The Times Herald-Record highlights the good and bad moves of former New York Mets manager Willie Randolph.
The Good:
– Overall record: His 302-253 record and .544 winning percentage as Mets manager is the second best in team history to Davey Johnson (595-417, .588)
– Allowed players to be players: He didn’t pressure them. He allowed them to go out there and do what they do best. Randolph, for the most part, stuck up for his players and was as respectful and professional as a manager could be.
The Bad:
– Dealing with Reyes: On July 6, 2007, the Mets were in the second game of a four-game set in Houston with the All-Star break following. Shortstop Jose Reyes, in his fourth at-bat, hit a slow rolling grounder along the third-base line. Reyes stood at home, thinking the ball was going to go foul, but the dribbler stayed fair and the third baseman threw out Reyes at first. Reyes was still in the batter’s box. Randolph, in an attempt to show who was boss, immediately took his shortstop out of the game and embarrassed his young star.
Handling it in a quieter way might have been a more effective approach with a tender young player.
– The Collapse: The Mets suffered the worst regular-season collapse in major league history under Randolph, surrendering a seven-game lead in the National League East with 17 games to play, failing to reach the postseason for the second straight year with a loss on the final day of the ’07 season.
There appears to be an outcry for the way the Mets’ front office handled the firing of Randolph (i.e. firing him at 3:00 a.m. after a win). While there is no great time to fire someone, it does appear that the club was rather gutless in firing him at 3:00 a.m. and then sending an e-mail to notify the media. The situation deserved a press conference at least.
