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For what it’s worth, Ian O’Conner’s column in the Bergen Record is not the first time Willie Randolph took a shot how he is portrayed on television.
On Friday, May 16, while talking to WFAN, Randolph said:
“Look, they don’t show me on the bench when I’m tripping from the dugout, you know, you don’t see that part of me. You don’t see me walking up and down the dugout, rooting for my guys, teaching them, pushing them, prodding them to get going. They only show me when some one gives up a hit or makes an error, and they show my face and I’m not going to show my players up. So, that’s the perception you get of me, that’s what they show when something goes wrong. Outside of that, I’m as animated and as much in the game as any manager in baseball. You look in every dugout, guys, and you see some managers sitting there like a bump on the log. They’re just sitting there, DO-ING NOTH-ING. You look at me, and I’m the total opposite. I’m on the top step, I don’t hide in the dugout, and I’m up and down doing my thing, pulling for my players. So, the perception that is out there is unbelievable.”
…obviously, i would expect people at SNY and the Mets to be upset with these remarks, as well as with the comments he made to o’conner…what i can’t understand is why he thinks it is smart to a) blame the media, which is always the easiest scapegoat, and which will only come back to bite you, but b) to blame the media outlet that is owned by the same people who pay his salary…
…i do not assume to know who is right in this situation and who is wrong…that said, he made this assertion twice, once on friday to WFAN and once on sunday to o’conner, so he clearly believes it…so, true or not, it’s the idea he subscribes to and it clearly suggests he is paranoid and growing more defensive than he normally is…and that helps nobody…
…what’s worse, tomorrow’s newspapers will likely be flooded with this story line again, which means it will still be on talk radio, and willie will likely have to discuss it again prior to tomorrow’s game…
…i could care less, either way…i just want the team to win…
…if there is a silver lining, it could be that while the media and willie are getting it on, the players are free to just play baseball and not be bothered…
This is why he can’t backtrack from his statements. I don’t care about the race thing. He is hyper-sensitive and you can’t be that while in NY. He has shown a weakness, a crack and its only a matter of time before that crack propogates and the whole pane of glass shatters. I think he has dug his own hole.
he may have a weakness but you have an unhealthy obsession with the man.
I do…but I won’t backtrack from my stance. I don’t hide behind tongue-in-cheek excuses.
no one said to backtrack. you just have no objectivity so it’s kind of hard to take you seriously since you’ve shown no ability to give willie credit for anything since he took over.
What would you like me to give him credit for?
Turning the team around? – The Wilpons decided to open up the pocketbook and the players Omar brought in turned this team around.
2006? – Getting outmanaged by that drunk LaRussa when we had the best team in baseball that year? Leading that team to the playoffs? Any of us could have made it there.
2007? – The greatest Collapse in baseball HISTORY. Thats right, over 100 years of baseball and Willie is responsible for the greatest let down of a fan base.
2008? – Not learning his lesson from 2007. Same Willie for the first 40 games = same results.
You’re right…I must have missed something.
“if there is a silver lining, it could be that while the media and willie are getting it on, the players are free to just play baseball and not be bothered”
That’s the problem here, with Randolph’s comments comes another distraction this team has to deal with. Instead of concentrating on simply playing baseball now the players are going to have to answer questions about there manager and his comments.
So Cuban, let me get this straight.
The Mets just improved 12 games each year his 1st 2 years and broke the deathlock the Braves had on the division for 14 years and that has NOTHING to do with him.
The Mets lose Pedro and El Duque, make it within 1 hit of the WS and next year collapse under the weight of a decimated pitching staff and that’s ALL him.
I have a couple of questions …
Is this Iraq war over in your world? Did we get Osama there?
Even if he is being portrayed differently by the media, he still makes ridiculous decisions on the field, and there’s no way he can blame the media for that
like what? what “ridiculous” decisions does he make on the bench?
