Keeping Their Heads Above Water

Winning three out of four against the Phils brings the Mets to within 2.5 games of first place. Great news, certainly. Even better is the fact that Jerry Manuel seems to have an actual clue. His handling of the pitching staff, while not perfect, has been tons better than Randolph's, and he shows a greater imagination when it comes to tactics. Pulling Santana before the ninth in the first game against Philly was a Randolphian move, but he redeemed himself the next three days.

Now it's back home against the moribund Giants and Rockies. Things are looking up.

John Stewart on the Willie Firing

The Mets' Manuel Shift

Willie's gone, and hallelujah for that. Good man, terrible manager. Jerry Manuel is an exceedingly intelligent guy who doesn't seem nearly as stubborn as Randolph, and much more clear-eyed. I would've greatly preferred that Backman take Randolph's place, but maybe Manuel will get it done. I'm willing to give him some time.

In a 162-game season, there are 50 games you're gonna win just by showing up, and 50 games you're gonna lose no matter what you do. You can file last night's 6-1 loss to the Angels under the latter.

The errors and Reyes tantrum were discouraging, but they're not the reason the Mets lost. The Mets' ace went up against the other team's ace. Lackey was dealing, Santana wasn't. That's why we lost.

This wasn't the Mets getting swept by the Padres. It was the Mets getting beaten in one game by the best pitcher on the best team in baseball right now.

I'm encouraged, if for no other reason than that Manuel implied he's going to go longer with the starters. That will cure a lot of ills.

Hire Wally Backman (The Petition)!

John Fitzgerald, director of "Playing for Peanuts" hipped me to this "Hire Wally" petition that I'd like to pass along. It's aimed at the Mets, and is something I of course signed and heartily endorse!

Another Boring Win

Ha! Just kiddin'...I mean, it was a boring win, but the implication that such things are regular occurances in Mets Land is certainly a joke...can a weekend of wins save Willie?...at this point, who knows...he's officially twisting in the wind...Jerry Manuel is his rumored replacement...Manuel had success with a mostly young Chisox team...how he's do with a team of vets is a question...especially since they all know him...familiarity breeds contempt...I say hire Backman...it's a can't-miss with the fans, who'd love the move...of course, you can count on the Wilpons to do the safe thing...Manuel would be that...the trouble is, the safe thing never seems to work for the Mets...

Groundhog Day

Another day, another wrenching loss. They won last night, but it felt like a loss.

Then today...After seven superb innings from Santana--seven shutout innings--Randolph takes him out. And the bullpen implodes. And the Mets lose.

A good sign: Mike and the Mad Dog on WFAN are floating Wally as a possibility to replace Willie. For those who do not remember, these two had a lot to do with pressuring the Mets to get Mike Piazza when he was available back in '97 or '98, whenever it was.

They are idiots, granted, but them suggesting Backman as a possibility is good news.

This Must End

As I write this, the Mets and D-Backs are going into the 1oth inning of a game the Mets had in the bag on the strength of 8 innings of great pitching by Mike Pelfrey. Of course, Willie Randolph being Willie Randolph, he couldn't let Pelfrey finish, even though he'd dominated throughout and had thrown only 108 pitches. The instant Pelfrey gives up a weak single to the lead-off hitter in the 9th, Randolph pulls him in favor of Wagner, who eventually gives up the game-tying three run homer.

Now, Feliciano walks the lead-off batter. Will he come around to score? How can he not?

The Mets will lose this game.

Wow, Pedro F. gets a K.

Runner on 1st, one out.

Chris Young, a home run hitter up. Grounds into a fielder's choice. Two out. Young on 1st.

Stephen Drew: might as well be him...now...the end is near.

Even if the Mets come back to win this, it's still a devastating, demoralizing game.

Pedro F. gets the third out. Wonders never cease.

The Geico caveman is on between innings. Give him some ABs. Better yet, hire him as Mets manager.

More later. Please Wilpons: end the madness. Fire Randolph. Please.

