October. The NFL season is in full swing. The weather is cooling down. And Major League Baseball has begun its playoff season.
As a baseball purist, I can appreciate the fact that small payroll teams made it to the playoffs this year. The Minnesota Twins . the Oakland Athletics . in fact, I'm jealous. Perhaps angry, disappointed and exasperated are other adjectives I'd use to summarize my feelings on this year's baseball season. For me, this has been the most painful season to witness in all of my years as a fan of the New York Mets.
Steve Phillips went out, spent the big bucks, broke triple figures in the millions for this year's salary ($102 million), and had his team end up 75-86. Dead last in the NL east. Twelfth out of 30 in all of baseball. Winless at home in all of August.
Robbie Alomar, a career .304 hitter went .266 this season, a career low. "Disappointment" hardly scratches the surface in describing his lackluster performance.
Mo Vaughn. Yeah, he shaped up after a rough start. What was Phillips thinking? Vaughn only weighs about 500 pounds, so his 18 errors don't come as much of a surprise. "But he can hit," you say? I'm sure the Mets were oh so thankful that they had a .259 hitter with 26 HRs and 72 RBI on their team.
Jeromy Burnitz. Who honestly didn't think Burnitz was going to absolutely stink this year? King "K" batted an awful .215 this season. AWFUL!!! 19 HR, 54 RBI, 58 walks, and 135 strikeouts. Well, I guess this is acceptable, especially for his $7 and change million salary this season. After all, Mo Vaughn made $10 million (half a mil more than Piazza) this year and he performed marginally better. By the way, Mr. Burnitz is scheduled to make $12 million next year. Way to earn your pay boys.
Roger Cedeno. What happened to his 66 steals in 1999? Or his 55 steals last year with Detroit? Suddenly, Cedeno found himself part of a pretty much useless outfield with his 25 measly stolen bases.
Oh, that's right, they need time to adjust to the intense pressure of playing in front of the big crowds in the Big Apple. Excuse me while I roll my eyes.
Despite the lack of offensive production from the new blood, the Mets' original gangsters managed to put up respectable numbers. Namely, Piazza and Alfonzo.
Piazza was by no means great this year but at least he came up with the clutch hits. Batting .280 with 33 HR and 98 RBI . when the Mets were actually able to get men on base and execute fundamentals.
Alfonzo was his usual stalwart self after an injury-plagued season last year. His power numbers were slightly down, but he came back to be the only member of the Mets with a batting average above .300 with a .308.
Pitching was not as big of a deal as the total lack of offensive production and inability to play fundamental baseball, but it was nothing that deserved any kind of praise. Al Lieter got off to a pretty good start but ended up with a 13-13 record and a 3.48 ERA. Steve Trachsel went 11-11 with a 3.37 ERA. Astacio was mediocre at best with a 12-11 record and 4.79 ERA. No comment on Jeff D'Amico's 6-10 and Shawn Estes' 4-9 performances. And where would doctors be without Armando Benitez giving Mets fans heart attacks every time he stepped on the rubber?
That takes care of the actual game. But what about off the field antics?
"I am personally embarrassed with what has happened in the last few days," Mets owner Fred Wilpon told the Associated Press after the Mets' marijuana scandal. Yes, he should be embarrassed. That his team sucks. Whether or not the marijuana scandal, which in my opinion was totally blown out of proportion, played a role in the firing of manager Bobby Valentine is still a mystery. Newsday, the paper that reported on the several Mets players who used marijuana during the season, said Wilpon's decision on the firing was based on the performance of the team in the past two years. Credibility is debatable since the story was based on anonymous sources.
When you're setting league records for most home losses in a season, most errors in all of baseball, someone has to take the fall, but Valentine's firing was unsubstantiated. Granted, an 82-80 finish in 2001 after a trip to the World Series is not great, but the Mets still had a winning record. He's 536-467 as a Mets manager. This season's 86 losses were the most since their 71-91 record in 1996, where he only coached 31 games, deeming it a less than full season. The Mets excelled under Valentine, unlike when the team was under the tutelage of Dallas Green (snicker). Never as good as their NL East nemesis, the Braves, the Mets still managed to make multiple post-season appearances. Who can forget the marathon NLCS against the Braves in 1999? Ventura's grand slam single? The Subway series World Series?
So after his first losing season as the Mets' skipper, Valentine lost his job. One might say that Valentine was just a bad manager. But managing a team well will only get it so far. Without the players actually doing their job, how can the manager do his? Pitchers throw balls at inopportune times, a la Kenny "the bum" Rogers in the '99 NLCS. Batters have slumps and can't produce. Fielders make errors - in the Mets' case, they made 144, the most in the majors. Is this the fault of the manager, or the players?
Wilpon said in his press conference that he needed a manager to motivate his players. Did he forget about the incident where Valentine snuck back into the dugout after being ejected, wearing fake glasses and a fake nose just to motivate his team? I guess the change(s) in management will be able to jump-start those players whose seasons have hit rock bottom in 2002.
Rey Ordonez put it best when he called the fans stupid in a New York Post interview. "You have to play perfect every game. You can't make an error. You can't go 0-4. Are we like machines?" Not like machines Rey, but like professional baseball players. When pro baseball players on a team with a $102 million salary can't make fundamental plays or execute and score runs, how can a fan be happy? Especially when the cross-town rival Yankees breezed into the post-season again this year.
The Mets need to get rid of their whole team. Get rid of Vaughn, although its doubtful anyone would be interested. Move Piazza to first already, and if he refuses, trade him. There's no "I" in team, and if Piazza is more concerned about some record than his team's performance, then screw him. Source outfielders who can put up some power numbers.
Fred Wilpon did mention changes in the future to the Associated Press, albeit small ones. "This organization will be a world class sports and entertainment company. It will take some time. We're in an evaluation process now. It doesn't mean it was bad before. We're not going to make change for change sake. There probably won't be massive changes. This building will be run differently."
The Mets should learn a lesson in the success of the Minnesota Twins, who built their current team mostly from their farm system. Or even the Yankees, who sourced Jeter, Bernie Williams, Soriano, Rivera, Petite and Posada from their farm system. The Mets waved bye-bye to their promising minor leaguer in Alex Escobar, who was traded for Robbie Alomar.
Whatever Wilpon and Phillips have up their sleeves, they better make sure it works. Like Ordonez said, Mets fans are stupid and expect victories. Anything less, and we want your head on a platter. Perhaps the Mets should consider changing colors, as New York teams associated with the colors blue and orange can't seem to establish a winning dynasty. At least Mets players aren't taking out their frustrations on their wives, Kurt Thomas-style.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
