On June 16 the Mets defeated the Angels to pull within one game of .500, at 34-35, but more importantly they made a managerial change that would alter the scope of their season.
Up until that night in Anaheim, the underachieving Mets seemed to be playing through a haze, still haunted by the demons of the 2007 collapse. Each and every loss was rife with heartbreak and every win included threats of the same. Starting with the first loss of the season, rumors and uncertainties about Willie Randolph’s job security swirled around the Mets and ran rampant throughout the intense New York media.
With every loss Randolph moved closer and closer to the edge, and became more and more noticeably distressed in his dealings with the prodding media. His insecurity came to a head in early June, when he mistakenly made some off-hand remarks that were construed to mean he thought he was treated unfairly by the SNY broadcast team, the media and the Mets’ organization in part due to his race. Naturally, his comments, although somewhat taken out of context, did nothing other than add fuel to the fire.
Day to day, fans and media types were unsure of who would be managing the Mets for that night’s game. Presumably, it was just as much of a daily mystery to Mets players and coaches. Countless rumors of managerial changes circulated through the New York media and spread to the national level, until finally Willie Randolph was given his walking papers late that June night.
The Jerry Manuel era didn’t start out too swimmingly, as he immediately engaged in a first inning argument with Jose Reyes, who pled his case to stay in the game after a minor injury, a bit too vigorously. The Mets dropped that game to the Angels 6-1 in uninspiring fashion, and it looked like the disappointing ’08 season would continue on.
And it did—but not for long. When the calendar changed to July, it was like a switch was flipped—the Mets went on a tear, winning 10 straight around the All-Star break and going 17-7 in the month. They followed that up with an 18-8 August, and began September 6-2. Throughout the second half they spent a fair share of time in first place in the NL East, culminating in a 3.5-game lead with 17 games to play.
It wasn’t just the piling wins that were a good sign; the Mets looked like a completely different team under Manuel. The tension, fragility and hesitance the Mets exhibited through 79 games were replaced with a newfound resilience, vitality and confidence. Surely it didn’t hurt that Carlos Delgado suddenly found his swing, Fernando Tatis batted just under .400 for the month of July, and Johan Santana didn’t lose a game after June 28, but the Mets undoubtedly played with an entirely new style and swagger under Manuel.
Was it Jerry Manuel who caused the change? Maybe, but not necessarily. Conceivably the managerial change was the catalyst, not necessarily the switch to Manuel. With constant rumors and speculation surrounding the managerial situation on a daily basis, and a steady barrage of related questions from the media every day, it surely must have been difficult for Mets players to put their complete focus toward the most important facet of playing major league baseball: winning games. Perhaps the riddance of such distractions was the principle reason behind the Mets’ turnaround.
None of this discounts Manuel’s merits as a manger: he exhibited a likeable personality, immediately built a friendly rapport with the hounding media, and impressed many Mets fans with his desire to play the hot hand—and for the better part of three months the team exhibited a much stronger character, that seemed to be a direct reflection of the man at the helm.
Now of course we all know there’s one of those cliché 800-pound gorillas hanging out in the living room: the second straight collapse with 17 games to play. The lethargy and inconsistency the Mets played with for the second half of 2007 and the first two months of ’08 were back, and even the vaunted Manuel couldn’t shake that stigma.
Does Manuel deserve to come back and manage the Mets again next year? Yes, he does. We must take into account his entire body of work as Mets manager, not just the last couple of weeks. He handled every facet of managing in New York fantastically, and the team showed marked improvement with Manuel as manager.
With that said, like Willie Randolph in the early going of this past season, Manuel should be kept on a short leash. There is no doubt that in 2009 Manuel will face the same type of pressure from the fans and the media that Randolph was confronted with when the team was playing poorly early on in ’08. Manuel has shown that he has the personality to withstand that type of treatment, and the ability to motivate the team. The length of Manuel’s contract (two years with a club option for a third) is justifiable because it is unlikely the Mets would have been able to sign him without at least a second year guaranteed, and the team’s performance under Manuel over the next two seasons will make the Mets front office’s decision on the third year option a very easy one.
Jerry Manuel at the very least earned a chance to try to rebound from the crushing end to the 2008 season, and the Mets’ brass rewarded him justly. The key for Manuel to prove his doubters wrong is simple: WIN.
