Recently I have felt as if I have been the lone voice in the wilderness about Howard Johnson. While much of the Mets fan base has howled , moaned and screamed for his ouster, I have tried to be even keeled and keep everything in perspective. Has Howard Johnson been a good hitting coach? I think that we all know that he isn’t – but he was not originally brought up here in that capacity. Many people have forgotten that HoJo was originally the first base coach for the Mets in ’05 for the Willie Randolph regime. HoJo became the Mets hitting coach in the middle of the ’07 season after the Mets fired the previous coach, Rick Down, to motivate a limp Mets lineup. But I agree that he shouldn’t be here as the hitting instructor.I feel that that is the capacity that he should be in right now instead of Razor Shines. I give HoJo a ton of respect for calling out the Mets hitters the other night after that “pitiful” ( as General Jerry correctly put it) performance on Thursday night. Lets face it if all accounts are true and Mets players were more concerned with playing cards that trying to win ball games – well in my opinion that’s a sure sign that Jerry Manuel has lost control of this team and should be sent packing immediately ! but I am not the general manager and I am sure not the owners of this team to make that decision, but if there are ( and I am sure as hell there will) mass firings at seasons end I hope that ownership will take into consideration that HoJo had the guts to supersede his manager to try to jump start this team again – no matter how futile the end result might be. Hojo deserves to stay with the organization – if not with the main team then maybe as a roving instructor or a scout. He doesn’t deserve to have his head on the chopping block. He deserves a hell of more respect than he has been given.
” Give HoJo credit – at least he cares !!”
And with that said… HERE COMES THE INFAMY !!!
Celebrating Birthdays today are:
My favorite Mets scrub pitcher from ’79-’80, Ray Burris (1950) .
Back up catcher from the ’74 team, Ike Hampton is 59 (1951) .
One time star outfielder whose skills had greatly eroded by the time he was traded to the Mets for Tony Fernandez, Darrin Jackson is 47 (1963) .
Speaking of Ike Hampton, It was 40 years ago today that the New York Mets signed him as a free agent.
New York Mets sold their one time highly touted first base prospect, Jorge Toca to the Pittsburgh Pirates on August 22, 2003.
New York Mets traded minor league pitcher,Evan MacLane to the Arizona Diamondbacks for ” The Hebrew Hammer” Shawn Green on August 22, 2006.
Just wondering – does Mo Vaughn wear boxers or briefs ?
41 comments
rustyjr
8/22/2010-11:20am at 11:20 am (UTC -4)
btw todays fingers crossed we sweep lineup
Sunday, August 22
@ Pittsburgh
Jose Reyes – SS
Angel Pagan – LF
Carlos Beltran – CF
David Wright – 3B
Jeff Francoeur – RF
Ike Davis – 1B
Henry Blanco – C
Ruben Tejada – 2B
Johan Santana – LHP
stickguy
8/22/2010-11:24am at 11:24 am (UTC -4)
I hope that someone bites on barajas and francouer by 9/1, and take them off our hands. Keep Jerry from having the chance to pencil them in.
rustyjr
8/22/2010-11:25am at 11:25 am (UTC -4)
looks like it will be our buddy Jesus
http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/8952/feliciano-may-be-traded
stickguy
8/22/2010-11:27am at 11:27 am (UTC -4)
nice piee today. I like Hojo (well, the perception of him, since I don’t know him personally) and always liked him as a Met.
So, sure, find someplace better suited to his talents in the organization. I am sure there is some patronage job he can have, that is not part of the on field coaching staff.
same with Omar. Send him to do scouting, or something in the overseas arm. Just keep him away from the FO. He has been a fine company toadie, and amply rewarded for that with his undeserved 4 year extension, but time to move on from all these guys.
kingman 26
8/22/2010-12:20pm at 12:20 pm (UTC -4)
Nice “piee”??
kingman 26
8/22/2010-12:24pm at 12:24 pm (UTC -4)
Rusty, NO piece of clothing worn by Mo could be “brief.”
