For someone who could never stand to watch more than two innings of baseball at a time on TV--preferring to play it instead--Christensen must do a lot of observing these days. He is using the time to figure out the nuances of big league pitching. But he knows the batter's box makes a much better vantage point than the bench.
Carter, another Orange County native, said he tries to encourage Christensen.
"Being the type of player John is, he's very competitive and wants to be in the game at all times," Carter said. "Being a platoon player is not his first choice."
Christensen said, "I'm a mental type player. I think that's almost the whole thing in baseball. I'm trying to sort things out. I have to make the adjustment and it's just difficult right now.
"I went golfing with my brother and he asked me if everything was OK because when I'm not doing very well, I get a little more quiet. I said that I haven't gotten off to this bad a start since I could remember."
He has played in only 10 complete games, and although he has always had a pattern of slow starts, glaciers may be advancing faster than his batting average this season. Last year at Tidewater, he hit only .256 before June 6, and then streaked along at .344 the rest of the year.
But this time, the prospects for improving his average through regular play are not great. Right field is the toughest row to hoe as a prospect for the Mets.
When Christensen imagined himself in the majors, he could not have envisioned coming up deep in the 6-foot 6-inch shadow of Darryl Strawberry.
So Christensen finally arrived--only to discover that his lifelong position had been leased out and renamed Strawberry Fields Forever in honor of the 1983 Rookie of the Year, a fellow two years younger than he.
"The outfield we have is just about set with two of us who are going to be around for a while," Strawberry said of himself and 29-year-old center fielder Mookie Wilson. "Then George (Foster) is an established veteran. It's a tough situation for him (Christensen).
"Looking at the situation, he's going to have to be patient and not try to overdo it when he does get his chances. Of course, it's tough for me to discuss, because I've never been in that position. But he has a good attitude about the game, and that's the main thing."
Said Christensen: "I know he's got the job and he's going to be out there for a long time, but if I let that affect me, it will only hurt me."
Strawberry's injury, torn thumb ligaments, has provided Christensen more opportunities to play in May and June. Before the Dodger series, he was platooning in right field with fourth-year player Danny Heep. Christensen was starting against left-handed pitchers.
But the platoon disintegrated as Heep has enjoyed an offensive surge this week. Johnson started Heep in place of Christensen on Tuesday against left-hander Fernando Valenzuela, and Heep responded by hitting two doubles and driving in the winning run with a sacrifice fly.
Johnson said he would be playing Heep more frequently as a consequence, while Christensen will now face "certain left-handers," until Strawberry's return in three weeks.
"I could understand Davey's decision to go ahead and play the guy who's hitting the ball good right now, and Danny definitely is," Christensen said.
"I'm doing a new job and I've got to take the time to adjust and learn to be patient so when I do get a chance, I'm not too anxious."
Said Garrido: "The thing that's risky about this is that you can destroy a player's confidence, but John is not that kind of person. He has risen up to the top on every team he's been on.
"This is a valuable experience for him to go through, even if he does wind up going back to the minors for a while. Sometimes our greatest successes come right on the heels of our biggest problems. When he finds the solution to this, he'll return to hitting the ball as well as ever."
'I am happy to be here but my confidence level is down. When I go to the plate, I want to do so well that I do just the opposite.'
--John Christensen
