Baseball : Johnson Calls His Players, Raises Heat on Mets’ Card-Playing

The New York Mets have had no problems handling the Cards, but Manager Davey Johnson thought they were spending too much time handling the cards.

In the wake of a 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates Monday night, cutting the Mets’ lead over the Pirates in the National League’s Eastern Division to 3 1/2 games, Johnson called his first clubhouse meeting of the season, lecturing his team about concentrating during games and proper preparation.

He said he will no longer allow clubhouse card games after 6 p.m. The Mets previously were allowed to play until 7, about 30 minutes before most night games.

“It’s about time,” one Met told a visiting Los Angeles writer. “This place has been a . . . casino.”

Said Ron Darling: “We’re not here to play cards. Some of these guys can start reading books or something as a new hobby. I know there’ve been days when I’d go out to the bullpen to warm up at 7:10, and they’re still playing cards when I leave. I’m not pointing fingers or placing blame. I do some card playing myself.”

Johnson made one thing clear: He’s no joker.

“Baseball is something we have to start taking seriously, like a business meeting we should be better prepared for,” he said.

“There have been too many times that I’ve heard our guys asking each other in the dugout, ‘What’s this pitcher got? What’s he throw?’ I mean, we’re already two or three innings into the game and they’re still asking.

“I’ve never put many restrictions on this team. I try to treat them like men. I hate to do this, but if they’re not doing their homework, then I’ve got to make sure they start.”

The Mets had lost four in a row at that point, but they responded to win the final two games of the series with the Pirates.

The night that Johnson lectured his team, Kevin Elster and Howard Johnson had some thoughts of their own. They decided to treat their slumbering bats to a little tender loving care. Each took his bat to bed with him. In fact, Elster took his to lunch with him the next day and was needled by a fellow diner, who pointed to the bat and said:

“Hey, man, you’re in Pittsburgh, not New York. You don’t need that here.”

The bats responded. Elster went 3 for 7 with 2 home runs and 5 runs batted in in the final two games of the series. Johnson also hit 2 homers and went 3 for 11.

Met catcher Gary Carter, still in quest of his 300th homer, hasn’t resorted to such gimmickry, but he may. He hasn’t hit one in his last 136 at-bats and said it has become a frustration, a mind game.

“Seems everyone I talk to reminds me of it,” he said. “When people tell me ‘Try not to think of 300,’ what can I do except think about it?”

Now leading the National League fan vote at first base, Will Clark is about to become the first San Francisco Giant to start an All-Star game since Chris Speier in 1973.

Clark’s backup will be Andres Galarraga of the Montreal Expos. Whitey Herzog, the St. Louis Cardinals’ manager who will manage the National League team, has already told Galarraga that he will be selected.

Herzog has taken some criticism for that, the league office insisting that it has the responsibility for informing players.

“What’s wrong with me telling him he’s going to be on the All-Star team?” Herzog asked.

“He’s going to Cooperstown, too.”

While Galarraga has continued to improve, his Expos continue to struggle.

“I don’t think enough guys on this team are busting their butt,” pitcher Dennis Martinez said.

Said Tim Raines: “Whenever anyone on this team says something stupid, it’s generally Dennis.”

Reliable sources say that:

--The Oakland Athletics, not wanting to break up a winning hand while it is still being played, refused to give the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres permission to talk with third base coach Jim Lefebvre about their managerial positions.

--The Giants, taking it slow and keeping it quiet this time, are inching toward an agreement that will produce a new stadium in an area south of San Mateo near Redwood City.

--Milwaukee Brewers’ General Manager Harry Dalton has entered the commissioner’s derby. Dalton informed Brewer owner Bud Selig, who is co-chairman of the committee that will nominate a successor to Peter Ueberroth, that he is interested. National League President Bart Giamatti remains the favorite.

--Giamatti phoned Pittsburgh Manager Jim Leyland to instruct him to stop smoking in the dugout.

