Same-Sex Marriage Bill REJECTED in New York State Senate
UPDATE: City To Remove 14 Blocks Of Bike Lanes On Bedford Ave.
Hamster Rides The 4 Train
Bouncer Beatdown at Jay-Z's 40/40 Club
Obama's Afghanistan Plans: 30,000 More Troops, Withdraw By July 2011
Photo of Omar Minaya and Willie Randolph from October 2, 2007 when it was announced that Randolph would continue as the Mets manager in 2008 by AP/Craig Ruttle
After firing Willie Randolph following last night's game against the Angels, Mets general manager Omar Minaya finally met with the media today. During the press conference this afternoon, Minaya said the decision to relieve Randolph of his coaching duties "was my decision and it was a tough decision," not that of any others in the organization and it was based on the performance of the team in the past year. It was a move that Minaya did not make easily, saying that as the first Hispanic general manager in baseball who hired the first African American manager in New York baseball history, the two "shared a bond."
The Mets, who entered the season as a favorite to win the NL East (if not one to win the World Series) sit in 4th place in the NL East, with a 34-35 record and 6.5 games behind the Phillies. While Minaya said that the team was underperforming, he didn't just lay the blame on Willie Randolph, but the players and himself as well.
When asked why he didn't fire Randolph last week or over the weekend, Minaya said that he only reached the decision after sleeping on it Sunday night. After making his decision, and taking care of logistical matters for replacing Randolph, Minaya took the first available flight to California to inform Randolph of his decision in person. The media speculation over the weekend on Randolph's job is what eventually forced Minaya's hand, "Those sources revealed my thinking, but not my decision." Minaya said the firing came after the game in the team hotel (and announced in the wee hours of the morning in the East coast) because he didn't want Randolph to hear that he was fired from a 3rd party and it would be disrespectful if Randolph was still in uniform. He also said that the two had discussed Randolph's job situation before and Minaya promised to let him know as soon as he made a decision.
Earlier today, Willie Randolph said that he was stunned by the decision to fire him. In the lobby of the team hotel, Randolph apologized to the fans before saying that he was "ready to move on."
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
The Mets suck. Come home, Willie.
Omar: All in the game yo, all in the game.
Omar is not the villain here. He supplied the best ball players, now Willie had to do something with them. He couldn't and he didn't.
How do you think Santana got there? It was Minaya - that's the GM's job. The field managers have to deliver the goods. That is the hits and the pitches. If they cannot perform the the whole organization is worthless.
Let's force every team in the league to hire a black manager next season so we can get over this ethnic historicity excuse. I hear Dave Winfield is free.
Mr. Mel, are you SURE Minaya's made great deals? For the money this team has...are you SURE that much money and time for an aging Delgado was worth it? Or that much money and time for Carlos Beltran, who, be HONEST, has never become the player you thought he would be? You're gettin' lucky with Church this year, he's playing better than he is...
...I dunno...I'd kinda blame Minaya for a lot of this mess. And, I'd also like to say an email at three AM is one of the LEAST professional things I have ever seen in ANY industry.
Oh, and GO CUBS! Sweet Lou and Jim Hendry are looking pretty good to me.
Its a part of the game. Your team sucks, the manager should get fired. I'm not sure about Manuel. He's a step in the right direction? Bring back Bobby V!
Fuck you berniegoetz. Always the asshole!
>>>He supplied the best ball players
Omar supplied Willie with a collection of antiques, and brittle ones at that. Castillo, Delgado, El Duque are all on the downside. Alou swings a golden bat, for those handful of games he can actually play.
It wasn't Willie who kicked Church in the head and put him on the DL, it wasn't Willie who allowed all those HRs in the 9th inning, and it isn't Willie hitting .222 with RISP.
Omar fired him because he has to do something to save his own neck.
www.forgotten-ny.com
Quite simply Omar was in full CYA mode.
The Mets Organization is classless.
Willie is not at fault. He was hired and not allowed to hire his own coaches, the Mets supplied them... Why?.
The Mets allegedly have "the best (entirely over paid) players?," and they're not performing. Why?
Who's fault is it really?
Its funny b/c a baseball manager has probably the least effect on wins/losses of any of the 4 major sports. Not much strategy involved in managing (compared to say, football), and you can't really "fire up" a baseball player. It doesn't matter how great a pre-game speech the coach gives, if you're not seeing the ball, you're not seeing the ball.
My prediction? Mets will continue to hang around .500 for the rest of the year and the heat will be on Omar come June 2009, when the Mets are still a .500 team.
Oh and I don't necessarily blame Omar for firing Randolph, managers (like all coaches) know that they are always the easiest thing to change, so their head is always the first to roll.
But yeah, firing the manager at 3am when the team is 3,000 miles away is really low class. Makes Steinbrenner look like a class act.
black coach? who gives a shit! white or black the mets would suck. They could have joe torre and they would suck. the mets suck. oh yeah. the mets suck.
The Metsies haven't performed since last year - does anyone remember laughter? I mean the collapse from 1st place?
He made stubborn moves with no sense - he's gone - Metsie fans - thank your lucky stars.
Now to get rid of the arrogant players- wtf is up with Reyes showing up the new manager in last night's game?
Piss on it, Rfive. Minaya's use of the race card to pad this cowardly move is lame. Willie skippered the 2nd worst collapse in sports history and was not fired last October. Wanna' know why? Omar just told us.
in terrible taste, the way omar did it. no class at all. a reminder that it's a business, not a team, i guess, because he sure as hell acted like a corporate cocksucker.
i actually agree with babyhitler, which may be a first. to reiterate, the mets suck.
This is absurd - who gives a fuck if it was 3am? (Not to mention it was midnight where they were, not that long after the game had ended.) What I wanna know is, why wasn't Willie fired eight months ago? We knew then that he was in over his head.