MLB - Randolph Shown the Door
After weeks of speculation that his job was in jeopardy, Willie Randolph, Manager of the New York Mets, finally got fired while most Met fans were fast asleep dreaming about him getting fired.
This was a long time coming for Randolph as he, and everyone else, knew that his time was coming after 2 1/2 months into the season he had the Mets at a 34-35 record. This is also following the epic collapse the Mets had last year where they blew a 7 game lead to wind up missing the playoffs entirely.
At the start of this season they were an early favorite to win the pennant but the team with the $138 million payroll just never clicked and could not return to the form that brought them to within one game of the World Series just two years earlier.
Even with the offseason acquisition of Johan Santana the Mets couldnt win. Injuries to key players such as Ryan Church and Pedro Martinez didnt help either. Couple that with the poor play of Billy Wagner and Caros Delgado and its easy to see why the Mets couldnt win.
The 53-year old Randolph just couldnt get his team motivated and always seemed to make the wrong move at every opportunity this year. Even when things were looking up for the Mets Randolph found a way to ruin it.
Coming off a massive two-game sweep of the Yankees in the Subway series in May, the first black manager in New York baseball history created a stir by suggesting in a newspaper interview that he was portrayed on Mets broadcasts differently than a white manager might be.Randolph brought up the race issue as he detailed the way he’s been shown by SNY, the team’s TV network.
“Is it racial?” Randolph was quoted. “Huh? It smells a little bit. … I don’t know how to put my finger on it, but I think there’s something there.”
A couple of days later, Randolph apologized to Mets ownership, SNY and his players “for the unnecessary distraction” he’d created.
The question that then needs to be asked is did Randolph deserve it?
Yes. When you are the manager of a team whos batting order could realistically be the majority of the All-Star team and yet you are under .500 there is a serious problem. Granted they are in of the more difficult divisions in baseball where 19 time a year they have to play the Phillies, Marlins, and Braves (I excluded the Nationals because they are awful) but the Mets still have a team that should compete.
Players like Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado have been struggling for the majority of the season but you can’t fire the players. The manager then becomes accountable and needs to step up and make something happen. Its not as if Randolph was out there losing games on his own but sadly in the world of sports the coach is blamed when the team loses and the players get credit when the team does well. It is an occupational hazard and Randolph knew it.
Randolph got the axe and deserved it. His inability to get his players to play to their utmost potential cost him his job. He will more than likely find work sooner rather than later however as Seattle Mariners bench boss John McLaren looks poised to join Randolph in the unemployment line.