Like pitching Joe Smith in a 11-2 game and pitching Heilman in a 4-1 game. That’s pretty ridiculous.
even that call can be debated. what are you calling ridiculous? because its a terrible idea to have who was supposed to be your 8th inning guy pitch in the seventh inning? or give smith the chance to work for the first time in four days? you did know that smith had no pitched since the 14th, right?
Willie does suck as a manager, no question. I watch a lot of games on SNY and I always assumed Willie does sit around and do nothing because it is all they EVER show. If he really is active and engaging, then SNY does have a huge problem with him and I credit him with calling them out..
The real problem that Willie is going to run into when this stuff keeps coming is that even when he’s right, and he is right sometimes and he is wrong sometimes, people are just going to get the impression that the pressure is getting to him.
He made a few statements. Now it’s time to manage the team to a winning streak. Too much more stories followed by retractions and “tongue in cheek misunderstandings”, and people who want to say he can’t handle this job when the heat is on are going to have plenty of ammo. Some of those people might be able to fire him too.
The media and the fans are A-OK dishing out the endless Willie criticism because he isn’t “fired up” enough, but when Willie has some criticism of his own, he is told to shutup and not to “challenge” the NY media.
What a joke of a situation.
Welcome to New York. That’s the way it’s always been, and it’s not going to change.
Then why is this news?
Oh, I know. Because this team has the worst fans in baseball. The “win now mentality” that we are perceived to have is a sugar coated definition of being impatient, ignorant, and terribly unsupportive.
OK, but he’s not really going after the fans on this one. Looks more like he has some issues with the media, including his own team’s network. How is that the fans’ fault?
If you don’t think he’s addressing the fans between the lines here, you need to read it again. The fans are the ones who have made a stink about his coaching before the media jumped on the wagon, and he’s trying to kill two birds with one stone.
Fans get their perception from the media, no where else.
Boo hoo, the big bad fans of NY are picking on me….
I expected just a little bit more from a guy who played here as long as he did. He acts like he just woke up in this town yesterday.
He’s not stupid. He knows exactly how it works in this town. If he can’t deal with it, then resign.
“If you don’t think he’s addressing the fans between the lines here, you need to read it again. The fans are the ones who have made a stink about his coaching before the media jumped on the wagon, and he’s trying to kill two birds with one stone.”
OK, but that’s still his own problem. Like I said. Welcome to New York. It’s not going to change.
And I go to just about every game. I never boo anyone on my team. I’m just saying, those people are out there. They come with the job. He knew that all along. But now he’s giving out the impression that when the heat is on, he melts down. And yeah, even Cerrone is saying that to a degree, so take it up with him too.
His job is only gonna get tougher now unless this team really starts to click on all cylanders. The media and the fans smell blood, and it’s not gonna be pretty.
Then again, a nice little winning streak cures almost everything. It’s time for that.
Actually, I’m OK with him standing up. Its about time. But how about sticking to your story. Don’t say something, then backtrack.
why bother. “fans” like you will kill him no matter what he does because it’s all about the convenience of having something to bitch about, isn’t it?
Fans like me see similar tendencies to last year. As a manager, Willie failed to get his ship righted and we sunk. I don’t care if he’s Ghandi or heir to the british thrown, Willie is a bust
i dont know if this is the case, but did people make a big deal when wagner backtracked on friday?
Alot of people didn’t like the backtracking. If you are going to say something, just say it. In the case of Wagner’s, it was on camera, it was hard to say you were misquoted or misinterpretted. Just say, yeah, Delgado needs to be there…I’m tired of covering their butts.
It was addressed on the pregame show on Saturday. Personally, I was annoyed that he backtracked, because he really didn’t have anything to be sorry about.
Dear Matt Cerrone,
While I respect your writing as a blogger and giving us a lot of information other outlets dont…however as soon as you start perpetuating the larger media system it shows us how you are now part of that machine that I used to be happy you weren’t a part of. Ever since you joined the SNY team you have disappointed us similar to the way independent musicians disappoint their fans when they join a major record label and become commercial Shame on you for perpetuating what should be a nonstory. As a Mets fan, I could not care less what the manager says about race and whatnot, does it even matter? Who cares? This is something you should have left alone and by talking it up you are just making more and more of a transition towards mainstream media. I hope this soon changes because I really did like your website.
