![[DNEBA Enterprises logo]](images/delogo-button.gif "DNEBA Enterprises logo"){kind=small}
Willie-Ball Marches On With Latest Loss
BMF was SHOCKED and dismayed to learn the Wilpons chose to allow Randolph to continue as Met manager for the time being.
I guess Minaya convinced them there would suddenly be a different result from Willie’s troops but of course it was the same old Willie-ball Mets featuring uninspired play, sloppy D, unproductive O, and a general feeling of malaise permeating the clubhouse and the stadium.
To be fair there was one markedly different result – for the first time ever the Shea Faithful, or what was left of them in the late innings, began a “Fire Willie!” chant. Perhaps this is good news for Randolph who now can finally be mentioned in the same sentence as Isiah Thomas who’s heard plenty of “Fire Isiah” chants at the Garden.
I can’t wrap my brain around how Omar can be allowed to keep Randolph in the fold. Is it possible the Wilpons are too nice and trusting for their own good? I doubt there is anyone in NY outside of the Met front office who truly believes Willie can turn this mess around.
It’s not a difficult puzzle to decipher really. Omar wants to keep Willie around as long as possible because as we all know once Randolph is gone the finger will point squarely at Minaya. I realize a GM’s instinct for self-preservation might induce him to insulate themselves with an expendable manager to be jettisoned when things are really hitting the fan. But guess what? The fan is gettin’ the shit hit out of it right now and BMF would much rather see Omar take an aggressive approach and try to save this season.
BMF is an Omar fan but he’s rapidly losing points with me in thanks to the “cover his ass” strategy he seems to be employing. Minaya is far too much of a baseball man to not understand that Randolph should’ve been fired last October. And if the GM is not keeping the skipper around for “C.Y.A.” reasons why exactly is Willie still here?
He’s not good with the x’s and o’s, he’s never been friendly to the media, last week he cracked and went off the deep end, and it’s been more than a year of sub .500 uninspired baseball.
It sure seems to me Omar would be better served to fire Willie and give the Mets a much-needed slap in the face. The way things stand now there have been ZERO repercussions for all the shameful baseball the Mets have played since last June so why would anyone expect them to suddenly shape up?
***
BMF can’t make a big deal out of the alleged lack of endorsements from Delgado and Beltran after the big Willie pow-wow. Quite frankly, I think everyone’s reading too much into their sound bites. I wouldn’t be surprised if they too thought Willie should be canned but these Met player have been trained to simply take the safest route possible and endorsing your floundering manager is not the safest route.
***
BMF can’t kill Beltran for that bases loaded 2 out gamble when he came in on a short fly ball. LosB missed it and 3 runs scored but had he played it safe 2 runs would still have scored so to me the risk was justified.
***
BlondiesJake is in from Cali and he along with BMF will be hosting a very informal “Willie Watch” Party at Blondies during Tuesday’s Johan Santana start. Come one come all!
![[Buy the Go Big Pelf T-shirt]](images/BigPelf/BigPelf Tile.jpg "Buy the Go Big Pelf T-shirt")
Mojo Kitty rocks the batting helmet for luck!
May 27th, 2008 at 6:53 am
I don’t think I’m going to make Blondies Jake-a-palooza tonight so have fun everyone! I was at the game last night with LoDigs and we missed the Reyes error as we were walking into the park but gee whiz, mother magillicuddy! What is going on with this team? I have to say, I felt pretty bad for Willie yesterday. You all know that I am not a Willie fan but I will say this - the same uninspired play is troubling. Apathetic, that’s a better word.
May 27th, 2008 at 8:06 am
I cannot believe Willie is still here. I was so sure that we would be celebrating “turning the corner” this morning…..
May 27th, 2008 at 8:24 am
STOP GOING TO GAMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!Maybe the Wilpons will get the message when they see an empty Shea!
May 27th, 2008 at 8:45 am
By this time next week, we’ll be out of it and I’ll have the summer to myself. No need to stay home to watch ball games.
On keeping Willie, if it pisses Phil-Lips off then I’m all for it.
May 27th, 2008 at 9:05 am
It makes no sense to stay home, cause other people are gonna go then, is clear THe Wilpons dont care about fans, otherwise they wouldn’t have raised the prices on everything ( tickets,merchandise,food ,beverages )and they would have fired willie yesterday if they wanted to please the fans, so anyway, it’s been 3 weeks since my last Shea trip, and unless they change the way of playing the game, it’s gonna keep on counting…
Fire Willie, Sit Delgado, Play Evans at 1st, play Tatis in LF,promote Carp or Murphy, trade or release Heilman, any combination of this will give this team a change… This guys are way too confident of their job, that they dont care if they suck or not… Just shake the floor around, let them know they can get fired, and you’ll see the change… Where is Omar ???
