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You grab the phone by the side of your bed and the voice at the other end says, "Good morning, Sandy."
You shake loose the cobwebs and realize that, amazingly, you're still Sandy Alderson. And being the general manager of a team on the rocks has led to some late nights recently. Stuck with a mandate to choose an experienced MLB manager, and not fully satisfied with the options presented thus far, you call the guy you really didn't want to call. You haven't spoken to Ira Levin, your director of player development, since that moment when Dominic Smith tossed the ball to a stationary pitcher on a play that already had the secondbaseman covering first. Why, hadn't Ira assured you Smith was a fundamentally complete player? Ready for prime time. DePodesta he is NOT.
So you did what any tyrant would do. You didn't fire him. You kept him around to be a lightning rod for criticism, to make him miserable. To torment and humiliate to keep everybody else on their toes.
Not really. You're not a dick. But you did freeze him out a little bit until late last night, when you gave him the call everybody in the organization is starting to worry they're gonna get. "Ira? Sandy. Sorry to call so late ... "
"You need 17 big league managers."
"You've been talking to J.P."
"Terry, actually. Whoo, boy, you gave that guy a red ass."
"It doesn't take a lot to get him there, if you know what I mean. How soon can you ..."
"I'll have it first thing in the morning. I'm just cross-checking my names with Terry's. And Terry's kinda blasted, and his handwriting sucks, and his lists are kind of soaked in beer. And they smell like eggs."
"How about that Ira?" you think. "Maybe he's got the answer."
Maybe, indeed. But now it's first thing in the morning, and this is the list you've got. Which of these four guys gets called in for an interview?
| Mgr | Age | Team(s) | Yrs | From | To | W | L | W-L% | Ties | G > .500 | G | W Post | L Post | W-L% Post | Best Fin | Wrst Fin | Av Rk | Plyof App | WS won | Penn Won | ASG | Mets Connection | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/b/b469ea62_manager.jpg[/fimg] | Robin Ventura | 50 | CHW | 5 | 2012 | 2016 | 375 | 435 | .463 | 0 | -60 | 810 | 0 | 0 | | 2 | 5 | 3.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Player, 1999-2001. | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/9/94b11259_davis.jpg[/fimg] | Tim Bogar | 51 | TEX | 1 | 2014 | 2014 | 14 | 8 | .636 | 0 | 6 | 22 | 0 | 0 | | 5 | 5 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mets minor leaguer, 1987-1996, Mets player, 1993-1996. | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/e/ea5285a9_davis.jpg[/fimg] | Eric Wedge | 50 | CLE, SEA | 10 | 2003 | 2013 | 774 | 846 | .478 | 0 | -72 | 1620 | 6 | 5 | .545 | 1 | 4 | 3.3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/d/dab27ce9_davis.jpg[/fimg] | Bob Geren | 56 | OAK | 5 | 2007 | 2011 | 334 | 376 | .470 | 0 | -42 | 710 | 0 | 0 | | 2 | 4 | 3.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bench coach, 2012, 2015; I think he also had an older brother who played for the Mets in the minors | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/5/53884672_manager.jpg[/fimg] | Trey Hillman | 55 | KCR | 3 | 2008 | 2010 | 152 | 207 | .423 | 0 | -55 | 359 | 0 | 0 | | 4 | 5 | 4.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/d/dbc2cbf3_davis.jpg[/fimg] | Dave Clark | 55 | HOU | 1 | 2009 | 2009 | 4 | 9 | .308 | 0 | -5 | 13 | 0 | 0 | | 5 | 5 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/e/e0629b8b_davis.jpg[/fimg] | Lee Mazzilli | 63 | BAL | 2 | 2004 | 2005 | 129 | 140 | .480 | 0 | -11 | 269 | 0 | 0 | | 3 | 4 | 3.4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mets minor leaguer, 1974-1976; Mets player, 1976-1981, 1986-1989; Mets broadcaster, 2007-2008; son plays in Mets' minor league system, 2013-present. | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/f/faa1186a_davis.jpg[/fimg] | Gary Varsho | 56 | PIT | 1 | 2004 | 2004 | 1 | 1 | .500 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 2 | 2 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/e/e5b7dcd5_davis.jpg[/fimg] | Tony Muser | 70 | KCR | 6 | 1997 | 2002 | 317 | 431 | .424 | 0 | -114 | 748 | 0 | 0 | | 3 | 5 | 4.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/2/2e2bdf27_davis.jpg[/fimg] | Larry Rothschild | 64 | TBR | 4 | 1998 | 2001 | 205 | 294 | .411 | 0 | -89 | 499 | 0 | 0 | | 5 | 5 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/7/7c402f6d_davis.jpg[/fimg] | Marcel Lachemann | 76 | CAL | 3 | 1994 | 1996 | 161 | 170 | .486 | 0 | -9 | 331 | 0 | 0 | | 2 | 4 | 3.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/f/feb39a5f_davis.jpg[/fimg] | Roger Craig | 88 | SDP, SFG | 10 | 1978 | 1992 | 738 | 737 | .500 | 0 | 1 | 1475 | 7 | 9 | .438 | 1 | 6 | 3.4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Brooklyn Dodger, 1955-57; original Met, 1962-63; threw first pitch in Mets history; coached ex-Met Mike Scott and made a monster of him. | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/0/0cc86f60_manager.jpg[/fimg] | Stump Merrill | 74 | NYY | 2 | 1990 | 1991 | 120 | 155 | .436 | 0 | -35 | 275 | 0 | 0 | | 5 | 7 | 5.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/8/8b4688c4_davis.jpg[/fimg] | Tommy Helms | 76 | CIN | 2 | 1988 | 1989 | 28 | 36 | .438 | 0 | -8 | 64 | 0 | 0 | | 2 | 5 | 3.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/1/18c57e34_davis.jpg[/fimg] | Mike Ferraro | 73 | CLE, KCR | 2 | 1983 | 1986 | 76 | 98 | .437 | 0 | -22 | 174 | 0 | 0 | | 3 | 7 | 5.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/7/789d55a7_davis.jpg[/fimg] | Frank Howard | 81 | SDP, NYM | 2 | 1981 | 1983 | 93 | 133 | .412 | 0 | -40 | 226 | 0 | 0 | | 6 | 6 | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mets third base coach, 1982; Mets third base coach, 1983-84, 1994-96; Mets interim manager, 1983. | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/2/2a67dfbc_davis.jpg[/fimg] | Alex Grammas | 92 | PIT, MIL | 3 | 1969 | 1977 | 137 | 191 | .418 | 0 | -54 | 328 | 0 | 0 | | 3 | 6 | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
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