Sincerely,
Michael…and by all means, please feel free to respond to my comments. I’ll be eagerly awaiting your response
^^^ This. I think it’s pretty ridiculous we need two separate posts about the same thing, throwing wood into a stupid fire, less than an hour apart.
“For what it’s worth?” Matt, it’s worth absolutely nothing positive.
I would like to explain something. Matt’s posting on this subject has much more to do with the fact that this site is his livelihood than that he’s “sold out.” The media exists to sell itself, and it does that by giving people what they want to read about. It’s the same nonsense with people who were annoyed the news was about Brittney Spears forever…you want it to go away, stop buying it, reading it, posting about it.
Agreed.
Didn’t Frank Robinson break the manager color barrier 33 years ago? It isn’t an issue.
Isaiah Thomas is a pig. His team stinks. He saddled the team with large contracts. That is why we wanted him removed.
Herm Edwards wanted to leave NY for his dream job
My team is lifeless. If i’m sick and my doctor can’t make me better, then i want a new doctor.
in defense of isiah, let’s remember who he works for. the worst owner in pro sports in james dolan. all that guy cares about is filling seats on celebrity row because we sure as hell know it’s not about making the playoffs. it’s not out of the realm of possibility to believe that dolan made it known he does not want rebuilding in order to keep the fat pockets in the seats.
granted isiah was a buffoon but he’s not the only one. james dolan and steve mills are in on this too.
Isiah is arguably the worst front office figure/coach in the history of sport, not just new york.
That’s funny. I think Isiah is a knucklehead and outside of getting Jerome James (even I knew he was bum) he was just very unlucky. He made good draft picks with David Lee, Balkman and Nate Robinson, especially since these guys are not lottery darlings.
No, the worse GM was his predecessor F*khead, I can’t remember his name, you know the guy who gave Howard “3rd string” Eisley a contract for $50 million and outbidded his other two personalites to get Allan Houston to a $100 million dollar deal for which he played 25 games. Genius!!!
Though I agree that Isiah stunk as a coach.
Players he gave massive money to:
Jerome James, Jared Jeffries, Vin Baker, Eddy Curry
Players he traded for making absurd money:
Steve Francis, Stephon Marbury
Players he allowed other teams to get because of his moves:
Steve Nash, Rashard Lewis, #2 pick to Chi, #9 pick to Chi
Factor in his playoff absences ($), buy outs, and sexual harassment suits, he has cost MSG around $200M
I don’t think he was picking out SNY in that statement. As an avid watcher of mlb.tv they all do the same.
I think thats how it is.
Not all managers can copy Pinella. And I don’t think it works anyway.
I suppose TV wants instant entertainment and baseball requires the tension to build up.
just keep digging that hole for himself
There are few things less important in baseball than what a manager says to a reporter.
congrats Michael Fidler your post got up while mine was somehow no allowed…and I didnt do anything in my post except call Chris Carlin fat and a blowhard and tell Matt that I think posts like these make us all question if he is just another SNY talking head.
guierllNO MOta you are right about Chris Carlin too…I’ve been wanting him to stay on the Fan and just talk about the Giants, because the knowledge he has on that sport he lacks in baseball. Words to Chris Carlin…Shut your mouth
i hate listening to his opinion. it really stinks.
i’m sure willie sees that it’s coming to an end for him as manager of the mets. there’s no doubt he’ll be the first to go if the team doesn’t pick it up.
I’d like to know when Willie watched all these games where he’s not getting enough face time.
dont managers watch tape?
You’re kidding right? If Willie actually watches the WHOLE COMPLETE BROADCAST, he is stupid!
no i mean, think about it. he probably watches how a bad or a really good inning went, to see how to improve, and in that case, he would see the sny camera work.
