Milledge gets fresh start with Mets

NEW YORK -- Every spring marks a rebirth, a new beginning. But for Lastings Milledge, this spring was littered with all the signs of winter. Seemingly every move Milledge made was wrong, and the once-heralded prospect's star was accelerating back to earth.

Now spring is over, and that new beginning is finally here. The Mets have given Milledge another chance, recalling him from Double-A Binghamton on Thursday and plunking him in left field for the start of this weekend's four-game series with Cincinnati. Milledge will serve as the starting left fielder until Moises Alou can return from injury later this summer.

"It's good to get him back in the mix," said manager Willie Randolph. "He's young and brings a lot of enthusiasm to the table."

The spotlight -- for bad or for worse -- has been chasing Milledge throughout the first half of this year. Now, it's giving him another chance to bask in its light on a baseball diamond -- and for once, it's a spotlight he'd like to avoid.

"I'm in the eight-hole," Milledge said. "I can't carry the team. It's not my job to do. If I can contribute and do some things here, win a couple ballgames here and there, then it was a good experience and I'm doing good for the team."

The 22-year-old Milledge replaced 48-year-old Julio Franco on the roster, after the Mets designated Franco for assignment in order to shore up their struggling bench.

Yet the move comes not without a twist. Milledge has been a lightning rod for controversy in his two years with the club, most recently this spring when he released a rap CD containing explicit lyrics. He first irked some in the organization during his callup last May, when he hit a home run and proceeded to high-five fans down the right-field line as he was returning to the field the following half-inning.

This season, Milledge was doing little on the field to compensate. After struggling through a brief big-league stint to open the year, he was sent down to Triple-A New Orleans. The Mets had scripted that move in Spring Training, but they couldn't have scripted what happened next, when Milledge strained a ligament in his right foot and was out of action for nearly two months.

Bad timing. The big club's outfield quickly became riddled with injuries, as first Alou, then Shawn Green, Endy Chavez and Carlos Gomez all went down. Had Milledge been healthy, he would have jetted right back to New York to play nearly every day. Instead, he stayed mired in Florida, making more news off the field than on it.

Milledge claims he hasn't matured. But he also claims he doesn't need to.

"I'm going to be me," Milledge said. "This is how I'm going to be for the next 20 years, or however long I play the game. But the thing I did grow on is how to handle myself, how to handle the media. I'm a grown man."

That part of the mystery remains unsolved. But the Mets are hoping the baseball player they thought they drafted 12th overall in the 2003 First-Year Player Draft has made a full return. Milledge hit .435 in five rehab games with Binghamton, mashing out a double, a triple and two home runs.

And this time -- unlike his stint with the Mets this spring -- Milledge will have an opportunity to play just about every day.

"To me, that's part of giving him an opportunity to go out there and play and be the Lastings Milledge that we've seen in Spring Training," said general manager Omar Minaya. "He's a young man that's going to make his mistakes like a lot of young players do. But he's a developing young man, and he's got ability."

The Mets are banking much of their success this July on him proving just that. First touted as their next great outfielder, Milledge was then advertised as the trading chip that could land the team a front-line starter. Yet the slugger's struggles, injury and off-field news have since stripped him of both possibilities, making the Mets more eager than ever re-launch his star.

And now's as good a time -- and as good an opportunity -- as he's ever had.

"Everybody knows what I can do," Milledge said. "Now it's just getting here and doing it."