PORT ST. LUCIE – Roger Cedeno thought he was having trouble conveying how he felt on the day he went back to work after the 9-11 invasion. He was wrong about that. He was easy to understand because we all felt the way he felt: Distracted, depressed, empty, even meaningless.
“I just didn’t care about playing a six-inning [intra-squad] game after what happened,” Cedeno said. “Do you know what I mean?”
Precisely.
He played it anyway. Then he headed for the trainer’s room while some of the other players did sprints. Tigers manager Phil Garner found him to tell him to join his teammates. Cedeno told him his legs were sore and needed treatment.
“If you want to talk to me, we’ll talk in your office,” Cedeno said he told Garner. “I walked to my locker and he followed me and was screaming at me in front of everybody. I told him don’t scream in front of everybody. If you want to talk to me, we’ll talk in your office. I walked away from him. He kept screaming. When he called me a word that you can’t put in your newspaper, that’s when I was on fire.”
The compound word that describes a body part triggered Cedeno’s temper and he responded with words that led Garner to bench him for the rest of the season, a move that cost Cedeno the stolen-base title and millions on the free-agent market.
“I was screaming at him. I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ Everybody knows how [equestrian excrement] you are,” Cedeno recounted.
He’s not proud. Nor is he apologetic. He didn’t like Garner. He said he wasn’t alone among the players.
Cedeno said Garner is the only enemy he had with the Tigers.
“I don’t know if it affected my reputation,” Cedeno said. “If it did, I’ll get it back.”
In the eyes of his new/old manager Bobby Valentine, no reputation reparation is needed.
“I know Roger,” Valentine said. “I have no problem with Roger’s work ethic and I have no problem with Roger’s attitude.”
As for the money Cedeno lost, that hasn’t put a frown on the left fielder’s face.
“The important thing is I’m where I wanted to be,” Cedeno said. “I really missed being here. It’s amazing the way the Mets treat you.”
Cedeno said he never will forget the way Valentine gave him the instant green light and never took it away in 1999.
“He would even give me a sign to go when I was on second,” Cedeno said. “I didn’t steal third as much after leaving the Mets.”
He’s looking forward to competing for the stolen-base title Garner denied him last year.
“That’s one goal, but winning the World Series and scoring the most runs in the National League, those are the things I really want,” Cedeno said. “In this lineup, if I can have a good on-base percentage, I can do that.”
Cedeno has been working out at the Mets’ minor-league complex since the middle of last week, a function of his excitement over rejoining the Mets. Since his arrival, he leads the Mets in hugs, pinning them on all the familiar faces. The feeling is mutual. Cedeno, who led the AL with 55 steals when Garner benched him, and Robbie Alomar (35.3 steals per season the past three years) give the Mets the speed they lacked in forgettable 2001.
In 1999, his only previous season with the Mets, Cedeno reached career highs in batting average (.313), doubles (23), walks (60) and steals (66).
“I thought of him as being a better player than he has shown since he left here,” Valentine said. “He’s still a player on his way up. I want to find out why. What happened with Phil Garner has nothing to do with it. I like Roger.”
The feeling is mutual. Cedeno’s confidence was at its highest playing for Valentine and it will match that level again this season. He’s out to prove a point and he’s comfortable back in the organization that brought out the best in him.
“If I score 150, 140, 120 runs, I’ve done my job,” Cedeno said.
He’ll make mistakes, particularly in the outfield, yet if he scores 120 runs or more, those mistakes will be likened to Mike Piazza’s errant throws. They will be considered minor blemishes greatly outweighed by his contributions.