The manager’s office at Shea Stadium was filled with Met beat writers, a new manager and very few remnants of the Bobby Valentine Era yesterday.
Art Howe sat in a black leather chair inside a room that was Valentine’s second home from August 1996-October 2002. While Valentine has phoned the man who succeeded him – and the man to which he gave his first coaching break in 1985 – the two hadn’t spoken as of yesterday afternoon.
Valentine’s message to Howe: Call if you ever need anything. His message to Mets fans: Howe is a great baseball man.
“I’ll do anything for Artie,” Valentine said by phone from Stamford, Conn. “He’s a very good guy.”
Howe did an informal two-hour meet-and-greet with the reporters who will cover him in 2003, weaving humor into stories about his life and his hopes for next season. One of those stories was about Howe got his first coaching break from Valentine when Bobby V added him to the Texas staff in 1985.
A few hours later, Valentine gave his seal of approval. As bitter as the circumstances surrounding his firing were, the 16th manager in Mets history didn’t hesitate in giving an endorsement to the franchise’s 17th skipper.
It sounded as if it was difficult for Valentine to speak of somebody else managing the Mets, but he had nothing but positive things to say. He didn’t rehash the events that bookended his firing on Oct. 1, and he also didn’t want to discuss what he would tell Howe about handling a roster that underachieved to a 75-86 record in 2002.
“He knows if he ever needs me, I’m totally available,” Valentine said. “Art will be fine. He definitely doesn’t need to read anything in the paper for advice.”
Howe and Valentine go back to the mid-1980s, when Howe was still playing third base in the National League and Valentine was a third base coach with the Mets. “I owe Bobby an awful lot,” Howe said during his inaugural press conference Monday. “Life works in mysterious ways.”
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Five of the six potential free agents on the Mets filed Monday, with John Valentin, Jeff D’Amico, Steve Trachsel, Steve Reed and Edgardo Alfonzo making the procedural move. Mark Guthrie filed yesterday.