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Padres Notebook: Mets lose their protest about Otsuka's delivery

By: BRIAN HIRO - Staff Writer | Wednesday, May 5, 2004 10:42 PM PDT ∞

Major League Baseball on Wednesday denied the New York Mets' protest of their game Saturday against the Padres.

The Mets protested the game, a 3-1 loss at Petco Park, in the eighth inning based on their objection to the pitching delivery of Padres right-hander Akinori Otsuka.

Although he admitted that he didn't think the protest would be successful, Mets manager Art Howe said he believes that Otsuka achieves illegal deception with his unusual windup. Otsuka separates, then reunites his hands before releasing the ball.

Despite the protest being settled, Padres general manager Kevin Towers said the commissioner's office still hasn't told him whether umpires will be instructed to call balks on Otsuka with runners on base.

"I think they're still looking at it," Towers said. "My sense is that there will not be a problem with it. The message that I got from Sandy (Alderson, MLB's executive vice president for baseball operations) is they're trying to get all the (umpire) supervisors together to go over (video) and look at it.

"For us, the sooner the better because we don't want to end up losing a game not knowing."

According to Towers, Padres manager Bruce Bochy approached crew chief Jerry Crawford before the team's game in Atlanta to ask whether Crawford had heard anything about the situation.

"And Crawford didn't even know who Otsuka was," Towers said. "So it's not like word is traveling through the umpiring crews to keep an eye on this guy. I would imagine if they thought it was a balk we would have known by now."

Towers also said he expects left fielder Ryan Klesko, who has been sidelined by a muscle strain in his rib-cage area, to return in time for the Padres' homestand that begins Tuesday.