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Filip Bondy today admits the hysteria was overblown and in an article quick to damn Mets' progress due to the rest of the divison struggling gets around to making a good case for Manuel's superiority.
]Parity is a parody in NL East
Thursday, July 10th 2008, 4:00 AM
The Mets have won five straight and Jerry Manuel is suddenly Bob Lemon rescuing a fractured New York baseball franchise back in 1978. A different role player is a star each day, the bats get smarter with two outs and then last night even Johan Santana got runs and a victory.
It was all smiles on a summer eve again. The Mets are just 1-1/2 games out of first, a lesson in good timing. New managers should always be appointed just as the rest of the division is about to collapse into a heap of mediocrity.
It is Einstein's theory of relativity, applied to the National League East. When Manuel replaced Willie Randolph back in June, the Mets were in fourth place, 34-35, 6-1/2 games behind the Phillies at 42-30. Since then, here are the records of the four relevant teams:
Phillies, 7-13; Marlins, 10-11; Braves, 7-13; Mets, 13-9.
What has happened, basically, is that the Mets played decent baseball - nothing special, until their offense caught fire this past week. Meanwhile, the rest of the NL East has gone down the toilet, through the pipes, into the filtration system.
"We were extremely fortunate," David Wright was saying, before the Mets beat the sad-sack Giants, 5-0, for their second straight shutout win. "We were playing .500 baseball and were only a handful of games out. Jerry will be the first to tell you that. And now we have to push. This is the time to show we belong among the top teams in the league."
The Mets have made a real move on the Phillies, who have made an even bigger move down to the Mets. What does this say about Manuel, and about the Mets' decision to dump Randolph? Nothing definitive. "It's not what anything that anybody is saying," Wright said.
They'd likely be closing in on their bumbling rivals, anyway. But clearly the change in the manager's office didn't harm the team in the least. Initial reactions of outrage were grandly overstated.
We already know that Manuel is far more adept at handling the media than Randolph. He is relaxed and given to detailed explanations about his tactics. The clubhouse and dugout are now practically SNY's own private television studios. Starting pitchers are interviewed soon after being removed from games. Manuel informs the press when he lectures his players, often revealing the subject of his sermons.
Manuel Wednesday spoke about a couple of things he has changed since ascending to the throne. He is making an effort to keep his players' heads late in games by being more aggressive, looking for the extra run instead of sitting on three-run leads. Manuel said he was simply following the example of managers such as Bobby Cox and Tony La Russa.
"They take over the game at that time for the fourth run," Manuel said. "Get ready for the hit-and-run, regardless of what the score is. That keeps the offense focused on the game."
Manuel also says he has been busy convincing traditional role players such as Endy Chavez, Damion Easley and last night's hero, Ramon Castro, that they are capable of becoming more than fill-ins for injured players.
"They all feel to a man, 'Hey, I can do this every day,'" Manuel said. "We have to promote this."
It all sounds very nice, as long as the Mets keep averaging seven runs per game. The Mets' offense had been coming on lately, with one notable exception. Whenever Santana started, he received no help whatsoever. The Mets were defeated in all six of Santana's previous outings, averaging just two runs per game.
Then last night Giants manager Bruce Bochy made the mistake of pitching to Castro with two on and two outs, instead of walking him intentionally to face Santana. Castro smashed a three-run homer to left off a fat slider from Jonathan Sanchez in the fourth, and the Mets' bullpen held firm.
Santana threw just 78 pitches in five innings before the rain came. He said he could pitch some more, but was convinced otherwise. Not a hard night's work for a $137.5 million signee.
Santana is now 8-7 and not creating Cy Young buzz. Doesn't matter.
"Now you'll start to see the W's come behind his name," Manuel said. "He'll run off a big streak for us."
In the NL East, even a little streak may be enough.
fjbondy@netscape.net |
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