Willie Randolph and Isiah Thomas
will stay employed in New York;
whether that’s justified is debatable
MLB
The New York Mets ended their season amid enough
drama for a Broadway show, but general manager Omar
Minaya is taking a refreshing approach to initiate the
off-season in Queens. Minaya could’ve gone the typical
route by acting hastily and irrationally but has instead
decided to retain club manager Willie Randolph.
To some, this comes as no surprise, and the mere
thought of firing Randolph might leave you with
nothing to do but scratch your head. But you have to
remember that we’re talking about the city that never
sleeps, and much of that time not sleeping is spent
lamenting the woes of the city’s wounded teams.
Randolph led his team to a record-setting season,
just not the kind fans were expecting a month ago.
The Mets owned a seven-game lead over the
Philadelphia Phillies on Sept. 12 with just 17 games
remaining on the schedule. Then they became the first
team ever to have a division lead that large and miss
the postseason altogether.
The first person to receive blame for such shortcomings
is almost always the manager, and this instance
was no different. That’s exactly why Minaya had to
nip the murmuring in the bud and announce just
two days after the Mets’ season ended that Randolph
would return next season.
Do you know why Randolph wasn’t fired?
He was not fired because in his first two seasons with
the Mets, Randolph accumulated a record of 180-144.
Oh, and he had them only one out away from going to
the World Series after tying the Yankees for the best
record in baseball at 97-65 last season.
This season the Mets won 88 games, and the team
was in contention for the playoffs until losing on the
very last day of the regular season.
And who was most responsible for that loss?
A man who won his 300th game this season and is
a two-time National League Cy Young award winner
– Tom Glavine. Is it Randolph’s fault that a 10-time
all-star gave up seven runs in the first inning? Is it his
fault that the Phillies won 16 of their last 22 games to
catch the fading Mets and win the division?
No.
Sometimes a manager has to do his job and trust that
others will do the same. Randolph admitted he’s always
been associated with winning, and he’s embarrassed
to have been a part of the Mets’ collapse. He certainly
had a hand in the matter, but he doesn’t deserve to
lose his job. David Wright will be back next year; so
will Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran. That’s because they
know how to win, and so does Randolph.
Look at the headaches that have surrounded the
Yankees year after year with the speculation that each
week might be the last for Joe Torre as the club’s
skipper.
I guess four World Series championships and six
appearances in 12 years just isn’t enough.
The problem the Yankees have fostered is that
owner George Steinbrenner and general manager Brian
Cashman have left the door open for the possibility of
Torre seeking new employment. Their support of Torre
is too passive and allows everyone to be increasingly
more critical of him.
So thank you, Omar Minaya, for actually taking a
public stand for your manager rather than firing him.
You won’t regret it.
NBA
Finally, a story that can get the Knicks back in the
headlines!
At least, that’s the way owner James Dolan sees
the situation.
Madison Square Garden, and by extension Dolan,
were found to be liable in a civil lawsuit brought by
former team executive Anucha Browne Sanders. The
suit claimed that the Garden facilitated a hostile work
environment that allowed team president and head
coach Isiah Thomas to make repeated sexual remarks
directed at Sanders.
The court has put the Garden on the hook to pay
$11.6 million in punitive damages to Sanders.
Thomas, the biggest culprit in the case, gets off with
nothing more than embarrassment and some damage
to his already imperfect reputation. He was found to
be guilty in the case but doesn’t owe any money and
likely won’t lose his job.
NBA commissioner David Stern has previously
been harsher in punishing players than coaches and
management. He demonstrated that by critiquing players’
uniform-wearing habits and placing rules on how
they must wear them. Also, the NBA takes action only
against individuals after criminal suits, not civil ones.
It’s unlikely he’ll follow in NFL commissioner Roger
Goodell’s footprints and levy a severe penalty.
Meanwhile, Dolan somehow manages to continue to
support Thomas, who showed arrogance and disregard
for women during his trial.
So, if you’re keeping track, Thomas drove the Knicks
into the ground after assuming his position as team
president in 2004. Then, he decided he was the best
candidate to become head coach. It’s no surprise, but
they’ve continued to lose since then. To complete the
trifecta, he sexually harassed a black female co-worker,
saying later that it is not nearly as wrong for a black
man to call a black woman a “bitch” than it is for a
white man to do the same.
Thomas appears to have the golden ticket in his
position with the Knicks. He has made more than his
fair share of bad decisions but was still rewarded with
a contract extension.
Hey, the Knicks have to stay in headlines somehow
– even if it means cringing and saying Thomas is the
face of the franchise.