Die Hard Mets Fan

So most Mets fans wanted Willie whacked and those of you who wanted that got their wish. The only improvement since then is the play of Jose Reyes. Reyes has decided to finally play baseball once Jerry Manuel took over which is another reason why this guy is so hard to root for. Otherwise, the team is playing exactly the same under Manuel as they did under Willie.

Last night, Manuel took Johan Santana out of the game against the Phillies after pitching eight innings. The score was 2-2 at the time, and Manuel brought in Duaner Sanchez to save the game but ended up giving a two-out RBI single to Shane Victornino. It was a very questionable move Mets fans because Santana only had 95 pitches when he was taken out. We know that Willie would’ve taken Johan out too. So what’s different? Absolutely nothing. The Bullpen still couldn’t save the game. It’s the same problem as last season. The Bullpen was smokin’ until July of 2007, and then they couldn’t hold a lead the rest of the season. Since I’m such a realistic Mets fan, I saw the collapse coming a mile away. It began in July, and I knew that the Mets wouldn’t have been able to do anything in the Playoffs if they ended up making it. Of course I thought that they would’ve made the Playoffs, but I saw the flaws and knew that they would’ve been outed in the first round. We were hoping that Sanchez would’ve come back and pitch like he did in ‘06. Omar brought in Matt Wise in the offseason. Duaner’s return didn’t live up to the hype, and Wise hasn’t done much of anything before being placed on the DL.

My point has always been that this is on the players. It doesn’t matter if Willie or Jerry is the Coach. I also heard on WFAN that Willie wasn’t able to punish Reyes whenever Reyes acted up because Minaya said that Reyes was too valuable to the team. So Jose has gotten away with whatever he wanted. You can see on the field that Reyes’ immaturity has regressed. He never showed it until he was benched by Willie for not running out a few ground balls last year. These on-the-field temper tantrums are current because Reyes never did that in his first few seasons. Now, the Mets fired the Manager who did the right thing by benching him so Jose can continue to feel like he’s bigger than the team. I’ve got a huge problem with all of this. The Phillies had no problem benching Jimmy Rollins for not running out a ground ball, and Rollins was the MVP last year. Jimmy said he deserved to be benched. So why can’t the Mets do this? Why can’t Reyes handle being benched? I have no idea, but the Mets have to do something with Reyes. I know that Jose puts up great numbers when it doesn’t matter a la A-Rod, but where was Reyes in the ‘06 Playoff, in September ‘07, and in the first half of ‘08? He’s nowhere to be found when there’s pressure or criticism which means he lacks Rocky Balboa heart. It’s a shame with all of that talent. Just like Lorenzo said to Calogero in A Bronx Tale, “There’s nothing worst than wasted talent.”

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This afternoon, Jerry Manuel joined Chris Russo of WFAN in his weekly spot to talk about the status of the Mets.  To hear the interview in its entirety, click here.

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Jerry Manuel had some very interesting things to say during last night’s post game.  I waited up for a while for some articles to be written about it, but had no such luck.  I had to wait until today, and the quotes are from Newsday.

First, Manuel had this to say about getting ejected, “I thought that Mr. Runge was kind of baiting Carlos. That’s how I saw it. I could be wrong. So I wanted to go out and make sure everything was OK and it got a little heated. I thought he did step into me. I did not step into him. How they choose to handle that I have no idea, no clue. That was definitely the case.”  So Jerry got bumped by Brian Runge which allowed Runge to use the bumping as an excuse to eject Jerry.  Once Runge bumped Manuel, Manuel got his moneys worth and finally walked away.

Then Carlos Beltran, who never has anything to say, started shouting at Runge.  Beltran had this to say after the game, “After what he did to Jerry I really got mad. Because he really bumped Jerry to get an excuse to throw him out of the game. I just let him know that that was weak. This is the first time that I’ve been so angry in my career and I feel like I have a reason. If I get punished for my actions, he should get punished for his actions, also, because that was horrible.”  So Carlos backed up his manager who just backed him up, and there’s nothing wrong with that.  One thing that Beltran said that is not in the article is that the manager is supposed to back up his players so take that for whatever it’s worth.

Then Manuel began talking about the actual game where they got landslided 11-0 to the the Mariners.  Manuel said this about Oliver Perez, “I’m definitely concerned about his struggles right now and we’re going to have to address it at some time. We’ll have to seriously address it.”  Yes he does because I can’t watch Ollie anymore.  Next, Manuel said, “Right now, we’re a bad offensive club, period.”  That’s for damn sure.  In order to address these issues, Manuel stated, “It could mean some tough decisions. Could be lineup changes, could be rotation changes, could be all types of changes. We have to do what we have to do to get this team on track. We have such great fans and they’re just waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting for us to do well.”  I love what Jerry had to say last night because somebody in this organization needs to admit that problems exist for them to be addressed.  There are too many players on the roster that need to be shipped out of town.  Most importantly, the fans do deserve better.

** After writing this post, I found the entire transcript of the post game at The Star-Ledger which includes Jerry Manuel’s comments and Carlos Beltran’s comments.

