.........or your team seriously under performs for the last year, but this isn't a children's book nor are we talking about monopoly money in a fantasy baseball league, this Mets team has certainly been a cause for consternation during that time span.
Omar Minaya let the word slip out just after midnight PST (3:14 a.m in the east) that Willie Randolph would be let go as Mets manager, just a couple of hours after a hard fought 9-6 win over the Anaheim Angels, though the general manager manager would not make himself available for comment for several hours afterward. The very strange timing of the announcement, announced just after the first day on a six-game western road swing for the Mets, certainly has made the Mets front office look incredibly inept, none of my friends have made positive comments about the way Randolph was let go, nor about the way the rumours kept swirling for the last couple of weeks that any game could be Willie's last.
The game itself was a good one, Jose Reyes conjured up a couple of runs by his base running, Carlos Beltran hit a couple of home runs, and a relatively balanced hitting attack (every starter save Carlos Delgado and Trot Nixon) got a hit along with either a run or an RBI. Starting pitcher Mike Pelphrey did a decent job in securing the win, though he faltered in the seventh inning and was charged with all six runs that the Angels scored.
It has to be said that the job Aaron Heilman did in the seventh was great; as team the Mets pitchers only struck out two batters, but those came at a very critical time in the bottom of the seventh and Heilman recorded both of them. The Angels had closed the Mets lead to 8-6 and had runners on the corners with just one out, but Heilman got both Vlad Guerrero and Torii Hunter swinging at the third strike to quell that rally, leaving Duaner Sanchez to get the Angles 1-2-3 in the eight. Billy Wagner raised blood pressure around the country by getting two runners on base with one out, but got bailed out when Garrett Anderson lined out to Reyes for an unassisted double play to end the game.
Not many Mets fans are arguing that Willie shouldn't have been fired, nor do they seem to expect a bit turnaround now that bench coach Jerry Manuel has been named interim manager, but the actions of the last 24 hours have left a feeling that Minaya certainly knows his days are numbered if the team doesn't turn it around and soon.
METS GAME RECAP
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