As I watch the NY Mets spiral downward, I am torn on what the team should do. Most of all I am torn on if its too early to get rid of the Manager Mickey Callaway or continue with him and his staff. I admit that I thought it was time for Terry Collins to go after a successful run that did get the Mets to the World Series and back to back playoff appearances. But last year he seemed to lose the team and they Mets were basically and afterthought after the All Star Break. When the Mets hired Mickey Callaway, I thought he would come in breath some new energy into the team. And when the Mets started the season 11 -1, they were the talk of the town. And then they just stopped. Since the 11 -1 start, the Mets are 17 -36 and have been hard to watch. They cant hit, they can’t feild, and they look lethargic. There is no energy or sense of urgency. (The season is close to 1/2)
Lately I have begun to wonder if the poor play is due to Manager or if the players are simply not that good. The Mets have a long history of over hyping their players and believing they are better than they actually are. But even so, they are professional players so they have to have some talent. So is it the Managers fault that the entire team seem to be having terrible years. The more I watch, the more I think it is and that the Mets should make a change.
I realize it’s a short sample size but maybe Mickey Callaway was not ready to be a Manager. Perhaps the Mets job is just not the right place and time for him to be a 1st time Manager. Plenty of all time great Managers started off poorly and needed to learn how to become a Manager. But in most cases, the teams they got their start with were not that good and they were not expected to do much (Joe Torre with the Mets, Terry Francona with the Phillies, and even Bill Belichick with the Cleveland Browns). So they had the liberty of managing for a few seasons with no expectations and were able to learn what works and what doesn’t, and what they needed to do to become better. and based on the careers they went on to have, they appeared to have learned a lot and taken what they learned and their experiences to go on and win World Series and Super Bowls
But in Mickey Callaways’ case, the Mets are a know team. They were expected to contend for at least a Wild Card spot. Mickey Callaway was not hired as a gap manager to hold the fort while the Mets built towards the future.
Its funny how the NY Mets and the NY Football Giants both found themselves with Managers who were well respected and came with great recommendations, but simply were not the right person for the job at the given time. It took the Giants almost 2 years to realize this and ended up making a drastic move of firing Ben McAdoo in the middle of season to clean things up and refocus. Maybe it’s time for the Mets to do the same. This does not mean that Mickey Callaway or Ben McAdoo are bad people, or bad managers. It’s just that they are not the people for the jobs at the present time. Businesses evaluate and make changes all the time. And the really successful businesses are the ones that are head of things and make hard moves before the masses. It’s hard to admit mistakes and make tough decisions, but in the long run, the people who are able to move on from mistakes and bad decisions earlier than later are usually the ones who end up winning in the long run
Here is a recent piece from the NY Daily News with some similar thoughts
Hope you have a great weekend
Will be back with more soon
Andy
AverageAndy 