I don’t know about you but I’m bored to tears already by the search for the next Mets Manager. It’s starting to take on an American Idol feel to it.  Sandy Alderson playing the Randy Jackson role as he tells each managerial interviewee,” Yo dawg, I dun know man, when you walked in the door I was like WHOA! But then you got some pipes dude, and then that resume Dawg, you were killin’ it, good lookin’ out dawg.  Then J.P. Ricciardi doing his Simon Cowell “ so tell me, have you had any formal managerial experience ? No? I didn’t think so. This is a managerial interview and really if you know you have no bloody shot why waste our time and your time? Off you go? And then there is Jeffey Skill Sets the Paula Abdul of the trio “Ohhhhhhhhh Wally YOU COMPLETE ME<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

I’ll say this for Sandy Alderson every coach, ex-manager or minor league coordinator is getting a shot at the job, but when I think of it did Alderson miss the boat by not getting Ron Roenicke in for an interview before the Brewski’s hired him? Roenicke comes from the Mike Scioscia coach tree. The same tree that bore fruit like Joe Maddon, and Bud Black and now Roenicke.

So anyone interested in Dan Uggla ? If you look past his defensive shortcomings, his bat at the 2^nd base position would look mighty purdy as a Met. Uggla turned down a contract extension of 4yr/$48mil but it might not be because of money. It seems that Uggla has not gotten over his BFF Cody Ross getting exiled to San Francisco and may be feed up with that the Lord of Douchenberry, David Samson.

The Oakland A’s have made the highest bid for the rights of Japanese RHP Hisashi Iwakuma. The 29 year old Iwakuma has some impressive numbers pitching for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. Iwakuma’ won-lost record doesn’t do justice to his overall numbers. A 10-9 record doesn’t measure up to 201 IP 2.82 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 8.52 K/9IP and 1.61 BB/9IP. Details of the amount of the bid have been reported. The A’s now have 30 days to get Iwakuma’ to sign on the dotted line.

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I hope you have time to check out the BASEBALL BLOGGERS ALLIANCE BASEBALL TALK show on Blog Talk Radio last night as I hosted the show and my guests were SF Giants bloggers Scott of The Crazy Crabbers and Julian of Splashing Pumpkins, and we reviewed the Giants championship season.

I also have to make a correction. In the beginning of the show I made reference to the passing of Sparky Anderson and mentioned the Reds beating the Highlanders in 1975 World Series which was a huge blunder on my part when I should know it was the 1976 World Series where the Big Red Machine kicked the Highlanders ass. I could blame it on the fact that I was up at 5AM and worked a ten hour shift and did this show at 11PM but that’s no excuse and your right I need to grow a pair.

You just know that this Charlie Samuels mess is going to get worse before it gets better. The Mets can say Samuels is indefinitely suspended but we all know Samuels will never work in baseball again. As soon as he admitted to MLB investigators that he bet on baseball, he accepted his baseball death sentence. I’m just concerned about how long this was going on, who knew what and when did they know it and I’m praying no Mets players were involved in this shit storm.

I have no problem at all with the Mets cutting ties with Hisanori Takahashi for the price Taka and his agent were asking, 3yrs /$12-$15mil the Mets were offering what I believe is a more realistic contract of 1yr+an option for $3mil. Taka was outstanding taking over for Frankie Rodriguez and that’s what he is, a reliever who can give you an inning, two tops. As a starter, when he faces a lineup the second and third time around Taka gets pounded. There is a good possibility that Pedro Feliciano will be coming out of someone else’s bullpen in 2011 as well since he has a higher opinion of his monetary value as a stone cold LOOGY than the Mets do.

Wally Backman gets to WOW Sandy Alderson today as he interviews for the Mets Managers job. Backman is the number one choice for most Mets fans let’s see if can make a big impression on Alderson.

David Lennon says Don Wakamatsu will be the Mets manager. Joel Sherman says Terry Collins will be the next Mets manager. Guess what? The MSM doesn’t have a fucking clue as to who will be the next Mets manager.

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NEWS: CHARLIE SAMULES BET ON BASEBALL, STOLE FROM METS

And we thought it was just Ollie Perez as the biggest thief with the Mets. I have to say the Samuels revelations are SHOCKING!!! This is a guy who is revered throughout all facets of the Mets organization so I’m sure there are a lot of blank stares after reading the stories on his stealing from the club.  Maybe it was the fact that the Mets paid him a mere $80K a year to run the clubhouse and be the traveling secretary (Where have you gone Lou Niss?) that led Charlie to a life of larceny. Give Samuels some credit here; it seems he reported all his ill gotten gains as his tax returns show an income of $600K. By the way the NY Daily News “investigative team” was all over this story and of course they had to add in the fact that no PED use were involved here because the Daily News “I-Team” is a one trick pony when in comes to in depth investigation on shit no one cares about. If the Daily News would put some of that investigative work into things that actual effect New Yorkers, like the thieving fucks at the MTA and the  Circus of Assholes a/ka the State Senate in Albany, their rag would be worth plopping down four-bits for.

