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Prior to yesterday’s game against the Brewers, the Mets did not take batting practice and all of their normal pre game activities, instead arriving at Miller Park all together on a team bus.
According to Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post players normally arrive to visiting ballparks in taxi cabs, but Jerry Manuel ordered a “team-building exercise.”
Francisco Rodriguez told reporters that it “was a little weird” but “hopefully, that will bring us together and keep us together and start us playing in the right way. We win, so that means it’s a good thing.”
…i am not sure that this will necessarily translate into wins, but i do think that it is important that this group of players be brought together in some way since they had never played together before the injuries set in to the core group…
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I might be tempted to do it for the rest of the road trip.
Right out of the Lou Brown school of management, which should be appreciated.
Unfortunately, this is not a movie … (perhaps it is a horror flick?).
Maybe Jerry was sending them a message along the lines of “if you want to play like minor leaguers, you’re going to travel like them too”
Call me cynical, but this feels more like a PR stunt than “old school” management. I think I saw that Jerry had planned the team bus ride listed here twice, in Adam Rubin’s blog, and in the NY Post. If the Mets win, Jerry’s a genius, he’s getting the most out of his club, etc, etc. If the Mets lose, well at least he’s trying to think outside the box, he’s not afraid to take risks, etc.
Out of all the different aspects that lead to to a winning ballclub, I think “taking a team bus ride together” ranks right above “shaving our heads at the same time” and below “wearing knee high socks with your pants tucked into them to break out of a slump.”
If its one thing Jerry does know to do it’s how to play the media and cover his butt at the same time!
If he spent as much energy managing as he does putting on a show we would probably be in first right now!
If a bus trip is what it takes to get our team together, then we’ve got big problems…
Why? In this day and age most teams are not united because they all go their separate ways after games and show up on their own before games. When things go bad in any business, sometimes a little reminder of the importance of unity is necessary, and since a picnic isn’t going to happen, what do you suggest they do.
They should all go to Scores one night before an off day…Male bonding at its finest!