Mets Hope to Improve on the Road This Time

The New York Mets are on their way to California, and this trip, they promise, will be different from all of the others. The road has been filled with pitfalls this season. Playing away from Shea Stadium has been playing without fire.

With the National League East race entering its last five weeks, the Mets cannot afford a sub-par trip. “‘We have to win six of nine to stay where we are or be a little closer,” Barry Lyons said.

The Mets did anything but coast on their previous trip out West in May as they went 3-6 against the Padres, Dodgers and Giants. The Mets are a woeful 24-34 on the road. If they had a .500 record, the Mets would have a 3 1/2-game lead, instead of trailing the Cubs by 1 1/2.

Pitching has been way off on the road -- especially David Cone, who is 3-5 with a 5.42 earned run average. “It just plays on your mind -- starts keep coming on the road,” Cone said. “We just got into a bad rut. Maybe we didn’t put all our efforts into the games. We’d say, ‘All right, we’re 5-5, but we’re going home.’ You talk yourself into playing mediocre.”

But of the question as to why the Mets have not played well on the road, Dave Magadan had an interesting answer. “Everybody hates us,” he said. “The fans really get into it. You see that more on the road with us than other teams. But I don’t know if it’s anything specific. At home, even when we’re behind we feel confident. We said three weeks ago it would be a big trip. We couldn’t go into this trip seven or eight behind. We made a big turnaround. We can’t let it slip now.”

“Since the last West Coast trip, you can see a different kind of ballclub,” batting instructor Bill Robinson said. “A togetherness, camaraderie, enthusiasm. The mark of a good team is when you lose seven in a row and come back.”

Davey Johnson expressed confidence about the trip and the Mets’ chances to win the division. “Our energy level is high,” he said. “Our greatest test was getting to this point.”

Dwight Gooden, a.k.a. Dr. K, marveled at Nolan Ryan’s achievement of surpassing 5,000 career strikeouts. “It’s amazing to get 3,000 strikeouts,” said Gooden, who has 1,067. “To get 5,000 is superhuman. That will not be broken in the next century. “I’d probably have to pitch to 50 to get that many and it wouldn’t happen because they’d be hitting me.”

Rick Lawes, the Mets’ assistant director of public relations, who contributed to the compilation of Ryan’s victims by photocopying the scoresheet of each of his appearances as a young Met, offered this perspective: “In his last appearance as a Met, he came in relief, pitched a couple of innings, struck out five guys -- and walked six.”

Along with the pitching, hitting and trading that regularly are cited for the Mets’ turnaround, their rise apparently has been assisted by an improvement in fielding.

It is easy to overlook the defense, especially when Keith Hernandez is out of the lineup. The Mets don’t often make spectacular catches and have committed 108 errors. Still, their gloves haven’t proven too costly, having allowed only 44 unearned runs, fewest in the league. This month they have given up only five unearned runs.

The most important element has been the stability at shortstop since Kevin Elster was installed as a regular more than a month ago. But he hasn’t been the only contributor.

“I think we’ve helped keep our pitchers out of big innings, big rallies,” said Juan Samuel, who made two key catches in the first inning Saturday, threw out a runner at the plate Sunday and held a runner at third with a throw Tuesday.

Johnson believes Samuel is no longer merely outrunning his mistakes in the outfield. “He has better range in the outfield than (Lenny) Dykstra or Mookie (Wilson),” Johnson said. “His instincts are outstanding and his speed is second to none. Since he’s been here, we’ve had very few balls drop in front of the center fielder.”

It’s time for the Mets to change their tune -- when Randy Myers walks in from the bullpen. His entrance has been accompanied by the song “Wild Thing,” which was inspired by the movie “Major League.” But it hasn’t caught on with the fans, who don’t sing along, clap in unison or otherwise react. “Wild Thing” would be better left for Mitch Williams in Chicago. The Mets ought to find their closer a new theme song, one that blends a sense of urgency with a tone of reassurance, like Sam and Dave’s “Hold On, I’m Coming.”