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The baseball and the two outfielders -- both center fielders by trade -- were airborne when the players' paths intersected, and as their faces co llided, the often-unrecognized danger of big-league baseball came to the forefront. The occupants of two dugouts inha led through their teeth as people do in moments or fear. They instantly feared the worst, though they had no real sense of what the worst might mean. No m atter, at that moment, as they processed the sickening impact they had w itnessed, their day and their perspective had changed. Within hours Thursday their roster -- and perhaps their season -- had, to o Cameron was disabled because of multiple injuries and will need surgery t o repair facial fractures. Beltran was diagnosed with a concussion and a minimally non-displaced fracture of a facial bone, which will not requi re surgery. Even before their game with the Padres was lost -- largely because of the line drive that went uncaught -- the Mets suspected they had lost Camer on for the season. Their fears were confirmed when they learned the head -to-head collision with Beltran had caused the Mets right fielder to suf fer a concussion that was characterized as slight, multiple fractures of both cheekbones and a broken nose. And by late Thursday night, they learned Beltran would be hospitalized ov ernight as well while doctors awaited results of tests. The 2-1 loss to the Padres and its ramifications mattered little even bef ore the extent of Cameron's injuries was known. Long before the Mets hea rd the update on Beltran, they had made their way to Los Angeles as a di minished, saddened and shaken team. "From time to time," Tom Glavine had said before leaving the Mets' somber clubhouse, "things happen that put the game in perspective." Even before official word came, the players envisioned the recall of Vict or Diaz and that Cameron would miss significant time. He has not been pu t on the DL, though it remains a possibility. The full extent of Cameron 's injuries was unknown at that point. In fact, before the team buses de parted, the club announced the results of Cameron's first CT scan were n egative. But a subsequent test detected the structural damage to the pop ular 32-year-old outfielder's face. "It's not going to be good," one of the Mets said as he left the clubhous e for a team bus. Cameron had been removed from the field on a stretcher after lying motion less on the PETCO Park lawn for several minutes. Marlon Anderson, the se cond player to reach the fallen outfielders, said Cameron was "dazed, no t really there" at first. The only sign of injury Anderson detected was blood -- and a lot of it -- coming from cuts inside Cameron's mouth. "I can't imagine being a paramedic at the scene of a car wreck," Anderson said. Cliff Floyd, Cameron's closest friend, made the sign of the cross and loo ked away, sickened by the blood as Mets trainer Ray Ramirez tended to Ca meron and Beltran, also dazed, crawled away. Beltran eventually left the field under his own power, but he was escorted. At one point, he was se ated on a table in the trainers' room, leaning back against the wall, oc casionally shaking his head. Beltran later acknowledged he had little memory of the episode or its imm ediate aftermath. " He later said, "I'm dizzy," as he walked slowly across the clubhouse. Beltran and others said the "center fielder's mentality" that the two pla yers share played a part in the collision. "They're trained to want the ball," manager Willie Randolph said. As it turned out, the ball that neither caught -- Cameron almost did -- w as critical to the loss. It became a one-out triple for pinch-hitter Dav id Ross. Pinch-runner Damian Jackson scored the Padres' second run again st Glavine moments later, when Joe Randa singled. Jackson, formerly with the Red Sox, had been involved in a collision with Johnny Damon in the 2003 playoffs against the A's. He could empathize w ith the Mets outfielders even though Damon had taken the brunt of the hi t then. "Unfortunatel y, I've been through it and know what it's like. "Hats off to those guys for giving such an effort for Tom Glavine. Baseba ll takes a beating for not being physical, guys are dogging it. But we're out there without protection, and there ar e times like this when it's dangerous. People will look at it as one of the top 10 all-ugly incidents. "To me, you had two center fielders going after it with everything they'v e got, and neither one was letting up or backing off. Cameron has been a center fielder all his life, and he still plays like one. Most right fi elders will veer off or give way on a play like that, but he went all ou t, the way he always has. They have families just like you do, and we 're all playing a game." As Cameron lay on the field -- first on his back, then on his left side - - Floyd spoke to him. "But I'm not sure he really un derstood me," Floyd said. Later, Padres president Sandy Alderson, who had witnessed Cameron's being moved outside the club house, said he had been told Cameron had suffered no type of seizure. Mike Piazza recalled one involv ing Dodgers teammates Delino DeShields and Raul Mondesi that left DeShie lds looking in two directions at once. Pedro Martinez recalled Expos tea mmate Rondell White hitting a wall with his head. And there were thought s of the time that Dan Norman and Lee Mazzilli collided in right-center in 1979. "Most of them you see," Piazza said, "guys are on their feet.
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