I seriously think that this team is beyond help. I have a piece for tomorrow which will express this idea, but they spend forever on the DL, they refuse to accept constructive criticism from Met legends, Jose recently said he simply cannot focus on every pitch while in the field, and the offense which has embarrassed all of Met-dom for almost two months now plays frigin cards while they should be studying and preparing.
Sorry all, but the people who say this is a soft, contented bunch who put winning WAY down the list of priorities are 100% right.
It is not Jerry’s fault, it is the players. They could care less.
It is time for us to wake up to that glaringly obvious fact.
And it is time to consider trading ANYONE. As a Metsblog commenter said yesterday, the Rangers lose Tex and get better. The Padres lose Peavy and get better. The Twins lose Johan and others and continue winning. We have to change, the soft, contented culture of this losing organization. One more bat and one more starter is not going to do it.
rustyjr
8/22/2010-12:33pm at 12:33 pm (UTC -4)
ummmmm yeah ..errr right Kong . i love you like a brother but – STAY AWAY FROM MY MEDS !!!!! I think major changes need to be made but i condone trading jose david johan ike etc
Jerry has lost this team and he is partially to blame HoJo deserves some heat too – but atleast he crawled out of his shell and nailed some of the players balls to the wall
kingman 26
8/22/2010-12:38pm at 12:38 pm (UTC -4)
Some of those meds are really, really relaxing…you should keep them somewhere where I cannot find them…
Cannot trade Johan or Niese, and maybe Wright, but anyone else—absolutely listen to all offers.
Jerry clearly has lost the team and also clearly does not have the fire and determination to make the players hustle, but let’s remember my esteemed friend, the guys playing cards are all making many, many millions–lots more than Jerry or Omar.
They should not need someone to tell them that they SUCK and should be working to improve.
Bay’s taking the rest of the year off, nowhere to be found, Reyes admitted he doesn’t pay attention every play, and the rest are quite clearly playing out the string with zero enthusiasm.
TRS86
8/22/2010-12:42pm at 12:42 pm (UTC -4)
So you honestly think that Bay is taking this one off on his own? Team needs changes but not with Reyes and Wright. They deserve one more chance with a team that is complete instead of guys like Frenchy, Perez and Castillo.
kingman 26
8/22/2010-12:49pm at 12:49 pm (UTC -4)
Is there a precedent in sports for 63 games and/or 2.5 months for a concussion? Where is he? Manuel and the media have zero contact with him?
“They deserve one more chance”—we said this after 2007, 2008, and 2009….so it really is “four more chances” isn’t it?
GravediggerHebner
8/22/2010-1:34pm at 1:34 pm (UTC -4)
Justin Morneau has been out with a concussion since July 7th, almost 3 weeks longer than Bay.
njstuckintx
8/22/2010-1:41pm at 1:41 pm (UTC -4)
Yeah, concussions have ended many a career. I’m happy if they have him shut down for the year, no questions asked, no regrets. Focus on 2011. Hopefully that is where he misplaced his HR swing.
kingman 26
8/22/2010-1:45pm at 1:45 pm (UTC -4)
Point taken. Thanks.
TRS86
8/22/2010-1:38pm at 1:38 pm (UTC -4)
And yet have they had a competent surrounding cast, besides maybe 2007.
Kingman if you want to be a doctor and decide when a player can come back from a concussion go ahead. What I will say is either way how do you know that it’s Bay and not the Mets who are gun shy after Wright and Church. Also, 0 contact? How is it that Manuel was saying that it now he may comback?
kingman 26
8/22/2010-1:44pm at 1:44 pm (UTC -4)
Was that before or after Jerry said Bay would not play the rest of the season?
OK, the Bay point I maybe should have not written.
Yeah, we look great against the worst team in baseball.
This team has the drive and desire and will to win of a cadaver.
rustyjr
8/22/2010-12:43pm at 12:43 pm (UTC -4)
I meant don’t condone lol – damned meds
kingman 26
8/22/2010-12:51pm at 12:51 pm (UTC -4)
I knew what you meant buddy…now pass the meds!
