New York Post, Sunday, October 25, 2020nypost.comRLOS ANGELES
DODGERS
TAMPA BAY
H H H H H RAYS H H H H HAmAzIN’ wHAT THEy
AccOmplISHEd: Not
only did Nolan Ryan, seen
celebrating winning the
1969 NL pennant with
catcher Jerry Grote,
become one of the greatest
pitchers of all time after
leaving Queens, they also
had future MVPs in Kevin
Mitchell (left) and Jeff Kent
(far left, bottom). Justin
Turner (far left, top, giving
Johan Santana a face full of
cream after throwing his
2012 no-hitter), set the
Dodgers’ postseason home
run record on Friday.
AP (2); Getty Images;
N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelbergishes and win three Gold Gloves
in center field.- Jose Bautista: Within a few
hours on July 30, 2004, the Mets
traded Bautista (whom they had
just obtained from the Royals)
and Scott Kazmir in separate
trades, before they had ever
played for the team, to acquire
Kris Benson and Victor Zam-
brano. - Mike Scott: He was 14-27
with a 4.84 ERA as a Met and was
traded to Houston for Danny
Heep. As an Astro, he won a Cy
Young, finished second and sin-
gle-handedly nearly kept the Mets
from advancing to the 1986 World
Series. - Paul Blair: The Mets left him
unprotected after his first minor
league season and Blair was taken
by the Orioles in the 1962 first-
year draft. He went on to win
eight Gold Gloves and is on the
short list for greatest center field-
ers ever.- Ken Singleton: He would be
higher, but the Mets did get Rusty
Staub in exchange for the Mount
Vernon native. Here is the list of
switch-hitters who came to the
plate 8,000 or more times in the
modern era who have a better
OPS-plus than Singleton’s 132:
Mickey Mantle (172), Chipper
Jones (141) and Reggie Smith
(137). - Kevin Mitchell: There
were a whole bunch of closers to
consider at No. 10 such as Rick
Aguilera, Jason Isringhausen,
Randy Myers and Jeff Reardon.
Jim Bibby had a nice career after
being dealt by the Mets and Jason
Bay was a Met who went on to ex-
cellence with the Pirates and Red
Sox before a horrible Mets return.
And here is a hat tip to you, Mel-
vin Mora, Darren O’Day and Oc-
tavio Dotel.
But the nod goes to Mitchell,
who finished third for Rookie of
the Year with the 1986 Mets, but
was then traded as part of a large
package to the Padres for Kevin
McReynolds. The Mets, among
other things, wondered if he was a
bad influence on Dwight Gooden
and Darryl Strawberry. Away from
multiple positions in New York,
Mitchell settled in mainly as a left
fielder. He won the NL MVP with
the Giants in 1989 to begin a six-
year run in which only Frank
Thomas (184) and Barry Bonds
(174) had a better OPS-plus than
Mitchell’s 160.
[email protected]Rays manager Cash
can’t remember when
Phillips last had at-bat
By Mike PuMaBrett Phillips played the role of
unlikely hero Saturday night.
The 26-year-old outfielder was
excluded from the Rays’ ALCS
roster, but had a moment to con-
clude Game 4 of the World Se-
ries that will live for eternity, es-
pecially if Tampa Bay rallies to
win the series.
“Give that guy a lot of credit, I
don’t know when the last time
he got an at-bat was,” Rays man-
ager Kevin Cash said after Phil-
lips’ RBI single in the ninth off
Kenley Jansen began a chain of
events that gave the Rays an 8-7
walk-off victory over the Dodg-
ers in Arlington, Texas. “Pretty
impressive what he just did
against one of the game’s best
closers.”
Phillips’ single was bobbled by
Chris Taylor. The lead run
scored easily, but as Randy Aro-
zarena rounded third with vi-
sions of the game-winning run,
he stumbled. The throw home
had Arozarena nailed, but
catcher Will Smith misplayed it
and Arozarena scored.➤Ji-Man Choi’s attention to
detail in trying to become a bet-
ter player includes pilates.
The Rays first baseman per-
formed a split in fielding a throw
on Mookie Betts’ grounder to
begin Game 3 of the World Se-
ries on Friday. A day later he ex-
plained the secret to such flexi-
bility, which has been on display
throughout the season.
“Pilates during the offseason,”Choi said through an interpreter
before Game 4.
Choi said his flexibility devel-
oped naturally, as a byproduct of
trying to catch the ball at the
earliest point possible.
“More practice with that I
think has helped me with my
flexibility,” he said. “A lot of peo-
ple think I’m a gymnast instead
of baseball player, but I think
that is a credit to all the work I
have done throughout the off-
season and in practice.
“The flexibility is the key part
in any sport so I try my best to
try to stretch before getting on
the field. I think that has helped
me to get more flexibility as the
time went on.”
The Rays are still waiting for
Choi’s bat to heat up after he
helped carry the team in the
team in the ALDS and ALCS,
against the Yankees and Astros
respectively.
He is 1-for-7 with two walks in
the series, but that Game 2 hit
was noteworthy: Choi became
the first Korean player with a hit
in the World Series.
“It’s an honor to be the first
Korean-born position player to
be in the World Series,” Choi
said. “I think more important is
being on this stage with this
group of guys, especially with
what we had to go through this
year with all the pandemic stuff.
If it wasn’t for our players’ dedi-
cation and hard work, I wouldn’t
be on this stage.”SERIES NOTES
BROUGHT TO
HIS KNEES:
Kenley Jansen
reacts after giving
up the game-
winning hit to Rays
benchwarmer Brett
Phillips. It was
Phillips’ third career
postseason at-bat.
AP