NEWS: METS PICK UP JOSE REYES OPTION FOR 2011

What to do with Jose Reyes? This will be one of the biggest decisions of the Sandy Alderson regime. The part about taking the option for next season at $11 Mil was easy, what will be difficult is whether or not to sign Jose to a long term deal before the start the season. As Mets fans we are in uncharted waters as Alderson and his staff have no allegiance to any of the players in this organization so I’m sure the Mets will look at Reyes analytically to determine if he’s worth the years and money to keep him a Met.

NEWS: METS MANAGERIAL INTERVIEWS

Sandy Alderson met with Dave Jauss and Bob Melvin yesterday to interview them for the opening of Mets manager. This weekend will be the biggie as The People’s Choice, Wally Backman, The Dark Horse, Chip Hale and Organizational Man; Terry Collins will present their resumes to the GM. Even if neither of these gents gets the job, all three could still remain in the organization and maybe that will be what the bulk of the interview will entail. Ken Oberkfell and Tim Tuefel will get the call next week and that should end the in house candidates and after the open competitive part of the process is done, my guess is by the time you’re biting into your Thanksgiving Day drumstick, a new Mets manager will be in place.  

As I was writing this I thought who in fact is the front runner and to tell you the truth I have no idea. If I had to rank them in order my guess would be:

Chip Hale

Bob Melvin

Ken Oberkfell

Wally Backman

Clint Hurdle

As I say I’m just guessing.

NEWS: ALDERSON ASKS PADRES PERMISSION TO SPEAK TO PAUL DePODESTA TO JOIN METS FRONT OFFICE

It’s hard to believe but the Mets are one hire away from becoming hip n happinin’. What’s next buying office space in Williamsburg? 

NEWS: R.I.P. SPARKY ANDERSON

Hard not to feel sad hearing the news of the passing of Sparky Anderson who was the true definition of a “baseball man” Having watched his Big Red Machine come into Shea Stadium and smack the Mets around in the 1970’s I grew to admire Anderson and his Reds, same with the Tigers and the “Bless You Boys” of 1984. Anderson earned the name Captain Hook by utilizing his bullpen on an every game basis with great relievers like Clay Carroll, Will McEnaney and Rawley Eastwick and the way he’d jump out of the dugout clutching his right or left arm was pure show biz.

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Pardon me for pulling a Francesa here but I was in the car, when I heard that longtime Mets equipment man Charlie Samuels was suspended indefinitely without pay by the Mets  and to tell you the truth I was taken aback by this news.

Samuels spent 27 seasons as the Mets Clubby and from all you hear was well liked by players and front office folks. The official word is it’s a personnelmatter and the suspension has turned to a termination. If you see Ebay flooded with black Mets jersey’s you’ll know why.

Unconfirmed sources tell me Alderson was stalking around in the Mets Citi Field offices early today in full camo screaming “Com’on on out Jay Horowitz and surrender”

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Lot’s of news today about the new and improved ticket prices the Mets have announced. Yesterday afternoon, Dave The Shyster held a conference call with Mets bloggers to explain what a great deal the Mets were laying out for their fans as far as ticket prices go for 2011. As usual, yours truly was not invited to this event as I have found out from some very good sources that I have as much chance of being invited to a bloggers event at Citi Field as Keith Olbermann has of being the keynote speaker at the Tea Party Convention. From what I hear, the ownership hates the tone of this site and my way of expressing my opinions of the way the team is operated. When I heard this I was beaming with pride. Throughout the years that I have been posting opinion on this site, nine years now, I have been approached by numerous entities asking me to join their websites and to have The Eddie Kranepool Society join a more established network. But there was also a provision that I’d have to have each post reviewed and edited and in no way could I use any profanity. How can you write about the Mets the last few years and not use the word “Fuck”? Any way, I’ve always declined the invites. 

I write this blog out of love of the NY Mets and of baseball, the same way I love doing THIS CALL TO THE BULLPEN and now as a host of BASEBALL BLOGGERS ALLIANCE BASEBALL TALK on Blog Talk Radio. As for an empty suit like David Howard, it’s probably better we never meet up as I might pull a  Muhammad Ali  and do to him what Ali did to Ernie Terrell in 1967 when he kept landing body blows and said “What’s my blog fool, what’s my blog”?