May 27th, 2008 at 9:22 am
I CAN believe Willie is still here, Minaya brought him back this season to be the scapegoat…and thats exactly what we got yesterday.
Minaya is Isiah Thomas without the sexual harrassment.
I think today was the lowest day I have experienced as a 30 year Mets fan.
More at my blog.
May 27th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Amen, Alexjersey! This team is just too complacent, sitting around and waiting for something to happen while they collect their paychecks. Start fining them for these mental “oopsies”. That play from Reyes last night was just too much. He just didn’t bother to bend over enough to reach that grounder as it went under his glove! Where is AHern when you need him! I’d rather put up with his bat than watch another bumble while Jose decides if he wants to try to catch the next grounder. Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be? If you can’t perform, take a seat and let the next man try!
May 27th, 2008 at 9:58 am
great line that I read : Willie didn’t cause these problems but he is the last person to fix it ..
This team is like Reyes .. hits homers then butchers an easy one ..
I’ll go to Blondies tonight but only if BMF is behind the bar .. BJake is the Willie Randolph of bartenders ..
May 27th, 2008 at 11:14 am
All of this clamor for Willie to be fired is really over the top. Who is going to replace him? I have not heard any talk along those lines, and PULEEZE do not say Wally Backman. Let’s be serious here. What happens if Willie is fired and the team still does not respond? There is no manegerial savior out there for this team. I think that taking the fire Willie route is the same as saying that the Mets are packing it in for this season. It may come to that, but we are far from it right now. As much as I HATE the Stankees, this same thing happens to them year after year and they seem to have patience and ride the storm out and lo and behold, there they are at the finish line. The best bet is to let this season play itself out, get a better idea of what this team can and cannot do WHEN HEALTHY, and make a determination for both Willie AND Omar at the end of the season.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:18 am
endy in center field; beltran sits, preferably in the clubhouse where we don’t have to look at him. let’s try the new kid, evans, at first. delgado sits, preferably in kansas or someplace else scenic, from which he cannot navigate back to new york city. jose gets sent to a child psychiatrist for ten sessions or so. new third base coach. re willie—give me a break. fire the man. ditto omar, who by keeping willie is only trying to save his own a**.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:39 am
The small “Nick Evans for MVP” chant was kind of worth it though.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:39 am
This mess is so bad that both Omar and Willie have to go. The uninspired play is directly attributable to Willie. The octogenarian nature of the roster (specifically Delgado, Castillo, Pedro) is directly attributable to Omar. Therefore I say that there are two options here:
1) Keep them both until the end of the year and can them both at the same time. Canning only Willie now accomplishes nothing. I don’t see any great managerial mind that can come in and turn this around. This organization needs a total overhaul. Keeping them make them have to endure all the BS associated with having created this mess (public flogging for four months);
2) Immediately (today) start interviewing new GM’s. Let this guy pick his manager and fire both Omar and Willie at the same time before the end of the season. Allow the GM/manager to release anyone they want regardless of the price tag to the organization. This was the rebuilding process starts sooner and maybe the release of guys like Delgado and Castillo makes other wake up.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I think the larger problem is this so-called authority Omar has. While it’s clear that giving his buddies like Moises and Julio Franco bigger contracts than ANYONE was willing to give them at the time, the trade for Johan had more to do with Wilpons than anything else. I don’t think that Omar wanted to, but the Wilpons like to buy low - giving away those prospects wouldn’t hurt the team. Plus they did have to buy some goodwill with the fans for raising ticket prices. Even Milledge’s trade had more to do with the Wilpons - Omar was willing to take the heat for it even if he was going to look like a genius for the short-term. But Millz wasn’t “family friendly” enough for the Wilpons image. I think they need to sell the Mets, since they would be getting a hefty return on their initial i nvestment from 1980. Sell the team, and let everyone do their own job instead of meddling in the state of affairs.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
There is some serious trouble in the scouting department over at Mets Fantasy World—years of totally overvaluing both prospects and octogenarian has-beens.
