Ya Gotta Be Kidding! Phillies trying to lift

PORT ST. LUCIE — The Phillies are stealing signs from the Mets. One of the walls at the Phillies’ spring training home in Clearwater, Fla., is emblazoned with the famous Tug McGraw quote “Ya gotta believe!” a slogan the reliever coined during the Mets’ improbable run to the 1973 World Series.

When McGraw died in 2004, the Mets wore the slogan on their uniforms in his memory. But the Phillies have tried to lay some claim to the slogan, too. In 1974, McGraw was traded to the Phillies. He recorded the final out of the 1980 Series for Philly’s first championship. It’s been painted in the hallway at their spring training complex between images of McGraw from 1980 and Ryan Howard in 2008, the year the Phils last won it all.

The slogan was trademarked by the Tug McGraw Foundation in 2011, so technically it belongs to neither team. An MLB.com writer posted images of the slogan Tuesday and it was met with criticism from the Mets and outraged Mets fans. In response, and adding fuel to the division rivalry, the Mets tweeted “Ya Gotta Be Kidding.”

GLAD TO BE BACK

Before he decided to have surgery last summer, Neil Walker got some assurance from the Mets. Sandy Alderson did not guarantee the second baseman, who was heading into free agency for the first time, that the team would make him a qualifying offer. But the GM did give him some comfort.

“They said we don’t know exactly what we’re going to do, but there is a pretty good chance that the qualifying offer will be there if you heal to the point where we feel comfortable,” Walker said Wednesday. “The way it turned out, this is the best place and how the market worked out, I am very happy that I took the qualifying offer.”

The 31-year-old switch hitter had surgery to repair a herniated disc in his lower back