Lee Mazzilli/Willie Randolph

You might be right. Fortunately for you, Maz did go to Baltimore. Willie is a very good coach, regardless of what many Mets fans seem to say. Mazzilli was not.

 

I always liked Mazzilli as a player when I was a kid. I think he will get another chance eventually, remember Torre was a career loser until he got the Yankees job.

 

It'd be very diificult to lose with those teams Torre had in the mid to late 90's. It's not like Torre had great teams with the Mets and Cards either.

Mazzili got stuck with a shit franchise that seems to get worse every year in a division they have no chance in. Even if they were to win 85-90 games they'd likely be 7-10 games out of 1st.

 

I was honestly one of the guys questioning Willie early on because he seemed to be the baseball version of Herm. However, he's actually made good strides as far as field managing goes and is only getting better. I really hope he's here for a long time.

 

I do think Willie has improved in his in-game managing, but his "I played and coached on World Series winners so my gut is always right" attitude is also annoying to me. We shouldn't minimize the "Joe Torre effect" either (good teams make managers who win, bad teams make managers who lose) - Willie is lucky enough to start his career managing a very good team, and when that is the case a lot of decisions work out whether they are "right" or "wrong." Having said that, he's certainly doing nothing these days for any Met fan to complain about.

 

Every year under Willie the Mets have improved.

This year they're doing better then last year, at the same point in the season.

Willie has a hand in that.

 

Agreed 100%. But in all honesty a good amount of his "gut" decisions have worked out one way or another, whether it be luck or him just having somehow that magical basesball-sensitive gut. There are still times when a decision is made and I slap my forehead in disgust and see exactly what I fear happen. I still to this point don't understand why Milledge only got like 3 ABs while he was up here. However, his unconventional decisions, like starting Gomez right off the bat and leaving Ruben Gotay in for that 9th inning rally a few weeks ago when he had a stacked bench to pinch hit ended up paying off in spades.

I'll say that I've come to trust the guy more than I have any manager at any time since Valentine in '00, and that's saying something for me. I just hope he continues to develop and learn from whatever mistakes he makes.

 

I don't think anyone has a magical baseball sensitive gut. Some of it is luck and some of it is just the team being really good. It's no coincidence that the season that everyone was really calling for Willie's head was the first, when the team wasn't all that great.

I still wouldn't say I trust Willie and his in game decisions but I do trust Omar and most of the players on the roster though.

 

As far as the magical baseball sensing gut goes, I was more poking fun at how lucky Willie seems to get with some of his decisions. There's obviously a line and Willie goes over it a little more than I like. I think you said it better than I did in that I trust Omar and the players, and I trust Willie to keep these guys in check and be there to smack them into shape if need be. He's an excellent player's manager without being too lax, in my eyes. I don't trust his in game decisions 100% though, that's for sure. I'm just hoping that the decisions are clear cut when it comes playoff time or there may be a lot of moaning and groaning from over here.

 

It would have been very difficult to lose but it wasn't a slam dunk we would win Championships w/ them.

 

All 2 years willie has been w/ the Mets they have improved? that's amazing!:lol:

 

Even Lasorda messed up in a few big spots, it's going to happen. You hang around long enough and someone is going to make you look bad, it's just the way the game is.

 

I was all for Willie signing on with the Mets. Omar brought the talent in and Willie succeeded with it. He knows how to run a team, although his game decisions are questionable still.

I question him for a few things. Sometimes it's the pitcher he brings in. Sometimes it's the pinch hitter he brings in.

But then there's things like I wouldn't do, but it pays off for Willie. Like when we were down by 5 runs against the Cubs a week or two ago. In the bottom of the 9th, with runners on base, he stuck with Gotay instead of pinch hitting with Wright or Reyes. I didn't agree with it but it paid off.