And the Beat Goes On

The Mets lose their fifth in a row, after blowing a four-run lead...they score all their runs in the early going, and show nothing at crunch time...Willie Randolph tells us the team's about to go a on "a nice little roll"...Maine gets pitch-counted out after five, meaning Willie gets to exercise his bullpen mastery...the sun rises in the east, sets in the west.

I cannot stand this team.

Meanwhile, Wally Backman's Joliet Jackhammers are on a "nice little roll," going 6-4 on their recent ten-game road trip, scoring 9, 21, and 13 runs in their last three games, all wins.

Disable Church, Already

Ryan Church is out of the line-up tonight, making it three days in a row since he came back from his concussion. The Mets have handled this horribly. He should have been disabled immediately, and made to rest completely for the duration of his leave. This is more than a stubbed toe or a tweaked hammy; this could affect his quality of life.

Put him on the DL and let him recover, Omar. Geez...

At Least a Playoff Spot Wasn't on the Line

Maybe the Mets can resign Ollie Perez after all. Who else would want him after last night? Ollie Perez's Tom Glavine-impersonation was his latest attempt at destroying his chance to make huge bucks next winter.

Perez's ERA has ballooned to over 5.00; he hasn't given the team a quality start in ages. It often seems like he's just decided he wants to get off that mound ASAP and do anything else besides play major league baseball.

Claudio Vargas, on the other hand, was superb in long relief, throwing several innings of scoreless ball. He's the odd man out now that Pedro's back, but it's easy to see a time when he might pressure the Mets into finding a rotation spot for him.

Whaddaya Know?

It's not often these that the Mets and their manager play a game that's nearly beyond criticism, but that's what happened yesterday. Clutch hitting late, good decisions by Willie--really a great win all the way around.

Kevin Kernan in the Post did a lil' thang about this blog's namesake today. Worth a look...

Dodgers 9, Mets 5, Randolph 0

So much for Willie learning from his mistakes. It looks like his newly-found inclination to let his pitchers build on their success was a fleeting fancy. Pulling Feliciano last night after he'd already proven effective, then inserting the lately effective but prone-to-folding-under-pressure Heilman in the eighth last night is the latest exhibit number one in the case of Mets Fans For Change vs. Willie Randolph. It's bad enough that Willie changed horses in the middle of the stream, but leaving Heilman in to give up four runs (five, counting the runner who was on first when he entered) is perverse. He clearly had nothing, yet Willie left him in to get hammered, in the eighth inning of a game the Mets led. A bizarre decision? Maybe. Inept? Definitely.

It's great to see this team showing some fire and some offensive prowess, but as long as the Mets have a manager as tactically challenged as Randolph, they are doomed.

The Phils have caught fire, and unless a managerial change is made soon, the Mets will be playing for the Wild Card the rest of the way. Playing, and losing.

Three In a Row

It's no accident that the Mets' three-game winning streak coincides with Willie Randolph changing his managing style in some significant ways. The two most noticeable:

1. He's decided to sit guys when their not effective, regardless of their track record (yes, I'm looking at you Carlos Delgado). Hopefully this new "put your best players on the field" philosophy will last.

2. He's stretching his relief pitchers out a bit by not doing the knee-jerk changes as often. Instead, when a guy starts getting outs--Heilman the other day, Schoeneweiss last night--he leaves him in there. Not only does that make tactical sense, it also affects overall strategy for the better by placing less stress on the bullpen.

Perhaps managing for his professional life has caused Willie to actually change his ways. It's almost a tacit admission that his stubborn ways had come close to costing him his job.

I've never felt that the team's listless play was necessarily a direct reflection of his managing ability, but rather a result of a constant lack of on-field success. That lack of success was in many ways directly attributable to Willie's in-game decisions; his unflagging faith in Delgado, for example, despite manifest evidence that the first sacker's skills have declined precipitously, contributes directly to losses, which in turn harms the team's morale. So does his by-the-numbers use of his pitching staff--basing his use of pitchers almost solely on pitch counts and handedness rather than recent effectiveness, has hurt this team repeatedly over the past two seasons.

