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In the fourth inning of last night’s game, Carlos Delgado hit a home run off the bottom of the foul poll in the left-field corner of Yankee Stadium, which was reversed by the home plate umpire following a pow-wow at mid field.
It was clearly a home run.
The third base ump, who was closest to the play, actually called it correctly at first, yet the home plate ump, who was furthest from the play, called it foul.
In a post to his blog for the New York Post, Bart Hubbach wonders, “How in the world does Randolph not get himself ejected in this situation,” yet Jerry Manuel, his bench coach, did.
Randolph, speaking to reporters last night, 
when asked if getting ejected would make fans happy, said:
“Nah, I don’t believe in doing something silly like that just to appease the fans. If you’ve got a reason to protect your players and do that you go do it. What’s that gonna do? Getting thrown out of the game? They’ll be happy about that? Then what happens? I’m the leader of this club and I don’t believe about moaning about calls. It was obvious he blew the call, so what are you gonna do. You keep your composure and play the game…
“That’s what bench coaches do…The guy came over and told me to shut up. So, Jerry took exception to that, and I did too. He was looking to run some one. He was looking in the dugout. I mean, if you blow a call like that, stay in the game. He was looking to run some one and Jerry took the bait.”
…i get the criticism, but i’m with willie on this, in that this is not the spot to get thrown out…it accomplishes nothing, especially, if like most people on the left-side of the building, you didn’t get a good look at the play…personally, if a manager is going to get tossed, it should be if a) the ump is repeatedly making the same bad call over and over, or b) you need to defend your player, who is visibly upset about the blown call…in this case, none of the above apply…the fans should be the least of willie’s worry right now…
Following the game, the home plate umpire repeatedly admitted to having ‘F’d up’ the call, as he put it, after having a chance to watch it on replay.
Ryan Church, on the call, talking to reporters, said:
“It hit the black part of the pole…It was a home run…Eh, we still put up 11 (smile).”
…excellent response…that’s the right attitude…
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If he ‘f-ed’ up the call and knew he might have f-ed it up, then why was he looking to toss someone? I don’t get these umps sometimes.
he probably saw the replay AFTER the game was over…
it does say he was admitting to f’ing up AFTER the game
Mike Reilly and Bob Davidson, deserve to be fired.
First, mike for allowing an umpire further than him rule on the play. Second, his hand went up right away. How do you go from be sure it was a homerun to being overruled.
Davidson, for thinking his fat arse saw it go foul. If your not sure, why rule after a call was made? The crew last night was the biggest bunch of meatballs I have ever seen.
That other dumb wanna be though guy up at first base called it foul. yet the dope couldn’t even talk with all of that crap in his mouth.
Come on shouldn’t these bafoons have to pay for delagdo losing stats?
Reilly’s body language indicated he thought he may have been wrong. You can’t fire every umpire after every missed call.
But what if you could? Wouldn’t that make the life of an umpire interesting?
Haha, eventually–after running out of umps–you’d have no choice but to grab random people off the street before games to ump the game. Or better yet, a lottery, where 4 lucky fans (ages 10 and older) get to be the umps for the games.
Matt, I am “shocked” to hear that you are with Willie on this. You always seem to be with Willie, don’t you have your own views? If we had lost that game by 1 or 2 runs would you still be with Willie? We went on to pound them, so, it didnt really matter much. The case is Willie did NOT stand up for his players, himself or the fans. That was his chance to show some of the emotion that he cliams he has and he did not do it. He allowed his bench coach to take the bullet instead. Is that the act of a good leader? How many times have we seem Willie stand up for a player or bad call and get rung up? Now, I am not a Willie basher, per say. I would like nothing more than to see Willie bring a WS to the METS, but. let’s all be honest here. Willie is the man in charge and he calls tha shots. As the Mets go Willie goes. Lets go into Atlanta and kick Glavine out of the game with a 7 run first and roll over the Braves. LETS GO METS !!!
oh please. willie should put on a show so the fans get off his back, is that it? who bother? you guys aren’t going to climb off his back anyway until the mets have a 15 game lead, and you will climb right back on unless the mets win the world series.
i know mets fans who still blame willie for the end of 2006, when that was one of the best seasons in mets history.
the team has the fourth best record in the NL, and all we hear is that the manager should be fired. mainly because he doesn’t show emotion.
it is so ridiculous on so many levels.
I think Willie should have argued longer and threw a fit here. If you know the call is blown, you need to argue it more. You never know, they could have reversed the call again and actually gotten it right. Let’s face it. None of the umps were sure the call was right even after reversing it. I not for Willie pulling a Bobby Cox every week, but that call warranted blowing a gasket.
dude, come on, they weren’t gonna reverse it back, its rare enough for it to be reversed once…they have too big of egos to call it back again…if you watch the replay, the home plate ump ran right in and said foul, so its not him that was confused, it was the 3rd base ump
Arguing it more wouldn’t have done any good
If there was ever a situation to argue more that was one. That was a totally blown call and the umps were never sure they had the call right. It could not have hurt for Willie to be more vociferous and demand for the umps to reconvene again especially when the guy in the LF stands is pointing to the spot where the ball with black paint on it hit!
Are you actually suggesting that the umpires should take fan’s reactions into consideration when making a call? You can’t be serious! yes, the call was missed, but it’s part of the game and happens sometimes. It was clear that the umps lost the ball when it went into the corner so they gave it their best guess. They’re not trying to blow the call on purpose. Having them reconvene again wouldn’t do anything but piss them off and get more calls to go against the Mets. It’s part of the game, deal with it…
It’s obvious that baseball is behind the other sports in terms of using instant replay. Hockey uses it on questionable scoring plays. Basketball uses it to get the clock right. Football uses it (in my opinion too much) on important plays as well. There is an obvious need to use instant replay to review plays. Granted, it would slow the game down a little, but if you use it on scoring plays only, it shouldn’t be that big of a time factor. As soon as the play happens, the official scorer should have the replay up and running and by the time the manager comes out to argue there’s already going to be a decision coming from the booth. The world evolves, there’s no reason why the game shouldn’t evolve with it…
Agreed, I’m a big proponent of instant replay. They might extend it to more than just scoring plays though, allowing each manager one challenge on non-scoring plays (he gets to keep the challenge if the call is overturned).
For those complaining the game would be too long, only allow the batter to step out once per AB (at the ump’s discretion, ie. he hits himself by a foul ball). And put a time limit on the pitcher’s delivery.
zer09:
You would have been crying like a girl on here this morning if that call cost us the game. There is a chance, albeit slight, that if Willie would have protested more strongly, the umps may have tried to get the call right. Davidson may have appeared to be adamant, but he could not have been that sure. As far as the umps getting ticked off and having more calls go agst the Mets, that’s just lame.