Believe me when I tell you, I’m writing this post to answer all the e-mails and phone calls I get asking me why I don’t get invited to this events. Whether I get invited or not at least I know that the Skill Sets know who I am and I’m a thorn in their side and I wear that as a badge of honor.

I find it quite amusing that the Mets are announcing these new and improved ticket prices, what other choice did they have? The team played in front of ten’s of thousands of empty seats and during the month of September, closed the concession stands in the Promenade Level.  The team still has not admitted (nor the Highlanders as well) the short sight ness of making the seats behind home plate, Club Seats for folks who could not give a shit about the Mets. Guys in suits and chicks named Buffy don’t root, root root for the home team. I’m far from envious of these people by the way as I had access to a suite at Shea and (are you sitting down for this one) and at Highlander Stadium (are you still sitting? I also was a guest in the Late Bronx Robber Barons suite and office as one of my brothers did business with the Highlanders. The only way he’d let me go with him was on the condition that I wear no Mets clothing and I don’t cheer the opposition. If I did the penalty would be a severe ass kicking. My brother I’m scared of. David Howard ? Uhhhh not so much! )  and I hated watching games from that venue. My wife got tickets this year for a game on my birthday in the Caesar Club. The only time I went in the Club was to enter my seats and to go home. I still miss my Upper Deck Box seats in Section 701 at Shea but now I look for tickets in Section 513 of the Promenade Reserved Infield. There is nothing better than sitting in the sun at baseball game in your shorts, t-shirt and flip flops not in a suit and tie.

There is a reason places like Citizens Bank Park, AT&T and the holy shrines of Fenway and Wrigley, Camden Yards and most of the new ballparks are outstanding places to watch baseball games, there are no club seats behind home plate.

If you want to make a splash and make a real improvement at your ball park, tear out the Club Seats and put real honest to goodness baseball seats there and open them up to real fans and lo and behold you got yourself a real honest to goodness home field advantage.

I know myself and Dave Howard and The Skill Sets will never be pals and that’s cool as I’m not here to be their friend, I’m here to help them turn the experience of going to see the baseball team I love, into one that makes people excited to make a return trip. I guess the lowering of ticket prices is a start, maybe a retraining of the ushers and concession workers to get them to drop the Correction Officer attitude they portray, would work well too and last but not least, give Mets fans a team they can be proud to root for. Do that and maybe the Skill Sets and me will go for a beer after the World Series parade. Now that would be a great summit meeting.

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Still going over the aftermath of Adam Rubin’ remarks about Wally Backman’ having no shot of getting the Mets managers job that he made on his ESPN chat and on my THIS CALL TO THE BULLPEN show last night.

There has been lot’s of debate on the ethics of Rubin, some are upset in the pro-Backman crowd and feel  Rubin is out to get Backman and some are upset with the tactics Rubin took in reporting this. The thing is, Rubin didn’t come out with a column to dish dirt on Backman, he was asked about Wally’s chances of being named the manager in a chat and stated there were things he heard about Backman via a source with the Mets and he feels he won’t get the job. I asked Rubin about this and I took away from the conversation that this has to do more with on the field doings than off.

As Mets fans we have to put our trust in Sandy Alderson  that he will hire the man he feels is the right man for the job.  I mentioned how I was afraid of a Bob Melvin hire thinking this would be Art Howe Redux, but Rubin stated that Melvin is no way an Art Howe clone.

I think we just need to sit tight Mets fans and be patient.

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Two of the iconic sportswriters this town has ever read Roger Angell and George Vecsey give their views on the SF Giants and remember the NY Giants

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Join me tonight at 10PM ET for THIS CALL TO THE BULLPEN on BLOG TALK RADIO. My guest will be Adam Rubin of ESPN NEW YORK. Adam and I will discuss the new Sandy Alderson Era,  what went wrong with the Minaya Reign, the candidates for the Mets managers spot and a look at the Mets prospects playing in the Arizona Fall League and the Latin  Winter Leagues.

If you can’t join us live, you can hear the show right here at Kranepool Society (lower left side bar) or at our show page on Blog Talk Radio and as a download on iTunes

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If my beloved New York Mets can’t win the World Series then I’m glad my dads beloved Giants won. My father came to America from Ireland in 1929 and landed with four of his brothers in Salem MA to live with their aunt. In 1930 my dad and one brother took off for NYC and never went back. He and my uncle wanted to see Babe Ruth play as they heard all these stories about the great baseball slugger. So off to Yankee Stadium they go but one problem, the Yankees were on the road. A cop walking the beat around the ball park told them if they wanted to see a baseball game today go over the bridge into Manhattan as the Giants were playing that day.

