Minds on Utley incident before Mets game
It was easy to forget, with all of the focus on Ruben Tejada, Chase Utley, intent and justice, that the New York Mets were set to play their first home playoff game in nearly nine years Monday.
Yet even as Jonathan Niese, David Wright and Daniel Murphy — the last Mets to play at Shea Stadium — finally saw bunting adorn their stadium in October, much of the conversation revolved around just how ugly the crowd, revved up by two days of chatter that Utley hadn’t been punished severely enough for his slide into Tejada, would be.
Accordingly, though it is difficult to separate typical post-9/11 security measures at huge events from the particulars of this one, the New York Police Department was a constant presence hours before the game, in and outside of the stadium. Bomb-sniffing dogs roamed the premises, wandering past even Mr. Met’s changing room.
One officer, asked if he expected anything out of the ordinary Monday night, noted he had been trained to handle terrorism.
“We’re ready for al- Qaeda,” he said. “I think we can handle Chase Utley.”
Asked about security, the Mets organization released a statement saying, “While the details of our security are by their very nature confidential, our top priority for every game at Citi Field is to provide a safe and enjoyable environment for all fans in attendance.”
Still, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said most of the conversation with Utley in the two days since the incident surrounded his level of comfort with the protection provided.
“Chase’s played a long time, played a lot of big games, so I don’t think you worry about him being ready for the moment,” Mattingly said. “You worry about does all that other stuff get in there. MLB security, MLB taking care of all the issues. ... In today’s society, you can’t take that lightly, so it’s about making sure that he’s comfortable, his family’s comfortable — really, that all our families are comfortable.”
When the Dodgers took their places along the third-base line for pregame introductions, they understood their role — to be mercilessly booed.
Coaches were booed. The bullpen catcher was booed. The traveling secretary was booed. And, oh, man, were the players booed.
Some, such as Zack Greinke, smiled and waved. Utley stood stone-faced amid the extended booing allowed by a Citi Field camera that lingered on him.
Whatever would be coming, both managers had taken steps to prepare their players for possible interruptions in the proceedings, via retaliation and fallout from it. Mattingly talked to his extra guys about how to handle any possible role in it, he said. And Terry Collins said he would pull aside certain players to make sure they focused on the task at hand.
“I was with Matt yesterday because we had the press conference here ... and we talked about some things,” Collins said of starting pitcher Matt Harvey. “And said, ‘Look, you’ve got to go pitch, man. We all know who you are and what you are, but we can’t let this control us. We’ve got to go out and win a baseball game.’ So he gets it. He understands it. ... But, yeah, I’m going to spend a little time with some guys to make sure they stay ready to play baseball.”
Between all of that potential for distraction and the preparation for the game itself, just how long did Collins permit himself to drink in coming to the office at Citi Field not for one of the 810 games he managed with the Mets and 1,688 total prior to managing in October? Not very long.
“When we clinched, I took one minute to say, OK, all the work we’ve put in here, all the work that you’ve put in for your whole career, it’s well worth it,” Collins said. “But I’m able to put things behind me real fast, OK? I look ahead.
“And so, I took that minute to say, wow, it was all worth it, now I’ve got to get ready to win some games in the playoffs, and of course, after Saturday night I got a big challenge tonight. I’ve got to keep things under control.”