There is a time to argue a call and this case was it.
Willie argued that call as much as he could. Blowing his lid wouldn’t get him any farther than he already was. If that call costs us the game, not just me, but everyone would be up here crying about it – but it wouldn’t be directed towards Willie – it would be directed towards the umps. There was nothing else that could be done. If you watched the game, you would have known.
The home plate umpire Davidson was pretty adamant about the ball being foul when Reilly asked for help. I severely doubt they would have reversed the call with any amount of arguing.
Not a chance
The only time arguing a call does any good is if the manager pleads his case, and gets the umpires to get together and reverse the call. In this case, the umpires already got together and reversed the initial call. There’s no way it gets reversed again, and in no way does arguing and getting tossed help the outcome of the game. If Delgado had a better view and was very upset, then I would agree with Willie getting tossed for his players’ sake. That was not the case.
Willie should have gotten thrown out for sure. The problem was not that the umpires blew an obvious call…but that they had the call the right way first, and then (as everyone is saying how rare it is for them to reverse a call) actually exhibit that rare instance of overturning a call but in that rare event change it the WRONG way. Valentine would have been ejected arguing for sure!
I only have one request from Metsblog readers today. Can we just enjoy these two wins, and not get all riled up about ejections, home run celebrations, or anything else that in general Mike Francesa would bring up? Take a deep breath, smile and say “we just spanked the Yankees in their ballpark.” Let’s have 24 hours of happiness for once this season. As Mets fans, we certainly deserve it.
Here, Here.
I hate Willie as much as the next guy, but I agree whole heartedly.
We might be back here Tuesday night dealing with a doubleheader sweet from the Braves, so lets enjoy this while we can.
Fire Willie?
Not only that, but this is clearly another example of Delgado’s ineffectiveness. We needed that home run and regardless of the umpire circus he didn’t deliver. That pitiful RBI single 10-pitch at-bat … I’m sorry, but that was NOT worth 3 points. Fire Willy, cut Delgado loose, fire Matt, tear down Shae, call off the rest of the season, get me a better job with a salary I deserve, make my ex-wife admit that leaving me was a mistake, lower the price of gasoline, etc.
I dont get it. Why bring the ex into this. Shouldn’t you have said that (female celebrity of your choice) admits her mistake and declares her undying love for you? Or am I just nitpicking here?
Also, Helluva job by Delgado to regain his composure after getting a HR taken away and then exploiting the shift-less infireld to rip an RBI single.
Willie definitley showed some passion there, enough that the umpire had to tell him to shut up. Had Jerry not gotten involved, it would have been Willie who was thrown out. I see this more as Jerry taking the bullet for his boss than anything else. I’m sure the Willie haters will be all over this one though.
jcervone, you are right on…Jerry was just taking the tossing….its like when a player at home is pissed about a strike call, a few weeks ago when we faced the braves and jurrgens got annoyed at the home plate ump, cox came out..this was the same thing, but in the dugout
I love the Willie doesn’t show any fire arguments….he was clearly heated while he was arguing the call, but instead of crossing the line and getting himself thrown out, and then parading around like a child ala Lou Pinella, he argued his point but kept his composure while doing so.
Really, there’s no benefit from getting yourself ejected, the players aren’t suddenly going to go “Wow, look at him argue, maybe I should play better”…..they’re either going to play better anyways or they’re not. My point is if you want to be down on Randolph for his boneheaded decisions, fine. But his lack of getting ejected is just grasping at straws.
absolutely. and the fact that the mets stayed focused and went on to win helps to demonstrate that he handled it well. who knows what happens if he argues for another ten minutes and gets tossed . . . does delgado get a hit? does ollie thrive through the next few innings? or is the entire team distracted?
get used to it everyone – - this is how willie manages. he doesn’t argue to get tossed. period. oh, and he wins more than he loses. his team has the fourth best record in the league right now, and 40% of the starting rotation hasn’t thrown an inning yet.
Isn’t arguing a foul ball an automatic ejection? I thought I heard Ron and Keith say that last week.
I thought they said you can’t argue a balk.
They were talking about arguing a Balk, or should I say a non-Balk call. That’s under the same category as Balls and Strikes.
Arguing Fair or Foul, especially on Home Run calls is fine as far as I know.
Thanks for clearing that up.
If the Mets had lost both games this weekend, many columnists in NY would have been picking out the coffin for Willie today and blasting the team, even though they’d have roughly the same record as the Yankees. Klapisch especially would have a harsh obituary on Willie and the Mets already out by now, with utter nonsense in it such as “Beltran looks like he still wants to be a Yankee.”
But the Yankees are in a worst place at the moment than the Mets would have been had they been swept. So where is Klapisch’s obituary for Girardi and the Yankees???? I don’t want to hear that Posada and A-Rod are out. The Mets don’t have Pedro yet and Alou has been on the DL most of the season.
Can Klapisch show that he’s just not an agenda-driven journalist with a chip on his shoulder?
the yanks are toast and it’s barely a story. girardi has a great deal more rope than willie.
for better or worse, the mets are the team that matters in the this town.
When a $200+ million team is in last place and below .500, it is not barely a story. It is only barely a story if you choose to make it so. Just like the “stories” that Willie has lost his team. And why does Girardi have a great deal more rope than Willie?
Both teams matter in this town right now.
I think Girardi has been given more rope because, its his first season of the “rebuilding” … Willy is coming of a monumental collapse…
He has more rope because 1) Hankie Steinbrenner is looking at Cashman rather than Girardi, 2) The ‘07 Yankees had this exact same record, and 3) Girardi did not ride a team into an historic collapse. He’s new to the team, so he hasn’t chewed up as much rope as Willie has.
No one but you has called this year for the Yankees “rebuilding” and to do so when they are spending over $200 million is ludicrous.
Actually, given that Girardi is managing a team that spends $70 million more than the Mets, he should have less rope.
Sorry, but it just seems like a double standard there.
Tidewater … 1) the question is why Girardi has more rope from the media, not Hankie. 2) these are not the ‘07 Yankees. Prior Mets teams have also muddled along before and then rebounded as well. 3) the collapse should have little to do with it. And Girardi should know his team very very well. He played with and coached many of its players and covered the team as a broadcaster last year.
Yeah notice the quotes… just part of the Hank yankee spin in the end if they dont step up that will be the excuse…
I think TideW is right Cashman is going to go 1st before Girardi…
The question isn’t who is going to go first. But why is Girardi getting a free pass in the media and Willie is not?
