The Latest: Mets Slugger Cespedes Set To Play In Opener
The Associated Press
The latest on the World Series, which opens Tuesday night with the Kansas City Royals hosting the New York Mets (all times local):
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5:15 p.m.
Mets slugger Yoenis Cespedes says he'll be ready to play in Game 1 despite an ailing left shoulder.
"I'm feeling very well. I believe that tomorrow I'm going to be at 100 percent," Cespedes said Monday.
The outfielder exited the NL Championship Series finale because of his sore shoulder and received a cortisone injection the next day.
"I have no concern. He feels great. I just saw him," New York manager Terry Collins said. "He feels fine. He's going to hit again today and he's ready to go."
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4:55 p.m.
David Wright, the Mets' captain, is not a fan of the long locks of pitchers Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard.
"We got some guys that think they have good hair, but I don't really know," Wright said playfully Monday.. "I saw some Halloween costumes with their hair, and it's bad. They look bad. I tell them every day."
Wright keeps his hair closely cropped. The hair of the two young pitchers flows down from their caps.
"DeGrom, I got a lock of his hair last year that still hangs above my locker," Wright said.
New York used a marketing campaign with the hashtag "HairWeGo" for deGrom.
"I do want to cut it," deGrom said. "I haven't cut it at all this year."
Asked if he's become superstitious about his locks, deGrom grinned but didn't answer as his interview session ended.
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4:50 p.m.
Long before he was Ned Yost, manager of the AL champion Kansas City Royals, he was Edgar Yost, wide-eyed rookie catcher for the Batavia Trojans — now the Muckdogs — in upstate New York.
Yost was chosen by Montreal in 1974, back when Major League Baseball still had two phases to the draft. But he didn't sign and was picked by the New York Mets in the second phase that June.
Incidentally, the Royals face the Mets in the World Series beginning Tuesday night.
After the draft, Yost was assigned to Class-A Batavia to begin his pro career. He hit .252 in 44 mostly forgettable games, but what transpired away from the ballpark was unforgettable.
"There was like, 16 of us living in a two-bedroom house, and they had a pay phone on the front porch that you used to call home once a week," Yost recalled. "I had a bike that I bought for 10 bucks to get around. It was a lot of fun."
Yost reached Triple-A in the Mets organization before he was taken by Milwaukee in the Rule-5 draft. He wound up spending four of his six big-league seasons with the Brewers.
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4:40 p.m.
Kelly Johnson will be the Mets' designated hitter in the World Series opener.
Acquired from Atlanta on July 24, Johnson hit .250 with five homers and 13 RBIs for New York. He is 1 for 6 in the postseason.
Johnson is 4 for 14 (.286) with two RBIs against Kansas City's Game 1 starter, Edinson Volquez.
"If (Johnny) Cueto was starting, we were looking at perhaps somebody else, because his numbers against lefties are pretty good," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "We thought tomorrow night that Kelly gave us our best opportunity."
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4:30 p.m.
Mets outfielder Curtis Granderson has a jammed left thumb but plans to play in the World Series opener.
"Everything is good," he said Monday.
Granderson said he hurt his thumb sliding into second base last Tuesday night against the Chicago Cubs during Game 3 of the NLCS at Wrigley Field.
"He played the next day. He was fine. He's taken batting practice," manager Terry Collins said. "He's fine. To relieve all — you put him in a little protective wrap that — it's not a sling. He's going to play. He's in there."
The Mets posted a photo on their Facebook page Sunday of Granderson with a thumb wrapped as he boarded the team bus ahead of the trip to Kansas City.
Collins did not seem pleased news of the knock became public.
"Anything else you want the rest of the league to know about us, just let us know," he said.
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2:35 p.m.
Several members of the Royals were guests of the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, watching their cross-the-parking lot neighbors beat the Pittsburgh Steelers to snap a five-game skid.
On Monday, Chiefs coach Andy Reid offered his encouragement on the eve of the World Series.
"I look forward to seeing them kick this thing off here in a couple days, I guess tomorrow, right?" Reid said, apparently unaware that kicking off is, well, a football term.
The Royals play the New York Mets in Game 1 on Tuesday night.
Reid and the Chiefs have become close with the Royals over the past couple years, often dropping in on each other's practices. Reid even stopped by to see manager Ned Yost — or as he calls him, "Skipper Yost" — when the Royals were in spring training.
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1:30 p.m.
Edinson Volquez will start the World Series opener for Kansas City, followed by Johnny Cueto in Game 2.
Royals players said Monday that Yordano Ventura will start Game 3 at Citi Field on Friday, followed by Chris Young in Game 4.
New York's rotation opens with Matt Harvey, and Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz follow.
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