THE statute of limitations on Al Leiter’s misfortune should be up. The mirror he broke seven years ago admiring his last post-season victory has been back in use for at least three years.
The Met pitcher took a long look into it before Game 7 of the 1997 World Series and found much of the pitcher he is today. Never mind that he hasn’t won a post-season game since 1993 – a relief stint for the Blue Jays against the Phillies – because he says he doesn’t. Mind, that is, regardless of the fact Leiter’s teams have gone 6-4 in his October starts since and not provided him one win. Game 1 of this series, when Armando Benitez blew the 3-2 lead that Leiter turned over, was typical of Being Al. Leiter gave up two runs into the seventh inning of a seventh game of the World Series for Florida in 1997 and the Marlins won for Jay Powell in the 11th.
Three weeks ago, Leiter left his heart out on the mound in San Francisco into the ninth inning, leaving after giving up only one run on five hits. Armando Benitez gave up a 3-run homer to J.T. Snow. The Mets pulled it out in the 10th, earning Leiter a pat on the back, but no cigar.
For him, ‘W’ has stood for Withholding. Or Whenever. But not “Why?”
“I could care less,” Leiter said again Wednesday. “What is more important is to be on the winning team that gets the 27th out and the last win of the baseball season. I’ve done that twice, in ’93 and ’97.
“I know in my heart that I’ve thrown well enough to have a win next to my name but I would far rather have a winning team and a championship than a great post-season record and no championships. It’s such a selfless time of the year.”
Remember, there is no “I” in champagne. Or, for that matter, golf, the next athletic competition the Mets would be engaging in if they didn’t win last night. The Mets post-season run was all water, bursting literally a Shea standpipe, under the ladder Leiter failed to walk around seven years ago if he couldn’t keep them alive.
Three times in his career he has pitched with his team facing elimination. Leiter was strong against the Indians in 1997, failed to get a single out in an horrific Game 6 in Atlanta last year, and was never better in his life than when he 2-hit Cincinnati in the 1999 one-game wild-card playoff.
Only technically was that not an official post-season game. But there was no fine print to be read last night for validation of the fine pickle from which Leiter was charged with extracting the Mets.
“The one thing I’ve been able to do, for whatever reason over the last few years is that I don’t think of the consequence or what it means as far as a series or a game or the importance of having to win,” he said. “What I really have been focusing on is executing the quality pitch, knowing the hitter’s strength and weaknesses.
“I have envisioned the Yankee lineup. I know what I want to do. There are adjustments I might make. And that’s all I focus on.
“In the (1997) World Series, my Game 3 in Cleveland wasn’t very good and I went over some tapes, made some adjustments in Game 7. I came to a realization I needed to throw more curveballs, which I did. A lot of people had written the Marlins off. I didn’t have a very good year. It was very satisfying. So I do refer back to that start a lot.”
Last night the season came down to this, the unfortunate Al Leiter having to be better than just lucky, only as good as he has ever been in his career.