No More Outfield for Mets' Hundley

.c The Associated Press

By ROB GLOSTER

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The Todd Hundley outfield experiment officially ended
Wednesday for the New York Mets.

Hundley, a two-time NL All-Star catcher, had tried left field for the last 6
1/2 weeks after returning from reconstructive right elbow surgery that made it
impossible for him to play catcher.

Also, by the time Hundley made his 1998 debut on July 11, the Mets had
obtained catcher Mike Piazza in a trade.

But Hundley has struggled in the outfield and his average has plummeted to
.164, leading to the decision to restrict Hundley to pinch-hitting duties for
the rest of the season.

``I think this was both because of the offense and the defense,'' Mets general
manager Steve Phillips said. ``It's all based on performance and it gets to a
point where you just have to deal with it.''

Hundley misplayed a ball in Tuesday night's 7-3 loss to the San Francisco
Giants, and has been a liability in left field for the Mets. Runners
consistently have taken extra bases on him, knowing his arm is not back to
full strength.

Hundley met with Mets manager Bobby Valentine following Tuesday night's game,
and the decision was made to scrap the outfield experiment.

``I give Todd a lot of credit for saying he's struggling out there and doesn't
feel he can play out there,'' Phillips said. ``He has made every effort to
help this team, to try to come back. Now he's saying that he doesn't think he
can play the outfield any more.''

Hundley had 41 homers and 112 RBIs in 1996, breaking Roy Campanella's 43-year-
old major league record for home runs by a catcher. He followed that up with
30 homers and 86 RBIs last season, joining Darryl Strawberry and Dave Kingman
as the only Mets players to hit 30 homers in consecutive seasons.

But he had elbow surgery last Sept. 26 and arthroscopic surgery on his left
shoulder in November. He missed the first 85 games of this season.

This year has been a struggle for Hundley, who started 34 games in left field.
In addition to being unable to catch and seeing the Mets obtain Piazza,
several New York newspapers raised concerns about Hundley's drinking habits.

``He's coped with a lot,'' said Phillips, who met with Hundley on Wednesday
morning. ``I told him I couldn't have handled the struggles, the controversies
or at times the embarrassing situations nearly as well as he has.''

Hundley has had just 18 hits in 110 at-bats this season, with two homers and
49 strikeouts.

``He got off to a slow start. It has compounded itself and worked into a slump
and it hasn't gotten any better,'' Phillips said. ``If he's able to hit like
he could, you could overlook some of his struggles (in the outfield).''

Piazza is eligible for free agency after this season and has said he wants a
$100 million contract. Hundley has two more years on his contract with the
Mets after this season.

Phillips refused to speculate on who will be the Mets' starting catcher next
season.

``One guy's a free agent and we're not sure if he's coming back,'' Phillips
said, ``and the other guy's a catcher who can't catch right now.''

AP-NY-08-26-98 1656EDT