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Bad blood flows between Mets, Phillies

BY ANTHONY RIEBER AND KATIE STRANG | anthony.rieber@newsday.com and caitlin.strang@newsday.com

11:42 PM EDT, July 24, 2008

Carlos Delgado was smiling. Jamie Moyer wasn't.

Maybe it was just a 45-year-old pitcher being cranky, but it sure didn't look as if Moyer appreciated it when Delgado tossed Moyer's bat back in the pitcher's direction during a fifth-inning at-bat in the Mets' 3-1 win over the Phillies Thursday.

Not that that upset Delgado. "Who gives a -- -- ?" he said when he was asked about flinging the bat back to Moyer after the pitcher's lumber traveled nearly to first base on a swing-and-miss against Oliver Perez.

Delgado was smiling again when he said this. And Moyer later said he wasn't upset with the bat toss. So no Mike Piazza/Roger Clemens and no Yankees-Red Sox.

That doesn't mean the Mets and Phillies love each other. In fact, a nice little rivalry has been developing during the last few seasons, even if Mets closer (and former Phillie) Billy Wagner says it's an on-field, not off-field, rivalry.

"It's not a personal 'I hate you,' " Wagner said. "It's a professional 'I hate you.' "

Of course, it gets silly when broadcasters for the teams get involved. Phillies voice and former major league pitcher Larry Andersen was quite upset about Jose Reyes' finger-in-the-air trip around the bases and dugout dancing after Wednesday's tiebreaking three-run home run.

"Somebody ought to put one in his neck," Andersen said on the air. (By the way, Andersen hit 17 batters during his entire 17-year career. No word how many of them were put in a batter's neck as retaliation for celebration.)

Reyes defended himself after Wednesday's 6-3 Mets victory, saying, "To come through in that situation, you have to enjoy it. That's big right there."

Do you have to enjoy it in that way? Phillies manager Charlie Manuel was asked about Reyes' hot-dog tendencies before Thursday's series finale.

"Do I think he's a hot dog?" Manuel said. "I think he's got some polish on him. But a lot of times, if you take the personality out of the guy, he doesn't perform as good. That's a fine area. Cockiness is good. If you start taking a guy's personality away from him, you change him from the player you got to start with."

That doesn't mean Manuel likes it or would have had a problem if the Mets had knocked Reyes on his tush Thursday (which they didn't in four plate appearances -- but that doesn't mean they won't down the road).

"You see guys hitting a long home run and admiring it," Manuel said. "In my day, you didn't talk about it. If you want to do something about it, do it. The players took care of it."

Manuel, like Wagner, said he dislikes all of his opponents between the lines. He said there's no special dislike for the Mets despite sharing a division and the New Jersey Turnpike. Just a general dislike of the other guy who is trying to take his cake.

"Can I be truthful?" Manuel said. "I don't like any of them [other teams]. Hey I'm a Billy Martin guy. When I was in the big leagues, you couldn't walk on the field and start talking to them. If you had a buddy over there, you had to take him to dinner after the game. You couldn't go over there and be all kissy-face with him. That's how I was brought up."

Wagner, who played for Manuel in 2005, understands and agrees. "Why would he like us?" he said. "Why would we like them?"

Staff writer Johnette Howard contributed to this story.