Well the Mets did something that yesterday that they didn’t do until the last game of last season. They won their Seventith game. In the scheme of things it is not a big deal. The Mets are fighting their way out of fourth place while trying to end the season either at or above .500. As it currently stands the Mets are 70-72 with twenty games remaining to the season, so it is possible for this team to go 11-9 to finish up the season. But no matter how you slice it , Jerry Manuel will be on the unemployment line come October fourth – And he knows it !
It is obvious that Jerry has resigned himself to the fact that he will be done as Mets manager very shortly. His demeanor during pregame and post-game interviews are very laid back and solemn , where as he once was animated and vibrant. When you look at the line ups that he has assembled in the last few weeks it looks as if he has made lineups by throwing darts at a bord with players names on it.
It is funny but Jerry since the All Star Break looks as if he has aged at least thirty years. His goatee has turned all white , his hairline receded a bit and he looks tired. The blame for this season shouldn’t totally fall on Jerry’s shoulders, there is alot of blame to go around – from ownership to the front office . From the coaching staff to the players themselves. They all are to blame for this let down of a season. But Jerry is the skipper of this rusted out schooner and he will go down with this ship as all dedicated skippers do. I think it has been obvious to all that Jerry had lost the hearts and minds of this clubhouse for a while now, but I think that yesterdays incident between him and Mike Pelfrey pretty much hammered home that point. Maybe I am looking to deep into this but when your pitcher won’t even acknowledge you while you are making a pitching change. Well then you know it’s time to go.
And after today there will be only 19 games until Jerry Manuel will become the ex manager of the New York Mets.
" Jerry on October Fourth"
And with that said… HERE COMES THE INFAMY !!!!
Celebrating birthdays are:
One of the most reviled players to even don a Mets uniform , Mickey Lolich (1940) . Mickey was brought over in a trade that sent Rusty Staub to the Detroit Tigers. It was bad enough that he was traded for a beloved player, but when he didn’t even live up to his once dominant numbers, Met fans were obviously upset. He retired after the season ended so he didn’t have to play for the Mets , but he would make a comeback with the San Diego Padres two years later.
Reserve infielder for the ’80 team,Mario Ramirez is 53(1957) .
Back up outfielder from the ’90 team, Keith Hughes is 47 (1963) .
Reserve infielder from the ’93 team,Tito Navarro is 40 (1970) .
And our soon to be former second baseman ( hopefully), “Senor Slappy” himself – Luis Castillo is 35 ( going on 50) (1975) .
It is official !!! Mo Vaughn has thrown his hat in the ring for the managing job – The managing job for the Shake Shack !!
24 comments
stickguy
9/12/2010-9:06am at 9:06 am (UTC -4)
Jerry seems like a nice guy. Just not a particularly good maanger. Certainly not in the NL.
But, as someone famous once said, managers are hired to be fired (or something along those lines).
Jerry made 1.5mill combined last year and this year. So I am not going to feel too much pity for him, since I highly doubt that (if he had been bounced with Wille, like he should have been) any other team was likely to give him a managers job. And no chance he gets one now.
Did Omar give him the team of the ages? No. But he still managed to (and this is totally subjective of course) pull defeat from the jaws of victory a number of times. So the expression “getting the least out of th emost” seems appropriate.
And while many other changes, starting at the top, need to be made, manager and coaches needs to be done too. And that would be true even if St. Torre was managing this club!
So, even if Jerry is a fall guy, he still needs to fall.
kingman 26
9/12/2010-11:07am at 11:07 am (UTC -4)
Nice piece Rusty-I caught Pelf’s disrespect and to me that is totally on ownership. They have watched this team become a sloppy laughingstock and done nothing.
I like Pelf a lot but that was crazy-either he should be disciplined or Jerry should be gone today.
Not to mention the shoddy fielding, terrible baserunning, and cheeseball Jose doing a little of his horse**** after the HR–the Phils should be laughing at us.
stickguy
9/12/2010-11:23am at 11:23 am (UTC -4)
Get off jose. He is about as animated as Jerry compared to Vicky or Swisher over in the Bronx (you know, that team that prides itself on being ultra professional).
And the whole jerry thing is nonsense. Everyone out on the mound was looking out toward the outfield (bullpen). Including jerry. He just happened to be standing in the back!
why exaclt is Pelf supposed to look the other directin, just because Jerry is standing behind him?
and hell, if he is showing some balls and trying to make a statement (like, why is this boob stilll running my team into the ground), then more power to him! isn’t this what people are screaming for, guys with a burning desire to stamp out mediocrity, and do what is needed to win?
