Dickey gets 10th win, but no-shows at hospital an issue
Mets pitcher Oliver Perez was one of three conspicuous no-shows on a team trip to Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington on Tuesday. Credit: Christopher Pasatieri
WASHINGTON - The Mets have plenty of issues to resolve this offseason, and it seems that some - in one way or another - occasionally creep up before then. That happened again Wednesday, when three of the more controversial players on the team's roster found themselves in another sticky spot after the Mets' 3-2 victory over the Nationals.
In a bit of leftover business from the day before, Carlos Beltran, Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez were asked about why they chose not to attend the team's visit to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. As the only players who did not show from the 33-man roster - that night's starting pitcher Dillon Gee was excused - their absences disappointed Mets management and also a few teammates.
Had it been any other trio, the whole episode would have passed unnoticed. But with Castillo and Perez already in the doghouse, and Beltran having his own feud with ownership last winter, this group has been a lightning rod for the wrong kind of attention.
As for skipping a team-organized function, that did not sit well with a number of players, and even R.A. Dickey, after beating the Nats Wednesday for his career-best 10th victory, barely managed to bite his tongue when asked about the no-shows for the visit with wounded soldiers.
"I do have feelings," Dickey said. "I'm not going to make them public."
As for the trip itself, he was a strong supporter. "It's a way we can kind of pay personal tribute to the people who we take so for granted every day," Dickey said. "To be able to look a guy in the eye that doesn't have arms or legs and say thank you, you know that's a big deal. I take it real personally."
The Mets' trip was not mandatory, and Beltran said that he had other business to attend to that morning for the baseball academy he is building in his native Puerto Rico.
"I had a meeting with the foundation about the high school I am building in Puerto Rico," Beltran said. "I don't know who is creating this issue. But this offseason I went to visit the veterans' hospital in New York. So it's not that I'm against it.
"Actually I went with Fred Wilpon. I like it and I wanted to go, but I had my own things to do."
Beltran was surprised his absence was such an issue, but had no problem discussing it. As for Castillo, he had personal reservations about visiting the hospital, which he briefly shared.
"Sometimes when you see people with no legs, no arms, [from] when they fight, and to also be in the hospital like that, I don't like to see that," Castillo said. When asked if he opted not to go because of issues with the Mets, Castillo replied, "No, no. That's not what it is. I don't go because I don't like to see that."
Perez was not as comfortable with the subject, and when approached at his locker, he didn't stick around too long for the conversation to continue.
"I don't answer anything about what's outside the stadium," Perez said.
That's easier said than done these days with the Mets, who won their second National League road series. Dickey allowed five hits and two runs in six innings and Nick Evans, in a pinch-hit role, delivered the tiebreaking RBI double in the seventh. Luis Hernandez also had a run-scoring double and Beltran added a sacrifice fly as the Mets wrapped up the road trip at 4-6.
