ALL you really need to know about the people running the Mets is that they hired Rickey Henderson as a coach and less than a year later they fired Rick Peterson.
How’s that for decision making?
Until the end, Peterson, one of most respected pitching coaches in the business, was excited about helping his Mets pitchers. Hours before the Anaheim Axing he talked about how he believed Billy Wagner was about to get on the same kind of roll that he was on much of the season before blowing three straight saves.
He spoke about Mike Pelfrey and the leaps in confidence Pelfrey had made over his recent starts. He was thrilled with the development of John Maine and others.
“I just want to do my life’s work,” Peterson said of being a pitching coach.
Well, the Mets had had enough of that. The Mets CEO of Pitching, as Fred Wilpon has described him, got kicked out the door along with first base coach Tom Nieto when Willie Randolph was fired.
And if you are looking for a time when this all started to go sour for the Mets, don’t just look at that epic collapse, look at when Henderson was hired last July 12. Rick Down was taken off Randolph’s staff and Henderson and Howard Johnson were added.
It’s interesting how Henderson’s ways soon influenced Jose Reyes. Then the walls came tumbling down after Sept. 12. Randolph thought the Mets were beginning to come together now after so much adversity and felt good about Monday’s win against the Angels after flying cross country following a doubleheader. That’s one tough assignment even when your manager’s job is not up for bid.
Jerry (The Great Philosopher) Manuel, come on down.
Spencer Lader, a longtime friend of Randolph’s, who has known him since high school, said it best yesterday when he pointed out that Randolph knows nothing but winning. “If you look at Willie’s record from the time he was in high school, through the Yankees as both a player and a coach, all he ever did was win,” Lader pointed out. “How many championships has everybody else over there won?”
Omar Minaya said in his post-mortem yesterday, “We have a championship team.”
Now the pitching staff will be handled by Dan Warthen.
“Homes go through renovations,” Peterson told my colleague Bart Hubbuch yesterday as he left the Mets hotel in Anaheim, “and sometimes you have to make changes when things don’t go that well, and I’m part of that change. I totally understand that – I grew up in the baseball business. I’m the hardwood floor that’s getting ripped out, and they’re going to bring in the Tuscany tile. It’ll be great. My heart and soul is with every pitcher that I dealt with here. They’ll always be in my heart and soul – it’s that kind of relationship. I’m sad for that, but I’m also happy for them.
“There’s a lot of guys on the right track, and I hope they stay on the right track. And there’s a lot of guys that are off-track that I hope Danny Warthen can get them back on track. This is a team that has underachieved, and I think it will get back on track.”
Peterson was philosophical and gracious in his departure, thanking the Wilpons for the opportunity and adding, “The Eastern language writes in symbols, and the symbol for crisis they also use for opportunity. I’ve been given a great opportunity here, and as I walk out that door, I seek my next opportunity. I walk out in peace, and I wish everybody else here the best.
“Hopefully, the Tuscany tile will do a lot better than a hardwood floor.”
If not, you can be sure Omar Minaya will be the next one walking out the door.