And deserving so. I’ve been listening to WFAN and to 1050ESPN trying to get more perspective on how the 3 AM Execution went down.
Eddie (Grey Goose) Coleman was on with My Big Fat Obnoxious Talk Show Host and The Mutt and stated that Willie Randolph was pissed with Jerry Manuel as Manuel was hanging with Tony Bernazard during batting practice at a game last week. Coleman was laying out a scenario where Bernazard a Randolph hater was letting Manuel know that something would be going down soon and that he was going to be tapped to move in to the managers office soon. The scumbag moves of scumbag moves.
Coleman also let on that Jose Reyes and Randolph had a love/hate relationship and that Reyes is very immature and would pout when Randolph would go after him. It seems Randolph didn’t have a grasp on how to get the most out of Reyes, now that’s not to say it’s all Randolphs fault but a manager has to have a better read on his players.
Freddy Skill Sets throws Omar Minaya under the bus on 1050ESPN saying it was “Omar’s decision to fire Willie” I don’t buy it at all.
I heard the sound bite of Willie leaving the hotel to catch a flight back to NYC. He was clearly upset and blindsided as it seems before the team left NYC Willie asked Omar twice if he was getting the boot and Omar assured him he was safe.
Rick Peterson’s sound bite was like Peterson out in space but it was kind of classy. He wished the organization all the best and hope his pitchers and the team gets on track and starts winning. He mad an analogy of a house being renovated and he was a hard wood floor and Dan Warthen is a Tuscany floor. My question where did Peterson hide his bong from airport security?
This is one of thw worst days in Mets history not for firing Willie Randolph but for the way it was handled and what has me pissed off more than anything is as a Mets fan I have to answer for pant loads like Jeffey Wilpon and Tony Bernazard. I must have said this 100 times today. “I don’t root for the New York Wilpons I root for the New York Mets” It’s just our unfortunate bad luck that these inept clowns own the team we love.
Posted under Uncategorized
This post was written by kranepool on June 17, 2008
Nice update from the NY perspective. They should of let Randolph go when they assured the rest of the season. The Mets organization looks like it lacks class. How did HoJo keep his job though?
Shameful. Another midnight massacre, almost 31 years to the day. They never learn, do they?
Sigh.
There are somethings that are puzzling me about comments in regard to Willie being terminated. I am one that runs a multi million 200 employee business. My team consist of 18 managers. If any of my managers were not performing to the level of expectation daily and not motivating their teams to success I would need to fire them. The NY Mets are a baseball team, but yet first and foremost a business to the Wilpons. Willie has been given more chances to prove that he can manage this team to the World Series, no matter if there are injuries, you need to find ways to win. An example in real life if a dept or a team loses associates because, they quit or get fired they need to still produce.
It seems to me that everyone is upset on how Omar fired Willie, most of it coming from the main stream media. Obviously, the event happened at a time when they could not release a story to sell rush hour newspapers. The media is feeding off of this to try and make money by selling papers. The Mets have the right to terminate anyone’s contract at anytime. There is no stipulation anywhere, that it has to happen prior to newspapers going to print.
The bloggers who wanted Willie fired and now they have shown their true colors on how Willie was fired. It does not matter how or when, its the fact that the Mets needed to make a change. Why do people take things so personal?? Donald Trump would say ” It’s not personal, it’s business”
Let me ask you all, have you ever ran a business that requires you to make decisions that effect your bottom line profits or team motivation performance?? If you have then you truly understand what business is all about. As Omar said Willie is a friend,but he had to fire him. I am confused on what the bloggers and fans want. Once again the media is manipulating this story to sell papers and to garner TV ratings. The individuals that I am talking about include Mike Vaccaro, Ken Rosenthal, Bill Madden and others. Let me just show you a little bit on the media has no idea about running a business, or baseball organization. He is a poor quote from Ken Rosenthal, “That debate, while meaningful, will be overshadowed by the Mets’ 3 a.m.tomfoolery, an embarrassment that will linger long after anyoneremembers Randolph’s worst strategic moves”
To wrap up this letter, I have been a Met fan since 1972 and lived and died with the worse to best years. Do you know of any sportswriter, that has managed, General Managed or who has run an organization. If you do, please let me know. Just like most bloggers they live in a fantasy world and think they know it all. Let them try to do it. Once again running a business is not the easiest thing, anyone can second guess and have an opinion.
