ST. LOUIS — He has been involved in five of the last six League Championship Series, four times as a coach and once as a scout.

        He has managed three minor-league championship clubs, helping nurture players such as Jeff Kent, Jason Giambi, Chris Widger, Eric Owens, Scott Sullivan, Pat Hentgen and Mike Timlin.

        Before that, he was a four-time National League All-Star catcher.

        It sounds like John Stearns has fairly decent managerial credentials. Given his Cincinnati ties, perhaps he's even on the Reds' ultra-top-secret 43-person “wish list.”

        Now the New York Mets' catching coach, Stearns managed the Reds' Single-A Princeton affiliate to the Appalachian League title and steered Peoria, the Princeton affiliate, to the Appalachian League title. He alsosteered Peoria, the Arizona Fall League team with which Cincinnati was affiliated, to another championship that autumn. Stearns also was a Reds coach in 1995 when they won the NL Central.

        “I can't believe he doesn't get a phone call,” Mets manager Bobby Valentine said.

        But Mets general manager Steve Phillips said that nobody has sought permission to interview Stearns. And Stearns is wondering if he'll ever get an opportunity.

        “When you reach my age (49) and you haven't had your shot yet, chances are you're running out of time,” Stearns said before Thursday's Game 2 of the National League Championship Series. “I'm frustrated. ... There's six or seven (openings) out there. You hear people say, "Who are they gonna get?' And I think, "What in the world is going on here?' What do I have to do?”

        Nicknamed “Bad Dude” during his playing career with the Mets, Stearns sensed that his abrasive personality may have poisoned his chances to manage.

        “I think that reputation has not helped me,” he said. “I wanted the opponent to be the enemy. I played on teams that lost 90 games a year. I wasn't happy; I played mad all the time. ... A reputation stays with you.”

        TENSION RISES: A mini-controversy brewed between St. Louis manager Tony LaRussa and Phillips, resulting from the ninth-inning pitch thrown by St. Louis reliever Mike James in Game 1 that hit New York shortstop Mike Bordick on his right thumb.

        Bordick left the game and didn't play Thursday, though he said he could be used in an emergency. Valentine said he might return to the lineup for Saturday's Game 3.

        More to the point, Phillips accused James of trying to hit Bordick on purpose. Bordick batted after James had yielded three consecutive hits, including home runs by Todd Zeile and Jay Payton.

        LaRussa hotly disputed that logic. “Let's just play the game and cut the bull,” he said.

        LaRussa pointed out that he managed Bordick when both were with the Oakland A's. “He's one of my favorite players,” LaRussa said. “He's tied for first. Even if I hated Bordick, we don't play the game that way.”

        WILD SIDE: Before his early departure, St. Louis starter Rick Ankiel tied an NLCS mark with his pair of first-inning wild pitches. He shares the mark with Houston's Jeff Calhoun (1986) and San Diego's Sterling Hitchcock (1998).

        Two wild pitches is also the NLCS record for a single game, a record shared by many.

        Online survey: Who do you want to manage the Reds?

DAUGHERTY: Memo to Reds: Get Lou Reds' list has 43 potential managers Manager's job eludes Stearns Ball park design studied

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