 About three months ago, I questioned the New York Mets' motivation,
handling and explanation of the firing of former skipper Willie
Randolph (keft, photo by B. Menzel). Despite the team's recent success, I still do.
The classless and sloppy way he was let go -- even despite his team's slow start to the season -- was deserving of the criticism it received. Randolph, despite his faults, should have the support of the franchise that he helped turn around.
Some would say that given where the Mets are now -- first place -- that this column might be ill-timed, or even off-base. Well, blame the shameless and self-congratulatory commentary coming from certain places.
Yes, the team's record – and post-game temperament – has certainly
improved. After Tuesday night's 10-8 win over the Nationals, the Mets
remain in first place in the NL East. Thanks to the equally
inconsistent Philadelphia Phillies, who did take two of three games
from the Mets this past weekend, neither club has been able to take
control of the division.
In June, we called several players on this roster “overly sensitive and high maintenance” . Somehow, as if by magic, the leader of that group (and the guy that everyone in that locker room takes their cue from), Carlos Delgado has become an MVP candidate (an award he should, in this writer's opinion, win). Looking like a waiver candidate in June, he has somehow regained his bat-speed, charisma and leadership abilities, and is playing like the lineup-balancer he was in 2006.
According to lots of people, Randolph and Delgado had serious communication problems at the start of the season, a situation that was fueled by the front office's inability to give the manager the kind of operational freedom now enjoyed by his successor.
Yes, much credit has been given to Jerry Manuel, the interim manager, whose personality and communication skills have gotten rave reviews from players, media and fans alike.
More than any player, it has been Delgado that has taken advantage of the change in the clubhouse. Whatever the reason for his dramatic turnaround, one thing is clear, the passion he's mashed the baseball with since June 27 has been evident.
No longer is it, “We're so good, we get bored”, or “They don't pay me to think”, from the veteran first baseman, who hit two more home runs in Tuesday's big win. Rather, reporters who used to flock to his locker after games, only to be ignored, now are seeing a player who has finally embraced his role as the unofficial captain of the team.
Should Manuel get the credit for this metamorphosis? Perhaps. Should Delgado take some sort of responsibility for his inability to perform for his former manager?
Absolutely. Yet, it seems that his early-season struggles have all been placed at the feet of Randolph, who only asked his first baseman to play hard, produce and lead. Billy Martin and Reggie Jackson had that kind of relationship,too. Only difference is that Reggie already had three rings and a World Series MVP at the time. The two made it through the 1977 season despite the bitter feud, found a way to get past their problems,and won a title together. Even more admirable, when given the opportunity to get his skipper canned, Reggie said no, it wouldn't be good for the team.
The excellent George Vecsey had, in this writer's opinion, crafted one of the most revealing and well-crafted summation of the Randolph-Manuel dynamic in the days after the managerial change:
In recent weeks there was the general impression that some of the Mets were inhibited by Randolph, an attitude that can lead to a good baseball man being fired. It is foolish to think that major league players intentionally lay down to sabotage a manager, but even experienced players can get into a mental rut. Before Monday’s game, Delgado seemed energized.
“It’s the same game,” he said, with a rare smile. “You have to have your own touch. We can relate to Jerry.” Delgado then told about Manuel’s first meeting with the team, talking about the chance to turn things around — the “fertilizer” message, that New York is a great place for mental nutrients to enrich the soil, so to speak.
“He said, ‘This is a big stage,’ ” Delgado said. “ ‘You can use your energy positively or negatively.’ ” Delgado said that Manuel had a way of saying hello around the batting cage, and that it might “get guys rowing in the same direction.”
Delgado then checked himself, adding, “It’s a sensitive subject.” He did not want to compare the deposed manager and the new manager, and he probably wanted no part of rumors that Tony Bernazard, the éminence grise of the front office, and apparently no supporter of Randolph’s, had a backdoor link to some players.
It's been well chronicled here, and in other places, that Bernazard had been a tireless campaigner against Randolph for months, maybe even years. Whether it was to the players in the clubhouse – a place where Randolph begged Omar Minaya, his GM and only supporter after last year's collapse to keep the former MLBPA official out of – or to the team's ownership group, Bernazard's contempt for the manager was well-known.
