MLB

Former manager Davey: Time for Mets to put it all together

Former Mets manager Davey Johnson said it saddens him to see what has happened to the franchise he led to its last World Series title.

“I don’t like to see them on hard times,” Johnson said before last night’s Baseball Assistance Team (B.A.T.) dinner. “Losing 90-some games — I thought we changed all that.”

Johnson said he believes it’s time for this group of Mets to finally realize its potential.

“It’s getting time to put it all together,” Johnson said. “I know their division’s tough and I know they’re up against a pretty good ballclub in Philly, but I think they’ve got it and I’d like to see them do much better.”

Another Mets great, Ed Kranepool, questioned why center fielder Carlos Beltran had knee surgery earlier this month and went to his own doctor.

“I was a player for 18 years, and when you wanted to have some surgery you consulted with the ballclub and you got their permission to do it,” Kranepool said. “I don’t know the circumstances, but if I needed some surgery I certainly wouldn’t wait until the end of January to get it, especially when you have a whole winter.”

Johnson will be honored this season at Citi Field as an inductee in the team’s Hall of Fame, which will be housed in the stadium. Kranepool, a season ticket holder, praised the team for finally making the new stadium feel like the home of the Mets.

“I think the fans let them know this is not the Brooklyn Dodgers, this is the New York Mets,” Kranepool said. “It’s a beautiful ballpark, but I didn’t know who the home team was. Now let’s see some nostalgia with the Mets organization, which has been around since 1962.”

* Several of the guests at last night’s dinner weighed in on Mark McGwire‘s apology earlier this month for steroid use.

“From what I read he said it didn’t affect his performance,” said Fred Lynn, the 1975 AL MVP. “I don’t know if I believe that. If you put about 40 pounds of muscle on, I think it might affect my performance because I don’t think I’d have to square up a ball to hit a home run.”

Andre Dawson, recently voted into the Hall of Fame, was in the gym when he saw the news of McGwire’s apology.

“I just shook my head because I don’t know, I think at some point in time he was going to have to address it because he’s back in the game now,” Dawson said. “You’ve got to face up to the ramifications. Personally, I didn’t concern myself one way or the other. The steroid issue, it’s about time that cloud is removed from the game.”

Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer called it “bittersweet.”

“It’s hard to hit home runs,” Palmer said. “I wish they were real. I think it helps the game. I remember ’98. . . . You kind of suspected something was going on.”