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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Tirade Leaves Valentine Squirming Pitcher Harangues Manager Before Mets Trade Him Away

Associated Press

New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine described his exchange with pitcher Pete Harnisch and his wife as one-sided and embarrassing.

“It wasn’t long and it wasn’t confrontational,” Valentine said during his pregame meeting with the media on Sunday. “He was the only person yelling.”

After the Mets beat Baltimore 4-1 Sunday, Harnisch - designated for assignment a day earlier - was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for minor league outfielder Donny Moore.

Harnisch was dropped from the Mets’ roster after their 13-6 loss at Baltimore on Saturday. A few hours later, Harnisch and his wife Donna confronted Valentine in the lobby of the team’s hotel.

Valentine said Donna Harnisch scolded him for not sending flowers or a card to the pitcher during the four months he missed this season after being diagnosed with clinical depression.

The manager said he told her that he had been instructed by Mets management to have no contact with Harnisch for fear that it might remind him of the promising career his illness was threatening.

The pitcher then began yelling obscenities at Valentine.

“I was embarrassed personally and I was embarrassed for the situation,” Valentine said. “It was a very embarrassing situation.”

Harnisch later told WFAN in New York, the team’s flagship station, that he was angered because Valentine had said he was “scared to pitch” while he was recuperating from his illness.