Context: Jason Bay has a career .863 OPS, but it’s only .723 since he joined the Mets. He’s 33, but the fences, etc.

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I had a buddy who used to have a bear, a pet bear. When he’d get mad, the bear would go kick him around the cage and then he’d find his [something inaudible] back down to Earth again.

– Terry Collins.

Wait… what?

I didn’t see Terry Collins’ rant/tirade/explosion/mild irritation today so I’m not going to pretend like I did. Your interpretation is as good as mine.

I do wonder, though, to what extent teams normally publicize minor Spring Training injuries like the ones that recently sidelined Andres Torres and Lucas Duda for a game apiece, to what extent they’re normally reported, and to what extent the Mets’ recent history of questionably handled and reported injuries impacts the way they disclose them now.

If Collins is frustrated, it suggests what the Mets are going through is atypical. But maybe he’s just caught up in the Spring Training bubble and wants his infielders.

I heard earlier this week that Mike Baxter said last year he was not comfortable playing center field, which seems important now that the Mets appear to be looking for a left-handed bat and a backup center fielder. So I asked Baxter about it.

“I heard the same thing,” he said. “And it’s not true.”

Baxter explained that when he got called up, the team asked him the positions where he’s most comfortable. He listed them in order of experience: Right field, then first base, then left field, then center.

“The best way to explain it is the repetitions,” he said. “If you’ve played twice as much at one position, you’re going to be more comfortable there.”

Baxter played 392 games in right, 150 at first, 73 in left and 43 in center in the Minors. He explained that he spent a lot of time in right simply because more heralded prospects like Will Venable commanded playing time in center. And he added that he felt no anxiousness or hesitance about playing center.

For what it’s worth, Baxter played third base and first base in college and even played an inning at second in a Minor League game in 2006. Baxter’s Single-A Fort Wayne team suffered a rash of injuries and had an 11 a.m. game, so he was forced into duty in the middle infield. He played an inning and recorded a putout on a caught stealing before the replacement infielder arrived to the stadium to take his place.

Context: I’m pretty sure this happened twice last year but I can’t figure it out from searching Deadspin. So it’s something I’ll have to keep track of in 2012. I wanted to make it more specific and less dependent on a blog, but I figured Deadspin posts are as good a way as any of tracking notable postgame news conference moments.

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