Swine Flute Plays for the Mets

It appears that neither Carlos Beltran nor John Maine has swine flu.

Maine is already feeling better, and the diagnosis on Beltran is more along the lines of a true stomach flu.

Friend of NY Sports Dog Bart Hubbach of the NY Post has a detailed update on the status of the "Swine Flue" scare.

He reports:

A source said SNY producer Dan Barr began feeling ill Sunday night during the Mets' charter flight to Pittsburgh for the series that began Monday and was sent home yesterday. SNY crew members, including the team's on-air broadcasters, travel with the coaches and players on the same plane.

"Personal matters about our employees are confidential," SNY spokesman Andrew Fegyversi said in a statement last night. "However, we have always been committed to taking every medical precaution and making sure our employees get the proper care."

Mets assistant GM John Ricco told reporters the club is confident that Beltran and John Maine, who also has been battling stomach illness, are safe from swine flu. Maine, in fact, returned to the team yesterday and felt good enough to perform off-day throwing drills, after having to leave early from his start Sunday at Citi Field against Florida due to the stomach ailment.

"We've been told [swine flu] is not a type of illness that's transmitted through the air," Ricco said before last night's 3-1 loss in Pittsburgh. "It's more shaking hands, sneezing. So we're not too worried. The symptoms, we've been told, are marked generally by high fever, joint aches and fatigue.

"These symptoms are not consistent at all with what Carlos Beltran and John Maine have at the present time, but our players are being informed that this has happened. Right now, no one on our team is feeling any of that type of symptoms."

Bottom line for the team is that relative good health is just a few days away.