In what looks to be the Ted Mack Amateur Hour, Part Dos, after yesterday evening's west coast win over the Angels, Willie Randolph and coaches Rick Peterson and Tom Nieto were fired by the Mets, in the person of one Omar Minaya. Jerry Manuel has been named the interim manager, and I haven't had time yet to look and see who will replace Peterson and Nieto, but I suspect it's the minor league NOLA guys, Oberkfell and what's-his-name.The firing culminated a few weeks of the Mets' "brain trust," and I use the term loosely, being described, alternately, as "amateurish," "unprofessional," "just plain dumb," "inept," and even the dreaded "cowardly," along with the ultimate putdown - "having no clue."
Truth in journalism, I always say. And there are no better examples of that than the terms used to describe the Mets' "brain trust" in the paragraph above.
This is a bizarre turn of events, to say the least. Lots of us advocated, and even suspected, that Willie might be fired after The Collapse; instead, almost immediately, Omar and Fred issued pretty much rousing endorsements of Willie As Mets Manager. Then the season began, and things did not go well for the team. Then the Willie monologue where he made those infinitely regrettable remarks about race vis a vis his job. Then The Huh? Memorial Day Press Conference, where you figured, hey, if Willie was going to get it, he was getting it that day.
And of course, nothing happened.
And now, when the team has won three of its last four games, the bats seem to be heating up, when Willie has seemingly matured and grown into his role, and yes, seemingly has thrived since The Huh?, they drag him out to the west coast, the team wins the game, and then they fire him.Ted Mack would be very proud; very proud, indeed.
It's not that I think Willie is the best manager; I didn't want him hired, and I was certainly in favor of his firing after The Collapse, and even up to a few weeks ago. But I have to admit, Willie showed me something these past few weeks, and I was actually rooting for him to succeed.
And now this.
Ted Mack, move over. You've got competition for the Amateur Hour. The New York Mets, in all of their amateurish, unprofessional, just plain dumb, inept, cowardly and just having no clue glory.
13 comments:
There are rare occassions when, as a sports fan, I'm embarrassed to be associated with a team... Where you can't imagine that the people running the team could be THAT incompetent..
And, I'm not talking about on-the-field stuff... I'm talking about players throwing firecrackers in the parking lot... About players shooting reporters with bleach from a water gun... About stories of marijuana being delivered to the clubhouse in peanut butter jars...
This year, we've been lucky to be part of TWO of these horrifically embarassing situations...
First, the total mismanagement of Ryan Church following his 2nd concussion...
And now this... The absolutely SHAMEFUL and COWARDLY way in which they fired Willie...
Note that I have NO problem with the decision to fire him, but the manner in which they did so SUCKS...
Clearly this decision had been made before yesterday's game, and thus, before the 3000 mile trip out to LA... Why wait until 12:15 at night to do this? Why not just fire him before he even gets on the plane?
Oh, and one last thing... I am normally one of the last people to talk about Omar and "Los Mets"....
But how is it that Willie and two white coaches get fired, with Jerry Manuel and Sandy Alomar keeping their jobs???
There's something rotten in the state of Flushing...
Thanks for bringing up "Just Keep Sending 'Em Home, Sandy!", ding dong, because I meant to address the issue of keeping him and even Useless HoJo as well. Although he's a white guy, which kinda shoots a hole in your little posit there, but still...lol. HoJo is a 1986 Met, and you know, they're as close to Mets Royalty as one will ever get... lol.
I really feel absolutely awful for Willie, this having been done in this atrocious manner.
Perhaps the best thing that could happen to Omar is that the Mets fire him, and end his association with this truly inept, cowardly, and no clue franchise.
I'd say that hiring a GOOD media consultant and P.R. firm would help, but they ARE the Wilpons, after all, and as I've often and emphatically said, there ain't no cure for stupid.
I think it's pretty clear with how this played out that this was not really Omar's decision...
And, the report from last week, which got leaked to the media was that the Wilpon's had told Omar it WAS entirely his call, reeks even more of ownership trying to cover their asses...
I'm VERY embarrassed today to be a Mets fan...
As am I, ding dong... as am I.
I'm almost ready to throw in the towel with the Wilpons, since right now, I don't personally believe they could fight their way out of a paper bag with a map and a compass.
Even if the bag had a hole in the side.
Today is as close as I will EVER come to saying Meanie is right!!! :-)
Bwwwaaaahhhh..... now THAT, my friend, is some serious shit! LOL :)
I'm just THAT pissed off today Deb!!!
And again, NOT that they fired him... I was fine with that notion...
Could have fired him after last season... Could have fired him on that Monday following the 4-game sweep in Atlanta where they all got together... Coulda fired him after the 4-game sweep in San Diego...
But, DON'T put the guy on the plane out west, let him manage 1 game of the road trip, and then do it at 12:30 at night...
That's just incompetence at its worst... And, while I'm sure we'll hear that it was "all Omar's call", I don't believe that shit for a second...
just wanted to mention that the two "white guys" who were let go were replaced by other white dudes. I don't like that by default Manuel got the interim job, but I understand. Personally, you all know I would have fired the whole staff and brought up all the scrubs from the minors (tim teufel, obie, niemann, etc). keeping send'em home Sandy is a disgrace though. He's pals with Omar though. this crony-ism has to stop.
Yeah, and I mistakenly wrote that Manuel was Latino, which he isn't... So I was somewhat off-base there...
I suppose my biggest gripe here is that Alomar didn't get canned too... I see no reason that Peterson and Nieto should have been let go, and Alomar keeps his job...
Unfortunately, Coop, and Ding, I think we're in for more of the same. The Wilpons have owned the team for far too long for us to expect that they'll ever learn anything. What they should have or could have or would have learned, they should have, could have or would have learned already.
Scenarios such as what just occurred are exactly why I stated recently that I would have waited the season out, used the time to get a serious plan together, and then have brought in somebody entirely new to the organization (Buck) to run the whole shebang.
But nooooooo, that would have made too much sense for the Mets.
And for that matter, ding dong, nor should HoJo have kept his. They should have all been let go, but it should have been done at a different time, in a different way and with much more respect than this.
Do any of you think it's possible that this was all planned out, and that Willie and the coaches knew about it as recently as before yesterday's game? I don't, but a poster on one of the forums thought this was a possibility. Myself, I think he's living in la la land...lol.
well in all honesty, I don't mind that manuel is the interim mgr. I really don't - SO LONG as there is a caveat that says - after the season is over (depending on whenever that is, Sept 30 or sometime in October...god willing...) he is in the same position as Obie, Showalter, etc in interviewing for the team. If they truly want to do a clean sweep (and don't get me started on Alomar and HoJo - i felt they should have been first in line for being let go, more so than Nieto and Soul Glo), they will need to bring in someone externally to manage the team. Let Manuel have his old job back or allow him to go (dingbat, is his contract up this year?), just I am more disappointed they nitpicked the coaching staff and let go two guys who realistically had reasons to STAY but kept guys who theoretically did crap (and literally did crap = took a big crap this whole season LOL). Whatever - I like Steve Keane's idea over at Kranepool - let's stage a coup and take over the organization.
Ah, if we staged a coup, Coop (I like that, a coup, Coop, lol!), we'd only fight over which one of us would be best qualified to have each job...lol. Sad truth is, we'd probably never agree, lol.
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