After Being Put Down Nightly, Mets Give ‘Rookie’ Leno a Lift

Jay Leno has been making fun of the New York Mets in his monologue for the last two years. Sunday, the Mets got even, as Leno went along with an old prank normally reserved for rookies.

Leno, taping the “Tonight Show” in New York, visited the Mets’ Shea Stadium clubhouse before their game with the Atlanta Braves and was asked to participate in the “three-man lift.”

“There’s some kind of scam going on here, but all right,” Leno said.

The scam resulted in the Mets dousing Leno with cups of soda, shaving cream, water, shampoo and other assorted liquids.

*

Trivia time: Who was the last National League player to hit 50 or more home runs in a season?

*

Longshots: Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News posted odds on the likelihood of NFL teams hiring former Cowboy Coach Jimmy Johnson. A sampling:

Raiders, 70-1: “Imagine Al Davis and Jimmy Johnson in the same war room. Intriguing, but unlikely.

Phoenix, 75-1: “If it means sending Buddy Ryan back to his horse farm, Jimmy might be interested.”

*

One of a kind: In his recently released autobiography, country singer Charley Pride, an avid baseball fan, tells why he chose Rozene as his wife:

“She was smart, beautiful, independent, and could explain the infield fly rule. What else could a guy want?”

*

Sleepless in Indianapolis: According to Mike Monroe of the Denver Post, NBA officials are dreading the prospect of the Indiana Pacers advancing to the Eastern Conference finals.

“Why? Not because they don’t like the Pacers--though a tiny television market doesn’t thrill them--but because there are no hotel rooms to be had within about 50 miles of Indianapolis when the Indy 500 approaches.”

*

Futility goal: Art Spander of the San Francisco Examiner, writing on the struggling Oakland Athletics:

“The benchmark of modern inadequacy is, of course, the 1962 New York Mets, an expansion team that, like government-funded jobs, provided relief for the down and out, or considering a pitching staff with a 5.04 ERA, the up and in.

“The Metsies were 40-120, a percentage of .250, a mark very much within reach of the A’s.”

*

Twilight zone: Catcher Mike Macfarlane of the Kansas City Royals was admittedly woozy after getting hit in the head recently with a bat. He said later: “I was a little numb. I started calling (second baseman) Chico Lind, ‘Mommy.’ ”

*

Trivia answer: George Foster of the Cincinnati Reds, with 52 in 1977.

*

Quotebook: Manager Dusty Baker of the San Francisco Giants, comparing the Dodgers’ Brett Butler to a mosquito in the night: “You can hear him, but you can’t slap him.”