N.L. Dodgers to meet Mets first time since melee

Mike Piazza and Guillermo Mota will be in the same stadium on Tuesday.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
The Los Angeles Dodgers will be in Shea Stadium on Tuesday night to start a three-game series against the New York Mets.
Somebody alert the National Guard.
For the first time since a spring-training melee between the teams, the central figures in that fight, Mets catcher Mike Piazza and Dodgers reliever Guillermo Mota, will be in the same stadium.
The last time they were in such close proximity, during an exhibition game March 16 in Port St. Lucie, Fla., Mota sparked a benches-clearing brawl by backing Piazza off the plate with his first pitch and drilling him in the left shoulder with his second.
Piazza bolted to the mound and was about to deliver a round-house right to Mota's chin before being diverted by catcher David Ross. Several Mets chased the backpedaling Mota into the Dodger dugout while three Dodgers restrained Piazza.
Minutes later, Dodger outfielder Brian Jordan whisked Mota out of the stadium, a veteran move that might have saved Mota's career. Piazza stormed into the Dodger clubhouse, his face full of fury, screaming, "Where's Mota? Where's Mota?"
Perish the thought
Had Mota been in that nearly empty room, there is no telling what damage Piazza would have inflicted on the pitcher.
"Never, ever have I seen his thermometer up that high," said Vince Piazza, Mike's father, who was in Port St. Lucie that night. "He was at a boiling point. If he would have caught [Mota], I would have felt sorry for the kid."
The potential for Piazza-Mota III -- they also scuffled after Mota had hit Piazza with a spring-training pitch in 2002 -- raises several intriguing questions:
UIs Piazza bent on revenge, and if so, to what extent would he go to exact it?
UWill Dodger Manager Jim Tracy be hesitant to use Mota, especially against Piazza?
UIf Mota faces Piazza, will the hard-throwing right-hander pitch aggressively inside, possibly risking a Shea Stadium riot, or be extra careful, staying off the plate?
UAnd will other Dodgers, such as Shawn Green and Fred McGriff, become targets for Met pitchers looking to even the score?
Piazza declined to address the subject last week. Vince Piazza doubted there would be any incidents.
"Unless Mota does something stupid," he said. "And I don't know how the rest of the team feels. You never know in these situations whether they feel they have to do something."
Concerns
There is concern among the Dodgers that because the last-place Mets are struggling, and because bench-clearing brawls often provide a spark and improve team chemistry, the Mets could be itching for a fight.
Both Piazza and Mota got four-game suspensions for the spring incident, and Bob Watson, baseball's discipline czar who will be in Shea on Tuesday, made it clear the penalties for another flare-up will be severe.
"I understand that when you play the game, the machismo, the ego and the testosterone levels rise, but you still have to use common sense," Watson said. "This type of behavior is not going to be tolerated."
Watson wouldn't speculate about punishment should the Piazza-Mota feud escalate, but it would probably make Arizona pitcher Miguel Batista's recent 10-game suspension seem like a slap on the wrist.
"Both teams paid the price [to start the season] and the hammer is going to be dropped even worse if something else happens," Dodger center fielder Dave Roberts said. "We can't afford to lose Mota, just like they can't afford to lose Mike. We need to take the high road."