I hope this change is a sign of things to come. Three games is a pretty small sample.

Bobby V. on the 'FAN.

Listening to Bobby V. with Benigno and Roberts on WFAN...

Bobby V. is like Gary Carter with class. He finessed the inevitable question, "Would you come back to manage the Mets?," nicely. The guy seems to bleed orange and blue, even as shoddily as the Steve Phillips-era regime treated him. He's got a huge ego, but he also seems to have a big, giving heart. I'd welcome him back...after the team gave Backman a shot, of course.

Two wins, and the Metsbloggers seem convinced this thing is turned around. Not so sure.

Hire Wally Backman!

On vacation and away from the minute by minute developments of the Mets fiasco...out of touch with what Evan Roberts and Joe Benigno and Chris Russo and Mike Francesa and Carlin and Somers and Seinfeld are saying...Mets bring up Nick Evans, get a jolt, hope arises...then back to normal with a lethargic loss to a bad team.

Willie's gone either tomorrow or after the Marlins series (unless the Mets dominate the Fish and that's unlikely). Who will replace him? The more I think about it, the more sense a Wally Backman-hiring makes.

His qualifications are apparent. If he was good enough for the D-backs, who were on the verge of becoming a perennial contender, he's good enough for the Mets...and his baseball hometown would welcome him with open arms.

But more than that, it makes business sense. The Wilpons are on the hook for Willie's salary, this year and, I believe, next. In order to get a quality manager to commit, they are likely going to have to commit to a high-dollar, multi-year deal. That's not something they are going to want to do at this point: mid-season and with millions owed their present manager.

They need to hire somone who has a legitimate possibility of succeeding, but let's say they do not want to commit in years and dollars to someone like Bobby V. at this point. So they hire Wally, with the angle that they're bringing a fiery ex-Met back into the fold, a proven winner, but someone who's had personal problems that have derailed his career. Wally's desparate to get a ML managing job, so money won't be an object. The Wilpon's can couch it as giving Wally a shot to redeem himself, making them good samaritans in the eyes of the fan base. They can also make it plain that he's on Bobby Knight-style short leash--that if he messes up, he won't be Mets manager for long. That's a not unreasonable position to take. It allows them to make an inexpensive, short-term committment that could pay-off big. Add the fact that people will spend money to see Wally manage this team, and you have a situation that makes sense on the field and in their bank account.

Do it, Jeff, Fred, and Omar. Hire Wally.

It's Deja Vu All Over Again

More than a decade ago, Bob Klapisch and John Harper wrote a book called "The Worst Team Money Can Buy," a chronicle of the 1992 New York Mets. That team had what was then the highest payroll in the history of major league baseball: $45 million. The Wilpons shelled out that record sum to players like Eddie Murray, Bret Saberhagen, Vince Coleman (pictured above), and Bobby Bonilla--stars, one and all. That team finished 72-90, in fifth place in the National League East.

This team looks like it has the potential to rival that 1992 squad as one of the most underachieveing teams of all time.

The two teams have another thing in common, besides poor performance.

Willie Randolph.

Willie played second base for the '92 Mets.

Weird, huh?

One Minute to Midnight

The clock is about to run out on Willie Randolph as Mets manager. The four-game sweep at the hands of the Braves sealed his doom, and unless the team sweeps the Rockies in spectacular fashion, it's hard to imagine him leading the team when they return to Shea on Memorial Day.

The question is: have the Wilpons been screening candidates to replace him? Who--if anyone--have they contacted? Wally B., perhaps? According to today's Daily News, the Wilpons are making the call on firing Willie, so can we expect them to personally choose his successor?

I have to think Omar Minaya is also in trouble. The Wilpons fired a GM mid-season before, when they dropped Joe McIlvaine in favor of Steve Phillips, so it's not out of the realm of possibility. Who to replace him? I would guess they'd approach former Mets assistant GM and current Tampa Bay President of Baseball Operations Gerry Hunsicker. Gerry did a great job as GM of the Astros, but given the success of the Rays thus far, it might not be realistic to think he'd be available or willing to take on the Mets job.