The legend as my father told me time and time again was ,when they got to the Polo Grounds, John McGraw was barking orders to his players. My dad asked who he was and a guy next to him said “That’s McGraw he runs this team”. With that my father looked at my uncle and said, “They let an Irishman run a baseball team”? They were both flabbergasted. Remember this was back in the day of businesses putting up signs “NO IRSH NEED APPLY and “ALL DOGS AND IRSH KEEP OFF THE GRASS” so to see a man who traced his ancestry back to the Motherland in a position of authority was extraordinary.

So from that day on, my father’ baseball devotion was to the NY Giants and to Little Napoleon. My dad would tell me it was heartbreaking when the Giants moved West (I’d tell him, you couldn’t have been that broken up since I was born in 1958 eighteen years after my sister) but then in 1962 the Mets were born and he had another team to root for.

But I always remember as a kid, when the Giants and Dodgers came to Shea, it seem like it was always a weekend series, and we always went to the games when the Giants came to town. Even though his new allegiance was to the Mets, my dad always remembered the Giants were his first baseball love. I’m sure he would have loved to see this years Giants celebrate wining the World Series, not as much as if it were the Mets but I know he would light up a cigar and say “At least it’s not those god damn Yankees”

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Now that the Mets have a GM in place and ready to roll, the next step seems to be hiring a manager (although Sandy Alderson seems to want his Cabinet in place first as we hear his wish list of Lieutenants include J.P. Riccardi, Paul DiPodesta and Grady Fuson all outstanding candidates) and from looking around the Mets blogisphere there is great discussion on who that hire should be.

There are Wally Backman supporters as well as Backman detractors. There are folks pushing a Chip Hale regime (which I’m starting to sway over to) and there are Lee Mazzilli fans as well (which I can not fathom) then there is a candidate that we can agree on none of us want (Bob Melvin) and one the majority of us want (Bobby Valentine) but that won’t happen either.

So who do you support as the next field boss of the NY Mets? Alderson said all the right things on Friday about finding a man to fit this job. He acknowledged that a guy like Art Howe is totally wrong for this team and this city. He likes the fiery kick ass type (don’t we all?) but at the same time he has to be on board with the organizational philosophy and be that philosophy’s messenger. The manger must have the savvy to handle the pressure of the day in day out media, which I feel will be a huge issue in the interview process as Alderson saw first hand the amount of media that covers baseball in this town on Friday. With all that, the manager must have the respect and attention of his players and the ability to keep an even personality through goods times and bad and to instill confidence in his team. That to me was Jerry Manuel’s biggest failure as Mets manager. The stars of this team have a low level of self esteem and were too high after wins and too dejected after losses, so the next manger has to be a part-time psychologists as well. It’s not a job for a rank amateur.

John Gibbons saw that and removed his name from consideration. Bobby Valentine would be perfect for the job but there is just too much ego for him to succeed under this regime. I really hope that Alderson doesn’t ruin the honeymoon by even thinking about Bob Melvin, a younger version of Art Howe who would be eaten alive by the MSM, bloggers and this knee jerk fan base. So who does it leave?

I was a gung ho Backman guy but I can see the point to the anti-Backman crowd as to the overload of hero worship that goes toward anyone who played for the 1986 World Champion Mets. I’m as much to blame for that as anyone; it was great time to be a Mets fan. Al of us from that era thought this was beginning of a Mets Dynasty. It never happened. No need for revisionist history here. What makes us fans that are Ga-Ga over the 86ers is the fact that we want to relive the 80’s again especially my shoulder length hair (did I just type that out loud?) when the Mets were Kings and maybe we think a Backman managerial stewardship would do that? There is no job Backman wants more than the Mets managers job and it’s problems from his personal life that have kept him from a big league job but after watching him in Brooklyn last year it will be interesting to see how well he interviews for the job.

As I said I was a strong Backman supporter but lately I’m more and more intrigued by both Ken Oberfell and Chip Hale. Just like Backman these men have paid their dues in baseball. Both men have won at all levels of the game. Both are strong in the fundamentals department and have the respect of their players. Now do they have the ability to deal with the day to day bullshit that comes with the job, well unless Sandy Alderson would like to invite me to join him in the interview process, I don’t know.

Terry Collins is another candidate I’ve heard mentioned but he might be better suited for player development role. Clint Hurdle’s name has come up as well and he would fit the personality part of the job but he seems to be a long shot in my book.

The best part of this whole procedure of hiring a manager is that I have total confidence in the man doing the hiring. I haven’t had this much confidence in a Mets GM since Frank Cashen ran the club and wait didn’t he run the club in 1986?

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