So all the Mets needed to light a fire under their collective butts and start turning their season around was a couple of internal squabbles.
First, it started with Jerry Manuel versus John Maine when Manuel pulled his pitcher from a start out of concern that he was injured, leading his ungrateful pitcher to publicly criticize his manager, who was only trying to protect him. Of course, Manuel was proven right when Maine was placed on the disabled list. Will Maine publicly apologize to his manager? Doubt it.
Second, it was Francisco “KRod” Rodriguez fighting with his bullpen coach, who apparently was tired of his closer’s diva act. Coach Randy Niemann has since taken the blame for the incident, but it seems like the other players were on his side against their brilliant but annoying comrade.
Finally, we have a couple of the newer Mets players upset that former Met outfielder Darryl Strawberry was imploring them to develop thicker skins and put forth a better effort on the field. I guess it didn’t really matter that he happened to be right, but I can’t fault them for not wanting to hear it from Strawberry.
Is it a coincidence? Maybe. But maybe the Mets just needed to get motivated. Obviously Manuel's job being on the line didn't do enough for them. All it took was a little infighting to get the Metsies to take two of three from their cross-town rival New York Yankees and then sweep their National League East division rival Philadelphia Phillies, not allowing them to score a single run in three games. Talk about total domination.
If they had known that internal disputes paved the path to victory, the Mets would've started fighting each other a month ago.
First, it started with Jerry Manuel versus John Maine when Manuel pulled his pitcher from a start out of concern that he was injured, leading his ungrateful pitcher to publicly criticize his manager, who was only trying to protect him. Of course, Manuel was proven right when Maine was placed on the disabled list. Will Maine publicly apologize to his manager? Doubt it.
Second, it was Francisco “KRod” Rodriguez fighting with his bullpen coach, who apparently was tired of his closer’s diva act. Coach Randy Niemann has since taken the blame for the incident, but it seems like the other players were on his side against their brilliant but annoying comrade.
Finally, we have a couple of the newer Mets players upset that former Met outfielder Darryl Strawberry was imploring them to develop thicker skins and put forth a better effort on the field. I guess it didn’t really matter that he happened to be right, but I can’t fault them for not wanting to hear it from Strawberry.
Is it a coincidence? Maybe. But maybe the Mets just needed to get motivated. Obviously Manuel's job being on the line didn't do enough for them. All it took was a little infighting to get the Metsies to take two of three from their cross-town rival New York Yankees and then sweep their National League East division rival Philadelphia Phillies, not allowing them to score a single run in three games. Talk about total domination.
If they had known that internal disputes paved the path to victory, the Mets would've started fighting each other a month ago.
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