Willie Randolph's Losing Media Strategy
Let this be a lesson for managers and coaches in New York: When your team is down, don't pick a fight with the media.
Willie Randolph, the Mets manager whose team is now under .500, has made two mistakes this week, at a time when his job is looking more and more unsafe.
Randolph told the Bergen Record that he was getting a lot of heat from the media because he's black, and that SNY--which the Mets organization owns--delighted in catching him at unflattering moments in the dugout.
He asked to speak with the Mets' owners, the Wilpons, to apologize, and his offer was rebuffed (instead, he spoke to the team's GM, Omar Minaya).
Even the SNY analysts for Mets games, who are rarely critical of Randolph, lashed out. "In my 17 years of major-league baseball and 10-plus years of being up here in the booth, I've just never heard of a manager make those kinds of comments before, and I'm really quite surprised that Willie made those comments," said Keith Hernandez. Gary Cohen called it "another self-inflicted controversy."
Second mistake: He told WFAN that he thought that the Record interview was off the record. But other reporters who saw Randolph being interviewed said it looked pretty formal since Ian O'Connor, the Record reporter, had a tape recorder in his hand. Reporters tend to look out for one another on sports beats, and New York sports reporters are especially temperamental.
So, Willie: When your team sucks on the field, and the headline writers for the Post and the News are preparing to do their worst, spend your personal capital wisely. At the moment, you're just throwing it away.
Willie made a mistake. Frustration will always take hold. I can remember when i took my chldren to the stadium we would get there early for the team to arrive at the players gate. willie acknowledge my 2girls and boy when they said hello to him. they never forgot that. He should have never brought up the race card this is new york leave him alone and let him manage. by the way i am a yankee fan. pete new york
That's funny - Ed Coleman of WFAN said he did not see a recorder there and that O'Connor, who has known Randolph for 20 years and hadn't seen him in a year and a half stopped in at Yankee Stadium to say hello. This is the same Ian O'Connor who called George Steinbrenner and put out the idea that Joe Torre should go.
Maybe it's Ian O'Connor who needs to stay away from NY managers.
It is time for the big dollar guys to do their job. What do they need their manager to do bench them? Maybe he should send them all back to AAA for a week and see if they begin to produce.
Willie you are always the best with the most class in baseball. You have always played and worked with superstars and always did your job beyond all expectations. You will again rise to the top.
Yankee fan all my life.
Yawn...does anyone watch baseball anymore? I mean people under 40?
The Mets need a good season this year so they can sell those exorbitant luxury boxes in their new stadium. They might still get it, but that's the reason the front office is frantic.
Hmm..the Yanks sell no matter what their record.