Article

----- Forwarded by Tana Jones/HOU/ECT on 11/15/2000 02:48 PM -----

Tom Moran
11/14/2000 04:23 PM

To: Tana Jones/HOU/ECT@ECT
cc:
Subject: Article

I believe that this was authored by James Carville:

NEW YORK (AP) --The New York Mets announced today that they are going to
court to get an additional inning added to the end of Game 5 of the World
Series. The batting, pitching, and bench coaches for the Mets held a press
conference earlier today. They were joined by members of the Major League
Players Union. "We meant to hit those pitches from the Yankee pitchers,"
said the Mets batting coach. "We were confused by the irregularities of the
pitches we received and believe we have been denied our right to hit."

One claim specifically noted that a small percentage of the Mets batters had
intended to swing at fast balls, but actually swung at curve balls. It was
clear that these batters never intended to swing at curve balls, though a
much higher percentage were not confused by the pitches. Reporters at the
press conference pointed out that the Mets had extensively reviewed film of
the Yankees pitchers prior to the World Series and had in fact faced the
Yankees in inter-league play earlier in the year. "The fact remains that
some of the pitches confused us and denied us of our right to hit," said the
Mets
batting coach. "The World Series is not over yet and the Yankees are
celebrating prematurely."Major League Baseball has reviewed the telecast of
all the World Series games and recounted the balls and strikes called by the
umpires of each game. "While some of the strikes called against the Mets
were, in fact, balls, there were not enough of them to change the outcome of
the World Series," the commissioner said. Another portion of the Mets legal
claim stated that, based on on-base percentage, the Mets had actually won
the World Series, regardless of the final scores of the games.

"It's clear that we were slightly on-base more often than the Yankees," said

a Mets spokesman. "The World Series crown is rightly ours."The manager of
the Mets has remained in relative seclusion, engaging in some light jogging
for exercise. He has stated that he believes "we need to let the process
run its course without a rush to judgment."