UES Eateries Accused Of Racism For Not Delivering To Harlem
Citibank To Charge All Accounts That Drop Below $1,500
NY Post Finds One Man Who Sides With Fort Hood Shooter
Brooklyn Drummer Dies After Fall Down Elevator Shaft in Williamsburg
Times Reporter Takes Scientology Test, Encouraged To Join
The rumors swirled viciously before the game. Willie Randolph was safe for at least the week, but some of his coaches would be fired shortly. Randolph and some of the coaches were about to be axed. There were even erroneous reports that Rick Peterson had been fired.
The Mets scored two quick runs in the first thanks to a Jose Reyes walk and a Carlos Beltran homer and made it 4-1 after 2. But, the Angels battled back to cut the lead to 4-3 with two runs in the fourth. The Mets added four in the seventh and then the Angels added three of their own. But that was it as the Mets’ bullpen did its job and New York escaped with a 9-6 victory and their third victory in four games.
And, things seemed fine until the Mets got back to the team hotel. It was there that Omar Minaya delivered the news that Willie Randolph, Tom Nieto and Rick Peterson were all fired. The fact that Minaya chose this particular time (3am EDT!) and place to make this move certainly makes it seem like he was trying to bury the story, but Willie and his coaches certainly deserved better than this. Perhaps we will get some answers when Omar speaks at 5pm today. Bench coach Jerry Manuel takes over as the interim manager for a team with a $138 million payroll that is 34-35.
Photo of Willie Randolph and Rick Peterson during a game against the Rangers by AP/Kathy Willens
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
He shares some of the blame for their performance, but its the players that stink. Whats even more funny is that Randolph has the 2nd or 3rd best winning percentage in Mets history as a Manager. Another note they are nowhere close to being the worst team in the league (but that has a lot to do with the National League sucking as a whole)
Sadly however, its the manager who has to go when things don't go right, but the Mets timing stinks. They should've fired him weeks ago when they were losing at home, not on a winning streak away from Shea.
Prediction - After the season (assuming the Mets don't recover to make the playoffs), Omar is axed.
Fire Met's GM Omar Minaya. And get rid of all of the crap Minaya signed.
The Mets owners have made new names for themselves.
They've out Dolaned Dolan.
Way to go. Wilpons.
The manager always gets the ax, while the GM who is actually responsible for the players on the field always walks away unharmed and is the one who usually fires the guy. Perhaps having a GM/manager would be better.
This thing is like an opera, complete with the handwringing
Willie had some of the best baseball players in the majors. Last year he blew a sure post season.This year has been a disgrace. The manager takes the heat, that's the rule. When Reyes won't run out a grounder and Wagner gives up runs it's the fault of the field manager and coaches. The morale appears to be in the toilet. Perhaps for the kind of money the Wilpons seem to like to pay out they can get an inspiring manager and some coaches that know their stuff.
They should have hired Torre when they had the chance but then the racial thing would have come into the melee, not that it can't surface now.
Joe Girardi better be fired or this will be racist as hell.
I mean, it's obvious they were going to fire him, win or no win, but then why make him go all the way out to California to do it? Does anyone really think no one on the East Coast would notice? I really don't see how this solves anything...it's not like they're replacing him with another time-tested manager - it's like they're throwing this season away. The Mets ownership is seriously f'ed up right now.
"he was trying to bury the story"
That's idiotic. It would be impossible to bury the story, moronic Mets fans have been talking about nothing else for over a year.
It was always a bad fit. Willie has too much class for the Mets.
Bush league, Omar, bush league. I'm not saying Willie should have stayed, but if you're going to fire someone be a mensch about it.
Jerry Manuel.
Yeah, he's the answer.
Classless move by a classless bunch.
Thought this was the most classless firing in baseball. Granted, they probably didn't want to be plastered all over the front and back pages of every NY newspaper, but if you fire a coach, what else do you think will happen?!
It was always a bad fit. Willie has too much class for the Mets.
I agree with this, I liked Willie, but any move that will make the Mets as a whole suffer is fine by me.
The Post has a pretty damming editorial up: http://www.nypost.com/seven/06172008/sports/mets/ready_____aim_____hold_your_fire__115840.htm
"Classless"? Give it a rest. The Mets were on the West Coast, so they fired him after the game and it was late at night. So what?
It was pretty clearly that Willie was in over his head in the National League, failing to grasp things like bullpen management and how to use the right guy as a pinch hitter. To compensate, he insisted on giving away outs by batting Luis Castillo second and making him bunt all the time. The fact that it took him two months longer than every single Mets fan to realize that Scott Schoeneweis is really good at getting left handed hitters out and really bad at getting right handed hitters out is inexcusable. Last night gave us yet another example, when he used Pedro Feliciano against two switch hitters (Chone Figgins and Maicer Izturis) who are better from the right side, even though Feliciano was the only guy to pitch in both games of Sunday's double header. A competent manager would've been aware of Figgins' and Izturis' splits and used a right handed pitcher against them, especially in light possible fatigue concerns.
It's just a shame that the firing will probably be blamed on nebulous crap like "he didn't inspire the team" or "they weren't playing with passion" when his poor in-game decisions provide more than enough justification for doing so and should be the focus.
great, fire all the English speakers in that ball club.
I still think it's classless PR. If you're going to fire someone with a high profile, sometimes you have to just rip off the bandaid. They did this after midnight their time, at just a moment when it coudln't be reported in ink here. If they intended to do this on Monday, as reports say, then they were probably ready on Sunday. The Mets PR team knows how to deal with coaches and announcements, and this doesn't fit their normal style.
Shot in the dark, but I hear Isiah Thomas is looking for work. ;P
great, fire all the English speakers in that ball club.
Maybe that's the problem? What would build team morale more than speaking in the players' native language?
The timing is odd with regards to PR, sure. He should've been canned months ago.
Minaya & the Wilpons are a bunch of pussies. There was no good reason to bring them out west to do the deed, and humiliate them. Should have axed him before they left for LA, they knew they were going to do it anyway.
Minaya's gone end of season, Mets aren't going anywhere this year.
The Mets need to build around Reyes and Wright instead of dropping these two young stars into a mix of spoiled, over-the-hill, over-paid free agents.
My suggestions: say goodbye to Delgado and Alou at season's end; keep Pedro around if he'll agree to less money; trade Wagner and Beltran to the shittiest teams in the league; sign a few under-appreciated free agents with something to prove; fire Minaya; sign one last big name free agent just to hype up the first season at the new stadium; find a gray beard with some leadership potential like Kenny Lofton; hire a manager with a fucking personality.
The Mets used to build from within. Their farm system supplied the talent and their manager didn't just sit there believing that some overpaid assholes would do all the hitting and pitching without fail. Well for once in your goddamned lives, Omar, Fred, et al, lower your fucking expectations and work with these guys to get something going out there. If you fire the manager, you're admitting that these bums can't do it on their own so get someone in there to raise some hell!
They should never have brought Randolph back after that horrific collapse last year. He does not deserve better. He sucked. At least Jerry Manuel will argue a fucking call every now and again. Willie has class, good for him. He is a shitty manager-end of story. Art Howe was a nice guy too-but a crappy manager. Good riddance.