Either that, or Pelf just did not notice him down there. Jerry was on the grass, and pelf on the top of the mound, so jerry was about 1.5′ below eye level!
kingman 26
9/12/2010-2:27pm at 2:27 pm (UTC -4)
Stick, I am not sure if you are serious—Pelf kept his back to Jerry, waited for Parnell, and gave Parnell the ball then left.
Overt disrespect like that?
Only these Mets—these sorry, laughingstock, joke, it-gets-worse-every-day Mets.
They played a garbage game and barely won.
Jose is definitely precisely what his detractors have said—-all smiles and dances blasting a HR after the season is over.
metsfan4decades
9/12/2010-11:51am at 11:51 am (UTC -4)
Rusty, my friend, you’re entitled to your opinion – i.e. when it comes to Reyes but I’m not sure where all the hate comes from when it relation to the very animated Jose Reyes.
I have to agree with Stick on this, the Phillies have done no less and many times, much more. Then again, so have many other players on many other teams. Jose wears his emotions on his sleeve. I’ve noticed he’s toned down some of that animation of his in the past few years (due in large part, I’m sure, to the fact that there hasn’t been much to celebrate). I just don’t see anything wrong with what Jose did yesterday. In fact at one point in the Dugout after he hit that HR, I even commented: ‘Take THAT, Philly. Now do a little dance, Jose’, in response to the fact that I didn’t see him do much of anything after that HR other than high five his teammates in the dugout.
Jose has become the poster boy for NY Met hate across Philly fans – which is fine by me. I can pull up video though of Vicky and Rollins doing the ‘number one’ victory trot around the bases, stepping on home plate and staring into the Met dugout and any one of a number of ‘in your face’ type reactions. I just don’t think it’s limited to only Jose over these past few years.
metsfan4decades
9/12/2010-11:54am at 11:54 am (UTC -4)
Well dang…obvious this comment was directed at long standing Met fan Kingman and not our very own Rusty. My apologies, sir….
rustyjr
9/12/2010-12:34pm at 12:34 pm (UTC -4)
Yeah you just had me scratching my head lol
kingman 26
9/12/2010-2:30pm at 2:30 pm (UTC -4)
Well MF4D, the Phils are headed for their 4th straight postseason. We have one postseason appearance in 10 years.
The Phils–and most of the rest of the league I am sure–think Jose is the lead clown in the Met circus. And I think they are right.
He cannot pay attention every game and he dances while the Phils are heading to October and we suck really hard.
Just plain weak. As I have said an infinite number of times, when we are in 1st and the Phils are in 4th in mid-September, I will be standing and cheering at my TV when Jose dances, But that ain’t happening anytime soon. Jose dancing yesterday is a perfect symbol of this sorry team.
metsfan4decades
9/12/2010-3:13pm at 3:13 pm (UTC -4)
I hate that argument…you can do it if you’re a ‘winning’ team.
No disrespect but I just don’t understand the mindset on that.
Reyes helped the Mets get a win yesterday. Why shouldn’t he be happy about that? Should they hang their heads even when they manage a win? Should they just lay down and die, let the opposition walk over them game after game since they’re not going to post season?
Yes, the season is over, been over for a long time. But I’m still watching these games and I still want to see an all out effort, want to see what the youngun’s have got for the future, want to see some life and not a bunch of players – some getting paid big bucks – feeling sorry for themselves.
kingman 26
9/12/2010-3:32pm at 3:32 pm (UTC -4)
I don’t want them to hang their heads or to lay down and die—I guess I would like to see Jose play like a professional grown-up who never pouts and always pays attention.
Don’t hang your head, but don’t dance at a team that is beating your ass severely for the 4th straight year.
metsfan4decades
9/12/2010-12:00pm at 12:00 pm (UTC -4)
O.K. hats off to Francoeur in being the game winning ‘bean’ against the Yankees last night. He didn’t help our cause much when he was here so I’m happy to see he’s helping anyone’s cause over in the AL who can beat the Yankees.
Yesterday with the bases loaded, Mariano Rivera beaned Frenchy and the Rangers won the game 7-6.
