During the Mets’ National League championship celebration in the cramped visitors’ clubhouse at Wrigley Field, Jeff Wilpon, the team’s chief operating officer, raised an oversize bottle of champagne.
“Ready?” he shouted.
Wilpon twisted the cork, but it would not budge. He shook the bottle and tried with his other hand, to no avail. Using his shirt to help his grip, the equipment manager, Kevin Kierst, dislodged the cork. Wilpon raised the bottle triumphantly, threw his head back and took a big swig.
Then he carried the bottle around the room, as if he were at a keg party, pouring champagne down the throats of David Altchek, the team doctor, and Tim Teufel, the third-base coach, and on the head of the unsuspecting pitching coach, Dan Warthen.