Principal owner Fred Wilpon addressed the media from a dugout at one of the backfields this afternoon. And with the dark days of the Art Howe Era finally behind his franchise, Wilpon is showing a sense of humor again. Even about one of the skeletons in his closet -- the ill-fated Scott Kazmir trade.
"Is he still pitching?" Wilpon joked. "When they made that decision, [my son] Jeff and I got on the conference call and there were -- I don’t know how many people -- but a lot of people, who had collectively more knowledge than you could imagine in terms of baseball. And they said just why they wanted to do that.
"It was obviously wrong. [Victor] Zambrano is no longer here. But you make some good ones and you don’t make some good ones. John Maine is here. Omar [Minaya] wouldn’t have made that [Kris Benson] deal unless John Maine was part of it . I mean, how does one know? John Maine may be better than the pitcher we traded to Baltimore. It may turn out that way .. I think we’ve got to go on."