Motivation And Response

When Manny Acta decides that he's going to replace Joe Girardi as manager of the Florida Marlins, I will not only congratulate him, but I will have my resume ready to replace him. You may ask what a blogger would have on his resume that would make him (or her) attractive enough to be a third base coach for a major league team...and it would be legitimate to do so. But all I would have to present to Omar Minaya (besides the fact that I grew up one town over from his hometown), would be what I wrote last night.

"Sooner or later, David Wright has to get himself a big hit."

Not only did Wright get himself the big hit of the game (a three run jack in the fifth to give the Mets the lead for good), but he got it off a lefty!

"Sooner or later, Shawn Green has to get himself a hit of any size."

Wright's homer was made possible by a grant from Green in the form of a long double to lead off that fifth inning...again, it bears repeating, off a lefthanded pitcher! (It bears noting that Greenie got himself two knocks in that fifth inning alone.)

"And sooner or later, Jose Reyes has to stop swinging for the fences."

You could forgive Jose for his uppercut in the days immediately following the clincher. After all, he's just thinking of the paying customers...trying to give them a thrill that they'll never forget. But what scares the bejesus out of Met fans is that his "home run derby" swing will seep too far into his mechanics and revert Jose back to the days where a certain internet columnist was foolishly calling him the worst position player in the major leagues. Today, with two singles and a double with the bases loaded (and two walks to boot), Reyes has returned to the dynamic weapon he was born to be.

Oh yeah, and he did most of his damage off of a lefty!

So let's review: twelve runs (first time over four runs in over a week), six runs off a lefty (most runs off of a lefty in over a decade...or so it seems), and the three people called out by me in this blog responding exactly as advertised (Tom Verducci has left messages on my machine, but let me just say that I never intended my words to be so negative).

Look Mr. Minaya, I may not be the best third base coach out there. I'd probably be scared out of my mind to send anybody home, but I obviously motivate people. See, I'm a people person. People like me, and as you witnessed today people respond to me. So I hope you'll consider me for a spot on Mr. Randolph's coaching staff in 2007.