Breaking News (Well, sort of.....)

At approximately 3:15 am eastern standard time, the New York Mets fired manager, Willie Randolph and replaced him with bench coach Jerry Manuel. He will manage the team in the interim until a permanent replacement is hired. The firing should come as no surprise to anyone who follows Mets baseball as Randolph's job has been on the line for several weeks with speculation that his demise could happen at any moment. His job security was so tenuous that it was generally accepted that it was no longer a question of if the ax would fall, but when. Watching the Mets play baseball took a back seat as The "Randolph Watch" became the main event; no longer the side show it was for most of the season.

Randolph's firing has been the subject of New York sports talk shows dating back to last season's historic collapse when the Mets lost a 7 1/2 game lead to the Phillies with only 17 games remaining. Mets Nation was devastated. Fans lit up the phone lines of sports talk shows with repeated calls for Randolph's firing. But Mets management chose not to be reactionary; instead mandating that the team must start the 2008 season by winning early and often. Neither of that happened and the Mets stumbled out of the starting gate and never really got it going. It was clear right from opening day that the foul taste left in the mouths of Mets fans did not abate during the off season. In fact, quite the opposite. Having all winter to stew about what happened Mets fans returned to Shea to boo loud and often. Not only were the Mets not playing winning baseball but the losses were incredulous. Pressure on management to do something began to mount. Many believed Randolph escaped the ax in May when he met with management after returning home from a poorly played road trip. In that meeting he was asked to explain his accusations of racism and being unfairly portrayed as stoic on the team's television network. While fans were stunned by management's vote of confidence stemming from the meeting, it was clear Randolph was on a very tight leash and their support for him was lukewarm at best. It was also speculated that Randolph did not have the full support of his players as many chose not to publicly back him. But in the end, it was untimely hitting, poor relief pitching, so-so defense, late inning meltdowns and in the eyes of many fans, the appearance of indifference by many of the players that ultimately sealed Randolph's fate. And so, like the hundreds (thousands?) of others who've ever manged a professional baseball team that underperformed, Randolph got the ax. That's the way it always goes. Everyone who follows sports knows you can't fire the players. The manger is always the fall guy.