Die Hard Sports Fan

So most Mets fans wanted Willie whacked and those of you who wanted that got their wish. The only improvement since then is the play of Jose Reyes. Reyes has decided to finally play baseball once Jerry Manuel took over which is another reason why this guy is so hard to root for. Otherwise, the team is playing exactly the same under Manuel as they did under Willie.

Last night, Manuel took Johan Santana out of the game against the Phillies after pitching eight innings. The score was 2-2 at the time, and Manuel brought in Duaner Sanchez to save the game but ended up giving a two-out RBI single to Shane Victornino. It was a very questionable move Mets fans because Santana only had 95 pitches when he was taken out. We know that Willie would’ve taken Johan out too. So what’s different? Absolutely nothing. The Bullpen still couldn’t save the game. It’s the same problem as last season. The Bullpen was smokin’ until July of 2007, and then they couldn’t hold a lead the rest of the season. Since I’m such a realistic Mets fan, I saw the collapse coming a mile away. It began in July, and I knew that the Mets wouldn’t have been able to do anything in the Playoffs if they ended up making it. Of course I thought that they would’ve made the Playoffs, but I saw the flaws and knew that they would’ve been outed in the first round. We were hoping that Sanchez would’ve come back and pitch like he did in ‘06. Omar brought in Matt Wise in the offseason. Duaner’s return didn’t live up to the hype, and Wise hasn’t done much of anything before being placed on the DL.

My point has always been that this is on the players. It doesn’t matter if Willie or Jerry is the Coach. I also heard on WFAN that Willie wasn’t able to punish Reyes whenever Reyes acted up because Minaya said that Reyes was too valuable to the team. So Jose has gotten away with whatever he wanted. You can see on the field that Reyes’ immaturity has regressed. He never showed it until he was benched by Willie for not running out a few ground balls last year. These on-the-field temper tantrums are current because Reyes never did that in his first few seasons. Now, the Mets fired the Manager who did the right thing by benching him so Jose can continue to feel like he’s bigger than the team. I’ve got a huge problem with all of this. The Phillies had no problem benching Jimmy Rollins for not running out a ground ball, and Rollins was the MVP last year. Jimmy said he deserved to be benched. So why can’t the Mets do this? Why can’t Reyes handle being benched? I have no idea, but the Mets have to do something with Reyes. I know that Jose puts up great numbers when it doesn’t matter a la A-Rod, but where was Reyes in the ‘06 Playoff, in September ‘07, and in the first half of ‘08? He’s nowhere to be found when there’s pressure or criticism which means he lacks Rocky Balboa heart. It’s a shame with all of that talent. Just like Lorenzo said to Calogero in A Bronx Tale, “There’s nothing worst than wasted talent.”

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Everybody wants to know if replacing Willie Randolph with Jerry Manuel will be a successful story.  Unfortunately, we’re going to have to wait it out.  But who wants to wait it out in New York?  The media has written a bunch of articles about changing managers in the middle of the season during the past week.

Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News provided some statistics that I found interesting, “There’s no guarantee of success just because a team has made a managerial change - from 2002-07 there were 20 skippers replaced in-season; only three of those teams made the playoffs and six finished in last place. The fired managers had a combined winning percentage of .426, the replacements .451.”  That’s not too shabby.  McCarron provided this reason, “Managers who have been replacements say they have had to convince a team, wounded by the uproar surrounding the previous skipper’s failure, that it can still compete. They must immediately open lines of communication and deal with potential lingering issues concerning playing time or how the players felt about their deposed leader.”

John Harper of the New York Daily News wrote another article about the managerial change, and he pointed out that, “Perhaps no less significant, Manuel isn’t afraid to address internal issues, even the sensitive issue of a racial divide that may or may not exist in the Mets’ clubhouse. If nothing else, the perception seems to exist, and that was enough for Manuel to make a point of talking about it already with his players.”  The description written by Harper seems to cover some of the reasons noted by McCarron on why replacement managers tend to fail more often than not.  If perception is reality then it seems like Manuel can overcome what the other replacement managers weren’t able to.  One week into Manuel’s Mets, they look like they have a little bit more life in them.

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Mets.com released the comments made by Fred Wilpon about Willie Randolph and Omar Minaya after a news conference at the commissioner’s office.

I think Willie did a good job. I think that the results the last, say, 14 months were not up to what we thought it had to be. What Omar finally decided was that he had to make that change.

Obviously, we’ve been playing well in the last few games.

He [Omar Minaya] called me at the end of the doubleheader and asked me whether we can meet. He told us what his recommendation was going to be, and that what he wanted to do was replace Willie and replace the two coaches, and that he wanted to do it expeditiously. He wanted to do it in person. And he said, just like he always does, trades and everything else, he said, `I want to just think about it overnight.’

Management and the owners approved of what his plan was, so we were OK with the switch and we were OK with his recommendation, and he implemented that recommendation.