With the construction of CitiField, we've been told we're about to enter a new era of Mets baseball. It looks like that era's going to begin a few months sooner than predicted.

A Willie/Wally Fun Fact

We all know that, at different times, Wally Backman and Willie Randolph both played second base for the Mets.

With Willie as the Mets' primary 2B, the Mets had a winning percentage of .444 (72-90 in 1992, good for fifth place in the NL East).

With Wally as the Mets' primary 2B, the Mets had a winning percentage of .570 (553-417 in 1982, 1984-88, with two NL pennants and a World Series championship).

Fun, huh? Just sayin', 's all...

Meanwhile, In a Parallel Universe...

The Wally Backman-led Joliet Jackhammers beat the Schaumberg Flyers last night by the score of 11-4.

The Willie Randolph-led New York Mets lost to the Atlanta Braves last night by the score of 11-4.

Just sayin', 's all...

Wally's Jackhammers Come From 11 Back in the Eighth and Ninth

Last night Wally Backman's Joliet Jackhammers fell behind 11-0 after seven innings against the Schaumberg Flyers, before charging back with two runs in the eighth and nine runs in the ninth to tie the game. The Jacks lost the game in the 10th on a throwing error, but still...can you imagine this Mets team coming back from an 11-run deficit at any point?

I'm Laying-off Willie

Getting on Willie Randolph has become a habit with me over the last couple of years. I honestly think the guy is a terrible tactical manager, and the tendency of his players to loaf reflects poorly on his people management skills. The thing is, I like the guy as a person, or at least as much as I can a person I've never met. He's got class, intelligence, compassion, and yes, a passion for winning. He's a helluva human being, so far as I can tell. I do not enjoy criticizing him, nor do I particularly enjoy reading criticism directed at him. But I think Wally Backman or Bobby Valentine would be much better as manager of the Mets.

That said, I'm going to lay off him for awhile. Not because the Mets won a couple of games against the Yankees, but because the criticism really seems to be hurting the man. Not from me, necessarily, but from the hoards of media and fans and talk-radio folks that make their feelings known loud and clear every day.

I'm not going to pile on. At least for awhile. What happens, happens. I hope the Mets can start playing up to their potential. Rather than blast him, I'm simply going to be quiet and let Willie do his job. I hope he does it well. I'm sure he'll give it his best.

(I still think the Mets should give Wally Backman a job, be it as a minor league manager or coach. He should be part of organized baseball.)

Mets Get Chance To Undo Subway Heroics

It's not every day when the Mets get a chance to face their arch nemeses in back-to-back series, but that's what the schedule-makers ordained this week.

The Metsies send John Maine to the mound this afternoon to face Tom Glavine--the man who, after his extraordinary sabotage of the Metsies' playoff hopes in Game 162 of last season, has become my most hated Mets adversary. Claudio Vargas goes in the nightcap against Jorge Campillo.

Will the Mets revert to form and play a lackluster twin bill, thereby undoing in a single day all the good they did against the Yanks over the weekend? Or will they build upon their sweep of the Bronx Bombers by battering their divisional rivals? We shall see.

Mushnick Tells an Unpleasant Truth

In today's Post, Phil Mushnick calls out the Mets for their indifferent play, pointing out that it's a longstanding problem. Read it, and see if you don't agree.

What a Difference A Win Against the Yankees Makes

I'm tempted to point out how bad the Yankees are this year instead of praising the Mets, but that's taking negativity a bit too far. The Mets won; Johan pitched well; David Wright, Carlos Beltran, and even Carlos Delgado got clutch hits. Billy Wagner shut down the Yanks after giving up a couple of unlucky hits. Even Willie did a good job by letting Santana go 7 2/3, then bypassing his middle guys and going straight to Wagner for a four-out save. My problem with Willie isn't his motivational skills, but his tactical blunders. There were none today. Good win, Mets!

