UNFRIENDLY
Umpires make Dickey lose special bracelet, then knuckleballer & Mets lose in Cincy Andy Martino,
CINCINNATI — Bracelets. We’re talkin’ ’bout bracelets.
The Mets lost to Cincinnati, 6-1, on Wednesday, but all the intrigue and postgame conversation involved two moments: Just before the bottom of the second inning, when home plate umpire James Hoye insisted that R.A. Dickey remove two small bracelets on his glove hand, and before the bottom of the third, when crew chief Jim Joyce visited Dickey on the mound to assert that the directive did not come from the Reds.
No matter that the accessories were made of thin string, given to Dickey by his 8- and 10-yearold daughters before the knuckleballer climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in January, and were worn in every start since spring training. The umps chose this game to enforce an arcane directive.
“The rule is, as they explained it, you’re not supposed to have anything on your wrist,” Terry Collins said. “They must be newly enforcing it. Twenty-three starts, he hasn’t had to take it off yet. Tonight it’s an issue.”
“In the moment I was a little bit angry, because those were a couple of bracelets my girls had made for me before I went to Kilimanjaro,” Dickey said. “I’d had them on every day since January.”
Dickey was annoyed again in the third, when Joyce delayed the game to clarify that the Reds were not involved.
“The one thing I did not really understand was when they came out to the mound and delayed that game,” Dickey said.
“I didn’t understand the need for that. That seemed a little bit much.”
An i nning later, he allowed consecutive home runs reminiscent of a less effective phase of his career. After Scott Rolen’s shot, Todd Frazier followed with a cannon blast to center field, an estimated 474 feet from home plate.
In the fourth, Jay Bruce sent one 428 feet to right field; pitcher Mike Leake — on his way to a complete game — soon followed with a run-scoring single.
If this was a one-game blip, rather than a bracelet-related jinx, 20 wins and the Cy Young Award are still possible for Dickey, who is 15-4. The knuckleballer will continue to start every fifth game when the Mets move to a six-man rotation.
The decision, announced by Collins on Wednesday, to add Jeremy Hefner to Dickey, Johan Santana, Jon Niese, Chris Young and Matt Harvey will allow extra rest to the latter four — but Dickey will remain in a regular routine. The plan will be implemented on Sunday, when Hefner starts against the Nationals in Washington.
The situation has the potential to be ideal for all involved. Dickey can still contend for pitching’s top honor, and Hefner will receive an extended major league opportunity. Santana and Young, who is recovering from major shoulder surgery, will have a better chance of avoiding fatigue. Niese is attempting to avoid the disabled list for a full season for the first time in his career.
And Harvey might be able to last the entire season without being shut down; the rookie said Wednesday that team brass told him he will be limited to 165-170 innings (he has thrown 132.1).
“I really don’t have any say in any of it,” Harvey said. “This being my first go-around, I have kept my mouth shut, and I’ll deal with things as they come.”