Willie pens his own article

Click here to read Willie Randolph's own article, appearing in the Daily News. It's very cool to see, almost play-by-play, how the whole thing went down between himself and Omar Minaya.

Some excerpts:

It got to the point over the last month or so that whenever I saw the word "sources" in a story, I knew either me or someone on my staff was going to be declared on the verge of unemployment.
...
Omar went on and on, looking very uncomfortable, this weird chill started to course through by body. I could feel myself going cold. He kept talking, almost stammering, and the chill got worse.

Suddenly, it occurred to me that maybe he was talking about me. Maybe I was the one about to get whacked.

Finally, I stopped him. I looked right at him.

"Omar, are you firing me?" I asked. He looked away for a minute and then met my eyes. "Yeah, I'm going to make a move," he said. "It's a hard decision, but I have to make it."

...
"You don't have to say anything more, Omar," I said. "I came here to win, and if you don't feel I'm the guy to get that done, then it's your right to make a change. I'm eternally grateful for the opportunity you gave me. I want you to know that."
...
Look, nobody needs to tell me that the Mets have been maddeningly inconsistent for the last year and a half. If I want to take the credit for 2006 - when I felt we were the best team in baseball and our season ended one hit short of the World Series - then I have to take the hit for what happened since - the collapse last September, and the ups and downs of this year.

And you know what's also on me? The dumb, and horribly timed, remarks I made to a New Jersey reporter after we took two straight from the Yankees last month, when what I thought were private remarks became very public.

The bottom line is that by suggesting that the color of my skin had something to do with how I was judged, I did nothing but sow the seeds of my demise. I kick myself about that every day. It makes me angry - and really sad.

I suggest you go read the whole article. He handles himself fairly well, though it rubs off as somewhat forced. Randolph is a class act, but he just was not the fit for this team, right now.

I don't think Randolph will get a job this year (Seattle?) or even next year. I can see the Yankees taking him back as a bench coach or in the minors somewhere.

Happy trails, Willie!