The virtue of Metsblog (and most blogs) is their
independence. If Cerrone wants to sign up with SNY
and feather his nest a bit, he should at least make
the point that he’s being paid by one of the parties
he’s writing about — or better still, stick to what he
can be impartial about.
he’s made that point over and over…they have a relationship…he gets money from them…they’ve never asked him to change the site at all…he is completely independent.
how many times does he have to say it?
Yes you’re right they have a relationship and technically hes independent, but with the relationship they have compromises Matt because he can claim innocence; however still be corrupted by the relationship they have. This is going to sound cheesy but sometimes while trying to operate out of the system when you are part of system, the system will eventually end up corrupting you.
I have to disagree with the way your argument is written. I don’t believe Matt’s actually been corrupted by the system, however his image will forever be corrupted by people who want to see conspiracy around every corner. “SNY pressures Matt to remove negative posts” and the like is a bunch of garbage
the conspiracy theories on this site are unbelieveable!
this is a website about a baseball team, not a journalist searching for corruption in the White House! it’s about BASEBALL! Matt writes about what he sees and hears…will his opinions be affected by the people he now has contact with at SNY and the Mets? Of course, that’s only natural. But I would think his opinions would become more valid because he now has access to better information and is able to interpret that information better using his first-hand knowledge of the people involved.
you seem to believe that he is only independent if he is criticizing the Mets or SNY, as if being supportive were somehow a betrayal of his readers.
posts like yours are more a reflection of your own paranoia and biases than Matt’s.
There’s not a newspaper in the country that would
publish a reporter who was being paid by someone
he is covering.
Ask yourself:
If he told SNY he wasn’t going to write about them,
would they still pay him?
Probably, as long as he keeps the advertisements up. See my post above, Matt writes what people want to read about because that’s how he gets paid. He’d be an idiot not to write about things that will get his site a lot of hits.
SNY is paying for traffic. if Matt never mentions SNY in any of his posts and and millions of people see the SNY banner ads every day, SNY will be thrilled.
the SNY content that Matt provides is just added info he wouldn’t of had access without the relationship…he would be a fool to not take advantage of the opportunity for insider access.
So maybe if Willie Randolph paid for a banner
on the site, he’d get a little more sympathy from
Matt, too.
Were our comments above too complicated for you? It’s really very simple…
SNY. Pays. Matt. To. Advertise.
As I’ve written, numerous times now, Matt posts information (on his own) that gets people to come to his site. That’s how he makes money.
once again, you’re projecting your values on Matt…what you’re really saying is that YOU would be in SNY’s pocket if they paid YOU money, so you assume that’s what everyone else would do…there is no proof that Matt is going easy on the Mets or SNY just because he get’s money from them.
But Greg there is no proof that Matt isn’t going easy on SNY….therefore it must be true!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’ll be back to comment later, I have to go fix my tin-foil hat so the government can’t read my thoughts.
LOL…maybe Matt can get the Mets to start selling tin-foil hats with Met logos! Of course, in exchange they’ll expect him to say something nice about the new stadium.
# hits in 5 innings off Tom Glavine. I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about Willie, SNY, race, or anything besides this.
This team is G-A-R-B-A-G-E.
80-82. Mark it down.
OK, we’ll talk in October. I’m gonna say 84-78.
Could not agree more! I have been to one game so far this season and it will probably be my only game this season!
“if there is a silver lining, it could be that while the media and willie are getting it on, the players are free to just play baseball and not be bothered”
that’s a good point.
maybe he did learn something from Joe Torre…Torre would get into squabbles with the front office and the press would forget about hounding the players.
Maybe this is Randolph stepping up his game.
is Willie the only manager in Mets history to not have a losing season? Is there anyone I am missing?
not trying to start a debate here, just wondering.
yes.
Davey Johnson never had a losing season.
but he was fired during his last season with a losing record
20-22.
That’s not a season. It’s two months into a season where Frank Cashen was looking for an excuse to fire him.