TRS86
8/22/2010-12:42pm at 12:42 pm (UTC -4)
Fire Hojo!
GravediggerHebner
8/22/2010-1:37pm at 1:37 pm (UTC -4)
I look at HoJo for his act the other day in the same way that some fans look at the Mets Hall of Fame: Great but where the hell was it before?
And unlike a Hall of Fame at a stadium the Mets hitting is kind of important in the day-to-day operations of the franchise. Too little, too late Mr. Johnson. Don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out.
njstuckintx
8/22/2010-1:38pm at 1:38 pm (UTC -4)
I bet he couldn’t hit the door if he tried. zing!
TRS86
8/22/2010-1:39pm at 1:39 pm (UTC -4)
Agreed.
kingman 26
8/22/2010-1:42pm at 1:42 pm (UTC -4)
So the players are kids who need to be told to prepare for games when they are last in the league in every offensive stat since the break?
The players deserve no critique for playing cards instead of preparing for games?
GravediggerHebner
8/22/2010-1:55pm at 1:55 pm (UTC -4)
My answers to those questions would be “no” and “no.”
But as you note the Mets have been at the bottom of the league in almost every offensive category since the All-Star break which ended July 15th. At that time the Mets were at least pretenders for the post season.
5 weeks of futility later the team is no longer even a pretender and then the person whose primary responsibility is the offense decides to do something, to say something?
It’s like the first mate telling the captain of the Titanic to watch out for that iceberg while sitting next to him in a lifeboat as the ship disappears below the surface.
kingman 26
8/22/2010-2:01pm at 2:01 pm (UTC -4)
Agreed, but I guess, in my frustration with this team, I am not adequately expressing myself.
What I am trying to say is that when I read about this incident, it is not HoJo’s (CLEARLY) being too little too late in his admonishment that strikes me first.
What jumps out at me, and what makes me really angry, is the simple fact that multi-millionaire athletes, on a team which is clearly underachieving for the fourth straight year (and arguably 2010 is overall the by-far worst instance of underachievement yet), that players are playing cards instead of working on preparation for a game.
Yes, I know lots of teams probably do this, but with the way the team has performed since the break–and overall this year–this incident just strikes me as a pretty glaringly obvious portrait of a squad of guys who really just could not care less about how much they suck.
Isn’t there enough time for cards after the game, on off-days, and during their almost 5 month offseason?
I know I am turning Nabob, but this is just ridiculous at this point.
GravediggerHebner
8/22/2010-2:20pm at 2:20 pm (UTC -4)
I don’t disagree with and won’t argue with anything you’ve said here.
What I can say is I think what colors my perspective on it is a resignation that this is what many (not all) pampered millionaire athletes have become. I agree it’s terribly disappointing but I feel that “it is what it is” and since I can’t change it nor do I feel it’s likely to change I know that if I focus my energy on that aspect of it I will become terribly frustrated.
So as a defense mechanism I have accepted this phenomenon and instead focus on the professional whose job it is to do whatever it takes (legally) to counteract it. I believe that is the batting coach in the case of the offense and in my opinion he has done a poor job of dealing with this unfortunate phenomenon.
So yes I am very disappointed in the players. But due to the particular way I view professional athletes I am much more disappointed to learn that the coach took so long to recognize and to try to alleviate a problem with his athletes.
kingman 26
8/22/2010-2:47pm at 2:47 pm (UTC -4)
Well-said, well-argued, and very good points all around.
stickguy
8/22/2010-2:15pm at 2:15 pm (UTC -4)
speaking of bay, he was OK enough to travel to williamsport PA (pretty much in the center of th emiddle of nowhere) to watch the Canadian LL team play yesterday.
So he is getting around!
kingman 26
8/22/2010-2:47pm at 2:47 pm (UTC -4)
Just what I mean. Can’t travel to be with the team?
These guys could care LESS.
Sorry folks.
kingman 26
8/22/2010-2:50pm at 2:50 pm (UTC -4)
Again, to take it further, if what Stick says is true, Bay travels for this, but cannot be with the team (in PA!) he is being paid obscenely by, while in the first extraordinarily disappointing year of a mammoth contract?
