Opinion: Willie The Scapegoat
It’s been interesting watching this team over the first month and seeing the fans reaction to this team’s mediocre play. No matter the outcome of the game you’ll see or hear comments looking for Willie Randolph to be fired. But, at what point do we stop blaming the manager for this team’s poor execution and start blaming the players?
I find it funny when I hear or read things such as, “The players are tuning Willie out” or they have “stopped playing for Willie.” So what if they have? Don’t these players have enough pride in themselves to go out and play to the best of their abilities no matter who is managing? If not, then they are the ones to blame, not the manager.
There is been too much criticism about Willie’s demeanor, the way he constructs his lineups and his use of players like Carlos Delgado. Much of that has nothing to do with team’s performance on the field.
Is Willie to blame when the team is batting .167 with runners in scoring position? Is he to blame when Aaron Heilman throws a poorly located change-up or if Delgado goes 0-for-4 with three strikeouts? Of course not, but I get the sense fans of this team are making Randolph the scapegoat for everything this team has done wrong in the past 10 months.
I’m not saying Willie should never take heat for this team’s poor play or continue to be this team’s manager after a certain point if they continue to play in a sub-par manner. And, I’m certainly not being an apologist. I just think we start blaming the manager for everything little thing and neglect to blame player performance.