And if Cashman is going to go first, at least the Steinbrenners understand who is responsible for the performance of a team. Actually, the Steinbrenners are also culpable but they can’t fire themselves.
There is no double standard. The Yanks are notorious late starters. Girardi is dealing with injuries – not just Posada and Arod (who by the way were the 2 best hitters last year) but also with pitching. How do you think the Mets would be doing without Wright and Beltran in the lineup? It isn’t Girardi’s fault. And he does get more rope – it’s his first year and it’s only been 6 weeks. Payroll numbers don’t matter, the Yankees already sold over 4 million seats. They’re the most valuable team in baseball and that’s all that Hank’s gonna care about. And tidewater is right – it’s Cashman who’s getting the boot (or a non-renewed contract) by the year’s end.
Free:
The press gives Girardi more of a pass because he’s off to a slow start. To say last year has nothing to do with it is crazy. It has everything to do with it. You don’t call for a manager’s head after 40 games. But after taking a team with this level of talent to a .500 record over the last 140 games, including an historic collapse at the end of last year, a manager is going to feel heat. It’s all about sample size.
Free, i think the answer to your media question is simple:
In anything they can write about the poor performance of the Yankee team, any person can come back with “so what – they still made the playoffs last year”… There is much less overall negativity surrounding the Mets – and the collapse has everything to do with it. There were so many conversations about the Mets having the need to come out hot and with something to prove, instead they’re proving that over the past 162 games, they’ve been a .500 team. You can’t defend the negativity around the Mets by saying “this is a great team that battled last year and made the playoffs.” – that’s why it’s relevant. Yankees (unfortunately) don’t have that problem. But something tells me that the tables might be turned in 2009…
zer09 — Yes, there is a double standard. This is not Girardi’s first year as a manager. And when he got to the team he was well acquainted with almost all the key pieces. He played with them, coached them, and covered them last year as a broadcaster.
I’m sorry. But Girardi’s injuries aren’t any more than what the Mets have had to deal with. The Mets have lost their #2 and #5 starters since the beginning of the year. And for most of the year, one of their big bats was on the DL. The Mets were supposed to be built on pitching. The Yankees have only lost Posada and A-Rod for part of the year. There is no excuse for their crappy play.
And, yes. Payroll numbers do matter. Expectations for performance go hand in hand with the payroll. Don’t tell the Oakland A’s or the Marlins that payroll doesn’t matter. As good as they do some times, they are at a disadvantage every year because of lower payrolls. And don’t tell Hal Steinbrenner payroll numbers don’t matter. Maybe Hankie doesn’t care, but Hal certainly does.
As for Cashman, he’s not signed after this year so it will be easy to boot him. But more important, he refused to sign an extension earlier this year. So it may not even be the Yankees’ choice.
And again. What the Yankees want to do with Cashman isn’t the question. It’s why the media is giving Girardi a free pass. And their whole team.
As for what the Yankees did last year, are you kidding? You know how many more games they won in the postseason than the Mets? So you’re saying that 1 game gives them and Girardi a free pass?
If that’s how the media sees things, than it’s nonsense. It’s a pure double standard.
zer09 — And as for coming out of the gate fast, that was an unreasonable expectation to have. Sure, it’s nice and we’d all like that to happen. But there were a lot of key injuries on the team (certainly not Willie’s fault) and the rest of the division is better this year (again, not Willie’s fault).
The Yankees have nothing from last year to hang their hats on AFAIC. One lousy playoff win where they got humiliated by tiny bugs on national TV is an embarrassment. With their payroll, they should have more to prove. The media is giving Girardi and their team a free pass.
But after taking a team with this level of talent to a .500 record over the last 140 games …
The level of talent on this team is not anywhere near as invincible as you think it is. There have been serious gaps in this talent — last year and this year in the bullpen and especially with injuries. A team plays up to the level of its talent.
It’s all about sample size.
And it’s a small sample size on what we have to judge now for Willie. It’s the same sample size that we have for Girardi. This Mets team is different from last year’s team. It’s not fair to include last year’s results with this year when judging Willie, especially when as most people admit, the Mets bullpen was the primary cause of the 2007 collapse. And Willie didn’t put the bullpen together.
I’m sorry I don’t see your logic. The fact that Girardi managed the Marlins and sat in the broadcaster booth last year doesn’t make him comfortable with managing the Yankees. It’s apples and oranges. Joe Torre is LA is also adjusting. The fact that he played with them 10 years ago, was a coach 3 years ago, and broadcast last year, doesn’t mean anything. If Mariano’s wife has been to every game over his career at Yankee stadium, it does not mean she can give him tips on his cutter. All I’m saying that like any new job, adjusting is a process, not done overnight.
And you can’t compare the other markets to NY. The reason why payroll doesn’t matter is because they make up for it in ticket, merchandise, and advertisement sales. Not to mention, their own freaking tv network.
Expectations for performance are based on the team you’re putting on the field, not payroll. Sometimes it goes hand in hand, but sometimes you’re covering the back end of some very massive contracts that were handed out 3 or 4 or 5 years ago – and that is not indicative of the players abilities today.
And to further clarify, it also doesn’t matter how many more games the Yankees won in the playoffs. They got to the playoffs, they didn’t choke, didn’t collapse, they rode in there on a high note. It’s not the 1 game that they won, it’s the fact that they were there. every year for the past 13 (or more?) seasons. that earns them a free pass. don’t be so bitter, we’ll get there too. soon.
I would say it’s apples and oranges if Girardi hadn’t played with so many of the current Yankees and coached them as well. He knows the Yankees — their players, environment, culture and personality — intimately. It’s not like he just walked into a new situation. I have to disagree strongly with anyone who says that all his past experience with that team means nothing. I think it means everything.
And to compare Mariano’s wife sitting in the stands to Girardi having caught Mo and Pettite, mentored Posada, played besides others, and been a bench coach is just ludicrous. Talk about apples and oranges!
You also misunderstand my point about payroll. I’m not saying it matters from an affordability issue so much as from a competitive advantage standpoint. The expectations should always be larger for a team spending that type of money. The other GMs and fans around the game expect it. And the media should too. I believe Hal expects it as well. For him the issue is cost-effectiveness.
I disagree about the idea that it’s good enough to just get to the playoffs. For a team that spends $200 million, that’s a failure. They need to go deep into the playoffs to justify that payroll. Their failure to do so is just as bad as a choke. It’s every bit as a disaster as a collapse.