Go Jeff! (wow..he picked an opportune time to not swing, something he’s certainly not noted for.)
stickguy
9/12/2010-12:21pm at 12:21 pm (UTC -4)
saw he got the HBP, but did not know it was a beaning. Hope he is OK. I would not wish that on any player. He also got a big sc fly earlier in the game too.
the yankee/TB “race” holds little interest. Only thing at stake is home field, since they are both in the playoffs already (most likely).
if anything, the yankees getting the WC might help them. Depending on which team has the best chance of beating them.
right now, if the season ended the AL east div winner gets texas, and the WC gets minni.
which team do you think has the best chance to knock off the stankees? Is this finally the year the Twins can do it?
metsfan4decades
9/12/2010-12:41pm at 12:41 pm (UTC -4)
I didn’t see it but I don’t think he got hurt. Reason is I read a few comments over on Pinstripe Alley after the game and a couple were throwing the venom around about Frenchy taking his 100 megawatt grin off the field after the beaning. How dare he disrespect Mo!
stickguy
9/12/2010-12:47pm at 12:47 pm (UTC -4)
I hate yankee fan arrogance too. I just have next to no contact with them, so it doesn’t matter to me!
If I lived in westchester, it might be different though.
hazmet
9/12/2010-12:51pm at 12:51 pm (UTC -4)
Alternate Sunday Question of the Day I was thinking of was:
With the Yankee’s starting rotation costing $64M this year and only 1 pitcher, CC Sabthia, being a sure lock for expected performance in the postseason who exactly is the worse run franchise Yanks or Mets?
I know the answer, everyone will say yanks with last years title and this year cruising till now but really that is an incredible waste of resources that rivals Slappy & Ollie.
metsfan4decades
9/12/2010-12:46pm at 12:46 pm (UTC -4)
I really don’t know. The Twins haven’t fared very well in post season lately. I’m not sure what their record is against the Yankees this year.
The Rangers seem to be one of those teams where everything is going their way right now. But they’ve got the least amount of wins as a division leader right now too. Doesn’t matter who wins the championship over there as long as it’s not the Yankees.
Yankees are playing some bad baseball lately – in a bit of a skid, from what I’m seeing. They’ve got some pitching problems, I think age is catching up to Mo and as a whole their ‘stars’ are getting old – i.e., Mo, ARod, Jeter, Posada….It will be interesting to see who they go out and try to ‘buy’ to keep them on top in the years going forward.
stickguy
9/12/2010-12:50pm at 12:50 pm (UTC -4)
a rod is in and out, jeter just had to get a day off for slumping, and I think Posada is hurt again. And they only have 1 SP that has been close to reliable.
so of course, they will crise to the WS again!
but yeah, they are the kind of team that could easily flame out quick in the playoffs again if they run up against some good quality pitching.
Mr North Jersey
9/12/2010-2:36pm at 2:36 pm (UTC -4)
Hr by Ibanez 3 – 0 Phils
Mr North Jersey
9/12/2010-2:45pm at 2:45 pm (UTC -4)
Not having seen Reyes so called dance I can’t say if it was or wasn’t over the top.
We have been back n forth with Reyes and his dancing these past few years and frankly it is like chocolate and vanilla ice cream. Some like one flavor more than the other and some like Rocky Road. Whoop de do.
kingman 26
9/12/2010-3:33pm at 3:33 pm (UTC -4)
Agreed.
Now how bout them Dolphins?!?!
metsfan4decades
9/12/2010-4:12pm at 4:12 pm (UTC -4)
On a completely different note….
As I was working this afternoon, I left the SNY feed on after the game, after the post game.
SNY is airing the 1984 yearbook again.
First…every time I hear Bob Murphy’s voice it brings back so many memories listening to all those games on the radio in my youth.
Second….those were the days…Mets were putting together a team that would finally contend after a decade of some of the most horrible NY Met baseball I ever watched.
Those were the days…here’s hoping 2011 is the start of just such an era.
kingman 26
9/12/2010-4:24pm at 4:24 pm (UTC -4)
Sure am with you on every last word of that.
1984 was a truly special year.
metsfan4decades
9/12/2010-4:34pm at 4:34 pm (UTC -4)
’84, ’85, ’86…those sure were the days, weren’t they?
May I live long enough for this current franchise to get their act together and put a product on the field that rivals those years…..
kingman 26
9/12/2010-5:46pm at 5:46 pm (UTC -4)
Amen to that sister!