People aren’t on your back because of your race. You’re not being held to a different standard than any other manager of the New York Mets would be. Your team is underperforming and last year’s collapse is still a factor. You’re smart enough to know how the New York media treats teams/players/managers that don’t perform in New York City.
Jim Leyland and Ned Yost aren’t exactly being given the keys to the city right now either. Ron Washington was close to being fired early this season.
First, maybe this should be in the Pit?
Second, for all those calling for Willie’s head… Yeah, no doubt, the Mets have been underperforming since last June. In last year’s collapse it was the pitching that imploded; this year, it’s been the inconsistent hitting and continued use of Aaron Heilman in close games despite his decline (it’s been too long to call it simply “a slump”, he was great through 2006 but has looked mostly lost since last August).
How much of this would change with a different manager? Specifically, which other manager? There’s no point firing someone, especially someone with a contract through next year, unless you have a clearly better person to replace him.
Funny how the winner and the close runner-up for the 2006 NL Manager of the Year award (which was less than two years ago!) are both managing underperforming NY teams with crosshairs on their backs. Funny like Pagliacci.
I’m not eager to fire Willie, but I am also not thrilled with him as the manager. If he were to go I’d like to see Bobby Valentine back with the Mets, but it doesn’t sound like he’s looking to return to MLB in the near future.
I kept my OP language mild enough since I thought the thread would do better among baseball fans who visit the game room.
Feh. I highly doubt Girardi is going anywhere for at least three years. He’s taken over the team at a time when all its talent is too old and all its prospects are too young; even Blathering Hank knows that.
Randolph, on the other hand, is really on a hot seat. I think Minaya will swing some uberdeal at breathe life back into the team, though.
I was going to start a slightly different thread on this, so I hope you won’t mind if I expand the subject a little.
I actually see some validity to Willie’s complaint. It seems like the local media has been harder on him than Art Howe who was truly a bad manager. Many Met fans have complained openly about how Hispanic the team is and how Minaya goes for Latin players over American players. I have even seen a little of that on this board which shocked me.
The Met fan base played the race card before Willie screwed up and did the same this weekend. On the other hand, his management of the Collapse! last leaves him little good will to trade upon and even if justified, he would have been wiser not to bring up that race card.
Willie is as New York as they come, even more than Joe Torre. Willie not only grew up in NYC, he was a Con Ed kid and played the bulk of his career in NYC. I think the fans should cut him a little more slack and of course I think he needs to not repeat the verbal mistake he made this weekend.
BTW: The humorous thing is seeing so many fans and reporters compare Hank to George and then fail to realize that the 70s and 80s version of King George “the Boss” would have already fired Joe Girardi and there are not even rumblings about it so far from the Yanks. Joe is safe, he is doing a fair job with an aging and injured and underperforming team. He is the right man for this remolding year.
Jim