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Seattle is winning this game 11-0 in the Top of the 9th, and the Mets couldn’t do anything right today.  With that said, we got to witness something that we haven’t seen since before Willie Randolph.  In the fourth inning, Carlos Beltran was at the plate with an 0-2 count.  There was some chatter back-and-forth between Beltran and the ump.  Then home-plate umpire Brian Runge began sweeping up home plate so he could talk smack to Beltran about the count.  Jerry Manuel came running out immediately to argue the fact that Runge was trying to lure Beltran into an arguement.  Manuel exploded on Runge, and I loved every minute of it.  We haven’t seen that in so long.  Jerry was obviously ejected.  After he walked away, Beltran began arguing his case which led to his ejection.  Hopefull Runge will be penalized for that.  The game is final now Mariners 11 - Mets 0, but at least Manuel fought for his player.

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I’m sure that most of you have heard about the New York Post making a big deal of how Jerry Manuel referred to angry Mets fans as ‘fertilizer’.  It was clear that The Post had no idea what they were talking about.  If Manuel did try to take a stab at the fans then I would be the first one to call him out on it.  I was listening to ‘Boomer and Carton’ on WFAN this morning.  Boomer agreed with me while Carton agreed with The Post.

Anyway, Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News provided the actual transcript on the papers’ Surfing The Mets blog…

Question: Jerry, the first few months of the season there’s been a lot of booing at Shea. Sometimes it’s been really vicious. How much does that drain a team?

Manuel: That’s a good question. I don’t know if it drains a team as much as it affects that individual. I think it does have an effect on the individual more so than the team. But, in saying that, we have to get to the point to where when they boo one, they’re booing all of us. And we have to understand and stay that close knit and be able to deal with that as we go forward.

Question: One guy who has been really hammered is Aaron Heilman …

Manuel: He seems to have done very well. He has responded very well. Again, it’s difficult. It’s painful. But it’s also growth. It’s growth for him. It’s very, very – I’m going to say this, and I hope y’all don’t take this wrong. I know you’re going to run out of here with something crazy on this. It’s very, very fertile ground for growth at Shea Stadium. It’s fertile ground for a team’s growth and development. Sometimes fertile ground has fertilizer. (Laughter in room.) Fertilizer is a good thing. It’s a good thing. You get the greatest results, you get the most beautiful plants, when you put it in that type of fertile soil. That’s what we have the opportunity to do. Don’t y’all take that wrong because I know what you’re going to do with it.

Case closed.

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Everybody wants to know if replacing Willie Randolph with Jerry Manuel will be a successful story.  Unfortunately, we’re going to have to wait it out.  But who wants to wait it out in New York?  The media has written a bunch of articles about changing managers in the middle of the season during the past week.

Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News provided some statistics that I found interesting, “There’s no guarantee of success just because a team has made a managerial change - from 2002-07 there were 20 skippers replaced in-season; only three of those teams made the playoffs and six finished in last place. The fired managers had a combined winning percentage of .426, the replacements .451.”  That’s not too shabby.  McCarron provided this reason, “Managers who have been replacements say they have had to convince a team, wounded by the uproar surrounding the previous skipper’s failure, that it can still compete. They must immediately open lines of communication and deal with potential lingering issues concerning playing time or how the players felt about their deposed leader.”

John Harper of the New York Daily News wrote another article about the managerial change, and he pointed out that, “Perhaps no less significant, Manuel isn’t afraid to address internal issues, even the sensitive issue of a racial divide that may or may not exist in the Mets’ clubhouse. If nothing else, the perception seems to exist, and that was enough for Manuel to make a point of talking about it already with his players.”  The description written by Harper seems to cover some of the reasons noted by McCarron on why replacement managers tend to fail more often than not.  If perception is reality then it seems like Manuel can overcome what the other replacement managers weren’t able to.  One week into Manuel’s Mets, they look like they have a little bit more life in them.

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According to Anthony DiComo of Mets.com, a recent report in the New York Post claimed that Jerry Manuel had worked with vice president of player development Tony Bernazard to help oust Willie Randolph from his office.  This report also pointed out that Manuel and Bernazard has a lengthy conversation last week at Shea Stadium.  Manuel confirmed with the New York Post that he had a lenghty conversation with Bernazard, but the report offered no other evidence.

When asked about these rumors on Friday, Manuel said…

Me? I had a plan? I can’t entertain that because I couldn’t tell . . . what kind . . . I mean, I was a bench coach. That’s all I was. I was a bench coach. I never talked to you guys. You know, I was just a bench coach. I was trying to be the bench coach that I would want if I ever got a chance. Period. Because I know how that can work. Whatever you do to others will be done to you. You know what I’m saying? So I know how things work.

After that, Manuel was asked about his relationship with Willie.  Manuel said, “I was there for him for whatever he needed me to do. A sounding board. How he wanted to handle any situation that I had experienced. But I fully understand what is being said. I understand them completely. I do not charge to him.

Now we got conspiracy theorists?  I guess we have to take them at their word, but the Mets lack credibility after the way they fired Willie in the middle of the night.  It could be true, but the New York Post needs to bring more evidence to the table than a lengthy conversation at Shea.