He also won 90+ games 5 times in 6 full seasons. The one time he didn’t win 90+, he still won 87 games. And 2 of those 5 seasons were 100 win seasons. Oh, and a World Series win to boot.
Davey Johnson?
OK, I was in the middle of stuff while I was posting that and didn’t see it above.
just win ballgames
Does anyone stop to realize how much time we all spend on a team that’s gone down 17 staight to Tom Glavine?
Complete and utter waste of time.
Winning silences the critics, especially in NYC.
Another homer off Heilman. Classic. Simply classic.
pathetic right? we cant hit glavine…I mean this is getting ridiculous…Reyes and Wright where are you…Beltran, Alou, I mean come on, Luis Castillo is our only offensive weapon?
I know 55 people will blame Willie for this, but this is getting ridiculous, I dont even know how to explain it, if one guy (reyes) doesnt hit its like the other 7 just stop trying.
As I write this Heilman sucks again, but you cant blame Willie for not using a good pitcher in this situation when his offense is not even trying to win a game. Bench Reyes, Wright and Beltran for the night game…they all deserve it.
It’s not like they don’t want to hit, and Heilman took a game on the fringe and made it a blowout. But, you can’t use Joe Smith everyday.
Get rid of Heilman – oh yeah, no team wants him anymore
JSC1968 – Do you know baseball?
Use Heilman in the 11-2 game and Smith in the 4-1 game. How about the fact they ALL had an off day yesterday? How about someone on the other thread said that WFAN reported that the Mets did not take batting practice today. That seems wise.
Willie is the most overarted manager in MLB. He “has confidence in Aaron” Heilman – nice homerun. This team is a .500 team at best so don’t expect anything less. I am so frustrated I have given up. I can’t let these overpaid idiots who strike out LOOKING – Wright, Delgado etc. to Tom Glavine. Where is the inspiration? That’s right, they have Willie as a manger – enough said
Heilman should go where no man has gone before – for you Trekkies out there.
Why aren’t you guys killing Heilman like you kill Willie?
If Heilman’s last name was Mota you’d be burning his bobblehead doll in effigy.
Zerosum, you still out there?
Because Heilman is in a role he never wanted.
Because they should have traded him by now or sent him to the minors to stretch him out for starting — if not for the Mets than someone else.
Because they keep trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
Let my people go!
(my people = underrated and undervalued former starters stuck in bullpen purgatory.)
His best pitch is his changeup. Its not like he has this great ability to locate his very average fastball. Heilman was once a starter and he was mediocre at best. He had one great start against the marlins but overall he was mediocre. He had his chance to be a starter and he failed. On top of that, Heilman has pouted about not starting since 2006.
I’m pretty sure Heilman has worked on other pitches such as a curve and slider. If he started, no doubt, he’d expand his mix of pitches.
When Heilman last started, he pitched very respectibly — far better than the Limas, Parks and Lawrences. He had a gem and near-gem in those starts as well. And it was just after he had adjusted his arm angle. So, no, he never got the chance he should have after he tweaked his mechanics. Never.
Also, if he’s pouted and is ineffective as a reliever, why would you want to keep him in that role? Trade him or send him down to New Orleans to stretch out his arm. What are you so afraid of? The worst that can happen is that he can increase his trade value if he’s successful as a starter.
We all want what’s best for the team. At least most of us. And it’s clear keeping Heilman in the bullpen is NOT what’s best for the team now.
Who exactly would Heilman replace in the rotation? How long will it take for Heilman to develop a curveball? He already has a slider,changeup and fastball and he still gets bashed. So your saying make him a starter so he can feel happy about himself and get bashed over consecutive innings?
Interesting logic. Santana, Maine, Perez, Pedro, and Pelfrey, all have better stuff than Heilman so who gets shipped for your buddy Heilman?
You say he NEVER had a chance?
Heilman started 13 games in 2003. He went 2-7 with a 6.75 era. He pitched 65 innings and had 49 EARNED RUNS and 79 HITS 13 of which were HOMERS!
