And That’s the Way the Cookie Crumbles

The New York Mets could open the National League’s championship series Tuesday night in Atlanta without third base coach Cookie Rojas, whom Manager Bobby Valentine calls “the heartbeat of our team.” Rojas probably will be suspended--though it might not be until the start of the 2000 season--for a volatile argument Saturday with umpire Charlie Williams in which Rojas, at one point, put two hands on the umpire’s chest and shoved before being restrained by Valentine, whom Rojas, 60, also shoved in an attempt to get at Williams.

The incident occurred in the eighth inning of the Mets’ 4-3, 10-inning win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Rojas felt that a drive hit by Darryl Hamilton with runners at first and second base in a tie game had landed on the left-field foul line.

Williams, working the line, called it foul, which replays showed to be correct.

“From my angle I saw it the other way,” Rojas said later. “I have a right to argue, but the first thing he said to me was, ‘Get back, what the . . . are you doing?’ Then he bumped me and called me a son of a bitch. I’ve always had respect for the umpires. They do a professional job. But no one in my 43 years in the game has ever called me a son of a bitch, and I lost control, I went bananas. I’m willing to apologize, but he’s going to have to apologize as well.”

Williams refused comment.

*

A major key to the Mets’ series victory over the Diamondbacks was their ability to control leadoff hitter Tony Womack, while Arizona was not able to do the same with Rickey Henderson.

Henderson was six for 15 in the series with three walks, five runs and six stolen bases, a division series record. Womack, who led the league with 72 steals, was two for 18 with six strikeouts and no steals.

*

Womack was involved in a key play in the eighth inning Saturday when he dropped John Olerud’s fly ball in right field, leading to the Mets’ third and tying run. This is the first year that Womack, who opened the game at shortstop, has played the outfield with any regularity. Did that contribute to the drop?

“Not at all,” Manager Buck Showalter said. “He’s become one of the top two or three outfielders in the league. He’s been outstanding. Luis Gonzalez has dropped a fly ball this year, and so has Jay Bell. It happens. Tony had to run a long way for it. A lot of guys wouldn’t have gotten there. He’s one of the big reasons we got this far, and it would be very unfeeling for me or anybody to forget that.”

*

This was the first time Arizona had lost consecutive games on the road since July 18-19. They had won seven of nine regular-season games against the Mets before losing three of four in the best-of-five series. A loss Saturday would have sent the Mets back to Arizona for a decisive fifth game, or as Valentine said, “we were looking over our shoulder at Randy Johnson. If any of my guys say they weren’t, I don’t think they would be telling the truth.” . . . Valentine used all of his bench Saturday except for Bobby Bonilla and Mike Piazza, who remained sidelined because of a swollen left thumb, the result of an inflammatory response to a cortisone injection.