Believe me, I’m not bitter. I’ve been one of the calmest fans on this site ever since the Mets “collapse” last September, quickly putting it behind me. It’s fans like you with unrealistic expectations that seem to be the bitter ones.
And we all know that it’s easier to manage in the AL. And with a team with a lineup like the Yankees. Even without A-Rod and Posada, their lineup is better than most other teams.
Also, zer09 …. I can’t be that impressed with the Yankees consecutive playoff appearances precisely because of the humongous payrolls they have. A playoff appearance is the least you should expect from their payrolls. But also, the large amount of PEDs cheaters revealed to have played for the Yankees over the last 15 years has to have played a significant role in both getting to the postseason and some of their WS titles.
Boy, arguing with you seems pretty useless. Are you trying to say that money buys championships? It clearly does not! Just because the team has the highest payroll doesn’t mean that it will have the best performers. Come on, don’t be so naive, please!! Of all the current Yankees, Girardi only played with Pettite and Rivera. He barely caught a few years with Posada as a rookie. To say he knows this team intimately is ridiculous. it’s a big difference walking into the clubhouse where you make the decisions – so it may not be a totally new thing for him, but it’s a pretty new situation nonetheless. In that regard, why don’t you compare Willie’s experiences with the Mets in the early 90’s with the Mets? You say the Mets team has changed so much since last year that this year it’s a different team – yet most of the players are the same, while on the Yankees, the team has a very different look from when Girardy played and coached them, yet to that you say it’s the same team. Talk about your double standard. In basketball or hockey getting into the playoffs may not be a big deal. In baseball and football, it is. Any team can perform good or great in the playoffs, regardless of their payroll. You’re an obvious yankee-hater and you fail to use any rationale. i can’t really blame you, but you are being ignorant.
Oh – and in regard to PED’s – the reason why so many yankee names came out is because it’s a NY guy who gave everyone up. you can’t say that most of the yankees did PED’s and other teams didn’t. it’s a wide-spread issue, not limited to the yankees or mets or anyone else. estimates go as high as 70% of all players. that argument is bogus.
zer09 — I could say the same with you, especially since you’re so weak on facts … so if you don’t like arguing with me, don’t do it.
Here’s what I’m saying — a large payroll gives a team a competitive advantage. Most baseball executives and fans around the game understand that. And it raises expectations. Justifiably so. And yes, because of this, it can help you buy a ring in such a way that small or mid-market teams can never buy one.
I never once said that a large payroll automatically means a ring. That’s nonsense. And it’s a stupid argument some try to make. It’s about a competitive advantage. If some GMs are foolish with their spending, of course, they’ll have a bad team. Whether they spend a billion dollars or ten million. So try to read more carefully before you reply, please!
Of all the current Yankees, Girardi only played with Pettite and Rivera.
Ever hear of Jeter? He’s a current Yankee, ya know!
And Girardi played with Posada for four seasons, serving as a mentor along the way. Not just when he was a rookie. Geesh. Maybe you should learn the facts before you spout off. You wouldn’t look so foolish.
These four players are still key members of the team. He knows all of them intimately.
In addition, he was bench coach for the 2005 team which had an additional 7 players from the current team. So that’s 11 players he was very familiar with before he took over the managing job.
why don’t you compare Willie’s experiences with the Mets in the early 90’s with the Mets?
LOL, because not a single member of the 2005 team was on that 1992 team. They were ALL new to him.
You say the Mets team has changed so much since last year that this year it’s a different team – yet most of the players are the same,
Different bullpen, different rotation, and different lineup with Delgado and Alou one year closer to being fully DONE.
while on the Yankees, the team has a very different look from when Girardy played and coached them, yet to that you say it’s the same team.
Holy cow! The contexts are entirely different. I mentioned the different Mets team in the context of their current year’s performance. And the stronger division is part of that context.
The idea that 11 players on the current Yankees team are very familiar with Girardi is an entirely context. Which is this gives him a head start as a manager. Hell, he even said so in his first interviews after being named. I didn’t bring up these facts to say the current Yankees team should perform like those in the late 90s.
Try to understand the context of an argument before replying to it.
Yes, getting into the playoffs is a big deal in baseball, but those with the bigger payrolls have an advantage every year. That doesn’t mean they’ll get in every year. But they will get in more often than lower payroll teams.
You’re an obvious Yankee-lover. And that’s too bad. But try taking off your blinders and stop being so “ignorant.”
in regard to PED’s – the reason why so many yankee names came out is because it’s a NY guy who gave everyone up.
That’s another ignorant statement from you. Radomski was a national supplier and by all accounts the biggest supplier in the game at the time. He named names from ALL teams. The Mets are in NY. The fact they had so few players named (and such minor ones at that) is proof that it wasn’t just a NY thing.
you can’t say that most of the yankees did PED’s and other teams didn’t.
No, but I can say the Yankees have had more impact players revealed to be PEDs cheaters than any other team.
estimates go as high as 70% of all players.
And estimates have been as low as 10-20%. No one really knows the real number. And they never will. We do know that the Yankee teams of the last 15 years have been heavily infested with PEDs abusers.
It’s all about expectations and future projections.
This always looked like a rebuilding year for the Yankees, once they decided not to outbid the Mets for Santana. They put their trust in Hughes, Kennedy and Chamberlain, none of whom are ready to be relied on to carry a team at the major-league level this year. Plus, they already have a new manager… what are they gonna do?
Willie has more baggage than Girardi (NLCS ‘06, “The Collapse”), plus the Mets are losing quite a lot of important pieces after the season so there’s a little more urgency for them to win this year.
I would think the team that is spending $210 million on its payroll would have more urgency and expectations than the team spending $70 million less. That’s only logical. And the media should at least be logical when deciding where to aim their guns.
The Yankees don’t “rebuild.” They re-tool at most. And I don’t think they ever used the word “rebuilding.”
They fully expected to at least make the postseason this year. That doesn’t look likely. Or at best, they have another quick first-round exit to look forward to.
The Yankees are losing ever more “important pieces” than the Mets next year. So according to your logic, they should have more urgency.
it’s tough to call them dead at this point because they were in worse shape this time last year and still made the playoffs. Also they’re missing Posada and A-Rod, who are both All-Star caliber players. It’s like if we suddenly lost Church and Schneider, which is pretty funny if you think about it.
Can I just point out something??
If the friggin umps would agree on instant replay for home runs, none of this would happen.
If the Mets lose this game 6-5..you’d have a lot of po’d people today.
Always for technology to help umps…you have to be.
But didn’t you hear Joe Morgan’s argument? If we had replay then we’d be using it on every play!