LETS GO METS!!!!!!!!!!
I don’t get all the attention of how Randolph got fired. It needed to happen. He is not the type of leader this team needs. I blame Wilpon and Minaya in not figuring this out until now. Randolph has driven me crazy. He’s a Torre clone. That’s fine when you have players like Jeter and Posada amongst others that play with fire and hold people accountable. The mets are talented but need a field general whether it be players or manager. The players are all good guys, talented and want to win but nobody seems to be that guy. So if this is your team, then get the guy who motivates these players to their potential. From all accounts it doesn’t seem like Manuel will be that guy either, but I hope their wrong.
Very good points Rob, but here’s one difference between your business and the business of running a baseball team.
In your business, your managers have the power to hire and fire their employees and build their own teams. In baseball, the manager influences those decisions, but the GM makes them.
Yes, this year Willie hasn’t demonstrated the ability to motivate his charges (although he did in 2006, and did win far more than he lost over 3 1/2 years). However, he hasn’t had the authority to build his team.
So, while the easy thing in baseball is to fire the manager, arguably the GM bears a huge amount of responsibility for the perfomance on the field (and, for example, for the cumulative number of days on the DL).
That said, I think your point of the media manipulating the circumstances in order to sell papers is spot on.
Mets fan since 1966
Gary I wish hiring and firing was that easy for my managers. I guess being the Omar in my organization and the company that I work for requires me to meet all new hires to ensure they fit properly. As far as firing I can only do it to company policy so its consistent and professionally done.
Thanks to Rob, Steve P, and Gary for these thoughtful and rational posts.
I have stayed quiet while everyone has tantrums out there about the way Willie was axed.
I run nonprofit organizations, I have had to fire many staffers, including colleagues that often they are personal friends, it is ALWAYS messy, feelings are hurt. Luckily for me, no one in the media or blogger-land notices my clumsiness. But business is business, you make the move if you have to, to improve your production.
Willie is a great guy, but the team needed a jolt, and Jerry Manuel is a good decision. Is there something wrong with the Mets talking to him before terminating Willie? No. These things are a bit messy, but you have to talk to the guy you plan to elevate.
Omar and the Mets did the right thing. So what if it was at midnight (not 3 am, BTW). So what if it was in California. So what if the Wilpons did not all fly out to be there. As Willie might have said, it is what it is, deal with it and move on.
I like all the signals since The Move was made, including Jerry taking out Reyes to be careful, then admonishing Reyes for showing him up, the over-riding focus on playing hard, relaxing the clubhouse music and facial hair rules, etc. MLB.com has a story today entitled “Jerry’s Main Rule: Play Hard”. That is exactly on target.
Give Omar and the Mets their due. They made a drastic move, dropped three leadership guys, two of them two were key, popular mainstays, and did not wait till it was too late to make a difference.
Also, if the Mets go into a free-fall (which I do not predict), then hey, you shop the older players in July, trade for some stud prospects, and limp into Citi Field, but better positioned for the future.
Let’s Go Mets
(BTW, Mets fan since 1962 — first Met game, Memorial Day doubleheader at the Polo Grounds, 1962, as a 9-year old)
Add me to the list of people that have no real problem the way this all went down. Baseball IS a business and his firing needed to be done and yes, the media has milked this for all it wasn’t worth.
I remember reading an Sports Illustrated edition sometime around 1999 or 2000 praising Manuel as an excellent manager but if he is the laid back sort, he is the wrong kind I think.
Mets fan since 1969 (yes, i was 2 years old but my dad has movies of me with my Mets jacket on playing wiffle ball, so that counts!)