I’ve just finished watching the last Mets game of the 2007 season and I still can not believe it’s over. I should be ripping mad and maybe I will feel the anger by Tuesday or Wednesday when I watch the first division playoff game and the Mets are not in there.
Long time readers know I have no love for Tom Glavine and the way he spit the bit the last two starts usually makes my comments about him more vile but all I will say is if he ever had doubts about retiring he shouldn’t now and if he can’t come to the realization that he’s finished as a pitcher then he can take his act elsewhere. If the Mets even thing about bringing him back next year then the Skill Sets are bigger fools than I make them out to be. Glavine needs to go home to Alaphrata GA and put on a apron and play house husband.
Please spare the Fire Willie and Fire Omar comments as it’s not going to happen. As for the rest of the coaching staff the only one safe is Hojo. I think Professor Rick could be a goner as well as Rickey Henderson and Sandy Alomar Sr. Jerry Manuel I feel is safe but if a managerial job comes open he could go although with this collapse I don’t see any Mets coaches getting any offers. This coaching staff needs John Stearns badly.
I will have a whole post morden on the Mets this week but one thing is for sure, Willie needs to take control like he did in year one of his rein as Mets manager. He and Omar need to meet and settle their differences and get on the same page here becuase if they don’t don’t both guys will be out of work and with this historic collapse on their resumes they may never get the chance to run or manage a team again. The big message that has to get through to the players is that losing is bad but non hustle will not be tolerated and with that I’m calling out Jose Reyes, Lastings Milledge, and Carlos Delgado who need big time attitude adjustments. Delgado has to know that he is leader here and the young guys watch him and Milledge is still immature but I still love his talent and hope he’s here next year. Reyes is a puzzle. I don’t know what the hell happened to him if it’s off the field issues or if I’m all wrong and Rickey Henderson is a bad influence on him I just don’t know. I love the kid and I tend to cut him some slack as he’s young but Omar and Willie really need to sit down with him and read him the riot act. Fans can deal with losing but we will never ever accept not hustling and if Reyes thinks that’s cool Mets fans will make his life a living hell. Make the choice Jose.
I’m not done with baseball. I will watch the post season closely because it’s the greatest game ever invented and I love it. So I will be posting a little preview here and I will comment on games. I will also do an autopsy on the Mets season and give my who stays and who goes. Unlike the 2007 Mets I don’t go away and hide I’ll be here and I will still be wearing my Mets shirts and Mets hats as I am what I am, A METS FAN!
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This post was written by kranepool on September 30, 2007
Whatever. Glavine was atrocious, but the team managed 1 hit over the last 7 innings against the middle relief of a last place team.
The team has no heart, and it starts with Willie, who is the worst manager in baseball. Anyone who knows baseball and watches this team consistently realizes that he is way over his head - it has taken him a season and a half to figure out how to successfully negotiate a doubleswitch, and his management of the bullpen over the season is part of the reason that they melted down the last 3 weeks.
Say what you want about hustling (and I don’t disagree), but accountability starts at the top, which is the management level. Omar has done a decent job bringing in the talent - if Willie can’t motivate them to play, that is on him.
You’re nuts if you think Peterson shouldn’t be back - he is the only coach on this team worth a damn (see the kind of years that Maine and Perez have had, out of nowhere.)
Willie’s insistance on 1) staying with starters/relievers who give us ZERO (Jose Lima last season and David Williams, Mota, and Shoeneweis this year) and 2) running his dumbass 1-inning rotations with the relievers every night (why the F does he take out someone who throws a 6 pitch inning the next inning - no wonder all the guys have dead arms in Sept) has lead us to this point.
This frustrating September will be worth it, if Willie gets canned. Otherwise, we’re all smoking dope if we think he can lead this team to a championship.
If you are right in saying that they won’t fire randolph or minaya, then I may be done.
I am so worn out by the losing and mediocrity.
If not for some monumental Red Sox blunders, we’d have one WS ring and the mythical ‘86 team would be yet another disappointment.
Dogs: delgado, reyes, wagner, lo duca (played the tough guy role at the end, but notice how f—-g fat he’s getting? he doesn’t care, and his waist size is your proof.)
Anyone who thinks glavine (pls don’t make me puke by calling him ‘tommy’ - when did that start?) should be back, meet me behind the diner so i can kick some sense into you.
Brtual, excruciating loss by a group of dogs who forget how many outs there are and get bored with the game.
Oh - milledge - forgot him — time to sell him was last winter. each year that goes by, billy beane and all other GMs with brains drop their offer price for this thug in the making.
I hate the fact that I’m a met fan. I f—g HATE IT.
I’m not saying I want Rick Peterson gone but he was not an Omar hire and Omar may use the breakdown of the pen as a way to dump him and bring in a guy he wants. I wouldn’t dump Peterson as I feel is a very good pitching coach. Let’s keep an eye on Texas and hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo who was in the hunt late for the Mets mgr job and his contract id up with the Rangers as of today. Omar loves him and I can see him added to the Mets staff if not as a coach but in the front office
New York, New York
Start spreading the news
WILLIE will be fired today
He wants to be a part of the Bronx, New York
These Omar Moves
Are longing to lose
And make the fans cry
New York, New York
I want to wake up in the city and see Willie gone
First, Steve, thanks again for doing this all year. It is on-line therapy, and as Mets fans, we all need it. Knowing that there is a post out there to read, makes the tough losses easier to take. We know you have a family and other things to do, yet you find time for us. Please know we appreciate it. All I’ll say until this sinks in is that Glavine can never again wear the blue and orange. I don’t care what he may do, Sept 30, 2007 is all I’ll ever see when I see his face.
