Mets Fans Deserve Better

When the New York Mets fired manager Art Howe last month, many fans just shrugged their shoulders. They know that the hiring of a new general manager, the over-qualified Omar Minaya, and the subsequent hiring of a new field manager won't make much difference, either. There is one overriding reason for apathy amongst Mets Nation:

To paraphrase the great philosopher Casey Stengel, "Can't anybody here run this team?"

Once upon a time, Fred Wilpon was held in high regards by Shea Stadium dwellers. Wilpon, and his then-partner Nelson Doubleday, rescued the Mets from the depths of mediocrity. They hired a solid general manager in Frank Cashen. They provided Cashen with seemingly unlimited resources to scout and draft players like Darryl Strawberry and Doc Gooden. They green-lighted efforts to trade for talent like Gary Carter and Keith Hernandez. They seemingly stopped at nothing to put the Mets back on top, and anyone who lived through the 1980s in New York City will certainly confirm that the Mets owned the city.

Alas, Wilpon's optometrist must be prescribing rose-colored glasses for the Mets sole owner. How else do you explain a team failing as miserably as the Mets have, yet seemingly just the right manager or GM away from being competitive? It can't all be Steve Phillips fault, because he wasn't in charge this past offseason when the Mets failed to land free agent Vladimir Guerrerro, opting instead for Kaz Matsui (at shortstop, no less).

It can't be all Bobby Valentine's fault, because if that were true, why are they even entertaining the idea of bringing him back as manager? It can't be all Art Howe's fault, because he didn't quit on his players the last two seasons down the stretch, it was the other way around.

At the end of the day, Fred Wilpon bears the full responsibility for the Mets' lack of success lately. Wilpon is the one who fails to give Strawberry and Gooden a chance at redemption by allowing them to be part of salutes to the 1986 team. Wilpon is the one who allowed the Jets to move ahead of the Mets in the "Strong arm the city of New York for a new stadium" game.

Wilpon is the one who keeps signing paychecks for John Franco. Franco has been a great citizen for the Mets, but there's no doubt he would also enter a game with two outs and no one base, and proceed to walk the bases loaded against a Hollywood celebrity softball team (after all, you have to keep the ball on the outside part of the plate against Carmen Electra).

Wilpon is the one who allows Howe to twist in the wind when he is clearly not going to be brought back as manager. Wilpon is the one convinced that the best way to change the culture of a team that has quit on the season for three consecutive years is to fire the manager, while allowing players like Al Leiter and Mike Piazza (both solid citizens like Franco) to continue to contribute to the atmosphere of ineptitude.

Say what you want to about George Steinbrenner, but even in the 1980s when the Yankees couldn't get past the John McNamara-managed Boston Red Sox, he was exhausting all resources to try and win. Sure, they signed Steve Kemp and Ed Whitson, and traded for Luis Polonia and Jim Abbott, but they were at least trying. To many Yankee haters, Steinbrenner is the face of all Yankee hating stands for, but you can't deny that he does more to try to win than any other owner in baseball.

Perhaps it's unfair to compare Wilpon to Steinbrenner, although bringing back Valentine to manage the club would be taking a page from George's pre-Joe Torre approach to running a ball club. Carlos Tosca and Jim Fregosi are other candidates being considered. Jim Fregosi? The same Jim Fregosi that caused the Mets to become a footnote in the brilliant career of Nolan Ryan? Say it ain't so, Fred.

Minaya is a solid talent evaluator, yet one wonders just how much free reign Minaya will have in trying to right the ship. The bottom line for Mets fans (of which I am one) is that a complete culture change is needed from the top down, much like in 1980 when the estate of the late Joan Payson sold the Mets to the partnership of Wilpon and Doubleday. Mets fans deserve better than this.