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Everybody knows how great Jose Reyes can be, and everybody knows how bad he can be and how childish he can be.  This is why I wanted the Mets to trade Reyes for Santana if Reyes wasn’t injured during the collapse.  One of my beefs with the team was that they didn’t explain what was wrong with Jose until Spring Training which was way too late for them to trade him.  I already realized that he has A-Rod syndrome meaning it never takes place in big spots (i.e., September or October).  Reyes didn’t do anything in the Playoffs in ‘06, and he didn’t do anything in the second half of ‘07.  I agreed with Willie 100% for benching him, and Reyes stopped playing baseball since.  This guy is soft.  He doesn’t even go out their and play for his own self pride.  Now, Jose is Manuel’s problem.  Sucks to be Jerry.

Billy Witz at the New York Times believes that Jerry Manuel’s ability to succeed largely depends on his ability to manage Jose Reyes.  Witz described Reyes as “The embodiment of the team. The usual descriptions of Reyes — plenty of talent, inconsistent, questionable attention span — are often apt adjectives for the Mets, too.”  Billy thinks Manuel’s approach to Reyes already appears to be more personal and contemporary than Randolph’s.  We’ll have to see how this plays out in the future.  Reyes is too old to be acting like a child.  He’s 25 already, and Wright isn’t out there acting like that.  If he can’t overcome getting benched when he messed up then how will he overcome anything that happens on the field?

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There are two grimy articles about Tony Bernazard today.  Bernazard was mentioned a few times in other articles as well.  I only knew who he was by title.  I knew he had a lot of power with the Mets, and I knew that he didn’t like Willie.  These articles by Newsday and the New York Times really let us know more about Tony.  None of the articles had anything good to say about it.  I know we never wrote about him before.

Mets.com:

Manuel resting his stars for long haul

Manuel’s first win a sweet one - Anthony DiComo summarized last night’s Mets-Angels game.

Mets in good shape if ‘pen is as well - Anthony DiComo put together a pregame analysis for tomorrow night’s game between the Mets and the Rockies.

Manuel’s main rule: Play hard - Yesterday, Jerry Manuel stated, “I’m giving them some freedom. I don’t care what you look like, how your hair looks, your growth — it doesn’t matter to me. Just play hard.”

Randolph offers own version of events - Yesterday, Willie Randolph expressed his side of the story…

I thought he was talking about whacking a couple of my coaches. That’s why I was stunned. I didn’t think it was going to happen. At the time, I felt the way he was talking to me, that I was pretty secure for the time being, whatever that means.

This, really, in my mind, all happened way, way too early. We all know that baseball is a long season — it’s a marathon. For me, it’s a little abrupt, and I know that you can talk all you want to about expectations and stuff like that, but … I just wish I had the opportunity to see it through. That’s all.

I’m not ready to retire. When you get a taste of managing, it’s kind of cool. And I want to get back to doing that. We’ll see.

Newsday:

Perception on Mets’ Bernazard: He’s a bad, bad guy - A lot of people believe that Tony Bernazard played a role in the midnight massacre.  When asked about it, Bernazard said “I’m not going to comment on it. I don’t talk about what we talk about internally. I’ve got a great reputation. I don’t have to defend myself against unfounded rumors.”  Ken Davidoff did some digging on Bernazard’s reputation and found out that “The truth, however, is that Bernazard’s reputation has taken a pummeling. Take this for what it’s worth, but yesterday, I received two phone calls from industry contacts - the first, a longtime friend of many Hispanic players, and the second, a scout from an American League team. Both, unsolicited, brought up Bernazard, both professed to not know him and both offered the same sentiment: “I hear he’s a really bad guy.”"

Will ex-Mets manager Randolph get a second chance? - Ken Davidoff asked around the league to see if they believe that Randolph will get another shot at managing a ball club, and most of them think he will.

THIS DAY AT THE OLD BALLPARK - Newsday lets us know what took place at Shea Stadium and Yankee Stadium on June 19 of a year in the past.  “June 19, 1989, at Shea Stadium: Dwight Gooden wins his 100th career game, 5-3, over the Expos. His 100-37 career record is second only to Whitey Ford’s 100-36 start. Howard Johnson knocks in four runs with two homers.”

New York Daily News:

Jerry Manuel restart just what struggling Mets needed

Rick Peterson not bitter over Met firing

Jerry Manuel pitches in to help David Wright’s hitting

Goose Gossage brings heat on Jose Reyes’ dancing

New York Post:

INSIDE JOBBED - Bart Hubbuch and Joel Sherman pointed out that friends of Willie’s told The Post that Willie felt betrayed by Manuel.

REYES REWARDS MANUEL’S FAITH

MANUEL HIGH ON WARTHEN

VALENTINE FEELS FOR WILLIE - Bobby Valentine said, “I hope Willie is OK. I was fired during the season with Texas. It was not a fun time.”

The New York Times:

Bernazard Finds Himself in Middle of Mets’ Turmoil

The Star-Ledger:

Oblivious? Reyes’ mind-set not always obvious

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The BBTN crew at ESPN discuss the Mets under new manager Jerry Manuel.

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