TRS, tell me how this illustrates Bay’s dedication to the team and how he is not on vacation.
stickguy
8/22/2010-3:36pm at 3:36 pm (UTC -4)
Ollie has also been on vacation for a month or so now. And he is not even injured.
No idea what/where Bay has been doing with his time off. Not sure there is really a rehab program, other than resting a lot, for head trauma. So not surprising he would not be travelling with the team.
But, you are correct in that if he could make it to williamsport to see his precious Canadian LL team then he probably could have made it out to Pittsburgh.
But, while I understand being cautious with a head injury, I also believe that he does not care in the least about getting back this season, and if anything, is very happy to milk this for the rest of the year.
Hey, he got his silly (and quite possibly last) contract, and has probably had enough of the boos, so makes perfect sense that he would want to just disappear.
kingman 26
8/22/2010-3:42pm at 3:42 pm (UTC -4)
+ Infinity.
I am getting sick of the apologists for this very clearly apathetic group of anti-gamers.
Paychecks are all this group is consistently enthusiastic about.
Stick, do you have a reference of a link to the info about Bay being in Williamsport? I would really appreciate it….
stickguy
8/22/2010-3:56pm at 3:56 pm (UTC -4)
I was watching the game yesterday, and they mentioned him being there. Something about he gave them a nice long pep talk before the game too. I never saw anything published about it, but google is your friend, my friend.
kingman 26
8/22/2010-4:03pm at 4:03 pm (UTC -4)
Yeah, I Googled it before asking about it Stick, and did not find it.
Will dig deeper.
Preparing an opinion piece, and nothing could be more ideal as my 87,392th piece of evidence than this story; must find verification though.
I fact-check harder than CNN and Fox. OK, that’s not saying much, but I DO fact-check!
Nice offense today!
Mr North Jersey
8/22/2010-4:24pm at 4:24 pm (UTC -4)
:On Wednesday morning, the boys spent about 30 minutes on a conference call with Trail, B.C.-born major leaguer Jason Bay, who competed in Williamsport in 1990.”
http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/Canada+little+leaguers+loving+league+treatment+Williamsport/3415053/story.html
“We had a great call with Jason Bay, New York Mets outfielder from Trail, BC, filmed by ESPN this morning.”
http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Coach+diary+Little+League+team+Williamsport/3415572/story.html
kingman 26
8/22/2010-4:28pm at 4:28 pm (UTC -4)
Yes, I found that on Google too.
Totally irrelevant as to whether he was there in Williamsport yesterday while Stick was watching.
TRS86
8/22/2010-7:00pm at 7:00 pm (UTC -4)
I have yet to find anything to say Bay was in Williamsport. He did a call in with the team but I can’t find that he was there.
kingman 26
8/22/2010-7:17pm at 7:17 pm (UTC -4)
Same here; I think Stick may have mis-remembered.
stickguy
8/22/2010-4:31pm at 4:31 pm (UTC -4)
well, I at least had it right that he gave the pep talk to the team! I could have sworn the announcer said he was there to watch the game, but I certainly could have imagined that part.
Mr North Jersey
8/22/2010-4:32pm at 4:32 pm (UTC -4)
Yes I just added it in case this is being misinterpreted for him being there.
Mr North Jersey
8/22/2010-4:45pm at 4:45 pm (UTC -4)
I have yet to meet a Mets fan that wanted to see HoJo having no part in the organization. All I have consistently heard was that HoJo should not be the hitting coach.
I think HoJo’s comments coming after the manager says the offense was pathetic simply put was just too little too late.
metsfan4decades
8/22/2010-5:18pm at 5:18 pm (UTC -4)
This I agree with.
I don’t agree with many who think most of the Mets players don’t care and are just collecting a pay check. Since none of us are in their heads, no amount of counter opinions will ever convince me of that.
I’m not saying it hasn’t happened, and doesn’t happen from time to time. I’m saying I don’t believe for the most part this team is guilty of that right now. Guilty of many other things maybe, but not apathy.