FanNation - The Republic of Sport

5/22/08

Oh William, I thought you knew better.

I'll say this about my manager: He's a good guy.

Willie Randolph is a genuinely nice guy you would probably have a great time shooting the breeze with, remembering the good old days when Willie was playing all star worthy second base for that other New York team.

Unfortunately, as a manager- and specifically as the manager of this New York Mets team, Willie quite simply isn't the right guy for the job.

To a point, I can't blame him.

Find me a manager in baseball or out of baseball who could handle the apathetic attitude of Carlos Delgado, or the constant injuries by veterans like Moises Alou and Pedro Martinez.

However, Willie really did himself in with some self-inflicted controvery last weekend, when he made comments to a newspaper writer proclaiming that some of the criticism he recieves as well as the portrayals of him by the Sports Net New York (SNY), the television home of the Mets, are racially influenced.

He went as far to refernece the likes of Herm Edwards and Isiah Thomas...seriously Willie?...Isiah Thomas?...in discussing how African American head coaches had been treated in New York.

Of course the point he missed with both were that in the case of Edwards, he essentially left town on a very sour note following a 4-12 season 3 years ago, while the only thing right Isiah Thomas did in his time as Knicks coach was...I'll get back to you when I can think of something.

I was as surprised as anybody that Willie, a seemingly intellegent sports figure would actually bring up the race card in 2008, and in New York where diversity is more prevalent than just about any other city in this country.

Regardless, this would all be a non-issue if his team was winning, which of course, they aren't.

You want to talk about taking a step forward and two giant steps back, the Mets followed up a very inspiring weekend in the Bron, taking two wins from their cross town rivals, and losing both ends of a doubleheader to the Atlanta Braves.  The lowpoint had to have come during the first game, where Tom Glavine completely shut down his former team, retiring the final 17 batters he faced after allowing a run in the first and getting out of a bases loaded jam.

The Mets went on to lose again last night, and at this moment trail in the late innings of the final game of the four game series, which would send them below the .500 mark.

There has been a lot of discussion lately in  New York regarding the job security WIllie has or may not have, and while there is plenty of discussion to be had as to whether or not he deserves to lose his job, the bigger issue related to that question is who's outthere to replace him.

Some names I heard on the radio today, all of whom are currently employed somewhere, were Bobby Valentine, Manny Acta and Ozzie Guillen, none of whom are realistic choices to fill a possible void anytime soon.

For the remainder of the season, I beileve the Mets are stuck with Willie, and that might not be a bad thing.

For all of shortcomings, Willie has been a winning manager here in New York.

The problem is more personnel than it is the manager and coaches, and for all the talk that Willie is being undermined by GM Omar Minaya is something I wont buy into.

Both men want to win, and both men want to keep their jobs within the organization, and you would have to think Omar is smarter than that.

Unfortunately, this Mets roster seems to be showing their true colors, which are those of a .500 baseball team, nothing more and nothing less.

And that goes hand in hand with how I would best describe Willie Randolph as a manager: unbelievably average.

Willie is a middle of the pack manager who happens to have a team loaded with big names and big contracts while playing in the media captial of the world.

As a result, the spotlight is brighter on him, as it should be, so his successes and shortcomings are placed under a daily microscope and analyzed and criticized more than they would be anywhere else.

I really don't know where this team goes from here, as they deal with the same issues that plagued them during their epic collapse last year, which is a combination of inconsistent play and a lack of and urgency.

Only time will tell how the rest of this script plays out, but as far as Willie is concerned, his happy ending is beginning to look more and more like a bad dream.

Mets fans can only hope he, along with the rest of his team, wakes up before its too late.