By MARK HALE and MIKE PUMA
June 16, 2008
Ryan Church hasn't done much but sleep and watch television during his stint on the disabled list, but he's going to try to amp things up in what could be an important test of his condition.
An improving Church, who's out with post-concussion syndrome, visited the Mets' clubhouse yesterday morning, joining the team for the first time since last Sunday in San Diego. The right fielder's bat and glove have been missed, but he revealed that he'll begin working out today.
"I just know starting [today] I'll start working out," said a coherent-sounding Church. "I don't know the whole timetable of what we're going to do."
Church isn't traveling with the Mets, so he wasn't going to be flying to Anaheim, Calif., with the team last night for the start of a three-game series with the Angels following a doubleheader split against the Rangers. But Church admitted he's seeing improvement with his symptoms.
"It's progressing every day, it's getting better - I haven't had any spells or anything like that," he said. "It's just one of those things now where you're waiting out your time on the DL."
Though he said it's difficult for him to not be able to play, Church admitted he "came back too soon, did a little too much too soon."
Robinson Cancel's two-run single in the Mets' 4-2 victory in Game 2 was his first hit and RBI since Sept. 21, 1999. Cancel wasn't in the majors from 2000 through 2007. . . . In his Mets' career debut and his 2008 major league debut, Trot Nixon excelled in the opener (an 8-7 loss), going 2-for-3 with two walks.
In the nightcap, fans booed when Willie Randolph pinch hit Cancel for Pedro Martinez with two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth. Did Randolph feel vindicated when Cancel delivered a two-run single?
"It doesn't matter what I do," Randolph said. "It's going to go the other way anyway. I wasn't concerned about that. They like me for a second and then they don't. So that's the way it goes. Fans are that way. I was just trying to win a ballgame."
