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Yahoo Sports interviewed Davey Johnson, mostly because he's managing the US Olympic baseball team. The whole interview can be found [url=http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/A-conversation-with-USA-Olympic-team-manager-Dav;_ylt=AoD8h5yu7gcQILObAiKAXgU5nYcB?urn=mlb,91172]here[/url], but I wanted to pull out the portions of the interview where he talks about the Mets:
]Q: What was your reaction to the way the Mets handled the Wilie Randolph situation?
DJ: Well, (chuckles a little bit), A lot of times I think big organizations in New York, that's part of the way they like to do business. I remember when I was fired, and I was very successful. We won a World Series (in 1986).
We were on the road, I'm not even sure where it was, Philadelphia I think, and Frank Cashen came in, he wasn't on the road trip, and at the time we had like three GM's, Al Harrison, Joe McIlvaine and Cashen. I was getting ready to go to the ballpark. I think it was about two o'clock.
Frank Cashen knocks on my door. I said that's not a good sign, what are you doing here? I know what he was doing here, he was going to make a change. So he fired me, and asked me if I would leave quietly and not talk to the press.
I said if that's what you want I would have liked to have the opportunity to speak to my players, and tell them thank you for all the effort and the good times, and wish them luck in the future. But (Cashen) wanted me to sneak out of town and have all the emphasis on the new (manager).
I think that's what they were trying to do with Willie Randolph. I don't agree with it. I think the manager should have a chance to talk to his troops before he is dismissed. It was a big regret of mine that I just didn't say no at the time (to Cashen), but at the time I was hurt, and I figured if that's what (the front office) wanted I would do it. I think that's basically what they tried to accomplish with the firing of Willie.
Q: Would it be fair to say you had some flashbacks to your experience with the Mets when you heard the Randolph story?
DJ: (Smiling) Oh yeah. No doubt, no doubt. That's their modus operandi. They had a car waiting out back for me, they rushed me to the airport, they had my flight already arranged, and I was on a plane like that. I think that was before cell phones, so nobody had a way to reach me until they got me at home, two or three days later.
Q: So apart from the cell phones, the more things change the more they stay the same.
DJ: Exactly, exactly. They say that's just part of baseball, you get fired, I never wanted to get fired anywhere I was ever at, I always wanted to solve the problems. When you're hired as a manager, really, in reality, you're a problem solver. The field manager is responsible for solving the problems on the active roster, and creating the atmosphere in the team that he wants to go to battle with every day. The general manager gets him those weapons. If he's not successful, he should go. Willie wasn't successful. He didn't finish the last year on a good note, and he was struggling a little bit this year. That's a criteria to get fired.
Q: If Omar Minaya called you after the Olympics and said, "Davey, we need you back, we need you to turn this thing around ... "
DJ: First of all, it's not going to happen. I respect Omar Minaya as a good general manager, but I haven't had a working relationship with him ... but as far as do I want to pursue a career in the big leagues again? No.
I'm really looking forward to managing the Olympics (team) and if it turns out I could manage the World (Baseball) Classic (team) I would be happy.
I love the game of baseball. I know I'm good at what I do. I know every club I've been with, I've left them in better shape, and they managed to mug it up right after I left, change the direction that I had them going in. |
I strongly encourage everybody to read the whole interview though. It's a good one.
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