Spirit of ’86 Is Flickering in Bickering

Darryl Strawberry and his long shadow have left the New York Mets. The ability and accomplishments of third baseman Howard Johnson have become clearly visible.

“Howard’s always been appreciated and respected by the players,” said Dave Magadan, the Mets’ first baseman.

“We’ve always put him on the same plateau with Straw. He’s that type, but without Straw’s way of always stealing the headlines and drawing the spotlight. The way I’d put it, he’s a player’s player. That’s the biggest difference.”

The player’s player went to work Monday night against the Dodgers as the National League leader in home runs with 22.

He was second to Will Clark with 70 runs batted in and among the leaders in slugging percentage, total bases, extra-base hits and runs scored.

Projected over a full season, that pace would give Johnson personal highs of 37 home runs and 117 RBIs, plus 34 doubles and 27 stolen bases.

It should be--and has been--a rewarding season as the man known as HoJo helps fill the void left by Strawberry’s departure and demonstrates that his religious conversion hasn’t dimmed his competitive fire.

Johnson, in that sense, calls it his most satisfying season, but a new shadow threatens to diminish the reward.

Gripped by what pitcher David Cone called “borderline dissension,” the Mets have seemed on the verge of disintegration on a West Coast trip during which they lost five of the first six games, along with their spirit and drive.

They are 5 1/2 games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League East and must play at better than a .630 pace to catch the Pirates if the Pirates play at a .500 pace.

The question is: Do they want to catch the Pirates? In San Diego, where the Mets lost two of three to the Padres, there seemed to be doubt.

Sunday, after a 2-0 defeat, Johnson said:

“I have to think that Pittsburgh is a better-prepared club than we are right now.

“We seem to have some bad attitudes in here, and I’m not saying that just because we’re losing. It was starting to build when we were winning.”

The Mets are 6-9 since winning 10 in a row, and “it’s as if guys are coming to the park thinking we’re already out of it,” Magadan said Sunday. “There’s a feeling of concession in the clubhouse, and it has to change.”

Maybe it did Monday night as Cone pitched the Mets to a 5-1 victory over the Dodgers, enabling New York to pick up 1 1/2 games on the Pirates in what Cone said was “probably our biggest turnaround of the year” considering the team’s state of mind leaving San Diego.

Manager Bud Harrelson, whose strategy and leadership have been questioned throughout the season, had called for an optional batting practice before Sunday’s afternoon game.

Only eight players participated, some saying it should have been mandatory the way the Mets have been playing.

Several more Mets remained in the clubhouse, relaxing over the doughnut buffet. A few straggled in as late as 45 minutes before the first pitch.

The complacent preparation seemed to show in the shutout by Andy Benes, compounding what seemed to be other weekend cracks in the Mets’ resolve and unity:

--Friday night, Vince Coleman, seemingly frustrated by injuries and the burden of justifying an $11.95-million contract, cursed at coach Mike Cubbage in front of players and reporters.

--Saturday night, outfielder Mark Carreon, angered when he wasn’t used to pinch-hit, returned to the clubhouse with the game still in progress, showered, dressed and left the stadium without permission.

Carreon was fined Sunday, but Harrelson did it in the privacy of his office. Some Mets believe Harrelson should have had a clubhouse meeting to make an example of Carreon.

--Also Sunday, Frank Viola, whose attitude has come under fire from those who believe he can’t wait to leave as a free agent, said the pitchers are tiring of having to carry the club and criticized management for failing to acquire a left-handed pitcher.

All of this ate at Johnson, although he is conditioned to the probing microscope of New York. There is always a crisis, the threat of internal combustion.

In other years there was a veteran nucleus to deal with it. Now Johnson is one of only four players remaining from the team that won the 1986 World Series.

Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter, Ray Knight, Mookie Wilson, Lenny Dykstra, Wally Backman, Roger McDowell, Bob Ojeda, Ron Darling and Strawberry have left.

Turnover, Johnson said, is and should be the name of the game: “But too much at one time makes it difficult. A lot of those guys got old fast. The Mets have done a good job responding, but any time you lose that many veterans, make that many changes, there’s going to be a down period, a difficult adjustment.

“They cut out some of our heart and soul, and it happened in a hurry. Right or wrong, it’s tough adjusting.”

With Strawberry gone, the spotlight more often is on Johnson, a change many feel is deserved.

Said Harrelson:

“Darryl can put runs up in a hurry. He can hit the scoreboard now and then. But HoJo is more consistent. He finds a way to do something for you every day.

“I look at him as a Cal Ripken type. I consider him more of a leader (than Strawberry) . . . not with his mouth, but by the way he plays hard and hurt, by just being there every day.

