct him to the bench. Ruben Gotay replaced him. The manager and shortstop didn't speak. Third-base coach Sandy Alomar spoke with Reyes in the dugout. The shortstop appeared agitated, but he said he was angry with himself, no one else. Randolph was clearly irritated.
"He has so much talent, but that's not enough," he said. "This is a maturity [issue]. Now is the time you become a winner. He's not there yet."
Randolph said removing Reyes, in a double switch, was in response only to what Reyes did in the eighth inning and was not related to Reyes' not running out his ground ball in the sixth inning. The manager had removed Reyes in the eighth inning on Tuesday night in Denver as well. He said that move was to give Reyes an inning off.
But even before Friday night, teammates had said Randolph had spoken with Reyes following the Tuesday night game. The shortstop had downshifted en route to first base, a decision that became more conspicuous when he accelerated after an off-line throw to first.
"I'm pretty sure Willie said something to him after that," one player said Friday.
David Wright tactfully acknowledged his teammate's mistake and presented it in a positive way.
"I'm sure he'll learn from it," he said.
And team sage Julio Franco acknowledged he intends to speak with Reyes, "probably after the [All-Star] break. I want him to think," Franco said.
When the Tuesday and Friday episodes were linked, and the suggestion was that Reyes had developed a rap, Randolph resisted.
"It's not a rap," he said. "He usually runs hard all the time, that's the key."
Reyes took no issue with his manager's action, acknowledging he would have imposed the same discipline. "He's the manager, he makes the decisions," he said. "It was my fault."
Reyes was one of four hitless Mets starters. Rodriguez (6-7) allowed merely four hits and one walk. He struck out eight and pitched the first complete game of his career, too. The shutout was the third against the Mets. The others were by left-handed pitchers as well -- Barry Zito and Johan Santana. The Mets have lost nine of the last 14 games in which they have been opposed by a left-handed starter.
Rodriguez won for the fifth time in nine starts at home. He has lost twice at Minute Maid Park. His ERA there is 1.81, the second lowest home ERA in the National League. He had pitched seven scoreless innings in beating the Rockies at home in his previous start.
The defeat, the Mets' fifth in six games, was as much a matter of Pelfrey pitching ineffectively as it was the Mets not hitting, though. Pelfrey made his eighth start and took his seventh loss, allowing all four runs in six innings. He walked two, struck out five and surrendered seven hits.
He and Randolph saw indications of improvement and greater confidence.
"I'm continuing to get better, but I'd like to get a win," Pelfrey said.
The last Mets pitcher to lose as many decisions without a victory in a season was John Franco, who had an 0-8 record in 1998. The last Mets starter to have more losses without a victory in one season was Anthony Young, who lost his first 13 decisions in 1993.
Young's losing was a prominent story line 14 years ago; Pelfrey's isn't. It certainly wasn't Friday night. In the world of Willie Randolph, not running is more critical than not winning.
Marty Noble is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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