National League Playoff Notebook : Darling Stays Mostly Undercover in Houston

“Houston Police Department 4, Mets 0.”

The T-shirt is still a popular item here, nearly 2 1/2 months since an incident involving four New York Mets players at a local drinking spot, Cooter’s.

Two of the Mets, pitcher Ron Darling and second baseman Tim Teufel, still face aggravated assault charges stemming from the incident, which also involved some off-duty Houston police officers working as security guards at the tavern.

This is the first time the Mets have returned here as a team since the incident, and Darling said he has spent most of his time holed up in the team’s hotel.

“I haven’t gotten any phone calls,” Darling said. “I get more when I go to Chicago and Wrigley Field. I usually get two or three death threats a series there.”

Darling and Teufel received only scattered booing in pregame introductions before the game.

“Somebody asked me if it would be tough getting booed when I got introduced,” Darling said. “I play in New York. I’m used to it.

“It’s sort of bad that one incident marred my reputation here,” Darling said. “One of my teammates said it was my fault for going out with an infielder.

“I’ve always pitched well here, I’ve always enjoyed coming to this city. There’s a few great restaurants, I have a lot of friends here, a lot of fun here.”

Even though he still faces a court date this winter, Darling said he could appreciate a little of the humor in the situation.

“I almost laughed when they came out with the T-shirts,” he said. “It was done in a tactful way, not malicious. Compared to some of the press we’ve gotten elsewhere, it wasn’t so bad.”

Add Darling: Someone mentioned that the T-shirt was a favorite of Boston pitcher Roger Clemens, a Houston native.

“That’s good,” Darling said. “He deserved what he got last night.”

Clemens lost to the Angels, 8-1, in the worst outing of his career.

Astro General Manager Dick Wagner, often held responsible for the dismantling of Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine, told reporters he now regrets firing John McNamara as manager in 1982.

“The one mistake I made in 1982 was that I lost patience with John,” Wagner said. “I think I took my frustrations out on him when I made the change.”

Wagner said he and McNamara had agreed that the team should go with young players instead of some of its established veterans, but Wagner had a change of heart when the team started off badly. The Reds went 61-101, and the fall guy became McNamara.

“What I should have done is gone back to him and said, ‘John, we agreed to go with the young players, let’s go ahead and do it.’ ”

Wagner said that when Boston clinched the American League East title, he called McNamara, congratulated him, and expressed regret for his actions.

Houston third base coach Denis Menke said he did not see Bobby Grich of the Angels berate third-base coach Moose Stubing for failing to put up a “stop” sign in Wednesday’s 9-2 loss to the Red Sox. Menke said he has never been shown up on a field by a player and wouldn’t like it if he were.

“A lot of players can mess up on their own,” Menke said. “Until a guy like Grich goes over to third base and coaches himself, it should be hard for him to criticize any third base coach.”

And if a player acted that way to Menke?

“I might have gone after the player myself,” he said.

NL Playoff Notes

Vice President George Bush threw out the first pitch and it reached the plate on one bounce. No word yet on how that affected his 1988 Presidential chances, although Bush reacted by covering his head in embarrassment. . . . Plate umpire Doug Harvey said after the game that Mike Scott’s split-fingered fastball “is the most unhittable pitch I’ve seen in 25 years of baseball.”. . . Team publicist Toby Zwikel is the only Dodger official in attendance here. Vice President Al Campanis elected to stay home. . . . Pitching matchups tonight: Met left-hander Bob Ojeda, 18-5 during the regular season, will face the Astros’ Nolan Ryan (12-8). Ojeda was 1-1 with a 1.35 ERA against the Astros this season; Ryan was 0-3 with a 5.16 ERA in four starts against the Mets.