Mets Paying Price for Loss of Hampton

In a week that belonged to Randy Johnson and his 20 strikeouts, Mike Hampton was worthy of a share. He compounded the mounting woes of his former team, the New York Mets, by pitching the Colorado Rockies to a seven-hit, 7-0 victory at Coors Field on Wednesday, after which his manager, Buddy Bell, said:

“He may be the best all-around pitcher I’ve ever been around . . . pitching, fielding, hitting, running. He’s an athlete. I mean, we knew he was good, but to be up close and see what he’s capable of, I have to say he’s even better.”

Put another way: Hampton has been all the Rockies bargained for and more, which is considerable, since they gave him the biggest contract--eight years, $121 million--ever given a pitcher.

Paying early dividends, Hampton is 5-0 with a 2.34 earned-run average and 3-0 with an even better ERA, 2.30, in the pitching graveyard of Coors, where there had only been 10 complete-game shutouts before Hampton made it 11.

“He’s let everyone know you can pitch here,” Bell said. “We’ve said all along that if you can command your fastball, you can be successful at Coors.

“Of course, not everybody has his kind of stuff. He changes speeds so well, he doesn’t throw any pitch the same way and he’s definitely proving a point.”

The Mets didn’t need to be reminded of Hampton’s effectiveness. They can accept losing to a pitcher of his stature, but Thursday’s 8-2 loss to Colorado rookie Shawn Chacon, who had a 17.55 ERA, prompted another clubhouse meeting by Manager Bobby Valentine, who again accused his team of having a “blah attitude.” The Mets are 14-22, having lost three in a row twice, four in a row once, and are currently on a five-game losing streak--seemingly still caught up in what they don’t have rather than what they do.

Hampton is gone and Al Leiter is on the disabled list. They were never in the Alex Rodriguez sweepstakes, and Gary Sheffield is still with the Dodgers.

“I don’t think it’s a lack of effort as much as it is a negative mind-set,” General Manager Steve Phillips said. “The answer has to come from within, and we’ve got to get it going. We are getting to the point where it is almost beyond a matter of a slow start.”

Without Leiter and Hampton, the Mets are hurting for a pitcher capable of stopping the losses with a dominating performance. Phillips had to overpay in free agency, and is paying in another way now. Kevin Appier is 2-3 with a 5.06 ERA and Steve Trachsel is 1-5 with a 7.05 ERA.

“I don’t think anyone can point fingers, because there is nothing we are doing right,” catcher Mike Piazza said.

Reminded that the Mets are getting good at clubhouse meetings, he added, “I think it’s a widely known fact that if you are having a lot of meetings at this level, it is not a positive sign.”

In choosing not to debate or make a big deal of the decision by the Elias Sports Bureau, baseball’s official record keeper, to not classify his 20-strikeout performance with those of Roger Clemens and Kerry Wood as a nine-inning record because his game went 11 innings, Johnson showed considerable class.

Although he pitched only nine of the 11, he wisely left it to others to deliver some pointed views.

“Those guys who stare at numbers all day, sometimes their view of reality gets a little skewed,” Arizona Manager Bob Brenly said.

Said Cincinnati shortstop Barry Larkin, who struck out three times, “It’s terrible. He pitched nine great innings. They need to give the man credit for what he did. The people who made that decision should be forced to face him. Then they’d put him where he belongs.”

Added Red reliever Danny Graves, “I don’t understand it. If he pitches 11 innings and strikes out 20 he doesn’t get the record. He pitches nine and strikes out 20 and still doesn’t get the record? That’s tired. I’ll tell you one thing, if he had pitched one more inning with the stuff he was showing, he would have had 23 and set the all-time record, no matter how many innings.”