“He’s durable and dependable. He’s twice gone through a full season without ever saying he couldn’t play, then had shoulder surgery when it was over.

“I mean, it wasn’t until people would hear about the surgery that they’d say, ‘Oh, that must be why he didn’t hit as many doubles and home runs this year.’ ”

Johnson has hit 23 or more homers in each of the last five seasons and driven in 90 or more runs in four of the five. He hit 36 homers in 1987, breaking the National League switch-hitting record of 35 set by Rip Collins in 1934.

He also drove in 99 runs and stole 32 bases that year, but he was even more successful in 1989, after the first operation to remove torn cartilage in his shoulder.

He had another 36 homers, drove in a career-high 101 runs, hit 41 doubles and stole 41 bases, joining Willie Mays and Bobby Bonds as the only players to hit more than 30 homers and steal more than 30 bases in a season more than once.

He has 162 National League homers and trails only Reggie Smith (165) and Ted Simmons (182) on the league’s all-time switch-hitting list.

“In ‘89, it seemed like everything I wanted to do I was able to do,” he said. “But I’ve had more fun and been more consistent this year. With Straw gone, I knew I’d have more opportunities to be a force in the lineup and be expected to put up some good numbers.

“So, to have my most productive year in a situation where it was needed, I’d call it my most satisfying year.”

Satisfying as well, he said, in that he has dispelled the myth that a “born-again” Christian loses his competitive zeal.

Johnson underwent the conversion last year. He doesn’t wear it on his sleeve, but he said he feels he has become a better player because of it, better able to enjoy himself and the game knowing he is “playing for Christ first and myself second.”

Strawberry made a similar conversion before this season and has seemed to have difficulty finding a middle ground between the new passivity of his life and the aggressiveness required in his career.

“I had a good career and good family life,” Johnson said. “The adjustment wasn’t that tough for me. It’s harder for someone going through a troubled time, and I think there were things in Darryl’s life and career he definitely wasn’t happy about.

“I’ve talked to him, and I know he was hurt by the criticism of his first half, but the fact that he is committed to this lifestyle was the reason he was able to get through it.”

Johnson’s closest friend on the Mets was Tim Teufel, another born-again Christian traded to the Padres earlier this year. Johnson can most often be found now reading the Bible or listening to a Luther Vandross tape or discussing what he needs for his new home in San Diego, a dream come true.

Johnson said: “I came to San Diego with the (Detroit) Tigers for the ’84 World Series and I remember getting off the plane with my wife and saying to her, ‘This is it. This is where I want to live.’ ”

A three-year, $6.1-million contract that expires after the 1992 season--the Mets hold an option on ‘93--has helped make the move from Woodbury, N.Y., a reality.

In his seventh season with the Mets, who acquired Johnson in a deal that sent Walt Terrell to Detroit, he has become the conscience of the clubhouse, his religious convictions never interfering with a passion to win or a willingness to say what he believes:

--When Viola was quoted earlier this year as saying that the players were cowering from the responsibility of replacing Strawberry, Johnson said Viola was out of line for creating the inaccurate image of a team that couldn’t take pressure.

--When former Met Carter loudly thanked Keith Miller for making an error that enabled the Dodgers to rally for a victory during the Mets’ first visit to Los Angeles this season, Johnson chastised Carter for his un-Christian-like comments. That prompted Carter to climb on the Mets’ bus before it left Dodger Stadium and apologize to Miller, Johnson and his former team.

Blue collar is the description most often applied to Johnson. He was used in seven spots in the batting order last year and didn’t complain. He rides the shuttle between shortstop and third base in the mess that is the Mets’ defense without complaint.

At 5 feet 10 and 190 pounds, he lacks Cecil Fielder’s bulk and Jose Canseco’s muscle. Whitey Herzog, then managing the St. Louis Cardinals, complained that no one of Johnson’s physical stature could hit the ball so far so often, that he had to be using a corked bat.

Johnson was angry at the time, but now realizes it was a compliment. His power, he said, stems from the strength of his legs and the way he uses his hips.

“I’ve never pictured myself as a pure power hitter, a guy likely to win a home run title,” he said.

“There are a lot of guys bigger and stronger than me, but the way my swing is, I don’t have to hit the ball that hard to get it out of the park. People are always asking how many home runs I would have hit playing my entire career in Tiger Stadium, but being traded was the reason I was able to develop.

“A young player develops bad habits playing in a small park like that because you’re trying to jerk everything into the seats. Playing in the bigger National League parks allowed me to become more of a complete player.”

Of Strawberry being gone, he smiled and said: “I know what I’ve done and know it compares well. It’s nice to get recognition, but my ego doesn’t need it. I only want to be known as a guy who played hard. I want people to be able to say, ‘Yeah, Howard Johnson, he gives 100%.’ ”