It would be easy to blame this on Daniel Murphy.It would be really easy to blame this on Daniel Murphy.
You know what? I blame Daniel Murphy.
The ball down the line that started the Braves winning rally in the ninth off of Frankie? He's gotta dive. And the last ball that he booted after the game was tied? He can't play that like a damn bullfighter. Ole!
Not to mention that with a chance to put the serious screws on Derek Lowe in the second inning with the bases loaded and two outs, Murph spit the bit and grounded out. That's been a team-wide epidemic all season long (aren't they batting about .205 in that situation?) But tonight was a bad night to have every single calamity befall the man that people have been demanding I lay off. Can't do it tonight. Sorry.
But I have to say this, and this is why our fearless manager drives me nuts: He's wondering after the game why Murphy didn't get in front of that ball. Here's a clue, maybe he's not being coached correctly? You mean to tell me that you didn't know that this would be on the job training with Murphy? Seriously? Especially with the season having been down the tubes since July?
Oh I'm sorry, I forgot we're still trying to win games. That's why we needed to see Ken Takahashi in the fourth inning when Bobby Parnell was facing a tough situation after only 83 pitches. Yeah, let's pull Parnell from the rotation with two weeks to go and send him to the bullpen where he can rot for a week, and then pitch two innings every day the final week of the season for no good reason. Then we can trade Parnell and Murphy for a swine-flu infested towel now when their value hits rock bottom. All so that Snoop Manuel can win 70 games instead of 65. That's like writing a hundred page extra credit paper on the pros and cons of techno vs. hip hop music at parties after you've already failed the damn class. A blind man has a better chance of finding a chocolate chip in a silo full of marshmallow fluff than Snoop has of getting anything positive out of this team with his inconsistent messages and goals.
Actually, I'll take inconsistent at this point ... I don't even know what the message is. Joe Morgan must know, since he was saying how he noticed that this team doesn't give up on Sunday. Add Wednesday to the list of games we can send to Morgan on DVD to watch since we know he spends his off time watching golf and the NBA Finals rather than the sport he allegedly covers.
Point being, tonight makes Murphy look bad. This whole season has made Manuel look bad ... injuries or not. He can throw Murphy under the bus all he wants (despite saying he would "rather get the message across in more discreet ways rather than "show up" the player" ... while we're on the subject of inconsistent messages). He can blame the players for their bad baserunning. But when it's been happening all season long, I point the finger to the gangster in charge.
5 comments:
murphy simply is a modern day marv throneberry.horrible glove, slow, .260 hitter, limited power, mediocre to the core.Manuel has presided over a team with zero fundamentals and still blames the players.LOOK IN THE MIRROR U CLOWN!!CAN'T WAIT FOR 2010!!
Amen! The coaching is atrocious throughout this organization, starting with Manuel. What did he say the other day? There's no need to directly address Murphy's mental errors because he knows he's made mistakes? What the hell kind of coaching is that - a reverse Socratic method?
There is no way - NO WAY - Manuel should be managing this team next year. If he is, the Wilpon's will have sent a clear message that they are willing to sacrifice wins to save a paltry few bucks.
They [the coaches] don't communicate with the players. They [the players] don't back each other up. They all don't learn from their mistakes. The past three months has been an audition for 2010, and few have stepped up to deserve a return. (Yeah, Pagan can hit, but does he have a brain?)Yes, Metstra, Manuel is an awful manager with an awful staff. He also has an awful ownership and GM to tread through, so he looks doubly stupid. I have no idea who actually will be healthy in 2010, but I want very few players or staff back, and have pitchers like Parnell to have a defined role and spend most of 2010 learning their craft in the minors.
And Murphy is really giving me Greg Jeffries flashbacks. He doesn't throw daily temper tantrums per se, per day, but does he look like a team member or just a self-centered mediocre player? I was sick over the offseason when Burkhardt went down south to interview him, and Murphy kept referring to the Mets as "them." That means he really doesn't see himself as part of anything than himself. And that's the last thing we need for 2010---a homegrown mercenary.
And the topper is that the Mets are evaluating whether to keep ticket prices the same or to raise them next year! How's that for balls?!
Manuel is a terrible manager. I thought Art Howe was a terrible manager but he at least did not try to cover up his inadequacies with inane quips and ridiculous rationalizations. He was not a good fit for the Mets but he didn't make me want to punch his lights out either. Manuel needs to go. But the Wilpons won't do it.
They are really gutless owners. They have no vision and lack the boldness necessary to field a decent team in this town. Jeff Wilpon has about as much business running a baseball team as I do running for President. If they reaaaallly cared about the Mets, or National League baseball in general, they would sell the team. Stuff happens and to admit that someone else could do a better job would be the best thing they could do. But no. We have to watch Omar not pull any rabbits out of his hat and we have to put up with a manager who cannot manage this team.
2010 looks like it is going to be an even longer season.
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