PORT ST. LUCIE – Palm trees danced to the tune of a loud wind as the Florida sun played peek-a-boo with the clouds. Michael Manchise, all 61 pounds of him, locked in on the yonder hitter, identifiable at any distance.
Mets cap on head, game glove bearing multiple Mets signatures on left hand, Manchise, 8, readied himself beyond the fence in right-center. He tracked favorite player Mike Piazza’s bomb. His dad hollered, “Two hands Mike, two hands!”
Michael didn’t account for the dip in the grass. He stumbled forward and had no shot to catch it above his head. Enter instincts. Basket catch. A small gathering roared, though not nearly as loudly as Mookie Wilson from the mound 30 minutes earlier when the kid caught Roger Cedeno’s home run and fell back, over a temporary fence beyond the outfield fence on a different field.
“He’s having some day,” beamed Vincent Manchise, the proud father of the family from Manorville, L.I.
Can’t say the same for Michael’s sister, Joann, 11. Tough spring. She had to pick a new favorite player when Robin Ventura was traded to the dreaded Yankees. Her choice: Joe McEwing. The problem: He’s not famous enough to have his own poster.
“She’s leaving the Ventura poster up in her room until McEwing has one,” Vincent said. “We’re going to Tampa to Busch Gardens. I told her while we’re over there I could take her to Yankee camp to see Robin Ventura. She said there is no way she would ever go to Yankee camp.”
She’ll go on the wild rides at Busch Gardens, some of which Michael can’t take.
“You have to be 54 inches tall,” Vincent said. “I measured him before we came down. He’s only 53 inches. Missed by one inch.”
Extreme baseball families like the Manchises line the fences at workouts during the early days of spring training. They want to hear only good news. They are certain this is the year.
Extreme baseball families have no problem with the spin the Mets put yesterday on Armando Benitez. It’s best when closers, like third base coaches, aren’t the story of the day. When they are, it usually means they have blown a lead the way Benitez blew leads of 5-1 and 4-1 against the Braves in one week late last season. Or show up late.
Benitez worked out for the first time yesterday, three days after the rest of the pitching staff.
“Personal business,” Benitez said. “I apologized.”
For his arrival time, not his performance.
“Some people are mad at me because I have a couple blown saves,” Benitez said. “I had 43 saves in 46 chances. Only three blown saves all year. I understand the fans want to see New York win, but you have to understand, too, that we are human.”
Several teams called Mets GM Steve Phillips about Benitez. He hung onto the talented closer whose reputation for blowing big games started in Baltimore. Now is no time to trade Benitez.
He does his best work in the first four months of the season. It would be bold of the Mets to consider dealing him at the trading deadline, projecting another postseason collapse. They won’t.
Fingers crossed, they hope the closer who showed up late for spring training will show up late in the regular season and beyond. Keep ’em crossed.