Then it started, "What do you need to do in order to get out of your slump?" was asked at least ten times during the course of a single interview. Hoping to get the response that would make their story, the players responded patiently. "Everyone is surprised by the start," Benny Agbayani volunteered. "We feel as if we are still in the thick of things. If everybody does their job, whether it be hitting, pitching, or something else, then we will succeed," offered Jay Payton.
The clubhouse offered another amazing insight. The room was filled with players and so many shoes. Each equipment manager carried at least five pairs that were being distributed to each of the players' lockers. Six centrally located TVs got the distinction of being the most impressive items in the locker room. These monstrous screens, which were hung from the ceiling, were flat screened and about thirty inches big.
Despite game time and the given slump, the players seemed laid back in the locker room. Jay Payton was enjoying a bite to eat and signing fan mail. Al Leiter made an appearance to give a quick interview, and Turk Wendell proceeded to crack a joke to keep the locker room mood upbeat.
In contrast, the press box was a flurry of activity. Beat writers were already typing away at their keyboards, inserting pre-game quotes into the article in what appeared to be predetermined spots that had been left blank. Just when a story seemed complete, rewrites became necessary. Tsuyoshi Shinji pinch ran for Benny Agbayani in the seventh and ended up scoring on a Timo Perez single. After Shinjo's score and the end of the seventh inning, the reporters started to write the endings to their respective stories as they had only forty five minutes following the game to turn in their copy. These precious minutes included a revisit to the clubhouse for postgame quotes, leaving a grand total of fifteen minutes to polish their work and email it to their editor. Strenuous conditions, perhaps, but B.J. confesses that it is what makes the job so much fun.
There's a mad dash to the clubhouse following the game, each reporter wanting to be the first one with manager Bobby Valentine and the players of their choice. "Reed had the pitches going his way tonight. He had great control and poise out there on the mound. Jay had a big hit for us. That homer was really the insurance run we needed. Shinjo had a great game for us. That homer was really the insurance run we needed. The steal was all him," Valentine told reporters. The rest of the locker room is filled with commotion, with exchanges of high fives to commemorate the Mets 4-2 victory. Mike Piazza told us, "We played great tonight. We just have to do what we did tonight more often and we will be fine. We’re not panicking. Panicking equals wasted energy which we should be using for success."
Leaving the stadium, quiet replaced the noise of the fans celebrating the win. My head was full of the excitement of being a part of the press corps, speaking with the players about the game, gaining new insights about sports reporting, and remembering what it was like to walk through the tunnel and onto the field of baseball history.
Jay Payton
