Manuel’s Musing

“He was my Yale. And Felipe Alou was my Harvard.”

-Jerry Manuel on Jim Leyland and coaches he looked up to

Do not agree

From Jon Heyman's "Best decisions of the past year"...

12. The Mets' decision to retain Jerry Manuel after an abysmal 2009 season

Manuel was put on warning, but Mets ownership never seemed close to firing him, even after the team started poorly in 2010. To Manuel's credit, a more confident, positive feeling in the clubhouse has aided the team's rather stark turnaround to the top of the wild card standings. Manuel has a very thick skin (a necessity in New York) and a knack for developing a positive feeling, even when things appear down. He has an option for about $1.5 million for 2010, but a multiyear extension is in order.

To me, the Mets are winning in spite of Manuel.  He's not exactly helping the matter, but he's not really hurting them either.  Yes, he's made some strange bullpen decisions and his campaign to keep Jenrry Mejia on the Mets should have netted him a few slaps on the wrist.

But the Mets keeping Manuel isn't the 12th best decision in baseball. Right now, it's a wash, if anything.

Manuel’s Musing

“We like to win every game we can. When all is said and done, however, if you would have told me that we'd go 7-2 on this nine-game road trip, I'd take it.”

-Jerry Manuel

Today deemed victorious

Yeah, the Mets lost 4-0 to the Yankees and dropped the series to them.

But today, the Mets did the right thing.

They sent Jenrry Mejia down to Double-A Binghamton to work as a starting pitcher.

Glad the team finally got around to figuring out something the fans concluded months ago.

So celebrate, Mets fans.  The team lost today, but for the future, they are victorious.

Update – 6:17 p.m.: Bobby Parnell will replace Mejia on the Mets roster.

My family, the Yankee fans

Disclaimer: I love my family.

Second disclaimer: They’re all the worst kind of Yankee fans.

I don’t hate the Yankees.  Never have, never will.  I may root against them at times, but I don’t hate them like I hate the Phillies, Braves and Marlins.  (Sorry, Nats.)  But I do hate most Yankee fans – especially the ones my family embodies.

(Aside: Happy Father’s Day, Dad.  Thank you for making me a Mets fan.  I’ll always love you for it, even if they’re kind of dysfunctional.)

But for some reason, my family flat-out despises the New York Mets.

Not like the “Grr, that silly baseball team from Queens, taking the spotlight away from my Yanks!”  No, no.  They’re the “OOOOH METS LOSTTTTTTTTT!!! The Yankees won today! You should root for the best team!  The Yankees!!”

I try to combat that with “Hey, the Mets are still winning the season series.” or “The Yankees only have three more wins than the Mets.”

But no.  It’s always excuses for them.

“Oh, well the Yankees have been hurt! Jorge has been hurt! Joba something something. Pettitte blah blah.”

(I stop listening.)

They’re always the quickest to rub a loss in my face.  To tout the Yankees victories.  Even when they’re not playing each other.

I was teased with a “Na Na Na Poo Poo!” when the Mets season ended in ‘06, ‘07 and ‘08.  I was the subject of mockery last season with the injuries and oft-terrible play.

I’ll never understand why or how they hate my team so much.  It’s like the Mets are some sort of evil cousin to the all-mighty Yankees and they must be taunted and made fun of at every turn.

So yeah, I love my family.  But I really hate that they’re Yankee fans.

Manuel’s Musing

“There will be times when it appears to be some frustration. But he lets it out, and he gets back to playing baseball.”

-Jerry Manuel on Jose Reyes

Yessir!

They must be butter

Because they’re on a roll.

I’m both pleasantly surprised and very, very pleased with the Mets right now.  Sweeping the Orioles and Indians is something they needed to do, but never did I think they would actually do it.  Francisco Rodriguez tried his darndest to not let that happen, but the Mets and K-Rod were able to snatch victories away from the jaws of defeat each time. 

Now, with the Mets on a seven-game winning streak, including six straight on the road – which is a shocker in it of itself – they’ll come back “home” to New York for a series against the Yankees in the Bronx.

The Mets, as likely none of us would have expected, are just one half game out of first place, trailing the Atlanta Braves.  They’re also a full three games ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies.  The Braves will be taking on the lowly Kansas City Royals this weekend, so winning against the Yankees is going to be important.

But – and here’s the gist of this whole post – I’m confident in the team.  And that’s something that hasn’t been said in a while.

Yes, it’s only mid-June.  Yes, the bullpen is way too shaky for my liking.  Yes, Jenrry Mejia is still on the team for no good reason.

But I like the way they’re playing.  I like that Carlos Beltran is inching closer to a return.  I like that R.A. Dickey continues to be lightning in a bottle for the team.

Confidence in the Mets is something I haven’t had in a while.  After last season’s fundamentally- and health-challenged team, it was hard to “believe” in 2010.  Heck, I was already looking forward to 2011.  But the team has played well recently, and now I actually expect the team to win when they take the field.  Usually, it was just a happy surprised.

And that is an amazin’ feeling.

Quoted in AMNY

This was page 26 of yesterday’s AMNY.

This marks the second time I’ve been quoted in AMNY, as something I said also appeared the day after Willie Randolph was fired.

Go me!

Manuel’s Musing

“I did not envision him being able to have a dominant game like he had the last game.”

-Jerry Manuel instilling confidence in Jon Niese