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Memories of Mickey

Edgy MD Oct 03 2019 10:44 AM

Somehow went 11-1 out of the box in 2018. He sure looked good when the Mets were winning, but even then, if you looked closer, a lot of head-scratching philosophical strangeness. Guilty of a batting-out-of-order violation, something that occurs about as often as a no-hitter. The seventeenth Mets manager, but only the sixth to go out with a winning record.

Johnny Lunchbucket Oct 03 2019 11:02 AM Re: Memories of Mickey

The batting-out-of-order thing was just so emblematic of the Mickey Era. He wasn't prepared, it cost the team a game it should won, and was part of these stretches of awful baseball he was unable to pull them out from until it was too late. Other incidents of seeming unpreparedness peppered his era (like pointedly not working out Smith in the outfield in spring training then being forced to due to injuries; expressing hard-and-fast 9th-inning, lead-only rules for Diaz then changing his tune). Went on and on. Like Art Howe IMO, he "lit up the room" during his intro press conference and I really bought into the notion we had a rising star. But as a rookie he needed friends in the org and at the same time he was arriving Fred was manuevering with Omar to push Sandy overboard and/or give him cancer. Never appeared completely comfortable as a manager, *especially* when he was trying to express confidence in a decision. You always felt he was trying to give the answer he felt people wanted to hear and not necessarily his true feelings. Graciously gave up 36 in the Kooz retirement thing saying all the right things about what an honor it was to have worn his jersey. Immediately afterward asked about taking on a new No. 26, confessed he doesn't give a shit what number he wears. In both cases he was only trying produce the right soundbite and it never seemed to occur to him they were so opposed

G-Fafif Oct 03 2019 11:55 AM Re: Memories of Mickey Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Oct 03 2019 12:11 PM

I came to sort of admire him as his tenure neared his end -- not enough to feel we're missing out on a great thing by dismissing him, but kind of seeing the better aspects of what he brought to the table. I watched him from the back of the room when he met the press after arguably the greatest win of his two years, the night they beat the Nationals 7-6 after trailing 6-3 in the ninth. He was absolutely calm after the explosion of emotion on the field. That was what being a manager called for. Let the players celebrate. Mickey was always confident in them (or that was the impression he conveyed). He said something about having basically no life outside the ballpark, taking his meals there and going home late at night and coming back early the next day. I'm not sure what that says other than maybe the food is pretty good at the job. The blowup with Tim Healey was absolutely absurd. The condoning of Cano's jogging was ridiculous. His inability to articulate a Diaz usage policy was indicative of a guy who didn't really know what to do or how to say it. And this was in the season when he was better at managing than he was the year before. I do believe the players played hard while he managed, but I don't know if that translates to "played hard for Mickey." If they're quality players and quality people, they'll play hard when the next guy is there.

Centerfield Oct 03 2019 11:59 AM Re: Memories of Mickey

I bought into the "smart guy" propaganda that winter too. But immediately upon starting it didn't seem the case. Even during the 11-1 start I questioned his bullpen usage. Turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg. My first impression of him was that I didn't like the way he spoke. It's kind of a weird accent or cadence that's extremely off-putting. As time wore on it became more and more grating. I think he is my least favorite manager of all time. And that's saying something considering how much I didn't like WWSB. Went fishing with Don Jr. about ten seconds into his regime. We shoulda known then.

seawolf17 Oct 03 2019 12:02 PM Re: Memories of Mickey

=Centerfield post_id=23643 time=1570125540 user_id=65] Went fishing with Don Jr. about ten seconds into his regime. We shoulda known then.

Holy shit, I completely forgot about that.

batmagadanleadoff Oct 03 2019 12:04 PM Re: Memories of Mickey

I thought he'd be great at handling the bullpen because, well, because he said all the right things. And because over his last two seasons at Cleveland, the Tribe had arguably the best reliever in baseball over that time, Andrew Miller, who had comparatively few saves and was used like an elite reliever oughtta be used -- in high leverage situations, to hell with the save. I guess that was the manager's thing and not Callaway the pitching coach's thing -- at least going by the way he handled the Mets pen.

Edgy MD Oct 03 2019 12:06 PM Re: Memories of Mickey

Always seemed to be playing the long game, even as time was growing short. To the extent that I could sense a philosophy in how he deployed his players, he seemed more committed to deploying them so as to best fuel their development, rather than to put that aside for the moment in order to take a winnable game. You know, since maybe Dallas Green, the Mets have always had managers who were impressively fit for their age bracket. Jerry was probably the softest of the lot, and he wasn't really soft.

LWFS Oct 03 2019 12:45 PM Re: Memories of Mickey

Went fishing with Don Jr. about ten seconds into his regime. We shoulda known then. Holy shit, I completely forgot about that. "When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time." -Director of Stanza Development M. Angelou I remember him fucking up, like, a dozen double switches. In all fairness, though, it was probably really only a half-dozen.

Edgy MD Oct 03 2019 12:51 PM Re: Memories of Mickey

deGrom wasn't the only ace he had. [FIMG=500]https://miro.medium.com/max/1108/1*WI1xwrKUvc0URD2oJIhNJg.png[/FIMG]

seawolf17 Oct 03 2019 01:23 PM Re: Memories of Mickey

=batmagadanleadoff post_id=23646 time=1570125893 user_id=68] I thought he'd be great at handling the bullpen because, well, because he said all the right things. And because over his last two seasons at Cleveland, the Tribe had arguably the best reliever in baseball over that time, Andrew Miller, who had comparatively few saves and was used like an elite reliever oughtta be used -- in high leverage situations, to hell with the save. I guess that was the manager's thing and not Callaway the pitching coach's thing -- at least going by the way he handled the Mets pen.

This. I really thought he was going to be this pitching mastermind.

Johnny Lunchbucket Oct 03 2019 09:24 PM Re: Memories of Mickey

My first impression of him was that I didn't like the way he spoke. It's kind of a weird accent or cadence that's extremely off-putting. As time wore on it became more and more grating. "We neeeed that energy. That's what we neeeed"

bmfc1 Oct 04 2019 06:28 AM Re: Memories of Mickey

Inept at in-game managing despite the presence of Riggleman and the other 10 coaches. Everyone screws up but he was no better last month than when he started. OTOH, he was friendly enough to walk down the RF line at Roger Dean Stadium last March for autographs.

Fman99 Oct 04 2019 06:27 PM Re: Memories of Mickey

The first rule of being an MLB manager is that you shouldn't be a clueless fuck on in-game decisions. I mean, go learn the trade in A ball somewhere, in Tulsa, in the heartlands, where you can't ruin my day with your oafish bumblings.

kcmets Oct 04 2019 07:30 PM Re: Memories of Mickey

Bullpen let the team and us fans down. Someone's gotta pay and it's often Skip. Sure there were a good number of head scratching moves the last two years but lob'n with no one out and blowing saves or constantly not scoring when the 'King of the Hill' is on your team ain't on the the field general. Good luck to him, hope he soon gets another MLB job in a lesser role than manager.

MFS62 Oct 04 2019 07:34 PM Re: Memories of Mickey

Thinking to myself, "Why did he do THAT"? Often screaming it. Lots of times. Later