Banged-Up Piazza Keeps Banging

Mike Piazza believes the dogged New York Mets have put a little hurt on the Atlanta Braves, got inside their head a little.

Now, if he could only do something about his own discomfort, the aches and pains that have restricted his production and raised the question again of whether the renowned catcher will eventually move to another position to save his body and bat.

“I’m definitely not getting younger and it’s definitely catching up to me,” Piazza said of the wear and tear of his position as he relaxed Monday and expressed confidence he would be behind the plate tonight when Al Leiter tries to sustain the Mets’ momentum in the National League championship series.

The Atlanta Braves still lead the best-of-seven series, three games to two, but losing those two Saturday and Sunday might have shaken their confidence some.

“We feel like we’ve scored a breakthrough that will hopefully carry over,” Piazza said. “We feel like we’ve put a little pressure on them and that hopefully they’ll come out pressing. We feel that if we can win [Game 6], we have a better than even chance of winning the next night.”

Suddenly they are the Miracle Mets again, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the original’s improbable World Series victory.

Sunday’s 4-3, 15-inning victory brought out the historians, but history will also document that the Mets have won only one game in the last two years at Turner Field and that Atlanta starter Kevin Millwood represents a formidable executioner.

It is also a fact that the reborn and resilient Mets are hitting .188 through five games, with Piazza, in the middle of the lineup, three for 20 in the series and five for 29 in postseason play, with one run batted in.

Piazza’s medical chart is far more impressive and the former Dodger read from it Monday:

* A sprained left thumb made worse by the reaction to a cortisone injection, knocking him out of the final two games of the division series.

* A lingering wooziness from the concussion suffered in the jarring collision with Bret Boone in Game 3 of this series.

* A sore left hand suffered when hit by Andruw Jones’ backswing Sunday.

* A badly bruised left forearm suffered when hit by Ryan Klesko’s backswing and again by Keith Lockhart’s helmet in another collision in the 13th inning. After that, Piazza, with tingling in his hands and overall general soreness, decided it was time for treatment and left the game.

Piazza, 31, shook his head and said, “It’s weird. I can’t explain why I’m so banged up. It’s just been a bad week or two. Maybe it’s something I’ve done that’s coming back to haunt me and I need to do a good deed, like helping an old lady across the street. My left arm is so sore I’m looking for a donor. Maybe I should call up Arnold Schwarzenegger or something.”

As Piazza received ice and whirlpool treatment before the Mets left New York Monday, he said he couldn’t help but think that maybe he should have played football so that he would have a week between games.

“It’s frustrating,” he said. “You want to be the guy who gets the big hit, but as a catcher and hitter, you’re only as good as your hands, and right now I have a lot of weakness and pain. I’ve even thought about going to a lighter bat or choking up and modifying my swing. I mean, it’s obvious that I’m not swinging well, but I’m just looking for any way to contribute--as a catcher or hitter. If it’s a broken-bat single, that would be great.”

Piazza’s succession of injuries has followed a season in which there was no relief for the Mets or their catcher down the stretch. He appeared in 140 games, hitting 40 homers and driving in 124 runs. He may be the most productive catcher in baseball history, but it has long been theorized that he might be even more productive playing a less taxing position.

The issue has come up again with Piazza’s injuries and first baseman John Olerud’s eligibility for free agency.

There has been speculation that Olerud would like to return to his Seattle roots, but General Manager Steve Phillips said, “We have every intention to re-sign John. But even if we don’t, that doesn’t change Mike’s situation. We still expect him to be the catcher next year and we would resolve the first base situation some other way.”

Phillips said that when Piazza was signed to the seven-year, $91-million contract, “we discussed the possibility that at some point in the seven years he might shift positions, but that it would be at the back end. Mike and I agreed he would continue to catch for a number of years. A catcher gets banged up. It’s not news. We knew that when he signed the contract.”

Said Piazza, “If at some point they want to talk about it, we’ll talk about it. Right now, my concentration is on catching. I know it’s affected my hitting, physically and mentally as well, but it’s got a lot more attention because we’re in a situation where every game is so imperative. We also went through a difficult season in which it wasn’t easy to get time off. We never had the luxury of two or three blowouts in September where I could rest and get ready for the playoffs.”

Thus, the Mets have created what Piazza calls something of a tag team with backup catcher Todd Pratt, whom he goes to “when I feel like I’ve got my butt kicked one time too many.” Pratt eliminated the Arizona Diamondbacks with his 10th-inning homer in Game 4 of the division series and drew a walk that forced in the tying run in the 15th inning of Sunday’s memorable game.

It doesn’t seem to matter who’s in the Met lineup, Piazza said, or what the obstacle is.

“I think Sunday’s game says a lot about what this team is all about,” he added. “I don’t know what part of it carries over, but we do know by now that we’re never going to just roll over.

“That started during the last week of the season. We’ve been through some tremendous battles. We seem to have one foot on a banana peel and one in the grave and always get out of it. We’re proud of that.”

In this tense October, an aching Piazza will be proud to contribute in any way possible.