I agree Steve, we watch the playoffs because baseball is great. When my stomach stops turning, I’ll start thing about the 2008 version of our Mets.
Dear Steve,
It’s Warren in NJ, your fellow Little League coach. I didn’t read you as much this year, but still appreciate your site. At least we agree that perhaps Ricky is the issue w/Reyes.
I’d definitely dump Ricky, keep HoJo. I still can’t blame Willie, but he does need to turn up the discipline and reestablish communication (remember that it was constant last year) w/Reyes.
I’d go younger, get Pualino to play most games, Castro the others. Aim for Gotay over Castillo to get in some youth. Dump Milledge b/c he always goes back to his loafing ways (see, for example, Dontrelle’s “triple” today). If Sanchez won’t be back, they need to make Maine the 8th inning guy or get someone who can do the job. I’d also get younger in the rotation w/Humber/Pelfrey and move El Duque to the pen.
Thanks,
Warren
First of all, to echo Rich, thanks Steve. You do a great job observing and articulating the joys and the madness.
We all have to work through the pain and anger for a while before we can be rational again. The team will need changes, but i hope we can count on Omar, Willie, and Rick to stay the course…as long as they are a year wiser and smarter for what went down in 2007.
The comments about slippage in the team work ethic are right on the money. Remember that the Mets, early in the year, were the hustle boys, scrapping runs, winning series after series, shaving heads, rushing to the top of the league standings, an elite team.
Then two things happened. One was a million injuries, including at one point the whole outfield, but the team seemed to work through this adversity in an uncomplaining way.
And the second, for some reason, a slackening off on the work ethic, a loss of the hard game-edge, and this is what ultimately toppled the team from first place. Willie has to convince Omar and the Wilpons, and to some degree all of us, that he can solve this problem.
I am with you Steve. If my team loses, I am alright, as long as they tried, worked hard, hustled on every play, gave the full effort. More than that I cannot ask. Each year, only one team can win the world championship, and if that is our only goal, it’s too high a bar to be the only acceptable result each year. In the end, it is not just winning, it is how you play the game.
Read Tim Marcham today. It won’t help ease the pain, but it’s coldly analytical and I think he’s just about nailed it.
Maybe too soon to make rational decisions, but I think he’s onto something with his perspective on whether Randolph should stay or go.
OMAR MUST GO!
A gm true value is that of a talent evaluator. Lets see he did not like Lindstrum or Owens and traded them to Fla. He did not like Brian Bannster and traded him to KC. He did not like Heath Bell and sent him to SD.The stunning thing about those moves are they were made in the off season 2007 when the met bullpen was weak from the loss of Bradford and Oliver.
Just to put a final touch on a dismal off season 2007 Omar fails to protect Jesus Flores there top catching prospect. Jesus Flores is a power hitting a+ catching prospect who was grabbed by the national like found money and kept on there roster all season so they did not have to offer him back to the Mets.Why Omar would do this is a real head scratcher, considering catching is real thin through out the organization.
I know what people are going to say
Reading day after reaction by pro writers, bloggers, and the people who post to blogs.
Does anyone else detect too little criticism levelled at Omar Minaya? The Randolph opinions are harsh and plentiful, but few seem to acknowledge that pitiful Willy was made extra pitiful by the crap hand Omar dealt him.
Egale, thanks for the link s usual Marchman makes the most senes of any baseball writer in NYC
One thing I agree with Marchman is the front office and Willie have to get together and decide how they can fix this situation together as both have to realize neither will ever get another job in management if they don’t
I’ve mentioned a few times over the past couple of years that I missed nearly a decade of baseball (1991-1998) so I have some (apparently) out-dated ideas about baseball. One of them is that you build your team to fit your ball park.
The Mets play in a pitchers ball park. Is it really impossible these days to have three decent starters - guys who are durable & reliable? You know, 3 (or better yet - 4) guys capable of going 7 or 8 innings a start and keeping the team in the game? Is that impossible?
It has bothered me the past two years watching Omar assemble a team built for Citizens Bank Park rather than Shea Stadium. Pitching, defense, speed - that wouldn’t bother me. I could live with small ball and 2-1 wins.
I know the team in the mid-1980s had some big time hitters, but one thing that really helped them was that they had an excellent starting staff, which is a losing-streak-preventer.
I’d rather the Mets were building a (better) Padres-style team rather than trying to outhit Philadelphia.
Steve,
Gotta disagree about Castillo. A lot of folks are trying to make a connection between Reyes’ downturn and the appearance of Ricky Henderson. I disagree. Reyes was a much better shortstop when Valentin was around. I think the problem might be Castillo - not Henderson.
aRE YOU THE ED Kranepool