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Mariners vs. Yankees |
Mets vs. Cardinals
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Tuesday, October 17
Payton knows his place -- in World Series
By Jayson Stark
ESPN.com
NEW YORK -- Judging from the amount of champagne flowing in their clubhouse Monday night, a lot of Mets will be waking up Tuesday with a World Series headache.
But none of their heads will hurt quite the way Jay Payton's will hurt.
In the Mets' final at-bat of the National League Championship Series, Payton found a Dave Veres fastball whooshing right for his noggin. And what happened next was reminiscent of Mike Piazza getting nailed by Roger Clemens.
The baseball drilled Payton millimeters from his left eye. And down he went.
But then up he sprang to charge the mound to get to Veres. He got close enough to reach around catcher Eli Marrero and give the Cardinals' closer a little shove. And that was enough to empty the benches for several minutes.
Ultimately, though, peace was restored without a Tigers-White Sox brawl breaking out. And once the bandage on Payton's head had stopped the bleeding, he was able to put what had just happened to him in rational perspective.
"It was just one of those things," Payton said. ?The emotions kind of get to you. When you get hit in the head, it's like a guy walking up and punching you in the face. When you get up, you want to hit somebody. But it wasn't the time or the place."
Afterward, Payton understood just how lucky he was -- in more ways than one.
"I was able to turn away from it, fortunately," he said. "If I didn't turn my head, I probably catch it right in my eye. But luckily, I was able to get my head turned, and it caught part of the helmet."
Unlike the Mariners and Yankees, there were no vows of revenge later. Asked if he thought this was intentional, Mets manager Bobby Valentine shook his head.
"I talked to Mike Hampton, who knows Veres really well," Valentine said. "And he said he was sure that it wasn't. And when I met with Tony (La Russa) out on the field there, Tony assured me -- on everything that's sacred -- that that was nothing more than an accident."
Still, it seemed as if every visitor to the Mets' clubhouse after the game felt a need to seek Payton out and make sure this wasn?t as terrifying as it looked. And over and over, Payton told them: "It?s baseball. I'm OK. And I'm in the World Series. So how bad can I be?
"This didn?t spoil it," he said. "Yeah, my head hurts. But I'll take a lump on my head to go to the World Series any time."
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