Just joking with the mushroom cloud. No major blowups down here.The Mets did have their much-anticipated team meeting this afternoon, but were predictably tight-lipped about it. Manager Willie Randolph briefly chatted with the players before speaking with reporters on the dugout bench and then treated the whole episode like no big deal.
"This is not Armageddon to us," Randolph said.
In the clubhouse, it was business as usual. Plenty of card-playing, TV watching and hamburger-munching. No sense of impending doom or anything like that. Quite tame really.
Here's one piece of big news. Orlando Hernandez will have to wear a protective boot on his bunion foot for another seven to 10 days, which puts the remainder of his season in serious jeopardy, as well as the playoffs.So much for a surplus of starters. As for whether he feels he can come back or not, a dejected El Duque said, "I have to wait."
Comments (7)
David, can you pitch?
Is Humber hurt?
What is the love affair with Mota and Schoenweis?
WWGD - What Would George Do!!!
This is a death spiral. If we can't climb out of it, we'll just hand the Phillies the division. It's sickening...
As the game is simply too painful to discuss, if the Mets miss the playoffs will Willie be fired? Take the wildcard and lose in the first round? Reality is nasty, hypotheticals not as much. I think he's out if they manage to tumble out of the postseason. Game decisions have always been weak, bullpen usage awful, now he appears unable to work the clubhouse. Is there anything left beyond media skills? Granted we would not be in this position if Omar did not screw up the offseason monsterously. Not sure if that helps or hurts Willie's cause.
Seriously, I blame the bullpen woes on Omar. His decisions to bring in Schoenweiss and Mota? Are you serious? Ridiculous. He ignored the bullpen issues at the trade deadline, and they never give Humber a chance. With everyone else blowing it, how could he do worse?
If they don't make the playoffs I too would say goodbye to Willie "Morris Day" Randolph.
You all beat me to the punch...I was going to post the same question. I feel badly about it because I think Willie is a great guy, but you know what they say about nice guys. I also wonder if the fact that Girardi is available and LaRussa might be a free agent after this season make the Wilpons consider making a change in the dugout? They never seemed too close to Willie, making him wait months for a contract after the last off season. Add that to the fact that this is the third straight year with a September collapse (they lost 11 straight to fall out of contention in '05, and the '06 swoon was irrelevant because they had already locked up the division).
I bet the folks down in Philly see this as sweet revenge for the Wheeze Kids meltdown in '64!
One more thing about Willie: his coaching style reminds me a lot about another former NY head coach, Joe Walton of the Jets. He was a very bright and likeable man, but had the bad habit of getting caught up in his team's emotions, acting as more of a cheerleader than a leader. Same goes for Willie. Whenever the Mets are doing well, he is standing there smiling from ear to ear. But whenever adversity strikes, he starts pouting. The great coaches and managers don't act that way. Look at Bobby Cox whenever the Braves are doing well: he will still have a grimace on his face like "So what? You haven't won the game yet!" And when he feels his players are getting the short end of the stick from the umps, he will argue and if need be get himself ejected. And when the team is down, he doesn't get down, he starts working to get his team back into the game. Willie doesn't do that.
The Mets have sucked for far too long for me to hate Willie. He has been the coach to make this team relevant.
And, as far as praising Bobby Cox goes, how many World Series titles does he have? One more than Willie last time I checked...