Willie's Gone, You can Bank on it

The Willie Randolph era as Mets manager will almost certainly end next week unless the team sweeps the Yankees in the subway series that begins tonight. Even a Mets sweep would only delay the inevitable. Only an extended Mets winning streak would save his job, and given that the team has played below .500 for an entire calendar year, that ain't likely to happen.

Who will his replacement be? Wally Backman would be my move; he's the kind of guy who could make this team play to its potential. Gritty and smart, he's the Piniella-like presence this club needs.

That said, to be realistic, the Wilpons tend to be timid when it comes to making these kinds of decisions, so a Backman-to-Shea move seems unlikely. My second choice would be to bring Bobby Valentine back. Bobby V. is a great baseball mind and an intense personality--qualities Willie does not possess to any perceptible degree. Bobby is now managing in Japan, however, a place he loves. They're in the middle of their season, so whether or not he'd leave to take the Mets job is open to question.

Lee Mazzilli is a possibility. On his post-game analysis for SNY after the Vargas fiasco, Maz made what I perceived as some veiled and valid criticisms of the Mets' manager, which already makes him preferable to Randolph in my book. I have no idea how good Maz was in Baltimore, since I don't really follow AL baseball. Some say he got a raw deal, that he's a good manager. He's got to be a step up from Randolph. A Big Mouth Billy Bass would be a step up from Randolph.

Managing To Screw Things Up

Willie Randolph is the George W. Bush of Major League Baseball managers. The worst.

Fire Willie, hire Wally, Omar, before this season gets away.

A Great Day In Flushing; Mets Win, Sosa's Gone

My pessimism was unnecessary on nearly all fronts yesterday. First, the Mets bowed to the pressures of competition, swallowed the $2 mil or so they owe Sosa, and designated him for assigment, keeping Joe Smith on the roster.

Then they went out and won themselves a ballgame. Actually, my prediction was panning out pretty well--Maine reached 100 pitches in the sixth, had a man on and was one batter from getting pulled. But Randolph left him in, and Maine got out of it.

I was begging Willie to give him another inning, but of course he pulled him for a pinch hitter, which wasn't really a terrible move, given the game was tied. It turned out to be a great move, because pinch-hitter Fernando Tatis got a hit and scored on Ryan Church's double. Matt Wise gave up the requisite run in relief of Maine, but the Mets held on and won 6-3.

I have the utmost faith in Maine and Santana every time they take the hill. Believe it or not, I feel almost as good about Perez; he has the occasional meltdown, but more often than not he's kept it together . Pelfrey and Figueroa have even been good on occasion. In contrast, you never know what you're going to get from your middle guys. Schoeneweiss and Smith have been good, but they're situational pitchers--lefty/lefty, righty/righty. Sosa and Heilman have been disasters, and Wise hasn't exactly impressed in his brief trials. The middle-relievers' inconsistency makes it important that his team get seven innings out of their starters. To do that, Randolph has to ease up on the pitch count and stretch out his starters, let them work out of their own messes in the fifth and sixth innings, and give them the chance to at least start the seventh more often. It hasn't happened much so far, which is worrisome.

Kreskin Predicts...

Prediction for tonight's game (I hope I'm wrong):

Maine throws well, and the Mets take a one-or-two-run lead. But the Nats work the count every at-bat, so that Maine hits 100 pitches with one out in the sixth and a runner on second. Rather than let Maine work his way out of the jam (he's still got good velocity on his fastball), Willie brings in his new toy, Wise. Wise proceeds to issue a walk and gives up a two run double before getting out of the inning with the Mets tied or a run behind. Willie starts the seventh with Heliman, who implodes as is his wont, giving up a string of baserunners and several runs before Willie finally takes him out to a chorus of boos. Joe Smith comes in and gets a righty or two out, then gives way to Feliciano, who lets the runners he inherited from Heilman score. By this time the Mets are four or five runs down, they score one more the rest of the way, and lose their second straight to the Nats.

Sound familiar?

