Hello, Jerry

By Marc Palumbo
Posted Monday, June 23, 2008

First it was verbally threatening his star player – in a loving, joking kinda way of course. Then it was referring to that same star player with a feminine pronoun – again, in a loving, fatherly, “ha you’re a girl” way. And finally it was referring to the fans as “fertilizer” – but, of course, in an affectionate, joking, “fertilizer makes plants grow” sorta way.

I, for one, couldn’t be happier.

For three years and counting we’ve had to listen to the same tired clichés ad nauseam every time a microphone was in front of the manager.

We knew that we should go with our gut, that we had to battle, and that, if nothing else, we had to trust our guys.

We just needed to find a little rhythm. We knew that if a guy had proven himself in the past could, if needed, get going again.

We knew exactly what we needed to do to win...we just couldn’t seem to take care of that winning part.

Willie was fired. It was handled poorly. Omar can’t speak in public. The new era has begun.

The general consensus was that the Mets needed someone to come in and assert themselves. To kick asses and take names. To wipe the smug sense of entitlement off the faces of the first baseman and his veteran pals.

Enter Jerry Manuel. Those who wanted attitude have not been disappointed. From day one he’s been providing us with gems such as:

"I told him the next time he does that, I'm going to get my blade out and cut him right on the field, I'm a gangster."

and:

"She [Reyes] acted up with me, and she had a day off"

Can someone please buy this man a beer?

It was well documented that Willie was a pushover. LoDuca effectively controlled his own playing time for two seasons and one unnamed veteran openly mocked Willie in the clubhouse.

Granted, Manuel hasn’t publicly challenged Delgado or any veteran, but the opportunity hasn’t yet presented itself either. Based on what we’ve witnessed for the past week, the one thing that Mets fans can be confident about in the Jerry Manuel era is that the status quo isn’t going to be tolerated.

Some have criticized his statements as outlandish or said that he’s put his foot in his mouth. But I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Met fans have been waiting for the leader of the team to say something a little off-the-wall or a little controversial.

There’s only so much positive mantra that a person can take. Sometimes you just need to hear the truth. As fans, we don’t expect a Jim Mora-esque “playoffs?!” rant after every loss, but to hear the manager call the team out on occasion would be nice.

We don’t expect, nor do we want, the manager to throw his players under the bus in the papers. But nobody would be averse to him calling them into his office and giving them an earful.

Jerry’s done both. Willie did neither.

We watched Willie trust his guys right into The Worst Collapse Ever in the History of Organized Baseball.™ They developed a nice little rhythm last September that will undoubtedly result in no Met fan ever getting in the last word in a baseball-related argument. Ever.

The change was necessary and inserting the Bizarro Willie into the dugout was the best way to go. In seven days Jerry Manuel has proven to be exactly what the Mets needed.

The Mets might not keep winning. They probably won’t even make the playoffs. But, from what we’ve seen in this short week, if they even think about going out there and playing half-assed ball like they have been for the past 150+ games they’re going to hear about it and they’re going to sit. And that’s all you can ask for from the man who’s supposed to be the leader.