But seriously, its ridiculous that MLB won’t use it for home run calls. Human error should not determine the outcome of a game.
Agreed.
And as for Joe Morgan’s argument, you can limit it to certain things….such as close plays at the plate, Home Runs or not, Fair or Foul, ect.
A) It doesn’t slow the game down any more then the manager going out to argue those calls anyways.
B) It prevents you from reviewing things like Strikes/Balls that would slow down the game.
I agree. If you outline certian situations that replay can be used with a penalty for losing(an out)i think it would be benificial to the game. Granted we still won but still…im in favor of replay
I don’t see any way you can really use a penalty…..a situation like last night, losing an out (If you were mistaken and it was foul) would have hurt even more because an out would have been a crushing blow there because it loses at least being able to Sac Fly a run back anyways.
Just give a team 2 challanges like Football without a penalty for a bad call…..or do it at the umpire’s discretion and instruct them to review anything close that is being contested. Either one is fine by me.
In football dont u lose a time out if the penalty doesnt go your way??
challenge*
Yes, but my point was that there’s no way to properly penalize a team in baseball for challanging something, as an out is way too harsh of a penalty there…..meanwhile something like starting the next hitter down 1-0 doesn’t seem like enough.
Well people in baseball are against the replay for many reasons. I am just suggesting that an out while harsh would make the manager very selective in using these challenges. Yes perhaps in addition to this giving the manager 2 or 3 challenges a game would limit the use of the replay to important perhaps game changing situations. Replay may never happen but if it does come from the manager i think they should have the penalty harsh. As far as the umps i think they should take a basketball approach and they can agree to go to replay if a call is too close or they cannot decide. In the case of last night however everyone but the third base ump agreed it was foul so most likely replay would not have worked there. All im saying is if they were to develop a replay feature sometime in the future, they will most likely include a harsh penalty for not getting the call to deter the managers from useing them at will and slowing the game down… just my thought
like you said there is no way to properly penalize a baseball team…theres no time outs to take away that a team can use Strategically soo IMO the only thing during an inning that a manager can use Strategically are outs….so use that. Strikes are not fair to the batter at the plate as he did not make a strike and plus is too far a light penalty for a challenge….I think an out can drastically change an inning one way or the other and that is the best penalty for a challenge IMO
There shouldn’t need to be a “challenge” rule in baseball. There can be no penalty, because that’s not the way baseball works. But any time the ball barely clears the fence or strikes the foul pole and any one of the umpires think he saw things differently, THEY call for the replay. Simple.
“As far as the umps i think they should take a basketball approach and they can agree to go to replay if a call is too close or they cannot decide”
-coverd it already
tidewater, you’re right on the money today. I would take it a bit further. There should be an AUTOMATIC replay review on any close/questionable play so long as the result of the play is at least one run being scored. It should be as automatic as anything else in the game.
I can even take this argument further – i think that the home plate should be outfitted with special sensors that provide a vertical holographic image that the umpire will see with special glasses. The technology is certainly there – and that will even the playing field for everyone as balls and strikes would be called fairly (as far as inside-outside goes).
Good idea. I’d also be for flip-down binoculars, forcing umps to have microchips implanted into their brains, and replacing umps with cyborgs.
A replay rule should only be used for homeruns period. First the umpires union would never go for anything other than that and two where would it end if your replaying something that happened right in front of them just because its at the plate? There should be no challenges, the rule should be implemented the same as they do in the NHL. Give the umpires union an extra man per umpiring crew for them to agree. The game after umping homeplate, an umpire is up in the press box serving as the official scorer with a tv next to him. This gets rid of controversial scoring rulings. If a homerun call is in question he calls down to the field saying he’s reviewing it. If it’s clear the call was wrong, he changes it and if its not clear he allows the call on the field to stand. Simple, just like they do it in the NHL. It would probably take as long as it would for a pitcher to warm up. But thats all it should be for. The umpires union would never allow it for anything else and they are a pretty strong union when it comes to professional officials.
Joe Morgan was even more sickening than usual…
this is not a good example to call for instant replay – the third base umpire got the call right. and not only is Morgan right that instituting instant replay could lead to it becoming too much a part of the game (safe/out calls etc), but he couldn’t be more right that this call that ended up being blown was entirely an issue of umpires not doing their jobs correctly.
one of the most basic rules – if not the first rule – of umpiring is that you don’t make a call like that unless you are 100% sure. for example, if there’s a throw that might have pulled the first baseman off the bag, you don’t call the runner safe if the play looks awkward or if it might have pulled him off the bag – you only call it if you are 100% sure that you saw him come off the bag before the throw arrived.
in this case, the call was made that it was a home run. to reverse the call, someone had to be 100% sure that they saw the ball went foul. since that’s basically impossible, the missed call in this case was the home plate umpire not doing his job correctly, not because of an error in judgment. you can be a proponent of instant replay all you want, but it won’t fix umpires not doing their job correctly. and that’s the issue here.
Fine, but that doesn’t mean using the replay wouldn’t work here. It sure would. Use replay for HRs ONLY. Any time an umps thinks he sees a HR differently than the others, you use it. It wouldn’t slow the game down that much because a huge percentage of HRs are obvious.
why do people care so much about something this dumb. they are not going to reverse it. what is the point? so you can be entertained by willie acting like a buffoon? this isnt even hockey where i can understand how the fighting is appreciated, because it actually affects the game. and its not like this team needed any more fire tonight….so whats the point??
willie is not a clown. he’s his own man and id rather he back up his players than listen to the fickle demands of the met idiocracy.
Did you hear Howie during the 4th inning last night? He said he’d just gotten off the phone with Toronto, but they only handle hockey. “If this were a hockey game, it would be 6-0 right now”.
The reason that Manuel got thrown out is simple. Managers are allowed to argue, whereas bench coaches are NOT.
The rules allow managers to argue judgement calls (besides balls and strikes). Umpires will let base coaches argue a little on plays nearby them. However, the rules clearly state, a coach who is NOT the manager cannot argue from the bench.
Even a simple “I disagree” could technically have gotten Manuel ejected. However, Willie gets leeway. So if Willie argues to the same degree as Manuel, Manuel would be ejected while Willie would not be.
That’s why Davidson said, “Shut up, Willie”, which was essentially a warning. Manuel gets no warning as the bench coach, so was immediately ejected.
Manuel continued arguing after Willie was told to shut up. If it were Willie who continued arguing, he’d get tossed. Manuel took the bullet for Willie – and rightfully so. It was a good play by the dugout.