The intent here clearly was to respect Willie, to respect his feelings and to do it in person. It’s never easy to fire anybody. Believe me, it is not easy to do, and Omar took a lot of time. We took a lot of time listening to him and thinking about it.

It’s all a matter of performance, and Willie knew this when he started. Recognize we gave Willie the chance — Omar gave Willie the chance to be in this position. He had never been a manager in the Major Leagues or Minor Leagues.

I think Omar has done a great job. Everybody who makes decisions is not going to make all right decisions. He has made some great decisions. … Our Minor Leagues are in much better shape than is being reported.

It sounds like bunch of Malarkey to me.  I don’t understand how Willie did a ‘good job’ while Minaya did a ‘great job’ when they share the same record.  Both of them were responsible for the ups and the downs.  I believe that Omar has to take more blame than Willie for giving him too many old players that cannot contribute on a daily basis.  I’m also not sold on Wilpon’s comment on the farm system.  If it was stronger than the Mets would be able to start getting rid of the bums in the clubhouse.  We saw how nobody wanted the Mets prospects last offseason.  Are Wilpon’s comments about that to the fans or to the other GMs?  Did Randolph oversee the farm system?  No.  It’s all on Omar now.

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According to Anthony DiComo of Mets.com, a recent report in the New York Post claimed that Jerry Manuel had worked with vice president of player development Tony Bernazard to help oust Willie Randolph from his office.  This report also pointed out that Manuel and Bernazard has a lengthy conversation last week at Shea Stadium.  Manuel confirmed with the New York Post that he had a lenghty conversation with Bernazard, but the report offered no other evidence.

When asked about these rumors on Friday, Manuel said…

Me? I had a plan? I can’t entertain that because I couldn’t tell . . . what kind . . . I mean, I was a bench coach. That’s all I was. I was a bench coach. I never talked to you guys. You know, I was just a bench coach. I was trying to be the bench coach that I would want if I ever got a chance. Period. Because I know how that can work. Whatever you do to others will be done to you. You know what I’m saying? So I know how things work.

After that, Manuel was asked about his relationship with Willie.  Manuel said, “I was there for him for whatever he needed me to do. A sounding board. How he wanted to handle any situation that I had experienced. But I fully understand what is being said. I understand them completely. I do not charge to him.

Now we got conspiracy theorists?  I guess we have to take them at their word, but the Mets lack credibility after the way they fired Willie in the middle of the night.  It could be true, but the New York Post needs to bring more evidence to the table than a lengthy conversation at Shea.

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Willie Randolph told Wayne Coffey of the New York Daily News his side of the story.  I highly recommend that you read the entire article because it’s really interesting.  It is three pages long on their site so I’m just going to pick out some interesting comments…

Anyway, when I walked into the room Omar asked me to sit down. He sat right across from me. He started talking about how the team was underperforming, how it needed to turn around.

He said it was time to make some changes, and I waited for him to talk about whacking Rick and Tommy, but he just kept talking, for a minute or two, maybe longer, about how the team was better than it was playing, about all the stories that were out there and the cloud hovering over the team.

As Omar went on and on, looking very uncomfortable, this weird chill started to course through by body. I could feel myself going cold. He kept talking, almost stammering, and the chill got worse.

Suddenly, it occurred to me that maybe he was talking about me. Maybe I was the one about to get whacked.

Finally, I stopped him. I looked right at him.

“Omar, are you firing me?” I asked. He looked away for a minute and then met my eyes. “Yeah, I’m going to make a move,” he said. “It’s a hard decision, but I have to make it.”

We started going back and forth a little about everything, but this wasn’t a time for any heated postmortems.

“You don’t have to say anything more, Omar,” I said. “I came here to win, and if you don’t feel I’m the guy to get that done, then it’s your right to make a change. I’m eternally grateful for the opportunity you gave me. I want you to know that.”

I stood up and shook his hand, told him I wished him and the team well. Then he handed me an envelope, a little parting gift, and told me to make sure I reviewed it with my agent, Ron Shapiro.

It was a copy of my Met contract that basically says I better not say anything detrimental about the team, or I might jeopardize the rest of the money I have coming to me.

Obviously, that was Willie’s version of actually getting fired.  In this article, Randolph walks us through his entire tenure as a Mets manager.  It was more like a closing statement to the fans.  The Mets completely screwed up by firing him this way.  I feel very bad for Willie and wish he was still the manager.  Like I said before, I would rather have heard Omar admit how much he messed up by bringing in old guys that cannot contribute.  I wish that Omar would bring in championship talent rather than saying that the team he assembled has it.  I don’t want to hear the lies Mr. Minaya.  I have already seen the core players (Beltran, Delgado, Reyes, and Wright) not be able to go deeper into the Playoffs in ‘07 than they did in ‘06.  There didn’t even make the Playoffs in ‘07.  I already saw this team play soft in ‘08 after the collapse in ‘07.  Champions would play like they have somthing to prove regardless of who the manager is.  What about this core is championship calibur Omar?  I want Omar to be fired.