Sosa Gives Up Four Runs in One Inning, Cements Roster Spot

According to Adam Rubin's "Surfin the Mets" blog at the Daily News, Joe Smith will be sent down so the Mets can call-up Adam Bostick or Willie Collazo from New Orleans to start Wednesday's game against the Nats. This, despite the fact that Sosa is now best-suited to throwing batting practice to Gulf Coast Leaguers, while Smith is the team's second most-effective reliever behind Wagner.

Sosa pitched a putrid sixth inning last night, giving up four runs, all earned, while Smith struck out the side in his one inning of work. Yet because Smith has minor league options, he's going down. So the Mets will be without Smith's services for ten days are two weeks or whatever the rule says.

Of course, Sosa should never have even been in the game last night, given that it was still in reach at 6-3, but Willie Randolph stubbornly ran him out there, confident that last night was the night he'd start pitching like a major leaguer. Willie was wrong. Surprise. And Willie left him in until the Nationals--THE NATIONALS, for chrissakes!--had put the game out of reach.

Yeah, but we're still in first place! Oh wait, that was last year's battle cry...

Harold Gets a Second Chance; Why Not Wally?

As I watch the Mets pre-game, it occurs to me that the Mets' front office folk gave Harold Reynolds a gig after that whole sexual harassment brouhaha at ESPN. Good for them. Could that forgiving spirit bode well for Wally Backman's shot at a job with the Mets in the not too distant future?

Getcha Peanuts Right Heah!

The first episode of John Fitzgerald's reality series on independent minor league baseball, Playing for Peanuts, aired on the Mets' SNY network yesterday. It features the titular hero of this blog, Wally Backman, as the manager of the South Georgia Peanuts of the South Coast League.

Fitzgerald spend a good portion of the first episode talking about Wally's past, including the problems he's had. He didn't sugarcoat anything, although there still seems an element of "he said, she said" about the domestic violence charge. According to Wally, he got bashed in the arm by a friend of his wife's, with whom he was arguing and trying to get to leave his house. Wally suffered a broken arm, and pled guilty to a charge of misdemeanor harassment relating to the incident. Weird, but in any case, he's paid his debt to society in more ways than one.

The episode took us up to opening day, so we've yet to see Backman manage a game, although Fitzgerald did present testimonials from several Backman Backers, including Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Conor Jackson, Backman's former teammate and current Mets' broadcaster Ron Darling, and several Peanuts players who'd worked with Wally in the D-Backs' system. Looking forward to seeing him/them in action.

The show's Website is here.

Yay, We Took Two Out Of Three From The Little Red Machine!

The Mets beat the lowly Reds today 8-3, as their bats awoke from a one-game hibernation, blasting homers and scoring runs higgledy-freakin'-piggledy. Ollie Perez pitches five excellent innings...and one bad one. He got out of the bad one, though, and could've at least started the seventh. But we know that's not how things get done around here.

The Mets are on a pace to break the record for appearances by relievers in a season, said Gary Cohen on today's telecast. The record holders are, if I heard correctly, last year's Washington Nationals--a very bad team. It's not exactly a coveted record. As Keith Hernandez pointed out, last year the pen was totally burned out by September, playing a huge part in "The Collapse." Apparently Willie hasn't learned a damned thing. Once again, he uses four pitchers when two--or at the very most, three--would've done.

Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?

The Mets split a doubleheader today against one of the worst teams in baseball, scoring only one run and losing the second game against the Reds' Bronson Arroyo,who came into the game with an ERA over 8.00.

Willie did his usual "pull the starter why he's still effective" routine, yanking Pelfrey after six, with the Mets trailing 2-1. This time it almost worked. Aaron Heilman ran totally against type and got out of the seventh without allowing a run. Unfortunately, Duaner Sanchez--sensing an opening that needed to be filled in terms of stinking-up the joint (thanks to Heilman's uncharacteristic exhibition of competence)--came on in the eighth and had absolutely nothing. He gave up a couple of runs, throwing meatball after meatball for the Reds' dining pleasure. The coup de grâce happened in the ninth, when the defense imploded and Mets fans were treated to the distasteful sight of Josa Sosa taking the mound in relief of Billy Wagner after the Reds had tacked on three runs.

