World Series notebook: Return of 'Nails'

From Staff Reports <br><br>Former Mets World Series stars Lenny Dykstra, Gary Carter and Keith Hernandez were on hand Thursday to throw out ceremonial pitches. <br><br>Dykstra, the gritty outfielder known

Friday, October 27th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

From Staff Reports

Former Mets World Series stars Lenny Dykstra, Gary Carter and Keith Hernandez were on hand Thursday to throw out ceremonial pitches.

Dykstra, the gritty outfielder known as "Nails" until back trouble ended his career, was hired this week as manager of the Class A Mudville Nine, a California League affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds based in Stockton, Calif.

"You can't expect just because you were a decent player you're going to be a good manager," Dykstra said. "I hope I will be. I know when you're at that level, the big leagues seem a long, long way away. I want to let them know there's not that big a difference between minor leaguers and big leaguers. It's how they do the little things that make the difference, just as we've seen in this Series." â€“ Ken Daley

Passing through?

Three New Englanders were arrested outside Shea Stadium on Wednesday for selling counterfeit World Series media credentials for $100 each. Two men from Rhode Island and another from Massachusetts were charged with forgery and criminal possession of forged documents when their car was found loaded with bogus passes for the Series, the Ryder Cup, NFL games and various concerts.

The men were arrested when they attempted to sell credentials to about the four worst customers they could have picked. They made their pitch to two undercover policemen and two plainclothes baseball officials, including Kevin Hallinan, chief of Major League Baseball Security. â€“ Ken Daley

Moving day spoiled

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner was upset by the spartan conditions in the visitors' clubhouse at Shea Stadium. To replace the simple stools in front of players' lockers, Steinbrenner ordered the Yankees' padded folding chairs and a leather couch trucked over from Yankee Stadium before Wednesday's Game 4.

But when a pipe burst during the game and flooded the clubhouse in nearly two feet of water, the couch became a redecorating casualty. Which team winds up paying for its replacement could become tabloid fodder for weeks.

At least the clubhouse was inhabitable again Thursday.

Series doesn't rate high

NEW YORK â€“ The Subway Series' TV ratings were on a fast track to a record low through Game 4. The national rating for Fox Sports' telecast of the New York Yankees' 3-2 victory over the Mets on Wednesday night was a 12.5 with a 21 share.

That rating is 30 percent below Game 4 in 1999, and 25 percent lower than in 1998. Those both ended four-game sweeps by the Yankees in the two lowest-rated World Series ever.

Through four games this year, the cumulative rating was a 12.2 â€“ 24 percent under last year's 16.0 on NBC and 13.5 percent off the 14.1 on Fox two years ago.

Each rating point represents a little more than 1 million TV households. Share is the percentage of in-use TVs tuned to a given program.
â€“ Associated Press