No Fooling, Ejected Valentine Tries Disguise

Who was that masked man in the New York Mets’ dugout? Apparently it was Manager Bobby Valentine.

And he wasn’t confusing Wednesday night’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays with Halloween. Valentine merely returned to the bench incognito after he was thrown out by umpires.

“From the information we have, he was ejected and came back to the end of the dugout in a disguise,” Katy Feeney, National League senior vice president, said Thursday.

Valentine was ejected in the 12th inning by plate umpire Randy Marsh for arguing a catcher’s interference call on Mike Piazza. The manager, according to information reported to the league, returned to the dugout with a fake mustache and glasses.

Feeney said the league was investigating and hopes to have a decision by today.

Meanwhile, outfielder Bobby Bonilla told the Mets he was unavailable to play in Tuesday and Wednesday’s games, the New York Post reported.

“I don’t think there is a situation,” Valentine was quoted as saying by the newspaper. “I’m just going to say he wasn’t available.”

Bonilla, batting .167 with four homers and 17 runs batted in, didn’t take batting practice Wednesday and exchanged bitter words with Valentine before the game, the Post reported.

Last week, Bonilla was upset after a report that the Mets had placed him on waivers and he wasn’t claimed.

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Tony Gwynn’s quest for 3,000 hits remains on hold. Gwynn felt tightness in his left calf before the San Diego Padres’ game against the Oakland Athletics and his planned return to the lineup was scrapped. Gwynn, who is 25 hits short of 3,000, has been sidelined since May 21, when he suffered a strained left calf coming out of the batter’s box in a game against the Cincinnati Reds. . . . Craig Counsell, a member of the Florida Marlins’ World Series championship team two years ago, is upset about his shrinking role with the team and says he wants to be traded.