Pelfrey looked good--"fifth-starter good," at least, which was a positive development. Of course, it does absolutely no good for the starter to keep the other side down for six innings if the relief corps is gonna give up the ghost in the last three innings. This was far from the most egregious example of Randolph lifting an effective starter too soon because he'd reached the max pitch count--the Mets offense was so putrid, they would've lost anyway--but it's still infuriating, and bodes poorly for the future.

And to think: I'd thought Willie letting Santana throw 120 or so pitches in game one was a sign he'd learned from past mistakes. Not bloody likely.

One Good Turn Deserves Another

Give it up for Willie Randolph, who in the sixth inning of today's afternoon game let Johan Santana work out his mess, rather than bring in one of the human white flags out of the pen. Too often this season Willie's jerked his starter in a situation like that, bringing in a Sosa or a Heilman who pours gas on the fire. Today he let Santana--who was obviously working with less than his best stuff--earn his money by throwing somewhere around 120 pitches in getting out of what could have been a game-changing situation. There's no way we could've known the Mets would've scored 12 runs. As it turned out, the pen gave up another three runs in the next couple of innings. Had one of them come in and let Santana's runners score in the sixth, things might've turned out differently. I'm the first to criticize Randolph, so it's only fair that I give him his props here for a job well done.

Wally Not Willie (just sub an 'a' for the 'i')

Dan Graziano of the Newark Star-Ledger writes here that sources in the Mets front office are saying the Wilpons will reevaluate the manager's status in June if the team doesn't get their butts in-gear before then. To that I say: better late than never.

The question is, can they be counted-on to make the right hire, when they finally decide to pull the trigger? Their record hasn't been sterling in recent years; hiring Bobby Valentine was a good move, but every other Mets manager since Davey Johnson has been a failure.

The Wilpons usually go out of their way to hire solid citizens, with baseball bona fides seemingly a secondary matter. That's not to say that my first pick—Wally Backman—is anything less than a good person, but he's had to work himself out of a couple of messes, which works against him in getting the Mets job. I hope that's not the case, because this team needs what he can give, big time.

Demote Heilman, Omar.

Matt Wise and Ramon Castro are ready to come off the DL, meaning the Mets will have to jettison one of their skankier relievers. So of course speculation has centered on one of the few non-skanks in their bullpen--Joe Smith--as being a likely demotee, since he's one of the few Mets who doesn't belong to AARP and therefore has minor-league options remaining. That would be a terrible strategic move, not to mention a grave injustice. Smith has performed quite well, in general, letting only one inherited runner score. Smith's pitches have bite and he's a gritty competitor; the Mets can't afford to lose him right now.

The consensus seems to be that El capitán Skank Jorge Sosa would be gone if not for his $2 mil contract. Sosa has certainly underperformed, but there's no harm in having him pitch in mop-up situations, in the hope that he can use the time to work himself back into the pitcher he was at this time last year. Someone has to pitch those innings, might as well be him. Why eat all that cash when he can perform an essential service?

The solution is as obvious as it is unlikely to happen: Aaron Heilman should be sent to the minors, where he can work on becoming a starting pitcher once again.

Available and abundant evidence suggests that Der Kapitän Prostituierte Heilman doesn't have the temperament to pitch in tight late-inning situations. Given the greater margin for error allowed a starting pitcher, he might turn out to be a serviceable fifth starter. Certainly the Mets know all too well the value of having a decent stand-in ready when one of their glass-boned-paper-skinned starters go down. And it's not at all hard to foresee Heilman as a superior alternative to Pelfrey.

Of course, it makes too much sense, so it probably won't happen. Nah, Willie and Omar seem likely to go to their graves with minds closed to the idea of Heilman being a starter. Still, if I didn't think there's always hope, I couldn't be a Mets fan.

Omar, Fred, Jeff: It's time to give Wally a shot.

