CHICAGO – The Mets finally found a reason for their sluggish start: It was hitting coach Dave Engle’s fault.
It must have been, because Engle was relieved of his duties yesterday, the patsy for a club mired at 31-31 and hitting .244, 14th in the National League.
Mets GM Steve Phillips made the announcement before last night’s interleague game against the White Sox, and said the widely-liked Engle will always have a job in the organization as long as Phillips is around.
“It would be the wrong thing to do to blame Dave Engle for our hitting problems,” Phillips said. “It’s not fair to do.”
Engle was respected as a man and a coach in the organization, and even casual observers saw him as an eternal optimist with a strong work ethic. There is nary a person in the clubhouse who will say a bad word about him.
But last season, the Mets scored just 642 runs, last in the majors. That led one high-level decision-maker to question whether Engle should return to the club for the 2002 season, but Phillips said yesterday he and manager Bobby Valentine agreed to bring Engle back and add Tom Robson as the bench coach.
Robson, who will take on Engle’s duties for the time being, has already been fired twice as Met hitting coach. Phillips said he’d like to go outside the organization and would prefer to make a change quickly, but Met minor-league hitting coordinator Mickey Brantley may be a candidate for the job.
“Damn. Now I feel even worse,” said Mo Vaughn, hitting .226 with four homers. “He’s just a fall guy right now. He was a real good man.”
Vaughn was one of many Mets to look outside the organization for batting help, consulting with Mike Easler on a constant basis. Even Rey Ordonez, after hitting a home run in Florida, gave props to his one-named Miami-based hitting instructor “Archie.”
Engle flew to Chicago with the club, but was relieved of his role after Phillips arrived in town and met with Valentine.