Giving me the Willies

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Willie Randolph kept his job but I hope he gets better at it.   (Photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports).

by Jimmy Russotto

 

10/2/07

 

While I  was apprehensive that the Mets would indeed fire Willie Randolph as manager after their unprecedented fold from the top spot in the NL East, after hearing Omar Minaya and several columnists discuss the entire fold scenario, I’m afraid that Willie may be getting off a little too easy.  I don’t know that anyone is recognizing some flaws in Willie’s style that very likely did hurt the club in general and some of the individuals that were key to its success, or lack thereof.

 

There are four major personality traits that I think separate Willie from the rest of the coaching population.  They are as follows:

 

1. Incurable Stubbornness
2. Tendency to challenge his players
3. Likes to show his confidence in players
4. Stays with “his guys”

 

His stubbornness or inflexibility is shown just by looking at him.  His whole demeanor while not unpleasant does exude a firmness and tenacity that you’d be foolish to try to go up against.  The first instance of this was his handling of Aaron Heilman.  Early in the season, Aaron didn’t want to continue in his short relief role.  He wanted an opportunity to be a starter.  It didn’t take too long before it was quite evident that Heilman wasn’t going anywhere.  While Heilman did perform adequately as the set-up man for Wagner, I don’t think he was so good in that role that it should have totally erased any chance of his becoming a starter, especially when the starting pitching went south.  (Omar Minaya must be charged with the responsibility for the composition of the Mets pitching staff, which was short on both starting and relief pitching).

 

Willie also seemed to want to re-create Jose Reyes in his own image and make Jose a slap-hitter, somebody who’d just get on base, either by walking or slapping the outside pitch over the shortstop’s head.  Jose Reyes throughout his short career had been a .300 hitter with considerable power, somebody more in the mold of Ricky Henderson than Phil Rizzuto or Willie Randolph.  As good as Reyes had been going into the All-Star break, his performance never seemed good enough for Willie.  I think this affected Reyes’s performance down the stretch.

           

The second thing about Willie that comes to mind is that he likes to put his players in challenging situations.  This was seen quite often with his handling of the pitching staff.  How often was Billie Wagner inserted into the game in non-save situations, and how often was he inserted in the 8^th inning with runners in scoring position?  I can’t tell you exactly how many times it happened, and some of the appearances were just to get Billie some work, which is perfectly ok, but Billie conspicuously failed on at least two or three of these occasions, and let’s face it, the Mets lost the NL East by just one game.  

 

This need to challenge his players also was shown in his tendency to stay with his starters and relievers too long, especially down the stretch.  While it may seem an admirable trait to many, (after all, every challenge faced just makes us stronger, right?), at the tail end of a long season, all of these challenges had actually weakened his staff.  It was a classic case of going to the well too often.  Aaron Heilman for example pitched a whopping 86 innings, most of them one long inning at a time.  Too often, especially in that interminable August, pitchers failed when challenged.

 

The third and fourth traits could in all fairness probably be characterized as just one.  Willie likes to show confidence at all times, especially in his key players, guys like Beltran and Delgado, Wright and LoDuca.  It seemed obvious that these players needed a rest during the season, especially when they were enjoying the big lead.  Every one of these players experienced some long stretches of having totally lost their feel at the plate, but they were doggedly inserted into the lineup every single long day.  They were Willie’s tough guys and they needed to show it.  At the same time, he had players chomping at the bit to get a chance to play, guys like Milledge, Castro and Chavez when he was healthy.  (There isn’t even another third-baseman on the roster, another almost ridiculous deficiency for a team with pennant aspirations).

 

Don’t think for one second that, despite this litany of faults I’ve assembled here, I want Willie replaced.  I want Willie Randolph on the sideline.  I want to see that rigid bearing, that professional presence in the dugout every day.  I want to see the players having a good time too, something for which Willie has no problem, while all across this land, silly anal sportswriters, and opponents too, seem to have joined the followers of the “No Fun League”, frowning upon and penalizing every outward show of emotion.  (Oh, how I’ll miss this baseball season).

 

But I do want Willie to get a little better, especially with the pitchers.  He stays with them too long.  With his key players, he beats them into the ground.  With his young players, he intimidates them into sulking wrecks.  He needs to adapt his style to the individuals he faces everyday.  He needs to recognize that all of his players have personalities, and some won’t respond favorably to Willie’s own personal likes and dislikes.

 

If, next year, we are all sitting around moping about another Mets failure to finish the season, to win the NL East, then I have to think I’ll cease to be in Willie’s corner.  Then, I’ll no doubt ask that Willie be fired.  Make no mistake, despite the obvious lack of pitching and relievers, there were some good and great athletes on this team, some athletes that could have performed a lot better if handled a little differently, especially down the stretch.

 

So kudos to Omar Minaya and Wilpon for keeping him on, but let’s not forget that he could have been at least a little better.