Too much pressure on the farm kids to live up to the hype (Milledge, Pelfrey, Reyes, Wright, etc). And a complete lack of realism about the usefulness of the VA hospital squad, otherwise known as the should-already-be-retired-veterans-of-early-90’s-MLB-teams.
The Mets make the same mistakes over and over, so either their scouts stink or no one is listening to reason.
I can’t wait until F-Mart comes up and is a huge disappointment, maybe then someone will start evaluating the talent realistically.
May 27th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
I hate all the “you knows” from Omar during any press conference-OMAR-WE DON’T KNOW-its your f@#King job to figure it out!
May 27th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
What’s the deal with all that eye makeup on the wine sipper?!? I’m just saying.
You can’t do something for sake of doing something and expect something else to happen. As Einstein said, ‘You can’t solve a problem with the same thinking that caused the problem in the first place.”
Ya gotta believe, baby!! Ya Gotta Believe!!
May 27th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
MJ, where have you been and what team have you been watching for the past year? Has BIC Willie not had enough time to show what he’s capable of? Is there a reason you see that he should continue? Do you honestly believe this squad will turn around under his guidance? If so, look back at last year’s final 17 games and get a refresher course.
And what’s your problem with Backman? He gets the most out of his players and has won everywhere he’s managed, isn’t that what the team is looking for? Besides him we’ve discussed Carter, Oberkfell, Mazzilli and others.
MtMF, you can show up tonight, but you’re not getting served by anybody!
LET’S GO METS!
THE WILLIE WATCH IS ON AT BLONDIES!
I THOUGHT FOR SURE I’D BE INTRODUCED AS THE NEW SKIPPER THIS WEEK!
May 27th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Why would you want F-Mart to fail??? Sounds pretty ridiculous to me…
I’d rather see him succeed and prove to the Mets that times are changing…the days of winning with older vets is gone…youth and athleticism is the way to go.
Our problem with the Farm isn’t how the Mets evaluate talent…it’s the silly way they stick to MLBs slotting and pricing system. Don’t play the good solder for once and get the best talent you can buy.
I’m starting to lose faith that firing Willie will make any difference. Hopefully Church is back soon. So that will free up Evans to play some games at first. Seeing that dumping Delgado probably isn’t going to happen, sitting him vs LH pitching and on regular scheduled is probably the next best thing.
I’ve come to the point now that I expect these guys to fail, and know once they fall behind that the game is over…
May 27th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
BJake handles a bar like Delgado handles a first baseman’s mitt …
the thing that is depressing is interim managers almost never work (for every Jack McKeon.. ) I read an article in todays NJ Ledger that shows almost all interims actually do worse ..
May 27th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
I know USMF, what’s going on with the BMFers. I’m gonna boo Willie! I’m wishing the mets go on a long losing streaK! I hope the mets lose so they can fire willie! I hope FMArt fails! What the hell is wrong with you people! I heart you all but maybe we need to take a break. Try as I might, I am not going to watch the game tonight. *I* need a break from all this - I can’t sleep, i eat junk food - the Mets obsession has to die down somewhat.
May 27th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
. . ~ ~
.//o\/o\
| \_/\_/^^^/'’\
|,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,|0~~~~~
|,,,,,,,,,____\,,/
|,,,,,,,,|
May 27th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
1-16 when trailing after 6 innings ?
May 27th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
what is that, an alligator? I can’t tell.
I’d love to get back to talking about the games but it turns out I’m not sitting through them like I used to. I’m going to make an effort to watch tonight though. If not, then the Dodgers/Cubs game.
May 27th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
And there you have it, courtesy MtMF. That’s why I’m not on the edge of my seat if we’re losing in the 6th.
May 27th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Wynd–
I think its a blow up doll.
May 27th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
its definitely not a hot pocket
May 27th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Ohmigod, people, lighten up—I know its a dark time for Met fans but let’s not completely lose our sense of humor, or sarcasm. Of course I don’t WANT FMart to fail, I wish he weren’t on the DL so he could play today for the Mets. But after the craziness about Milledge, Pelfrey, etc etc I’m not exactly holding my breath that he’s going to be our savior. The buzz around these players never seems to match their production. Maybe in time that will change but so far David Wright is the only guy who comes close (and I LOVE Jose Reyes).
May 27th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
well, the one thing Phanatic knows about- it’s blow up dolls
May 27th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Only the Phinest.
May 27th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
and they go phhhhhht
May 27th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
birdo?
May 27th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
I’m a bigger fan of the hottie drinking wine that I am of the Mets!
maybe she should manage