Viola Hoping a Change in Leagues Is a Good Change Indeed

Mark Langston, Danny Jackson, Bob Ojeda, Dennis Martinez.

There’s a long list of pitchers who were even more successful once they went to the National League.

Frank Viola wants to be one of them.

Viola joined his new teammates on the New York Mets here Tuesday, less than 24 hours after the Minnesota Twins traded him to the team he grew up rooting for.

“I have a lot of fond memories for Minnesota, the fans and the championship, but this is coming home,” Viola said. “Now, I’ll have a chance to play for a team I grew up with.”

Viola is returning to his hometown, where he starred at St. John’s University. Most of family and friends live in the New York area.

“I’m capable of helping the way Mark Langston did in Montreal,” Viola said. “I’ve got 12 or 13 starts left this season, and I don’t have to impress anybody. I just have to do the best job I can.”

Viola, who will wear No. 26 and start against the Cardinals tonight, could be a huge difference for the Mets, a team that has been struggling without ace Dwight Gooden, who is recovering from a torn muscle under his right armpit.

Gooden, who wears the No. 16 Viola had with the Twins, is not expected to return to the rotation until late August.

The Twins sent Viola, the 1988 AL Cy Young Award winner, to the Mets one minute before Monday’s midnight (EDT) trading deadline. At the time, the Mets announced that they gave the Twins pitchers Rick Aguilera and David West and three players to be named later. On Tuesday, two of those players to be named were pitchers Tim Drummond and Kevin Tapani. The third is yet to be announced.

Langston is 9-3 since moving from Seattle to the Expos for three pitchers on May 25. The first-place Expos are 38-21 since acquiring the left-hander.

Jackson, who is currently on the disabled list, was the losingest pitcher in the AL over two seasons then became a 23-game winner with Cincinnati last season.

Ojeda, Viola’s new teammate, flourished after leaving Boston, and Martinez, formerly of Baltimore and now with Montreal, is the hottest pitcher in baseball with a 12-1 record.

The last time Viola was in Busch Stadium was 1987 and the Twins were playing the Cardinals in the World Series.

“Tom Lawless is going around in my head,” said Viola, who gave up a three-run homer to Lawless in Game 4. “It’s a big ballpark.”

Viola also lost Game 1 in St. Louis, but the Twins went on to beat the Cards in Game 7 at the Metrodome and Viola was named most valuable player.

Viola, after winning 24 games last season, he has slumped to 8-12 this season with a 3.79 earned-run average.

“It was a kind of tough year this year, starting with the contract and then the trade talks the last couple of weeks, but I have a lot of fond memories of Minnesota,” Viola said.

He signed a three-year, $7.9 million contract with the Twins during the first week of the season, making him the highest-paid player in baseball, along with the Dodgers’ Orel Hershiser.

“I’m a little sorry to see him go,” Twin first baseman Kent Hrbek told Newsday. “But Frank had changed. He started to make excuses . . . The contract, and then he started talking about umpires calling pitches. I think the contract got to him. He was very frustrated that he wasn’t doing as well as he thought he should.”

In April, Hrbek publicly criticized Viola for his negotiating posture before the contract was signed, questioning Viola’s allegiance.