Early Morning Madness: Attitude edition

So far, so good. Sure it's only two games, but I like the way Jerry Manuel is handling himself, and more importantly, his team.

He's laying down the law, making it clear he's not going to take any crap from the players, and if they don't give everything they have, they simply won't play.

The team seems like a weight has been lifted off of them. I've never seen them so happy, jovial, and excited to get out and play the bottom of the tenth inning as they were last night. A good start for Manuel, now the Mets just need to keep it going.

As Jerry says, "Gangstas on the field, ladies on the bus."

** * **

A hand must go out to the Oliver Perez and the bullpen for their performances last night.

Ollie was not anything special, but after he gave up three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, Manuel brought him out for the sixth, and he allowed only a single before inducing and inning ending double play.

The bullpen then came out and let up only one hit, a single in the bottom of the seventh inning off of Joe Smith. Lights out.

** * **

Every time I think Carlos Delgado is cooked, he does something to surprise me.

One at-bat he looks absolutely lost at the plate, swinging way too early or way too late. A few innings later he comes up and hits a screamer over the center field wall. He then proceeds to look like he's playing in a fog the rest of the game.

Part of me wants the Mets to call up Mike Carp, badly. But, and this part of me must be living in my little pinky toe, thinks Delgado is just a few lucky hits away from getting in the groove. His problem is that he's started to go to left field a whole lot less. Bunt more, I say. And if at all possible, hit the ball to the left side of the mound.

TSTDIA: Mets 5 -- Angels 4

The sentence(s) that define it all: I'm so glad I stayed up for this one. Congrats to Jerry Manuel for picking up his first win as the Mets skipper.

The Mets battled back in the 9th inning, with David Wright driving in Jose Reyes to tie it, and rallied in the 10th to take the lead, thanks to a Damion Easley home run. Billy Wagner came in and shut the door, retiring the side in order, to earn the Mets easily their best win of the year.

This is the kind of game that can turn your season around. Big win.

Why the Mets should sign Richie Sexson

That's right everyone, I think the Mets should sign Richie Sexson.

The extremely tall right handed first baseman is extremely close to being released by the Seattle Mariners. In 434 at-bats with the Mariners last year, Sexson hit a measly .205. This year, he's batting a cool .219.

Still, I think Sexson should be in the Mets organization for one reason, and one reason only:

• To take the place of Mike Carp in Binghamton if/when Carp gets promoted to New Orleans or, by some stroke of luck, the New York Mets.

Sexson would be a great fit...in double-A.

Over a day later, and I'm still confused by the fans reaction

For months upon months, I've head a large minority of Mets fans screaming and clamoring for the Mets to fire Willie Randolph.

When the Mets finally pulled the proverbial trigger, the fans are in an uproar...of distaste.

Where are the people that hated Randolph? Where are the ones that wanted him fired months ago? Where are the fans that hated Randolph from the start (I'm looking at you, Brothers Wilpon)?

I'm so confused.

Added: I've seen a bunch of comments calling manager a "good" or "great" manager. Again I ask, where were these people praising Randolph while he was the manager.

Sometimes I think people just want to find fault at all times. Damned if they do, damned if they don't type of thing. I'm not claiming the Mets should be cleared of all charges, but an overwhelming number of people voted in the last poll to "Fire Willie!" and now that he's gone, and overwhelming number of people disagree with the move.

Make up your minds!

I am not alone

This morning I wrote that I had never the mainstream media come crashing down on one team with such negativity before. Finally, I found someone that agrees with me.

Toasty Joe, from "Yes Joe, It's Toasted," puts it as perfectly as humanly possible:

But come the f*** on already. This hysterical outrage from the media is laughable. It's like they shot the man. "They owed him better than this"? Why? If anything he owed them after what happened last year. And was he delivering this season? F***, no. In fact, his players were lazy, sloppy, disinterested, undisciplined, and bickering. He deserved to get fired, and frankly, the more I thought about it, the less I gave a rat's ass that the man had to endure the indignity of a free, first-class plane trip to California to finally learn his fate.

Though I would've done it without profanity (though sometimes I wish I could use some curse words), this is pure genius. Well done sir.

Early Morning Madness: First day on the job

In the first minute of Jerry Manuel's coaching tenure with the Mets, he ran into a problem. Jose Reyes led off the game with a single, and while standing on first, began grabbing the back of his knee.

Manuel, along with the trainer came out to check on Reyes. Manuel did the right thing, and pulled Reyes from the game, replacing him with Damion Easley.

Reyes was none too pleased, huffing and puffing like a little kid and throwing his helmet to the ground as he entered the dugout, and eventually into the clubhouse.

Manuel handled it beautifully, following Reyes into the clubhouse to talk about the little incident that just occured. One can only speculate what was said, but Bart Hubbuch in the POST relays the post game quotes:

"Really, the behavior is pretty much unacceptable," Manuel said of Reyes' tantrum. "But the attitude is something that can help us win ballgames."

Reyes, who is expected back in the lineup tonight, apologized to Manuel in the next inning and said he understood his new manager's thinking.

"I want to play, but Jerry was just trying to take care of me," Reyes said. "He made the right decision, because it's a long season and I need to stay healthy the whole season."

Perfectly handled by Manuel, and a good reaction from Reyes. Manuel has to play with a heavy hand these first few games, to let the players know what he's going to be like the rest of the year. He cannot have players walking all over him, and he's doing his best to make sure that never happens.

Oh, and Reyes should be back in the lineup tonight. The injury was just a little tweak of the hamstring.

*****

Manuel's first day was excellent. He handled himself very well at the press conference, joking around and showing emotion. A novel idea.

His one drawback, if I must have one (and I do), is that Trot Nixon was not in the starting lineup. John Lackey is a righty, and Nixon is more capable in the outfield than Marlon Anderson. Nixon should have been in right field, with Endy Chavez in left.

It's not like Nixon has bad numbers against Lackey. He's a career .250 hitter (4-16), with a double, RBI, walk and strikeout.

Hopefully, Nixon is in the lineup tonight against Jon Garland, a pitcher he is also batting .250 lifetime against.

*****

I must say, I've never seen the media dish out such negative remarks towards one team in a one day period.

I've only seen a handful of articles from the mainstream that actually spell out that this might have been the right thing to do, and the time was unavoidable.

The best article of the day came from longtime Star-Ledger writer, Moss Klein: Mets GM Minaya has nothing on George Steinbrenner.

Finally, someone is talking some sense.

TSTDIA: Angels 6 -- Mets 1

The sentences that define it all: New manager, same Mets.

It's 3:11 a.m. Do you know where your manager is?

Jerry Manuel is still the manager of the New York Mets 24 hours later.

Ken Oberkfell, Dan Warthen and Luis Aguayo are also still employed.

Just keeping you as updated as possible.

Let the Manuel Era begin

Good luck, Jerry Manuel.

Coaches shuffle

Jerry Manuel just announced his plans for the coaching staff.

Sandy Alomar Sr. will be the new bench coach.
Ken Oberkfell will be the first base coach.
Luis Aguayo is the third base coach.

As reported earlier, Dan Warthen will be the pitching coach.

I like these moves.

Alomar is more than fit to be the bench coach, in my opinion.

Oberkfell, possibly, is being groomed to take over next year. Omar Minaya likes to promote from within, so it's a definite possibility. Don't count out Howard Johnson for the spot.

Good luck at third base, Aguayo. Don't send Brian Schneider home on a strong arm. His feet are practically lead filled.