Shocker….Cerrone defending Willie.
Know what is “silly” Randolph? That your bench coach had to take on the ump instead of you. That is what is silly.
All in all though, who really cares in the end. We won 2 and got a chance to smack around Justin Chamberlain.
He did take on the ump…..and lost. The ump wasnt going to reverse the call. Jerry got into the mix according to matt when he told them to shut up. The ump was pushing buttons and willie knew that. Jerry unfortuantly took the bait.
who’s justin chamberlain?
It’s Joba’s real name….kinda like how Larry is Chipper Jones’ real name.
really. very interesting. never knew that. thank you for the heads up on that. :)
I was upset at Willie at the time but understand his position. If the team wins it seems what Willie does or does not do is irrelevant. My gripe is with the umps. Why not walk out and look at the pole for a scuff. You can tell by fan reaction by that dude sitting right there. He was saying “Look right here, there a big ass white scuff mark jackass” Why can they not take the 3 seconds to go look? What does it hurt? I think it’s evident replay is necessary on HR calls. Perhaps a clearly blown call on ESPN between the Mets/Yanks will open some eyes.
Or just look at the ball, which CLEARLY was scuffed up with black paint on it too.
Umps are so friggin pompous though. They would never do it.
I’m not sure how they go into the stands and get the ball. The third base ump saw it correctly, but didn’t stick up for himself, inexplicably.
The home plate ump should have let it stand as obviously he did not see it. They got shamefully played by Jeter/Damon’s reations. Kudos to them, they stole a call.
I agree. The third base ump got the best look at it…it sux it got overturned but we won anyway so it doesnt matter.
You could tell the 3rd base ump knew he f’d up when the camera kept on showing his face and he had this look “Man I F’d up”! And then when the Mets scored 11 he was breathing out like whew. But what got me is that they kept showing how crooked Yankee Stadium is? Well, I guess after 85 yrs its got to be somewhat crooked.
I had never noticed before that the foul pole and the foul line that runs down the third-base line, and up the left field wall, do not line up. Obviously, one of them is incorrect, but which one?
My vote goes for the foul line on the field being correct, but in either case, Delgado hit a home run.
they do line up. jon miller doesn’t understand perspective.
That’s what I thought, too. They were showing a line that angles from a camera position at a different angle, so of course it seemed as if it didn’t line up.
No, it actually does not line up. They showed a reporter sitting later on talking to the guy that caught the ball – and the reporter was sitting between the foul pole and the foul line. I don’t care what camera angle you use – if the guy’s ass fits on the left of the pole and he is sitting on the wall and not touching the line, it’s obviously not lined up.
If I could draw on this site I’d show you how you were wrong.
I don’t need you to draw. You can see it clear as day. The guy was sitting on the wall, so the camera angle doesn’t play a role here – you can make the determination just by looking at the wall and the guy’s position in relation to the foul pole and the line. He was sitting down facing the stands. He was touching the pole with his right hand and the line was on the left side of his body. If they lined up, then at the very least his ass should have been either sitting on the line or on the left side of it.
Yeah but if you look at it down the line from home plate, the pole and the line are perfectly aligned. But probably only from that perspective in the ballpark.
I don’t know how it “looks” from different angles. The curvature of the wall may be affecting the view. I just know what I saw – and if you can fit a man’s ass in between the line and the pole, then it can’t be lined up. that’s all i know.
yes it can! It’s a diagonal line that continues to a vertical. You can fit a man’s ass there, I promise you.
What I don’t understand is how that fan could be sitting on his ass with a budweiser in his hand when a ball is coming straight at him….pay attention!
It could have been worse, at least he didn’t have a baby in his hands…
It is amazing to me that Girardi has not been criticized more. Maybe he is by Yankee bloggers.
Could you imagine if the mets were down by 2 or 3 and willie brought in Heilman who promply got hammered?
And these Posada/Arod missing excuses are driving me crazy. Sure, they are a completely different lineup when they return, but unless they can pitch the yankees are screwed.
Francesa wil talk today about how the Yanks will be right there in the end despite the slow start, like every year. He won’t mention that they don’t have the starting pitching to do it this year.
Like I told my Yankee friends in Spring Training. They just dont have the pitching this year. Wang is very overrated, I don’t care what the numbers say, he can’t pitch in a game with any type of intensity. The rest of the staff is either washed or belongs in triple A. Great job cashman, Thanks for Johan.
farnsworth has been solid this year. he’s like their schoeneweis. at least before saturday.
I would not bet the farm of Farnsworth.
What I didn’t understand the most about yesterday’s game is why Willie used Smith and Scho in a blowout game instead of putting Heilman in to mop up the 9th…seemed like a good spot for him…
All I know is that Jerry gained alot of ground as future successor of this team if they don’t pick up some steam on this road trip…
Didn’t he coach the Whitesox before Ozzie? That didn’t pan out too well….I think HoJo will get the job before Manuel does….
Wasn’t he manager of the year with the White Sox one year…?
For those who are saying Willie should not have argued the call more, you’d be singing a different tune if we lost that game 6-5 or something.
Not really, because there was no chance of them reversing that play anyways.
Why? it would have made no difference, the call was not going to get reversed a second time. If they lost, it would have just made a bad call worse.
If Delgado was going crazy like he knew it was fair, maybe I could see it, but he was completely clueless and almost appeared to think it was foul by his initial reaction, he was going back to hit before the ump signaled fair.
I don’t entirely disagree with alot of willie critics, but this is ridiculous.
Not that I wanted Willie to get himself ejected…his reaction was just representative of the lack of fire he has — which has translated to his team’s play at points this season.
Well said. Then again, we won the games this weekend, so we shouldn’t even be talking about this. Let the media try and find a negative in this weekend where the Mets made statement.
I totally disagree. If you were watching, you could clearly see Willie pissed off and yelling in the dugout which is why the home plate ump came over and warned him. The fire was there.
I am firmly in the fire Willie camp, but I have to agree. He came out and argued, and obviously kept riding the ump from the bench. I don’t think he did anything wrong on this play, or really all weekend.
Maybe he’s learning.
Fire Willie.
this is the case of perception overshadowing reality. sort of like the delgado curtain call flap. willie certainly was arguing but jerry argued a little harder, and now we have a story.
And unfortunately it will give the yankee apologists in the media something to talk about other than the real issues in the Bronx..
I don’t mind.
Of course, what’ll be irritating will be when it becomes entirely obvious that this isn’t a great Yankees team, everyone will start talking about how they said so all season, even though they didn’t.
How about we stoop the Willie talk? Wilie argued the call and Manuel took one for the team and for Wilie.