Shortstop Mark Lewis of Hamilton, Ohio, the second player selected in the June draft and recipient of a $188,000 signing bonus from the Cleveland Indians, made an inauspicious debut at Burlington (N.C.) of the Appalachian League. The game went 27 innings, and Lewis was 1 for 12 with 2 errors.

Dallas Green, former president of the Chicago Cubs, has been blasting the Cubs and Manager Don Zimmer on his Philadelphia talk show.

Responded Zimmer: “When was he last in our clubhouse? How does he know what’s going on? If you listen to Dallas long enough, you’d think he invented the game.”

Says Greg Maddux, the Cub ace: “Regardless of who’s pitching, our everyday lineup is as good as anybody’s. Look at the averages. It’s got to be a little scary coming in here (Wrigley Field) to pitch. I know I’d be scared.”

With a suddenly imposing mix of veterans and youngsters, the Cubs opened a weekend series in Los Angeles with these numbers: Shawon Dunston, .297; Rafael Palmiero, .324; Andre Dawson, .310; Ryne Sandberg, .260; Mark Grace, .298; Vance Law, .308; Jody Davis, .262, and Darrin Jackson, .273, or Dave Martinez, .244.

Tony Kubek, who does many of the Toronto Blue Jays telecasts on the Canadian network, went public with his view of the strife that has plagued the Blue Jays since spring training.

Kubek called it an attitude problem.

“They all walk around like zombies sometimes,” he said. “They’re brooding, moping and whining, but they’ve got that scapegoat (Manager Jimy Williams) and they’re using it.

“It’s not fair. Williams is getting all the blame. Managers seem to be like fire hydrants lately.”

Fans take justifiable heat for their All-Star voting, but they’re not alone. USA Today polled players as to the best at each position. George Brett of Kansas City finished fifth at first base and sixth at third base, where he hasn’t played since June of last year.

It makes as much sense as Paul Molitor’s leading the American League voting at second base. He hasn’t made an appearance there this year.

In the final moments of a 13-7 win over Atlanta Tuesday, Giant utility man Harry Spilman hit the first triple of his career. It took him 506 games and 749 at-bats. At that, it may be regarded as a tainted triple since the pitcher was infielder Jim Morrison, who shut out the Giants for 2 innings in his mound debut.

“It goes to show what kind of shape we’re in when our best pitcher is an infielder,” Atlanta Manager Russ Nixon said.

Said Giant Manager Roger Craig, reflecting on the slow-footed Spilman: “Harry is going great. He had a stolen base and triple in back-to-back years.”

On the familiar denigrations of the American League West, General Manager Andy MacPhail of the Minnesota Twins said: “The American League West is not the weak sister that everyone in baseball portrays it to be. The weakest division in baseball is the National League West, so get off our backs.”

MacPhail may be right. The AL West had a .491 percentage against the AL East through Thursday, whereas the NL West was only .447 against the NL East.

Before a weekend series at Kansas City, the Boston Red Sox were suddenly using power to push palimony out of the headlines, save Manager John McNamara’s job and become a factor again in the AL East.

The Sox won 5 straight, 9 of 11 and 12 of 17. Sparked by the awakening of Jim Rice, who drove in 23 runs in 27 games, and Mike Greenwell, who batted .404 for the month, the Sox hit .306 and 23 homers in June, equaling their total for April and May.

They had not won a game by fewer than four runs since June 8, and they had won 6 of 8 since the incident in Cleveland, when push led to shove among several players, bickering over Wade Boggs’ palimony case.

Said Greenwell, reflecting on the incident: “It brought us closer together. That’s just life. It’s as simple as that. It’s like being a teen-ager again. Everyone goes through changes, and that’s what happened to us.”

In a battle of sinkers and changeups, Dave LaPoint of the Chicago White Sox took on the New York Yankees’ Tommy John Thursday night.

LaPoint said: “Tommy and I are so slow they’ll have to bring in an hourglass to time us.”