VIERA, Fla. — Daniel Murphy couldn’t bring himself to say the word.
Either the Nationals second baseman had a case of amnesia Thursday or he was the jilted lover too wounded to utter his ex’s name. In this case, the taboo word was “Mets.”
The closest Murphy came during a six-minute question-and-answer session with reporters midway through the Mets’ Grapefruit League opener at Space Coast Stadium was a “New York” reference and another more generic phrase when manager Terry Collins’ name was mentioned.
“TC was always good to me,” Murphy said.