Why not instead give some kudos to Delgado for not getting flustered and hanging in there to get a base hit and keep the rally going?! I think that is more significant than anything!
we went 5-4 against 3 last place teams. go mets!!
yankees aren’t great, but stop minimalizing the wins…Yea the nats series was rough, but coming in, the yanks were 1 game below 500…they’re in last place cause their division is good, not cause they’re all THAT terrible….you can manipulate stats to say anything you want…like the fact that willie is 53 games over 500 as a manager…290-237, which transaltes to 90 wins a year.
Yeah, I can’t really consider the Yankees as the same type of last place team that Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay and Texas are in a normal season…
as willie said in the press conference…how is he going to argue that call if he didn’t see it himself? Secondly, if you actually saw the play on ESPN Willie clearly went out there …several times…and vented, but you can’t get thrown out if you don’t see the call….cause then people will be talking the next day about how you got tossed on what could have been the wrong call..
To boot, Delgado didn’t even see the play, and HE didn’t even argue, he just went back to the plate and hit again (props for that btw). So if delgado doesn’t even argue, how are you gonna ask Willie to get thrown out to back his player up who frankly didn’t really care cause he couldn’t see it.
i really have a problem with these two above arguments…were we watching the same game? because i saw a willie randolph who was fuming…when he was on the field arguing, you could see him shaking his hands in disgust and anger, and he continued the jawing from the dugout, prompting davidson to tell him to shut up and practically toss him there….
…only then did manuel AND willie keep jawing, but manuel was louder, and as previously stated, he’s the bench coach, so he’s gone…
i understand a lot of the slack willie gets, but this is just ridiculous…
That’s what I saw. In fact, I could hear him arguing from the dugout. Most of these people complaining are Willie-haters.
I’m a Willie-hater and still want him gone…..but, he did fine last night and the arguing issue is silly.
Cudos for Delgado hanging in there and making something happen. He looked determined. I hope we can look back and see this Wagner thing being a turning point in the season. Perhaps a slap in the face to wake everyone up.
Indications are that’s what’s going on. Atlanta will be interesting.
Kudos
Sorry
The biggest issue to me that MLB needs to deal with is the arrogance of some of it’s umps. Make the call, fine, if it is a mistake, fine. But why do you draw attention to the dugout yelling at you by taking off your mask and yelling back. Be a man, understand that they are upset for a reason and let it quiet down. Unfortunately many umpires can take no criticism at all, they react as if they are infallible and then compound it by tossing someone that questions them. In all honesty, this wasn’t really that close, it shouldn’t have been that hard to get it right. Also, can Joe Morgan go away anytime soon? David Wright’s upper body left too soon from 3rd base? Are you serious?
If David Wright falls off a cliff, his legs go first while his head and neck remain suspended long enough for him to look wide-eyed into the camera and hold up a sign that says “uh-oh.”
Then the rest of him falls and there’s a little circular cloud of dust emanating from his crash spot.
Just like the Coyote.
now i got it…..thanks
clearly many people here did not actually watch the game. Willie came out of the dugout, argued the call a bunch, and finally went back into the dugout, and was still yelling and aruging. That’s when the ump told Willie to shut up and Jerry went nuts for just like 2.2 seconds, and he got tossed immediately. The thing is, there’s no way that Willie, or anyone in the dugout, truly saw where that ball hit if the ump wasn’t able to see it. He called it fair, but you could read this lips as the other umps approached. The 3rd base line ump said “foul?” and then the home plate ump vehemently said “foul!” and that was it. People calling for Willie to get tossed there are just lost, what, was that supposed to turn the momentum in our way? fire up our club? Cause in case you didn’t notice…we kind of went on to do that anyway…
Listen I’ll give Willie a pass on this cause hes getting his boys to play and thats ultimately the most important thing but what you saw last night will only happen to Willie Randolph. There is no way in hell that call gets changed that easily with Bobby Cox or Lou Pinella in the dugout. I’ve never seen a call get changed that fast.
Ok so here is my point. Willie doesn’t want to go out and act like a fool according to him. Not just talking about last night but in general. He doesn’t want to show up the umpires cause he’s afraid a call will go against the mets. Well Calls have been going against the Mets and last year during the “C” we didn’t get a single call.
When an umpire acts the part of a fool and is looking to toss someone and tries to bait you.. You gobble that bait up quick. If you don’t what is it telling the umpire. That your afraid to argue? that you intimidated by this old skinny white dude. No when an umpire blows a call like that and you know the call is blown and he comes charging at the dugout.. Yelling your name for pete sakes. Everyone on ESPN heard the umpire Yell ” Willie Cut it out” or Willie shut your mouth”. If that happens you get your but out of that dugout and you let this guy have it. Now he’s showing you up. And whats more important Willie your reputation or the umpires. He’s calling you out when he know he’s wrong and you deff do not put your tail between your legs.
Willie don’t be afraid to be who you are. You are a bitter son of a gun and I respect that about you. Don’t try and be the nice guy. Just be you. If your angry get angry if you intense be intense.. but for the love of god please don’t let a “old skinny white dude with a mask on show you up on a nationally televised broadcast again.
The Pinella fetish on this site always amazes me.
And Cox is adept at jawing from the dugout and NOT getting tossed because he is respected. Like it or not, Randolph is respected in baseball. Davidson knows he blew the call, Randolph will ultimately get respect for not showing HIM up.
Willie said more than enough to get tossed. The ump did not want to throw him out, and threw manuel out instead.
C’mom bashers, there must be something else to get on him about this weekend, try harder. Obviously, you don’t want it enough if this is all you can come up with. A little more effort, please!
yea well where is the proof of that. When have we gotten a call cause willie tries to be the nice guy.. We haven’t yet. So when that happens RP then that argument is valid.
and by the way RP,, I’m not willie bashing,, I believe now that he can get his team to play for him and if he get these guys playing like this day in day out he should keep his job.