In 2004 Heilman started again this time 5 games. He was 1-3 with a 5.46 era. At this point he was a bust.
The mets put him in the bullpen in 2005 and there he has success.
You don’t place a player in a role that he is not good at. Heilman is better as a reliever than a starter.
The numbers say so, my eyes say so, all the evidence says so.
The best think for the Mets would be to send him to New Orleans so he can get himself together. Otherwise, trade him.
The question of who Heilman would replace in the rotation is not even important now. Theoretically, he can replace Vargas or someone who gets hurt down the line.
The issue is that he has no motivation and desire now. To perform at one’s best, there needs to be motivation. He hates the bullpen. With a passion. It’s not just the money, he also doesn’t have the makeup for it. With motivation, I believe he’d pitch much better. And many others feel this way too.
He pitched very well as a starter just before he was finally converted to a reliever in 2005. So there’s no reason to believe that in time he could be at worst a #5 starter.
You say he NEVER had a chance?
Exactly. The numbers you gave were for 2003 and 2004. After that time, he changed his arm angle. The result? A 4.71 ERA in 7 starts in 2005. I like how you leave out his 2005 numbers as a starter! Way to go! In those 7 starts, he had a 1-hit shutout and another game in which he gave up just 2 hits and 1 ER in 7 IP. Then he was banished to the bullpen. And the Mets proceeded over the next few years to parade a gang of starters that were worse than Heilman was in 2005. So don’t tell me he wasn’t successful. By the Mets’ measure of success, he sure was.
You don’t place a player in a role that he is not good at.
That’s exactly what they’re doing now. He stinks as a reliever now. The numbers say so. My eyes say so. So put your money where your mouth is and join the Heilman-as-starter contingent!
And again. What are you afraid of?????
What is there to lose????????
If he stinks as a starter in NO, at least he will have gotten the chance. Maybe that will finally cure him of his desire to be a starter.
And if he’s successful, then the Mets have a pitcher they can use either as a backup to the rotation or in relief. And they’ve increased his trade value!
They also have Muniz at NO who is pitching very well. So there is another arm to replace Heilman.
Seriously, some of you sound as if you’re afraid to be proven wrong with Heilman, even though if that happens it will benefit the club.
I have been saying we should have moved him when we could… Guy has been damaged ever since Yadier face took him out.
Tatis is our bench – LOL
This team is a total embarassment! I am completely ashamed to have ever called myself a true Mets fan – 30 plus years. I enjoyed almost every other group of guys except the 1993 Bobby Bonilla idiots. Now it’s time to look forward to football soon enough. Go Dolphins – at least they try!
I don’t know what you enjoyed about the Butch Husky years but ok. ‘91,’92,’93,’94,’95,’96,’02,’03,’04 were much worse. Get a grip guy.
Ok, now u r just messing with my head.
Bobby Bonilla … Butch Huskey … Indeed.
But, that’s not the 1st time I’ve heard the 93 Mets blamed solely on him,
He said black. He mentioned race. He will be fired within the scope of May.
He is racing his way to the unemployment line.
PS Willie needs some CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy).
JSC1968, have you heard how Heilman gets treated at Shea? he gets killed, and he doesn’t make idiotic comments, BTW Davey Johnson also didn’t have the Wild Card back in his day, so he would have made the playoffs more often and may of won another championship, Heilman is the new ” Doug Sisk”
Sure he does, he can’t pitch for 1 inning and he wants mgmt to give him 9 innings.
And what’s even more crazy, is the people here believing that he would be any good at it.
If anybody should be streched out it would be Sosa, he was most effective (for him) as a spot starter last year.
I wouldn’t have a problem with Sosa, but I think the options of Vargas or Armas Jr, is a better idea, especially Armas Jr, his problem was never his stuff , it was his health, and we’re asking for what? 4-5 starts, I mean he’s better than that clown Brian Lawerence, or “Lima time”, at least Armas or Sosa has a little velocity to play with
Another reason for Willie to go!
The Wilpons need to do something now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!