Imagine yourself to be Willie Randolph for a moment. Here you are, the owner of two World Series rings as a player, and a damn good one at that, and you have to not only contend with a room full of guys that have nary a ring among them (save Moises Alou), but you have to listen to the GM's buddy tell you how to manage your team.
Hey, don't take my word for it. Minaya admitted as much when he was grilled by WFAN's Mike & The Mad Dog Show” back in June:
"We invested a lot of time talking with Willie about baseball, myself and Tony, because Willie never managed. We'd spend hours meeting just the three of us and we'd go 'hey Willie what about this, hey what if that happens' Sometimes we disagreed, the only teams I've seen agree on everything were losing teams."
So, let me get this straight. Bernazard, who has a career in baseball by working as an advocate for PLAYERS, and who only has a job in the front office of the New York Mets because of his relationship with Omar Minaya, is giving advice to Willie Randolph on how to manage a baseball team?
Now, forgive me, I may be raining on everyone's Postseason Push party here, but a guy who never even coached a Little League team, never worked as a instructor in the minor leagues, and could very well be the guy that's whispering behind my back to my key players, is giving me advice on how to win a World Series?
I'd be miserable, tense and combative too. Mix in the fact that I had a clause in my contract that said if I criticized the team after my shameful dismissal that I could forfeit millions of dollars owed to me, I'd be pretty pissed. Maybe even pissed enough to accuse the team's network and others of covert racism? That wasn't a particularly smart move, but frankly, totally understandable under the circumstances.
Unending stress – and outright betrayal – can do that to a person. I know a little about the latter, and I know what can do to a person's confidence and their ability to do their jobs. I said it when he was fired, and I'll say it again; it is hard to weep for a man that will make four million bucks for doing nothing for the next year, but I can certainly empathize with his pain and frustration.
Only at the end, when perhaps he realized that his fate was something he could no longer control, did we see the warm smile of Willie Randolph. I saw it this winter, when he was answering questions for us at the Johan Santana press conference in February. Here was a man that was finally given a weapon he could use to do the job he was hired to do; win the World Series.
Now, don't misread this article as some kind of anti-Manuel piece, because it isn't. I've been on the record since Randolph was hired that I didn't support the move initially, and had been critical of Randolph's bullpen management and media interaction for as long as he held the job. That doesn't mean he either deserved to be fired.
The more that I think about it, and the more people I talk to around baseball, this sudden surge by the New York Mets could have easily happened under Randolph. We'll never know this of course, because the Mets were never willing to give Randolph the commitment and support he desperately needed to succeed this season; the promise that he would get this season to fix the wreck of last year's collapse.
Instead, it is Uncle Jerry, who knows just the right way to say hello around the batting cage, who is getting accolades for his handling of the Mets clubhouse. Even with the Mets just 2 ½ games ahead of a Phillies team that has showed no quit just yet, the media fawning over Manuel has reached ridiculous proportions:
Still, the question is: when will the Mets drop the interim from Manuel’s title? Since replacing Randolph in June, Manuel has maneuvered the Mets to within three weeks of the postseason.
What’s the threshold? A division title? A wild-card berth? A World Series championship?
Whatever they do, the Mets should not leave him dangling.
He has proven to be a creative Houdini. He has reinvigorated the franchise, given the young players direction and challenged the older players to seize the mantle of leadership. He has earned the players’ trust, confidence and respect.
Of course, this is the same columnist, who back in June said this:
Compare Wagner’s way, with his off-the-cuff comments, and Delgado’s way, which sometimes makes him appear aloof, with Randolph’s way. Who has the most championships?
In retrospect, managing the Mets must have been frustrating for Randolph as he tried to get a mostly veteran Mets team to play with a championship mentality, to respond with toughness when the situation demanded it. When the Mets went into a free fall late last season, where was Wagner? Delgado? Beltrán? Presumably doing it the Mets’ way.
Why the rush? September is a long month, and a lot can happen. I know it's very likely that the Mets will win the NL East, and that Jerry Manuel will get the two-year extension that the Record's Bob Klapisch is saying he'll get. But call me a party pooper all you want, there is simply no reason for anyone to be patting themselves on the back just yet.
Especially when your hand-picked closer is Luis Ayala.
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