Opinion: How the Curtain Closed
…from what i understand, Jeff Wilpon, and other members of the front office, did not want Willie Randolph to return as the team’s manager following last season’s collapse…
…i believe he and others felt that randolph didn’t deserve to return, and that the entire organization would never turn the page while under the same leadership…also, while randolph is always given given credit for his work ethic and old school style, the sense i get – from people in and connected to the the organization – is that he did not work well with the media, was not aware of how important fan relations can be, he was stubborn with regards to how he could better relate to and motivate players, and he bristled with how upper-management involved itself in on-field decisions…in short, while people inside the organization may have valued his past success as a player and a coach, they have long questioned his ability to be a leader…
…at the end of last season, though, the team’s ownership accepted Omar Minaya’s recommendation to retain randolph, but made it quite clear that this was his decision…which may explain why this took so long to play out over the last week or so…my hunch is that there was a lot of talk in the last week between the front office and minaya on what to do, and how to handle this, all while omar tried to make his case to keep willie on…in the end, though, things got so out of hand, be it on purpose or accidental, that a move had to be made…
…all along, Fred Wilpon continued to believe in willie, mostly because omar did…plus, i sense fred is an honorable, loyal man, who wanted to see willie pull through this…
…however, i believe the final straw came when willie made his comments about race to the Bergen Record…from what i can gather, Fred Wilpon was far more upset with the racial remarks than he ever was with willie’s comments about SNY…in fact, some would argue that his comments about SNY make the network appear more impartial…nevertheless, fred prides himself on the work he has done to help bridge the racial divide in this country, and he speaks quite passionately about it…look no further than the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, which will be the cornerstone to the team’s new ball park, Citi Field…from what i understand, fred was very upset by willie’s comments, regardless of their intent…
…and so, without fred’s support, and omar’s back against the wall, and the team having gone 40–47 since September 1 of last season, the curtain closed on the Willie Randolph Era…