Willie should have been thrown out. Sometimes showing pure emotion is a positive if only for the fact that you show that you’ll go down defending your own players. I really think that Willie uses this whole “well, it doesn’t serve a purpose and I’m not going to do something just to appease the fans” excuse to mask the fact that he’s simply t0o chickensh&t to really go at it with an umpire. He’s a fake tough guy and it’s really frustrating because I think, on top of the 11-2 win, Willie going out and showing everyone that he has a pulse would have really put some pesky issues with him to bed.
he did go out and argue, and additionally, he’s gotten calls overturned before by arguing. So, sure, keep drinking the Willie sucks kool-aid, but you’re kind of off-base there. He and the ump were going at it, all the way back to Willie being in the dugout. If Jerry doesn’t get tossed there, for going ballistic for a couple seconds, Willie probably would have, but at that point, it was over and done with. And furthermore, the team did seem to respond on their own. Everyone compares Willie to Pinella and Cox on this front, but what about the majority of managers who don’t go ballistic over calls like that either?
he went out and argued before he knew if the call was blown or not. He didn’t know at that point if the call was right or wrong. When he got back into the dugout he was told it was a home run. Thats when the home plate umpire came charging over to him. And started yelling at him. Jerry manual then takes exception to this and freaks out. Thats when Jerry gets tossed. So my problem is that at that point when the ump clearly shows Willie up.. Jerry shouldn’t have to step in. The second the umpire yelled Willie shut your mouth willie should of been out on that field again. There was enough time for Willie to get out there before Jerry gets tossed.
The point Willie has been making all along hasn’t been getting him anywhere. He saying that not showing up an umpire is going to foster some good feeling and get a few calls for us. WHERE are the CALLS man. We aren’t getting them. So at some point Willie must realize this tactic is not working. Being the nice guy doesn’t work with umpires. I’m not asking him to be Bobby cox or Lou every day. But when an umpire blows a call and then calls you out. Then its time to get dirty especially when you now know the call was wrong.
You don’t go ape-sht on an umpire to get calls, you do it to show your team you’ve got their back. The long term ramifications of that go way beyong one game and three blind umpires.
How did he show willie up? By telling them to shut up? Everytime an ump tells a bench to shut up the “disgraced” manager is supposed to charge up the steps and get tossed because they were insulted?
Manuel was freaking out and motioning that the ball ricocheted off the foul pole, not because Davidson came towards the dugout. And the “protect the player” argument may have been justified elsewhere but just doesn’t apply here, sorry.
And you must watch ALOT of out of town baseball to somehow determine the mets “get” less calls than other teams around baseball.
Sorry fellas, other than the cognac-is-better-than-kool aid argument, I just don’t get this one.
DUDE he yelled “Willie shut your mouth” and came charging over to him. He yelled this loud enough for everyone in the mets dugout to hear it and loud enough for everyone watching on ESPN to hear it.
Thats fine, that is what umps do when they get abuse from a bench. If anything, it shows the manager was all over him. I just don’t see managers charging out of the dugout everytime an ump shouts at the bench to shut up, which happens pretty regularly.
I just don’t see “willie didn’t back us up” being a hot topic in the clubhouse today. Its probably more along the lines of “willie is taking the heat because we have collectively sucked ass lately”.
and thats not what I’m saying.. I just think going forward that Willie needs to realize that being the nice guy doesn’t get us calls.
Fair enough. I’m on the fence with willie personally, there is alot I don’t like. It just seems like piling on though after a while.
You don’t have to be Pinella or Cox, but with a call like that, is it asking a lot to stick up for your guy and get thrown out? Having Manuel get thrown out for you doesn’t send the right message. And for your information the Willie is a bad manager cognac is much better than the pro-Willie kool-aid.
i like my kool-aid! oooh yeaaaahhhh!
I don’t care who gets tossed so long as we win. I guess I am just a bottom line type guy.
i’m with you, we won the game, and the team seemed to respond well after the bad call. I could spend my time finding something to be angry about, but we won, so why waste the time?
I’m not angry at all.. I actually believe Willie has gotten these guys together and playing for each other. I think he should keep his job. but going forward he needs to realize being the nice guy to umpires is not getting us any calls.
Emotion passion and ethusiasm are things we have only when we win, weird. The yanks must have no passion, no desire to win right? RIDICULOUS. Give this angle up for good. You win and lose based on pitching defense and hitting, it is clear that jose reyes, wright, willie, wagner, maine, johan, delgado and the rest of the team has a passion for winning…LET IT GO.
Willie getting tossed would have fired up the yankee crowd just as much as the mets bench, LET IT GO. Willie, wether you want to believe it or not, is the leader of the team, and getting thrown out does not help. As he stated, protecting a guy is one thing (alou was thrown out the other day in a heartbeat), but other then that it is not his style. He is not sweet lou, or bobby cox, plenty of coaches have won without getting tossed all the time.
Those of us who don’t like the job Randolph is doing are not mad because he didn’t get thrown out but that he didn’t sufficiently contest the reversal of the third base umpire’s call. When the umpire closest to the play (who seemed to be looking right at it) is reversed immediately without so much as ten seconds of conversation amont the four umpires, there is an obligation on the part of the manager of the team hurt by the reversal to do something. At the very least, he should have been demanding and getting a meeting with him and all four umpires to find out how they could justify such a quick reversal. Nobody wants to see him thrown out in a meaningless display but I’m not convinced that an intelligent discussion might not have resulted in a change back (it has happened). It is the failure to sufficiently and calmly protest the change in the call that sent me over the edge last night.
i love how Met fans are more caught up in what Willie did, then the fact that we won in a blow out last night.
Because I really don’t care about what they did last night. I need to see that they can run off a streak- 6 in a row, 8 out of 10 etc etc before a 1 or 2 game W streak will excite me. I’ve played that sucker game for 150+ games now, no more. Gotta prove it to me from now on.
But the flaws of the manager are ongoing and need to be addressed.
And not getting run was a terrible job. Sometimes you gotta get run. PERIOD
Is Hubbach an idiot? Anyone watching the game yesterday cannot argue that Willie was not fired up. He was clearly FUMING, and it was apparent that the ump was talking to him but Jerry Manuel stepped in and took the bullet. The bench coach was there in that situation to avoid getting the manager tossed because as Willie said, it wouldn’t have accomplished anything. Rick Peterson also clearly got up from the bench to hold Willie back as Manuel got tossed. Yesterday was a new side of Willie I had never seen. A side that I think could have lit a fire under the Mets yesterday. The media has to get off Willie about yesterday because he truly showed his emotions.
Willie should have gotten thrown out for sure. The problem was not that the umpires blew an obvious call…but that they had the call the right way first, and then (as everyone is saying how rare it is for them to reverse a call) actually exhibit that rare instance of overturning a call but in that rare event change it the WRONG way. Valentine would have been ejected arguing for sure!!!
There are lots of things to criticize Willie about, but this is not one of them. He argued vehemently, but Manuel just went a little nutty, so he got the boot instead of Willie. I think that, if Manuel had not gone completely nuts, Willie would’ve been tossed. He went out and argued and did what he should have. If anything, Manuel kind of “stole his thunder.”