Willie Randolph is a good man; of that there cannot be any doubt. I love his sincere appreciation of baseball history, in particular the role played by Jackie Robinson and other great African-American players in making baseball a truly American game. I admire the way he carries himself, the respect he manifests for those with whom he works: players, front office guys, the media, fans. He was a winner as a player, contributing mightily to some great Yankee teams. Willie Randolph is now and has always been a class act.

That said...

Willie's time as Mets' manager must end, and the sooner the better.

Randolph's shortcomings are glaring. His inability to handle a major league pitching staff (an over-reliance on pitch counts leading to an under-utilization of his starters and an overuse of the most mediocre members of his bullpen) has led to disaster after disaster over the past three years. His low-key style seems to make an already laid-back core of Mets players all the more soporific. He's shown little tactical imagination; he almost never uses the hit-and-run, for example, preferring instead to use the sacrifice, even with a strong base-runner on first. In short, it seems as good a man as Willie Randolph is, he's that bad a manager. He must go.

His replacement should be Wally Backman.

Mets fans who remember '86 know Wally Backman as one of that team's sparkplugs: a short, dirty-uniformed, over-achieving, ripping-and-snorting second baseman and number-two hitter, who made up in brains, guts, and desire what he lacked in natural ability. With Dykstra, Hernandez, Carter, and Knight, Backman was one of that squad's high-intensity red-asses who time after time helped grab victory from the jaws of defeat. That '86 team was talented, sure, but what made it special was it's "refuse-to-lose" attitude. And no player better exemplified that posture than it's platoon second baseman, Wally Backman.

The Mets erred big-time when they traded Wally to the Twins after '88 for a handful of magic beans. He played a few more years with the Twins, Phillies, Pirates, and Mariners, before hanging it up as a player after being released by Seattle in May 1993.

That wasn't it for Wally as far as baseball goes, however. In the mid-'90s he started managing in the minor leagues with great success. In 2002 his Double-A Birmingham team won the Southern League title. He led Lancaster to the California League playoffs and was named The Sporting News' Minor League Manager of the Year in 2004.

Following that season he has considered for both the Mets' and Diamondbacks' managerial vacancies. The D-Backs struck first, hiring Backman for the upcoming 2005 season.

Sadly, it was not to be. Apparently unbeknownst to the team's upper management, Wally had had some personal problems--troubles that would not only cost him the D-Backs job, but essentially render him persona non grata to all of organized baseball.

There were revelations of a 2000 DUI conviction in Washington state, and a 2001 misdemeanor harassment arrest in Oregon. He pled guilty to the latter charge, receiving a year's probation. He was also ordered to undergo anger management counseling and pay $1000 to the local Boys' and Girls' club. It was also discovered that his finances were a mess, that he'd declared bankruptcy in 2003. The upshot? The D-Backs fired Backman four days after hiring him, before he ever managed a game for them.

Since then, unable to get a job in affiliated baseball, Backman has worked outside it, managing teams in independent leagues.

There's no question Wally Backman messed-up a few times. He hasn't demonstrated a talent for living a smooth, untroubled life. He has, however, paid for every misstep, or so it seems. The biggest cost has been what was once an extremely promising career as a baseball manager. Wally Backman might not be great at a lot of things, but he's proven himself to be a terrific baseball man at every turn. Thanks to mistakes he made in his personal life, he's been denied the opportunity exploit that ability. That's a loss not only to him, but to baseball. What's the statute of limitations on his screw-ups? I say it's run out. It's time for Wally to get another chance.

The Mets are just the team to give it to him. They need everything he offers: fire, intensity, a proven ability to win and thrive on the biggest stage in sports, New York City. Put Wally Backman in charge of this listless collection of underachievers, and you'll see a difference. The Mets knew what they needed when they chased Lou Piniella a few years ago, but the price was too high. They still need those same qualities Piniella offers. They can get them by hiring a man they unwisely sent packing 20 years ago. In the process, they can give Wally Backman the chance for redemption he deserves.

Omar, Fred, Jeff: It's time to give Wally a shot.