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Unfortunately, Jerry Manuel lost his Mets debut even with Santana on the mound.  Santana didn’t look good at all last night.  I was pretty annoyed with how Jose Reyes handled him self when he was taken out of the game.  Very classless, and that was in the first inning of Manuel’s debut.  Reyes looked like a baby out there, and then he threw his helmet.  I wish Jerry made an example of him.  I know he said that Reyes’ behavior was unacceptable in the post game which is a start.  Hopefully the Mets can get a victory tonight so they win the series.

Mets.com:

Manuel’s managerial debut spoiled - Rhett Bollinger summarized last night’s Mets-Angels game.

Mets shift their focus to winning games - Rhett Bollinger wrote up a pregame analysis for tonight’s game between the Mets and the Angels.

Newsday:

Omar deserves plenty of blame for Mets’ fiasco

New York Daily News:

Next nightmare will be Omar Minaya’s

Willie Randolph knew he was a ‘dead man walking’

New zookeeper for flawed Mets as Jerry Manuel inherits mess

New York Post:

KINGS OF QUEENS ACT LIKE CLOWNS

EAST RIVALS NOT PHIL-ING ANY SYMPATHY FOR METS

BIZARRE DAY HAS FITTING END - A FIASCO

PETERSON DESERVED BETTER FATE

New York Times:

New Mets Manager Mixes Intellect With Fire

The Star-Ledger:

In this corner…

Willie’s side of the story

Willie: ‘This happened way, way too early’ - Willie spoke extensively for the first time since being let go by the Mets, and Colin Stephenson captured his thoughts.

More of the same in Manuel’s debut (a loss)

Willie not ready to talk

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That has to have been one of the busiest days in Mets land in a long time.  Unfortunately, three guys lost their jobs.  It’s a new regime now.  Jerry Manuel is the the interim manager of the Mets.  That sounds bad, but what do you expect as a Mets fan?

Mets.com:

Mets name Manuel interim manager - Anthony DiComo reported that the Mets promoted Jerry Manuel to interim manager.

Minaya explains Randolph’s dismissal

Manuel, Randolph share similarities

Mets fans react to Willie’s dismissal

Hurdle talks Randolph dismissal - Rockies manager Clint Hurdle had this to say about Randolph, “He’s a good baseball man. When a door closes for a man of his abilities, another one will open somewhere down the line.”

Mets face uphill climb in All-Star races - Anthony DiComo noted, “In the latest tally of online voting, released Tuesday by Major League Baseball, no Mets player is close to earning an All-Star start at his position.”

Williams proving he could be Draft steal - Kevin T. Czerwinski pointed out that the Mets’ 40th-round pick, Seth Williams, has been tearing it up in College World Series.

Mets sign, seal, deliver win for Pelfrey - Anthony DiComo summarized last night’s Mets-Angels game.

DH offers Mets plenty of options - Anthony DiComo put together a pregame analysis for tonight’s game between the Mets and the Angels.

Newsday:

More than 21,000 miles on Mets since May 1 - David Lennon believes that the players are tired because they have traveled 21,611 miles since the start of May.

New York Daily News:

Pals go to bat for Willie Randolph

Derek Jeter calls Willie Randolph firing ‘unfortunate’

Fans quick to condemn Mets’ handling of Willie Randolph firing

New York Times:

Mets Put Him In. Is He Ready to Play? - Joshua Robinson asks, “Recently the question has arisen: How much does a weary, and slumping, David Wright really help the Mets?”

The Star-Ledger:

Jose Reyes pulled from the game, reacts angrily

Firings and Hirings: A complete look at the Mets eventful day - The Star-Ledger compiled dozens of articles about a very busy day in Mets history.  If you check out the article then you will be able to read all of their articles about today.

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Omar Minaya speaks at the press conference about the Mets’ firing of Willie Randolph.

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Jeremy Cothran of The Star-Ledger published the transcript of Willie Randolph’s thoughts after being fired by the Mets.  Here it goes:

Q: Can we talk to you?
A: I don’t really have much to say, really.

Q: What are your initial feelings on how it went down?
A: I’m just very (disapointed) that I’m not going to be able to fulfill my what my dream is, to come here and help this team win a world championship. I miss my players, the good fans, and I’m really sorry I wasn’t able to fulfill what I really said I wanted to do here and get this team to a world championship. That’s what I’ve always been about. It’s very, very difficult right now, but I’m ready to move on.

Q: What’s your next move?
A: I’m just going to go home and enjoy my family.

Q: Did you know this was coming when you left the stadium?
A: No, I was really stunned by it. I was surprised.

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Former Mets manager Willie Randolph addresses the media for the first time since his dismissal.

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