There are plenty of baseball fans shaking their heads at the Mets firing of Willie Randolph today. Fans from other cities wonder why Willie is to blame for the Mets collapse. The players are the one’s who win or lose, aren’t they? Well of course they are. Managers, however are in place for a reason. There are reasons why managers like Joe Torre, Bobby Cox, Tony LaRussa and Jim Leyland consistently win. They have the respect of their players and know how to properly motivate them. They make the right moves when they go to the bullpen or the bench for a pinch hitter. Willie consistently failed in all of these respects. Though the team went 302-253 during Randolph’s tenure was despite him, not because of him.
The Mets treatment of Randolph over the past 3 weeks has been horrid. The man should have been fired over Memorial Day Weekend rather than twisting in the wind like he has. In the long run, though, the Mets have done Randolph a favor. The scrutiny of his treatment by the organization has overshadowed the scrutiny of Randolph’s ability as a manager. The media has created him to be a sympathetic figure. Randolph has helped himself by being candid and taking the ill treatment in good humor. I believe this 3 weeks period will help Randolph get another managerial job. When teams look back at his tenure in New York they will look at his record, his division title and his .544 winning percentage. The constant puzzling bullpen decisions, the battle with fans, including an allegation of racism and the utter failure to lead his team through a spot of adversity for an entire year will be forgotten. Remember, when the Mets hired Randolph, it was his 11th interview for a managerial job. But he will get another one, because of the last three weeks.
