Comments on: Give Howard Johnson The Boot

By: Bayonne Mets Fan

Bayonne Mets Fan — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:11:05 +0000

Terrible, awful, uneducated post!

If this blogger was a caller on WFAN I’d give him ‘the wave’ in 2 seconds.

Not only is the team batting average of .268 very good for a team of substitutes but the Mets have been missing their leadoff, #3, & #4 hitters all year, and now David Wright but Subs like Angel Pagan, Alex Cora, Fernando Martinez, & Gary Sheffield have been injured at one time or another as well. And YES…that does matter. It’s been a backup lineup all year. I am surprised something as stupid as this made it past the MetsMerized editors.

By: Des

Des — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:26:39 +0000

This article sorely misses the mark. It’s like having a solution and looking for the best problem to justify the answer.

Good try but but no cigar will be offered by me. Too many real issues exist for the team. Let’s hope the Mets fill a major league roster with day-in and day-out players next year and the fates don’t conspire against them.

Sometimes fate and circumstances are too tough for writers to deal with.

P.S.: I think the article, whatever its merit (which I think is small) is a bit mean spirited.

By: Paul Nassau

Paul Nassau — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 22:41:36 +0000

I always remember the ‘69 Mets batted .242. Great pitching made them a great team.
Pops

By: Kay

Kay — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:50:38 +0000

Ace – I guess this has linked too many times, but in response to your last comments, the point is, people are calling for HJ’s head, but if you look at the numbers, the offense is 2nd in the NL with the lowest amount of K’s so he has done his job, despite the players given. The only lacking number are homeruns and you can’t make non homerun hitters become homerun hitters, either they are or they aren’t and they wouldn’t be called bench players or minor leaguers if they were homerun hitters.

By: Aye

Aye — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:24:34 +0000

Clearly its not the park. Ask ryan howard. hehehehe the mets are surely pathetic. Does anyone have any recollection when is the last time they won a series??

By: Ace

Ace — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:47:52 +0000

“makeshift team”? ok, let’s just say that is correct. That COULD apply to the players due to injury and whatnot. The coaches however are not makeshift. They each chose roles that make them accountable for the success or lack thereof of the team, in other words “leadership roles”. And, as leaders when things don’t go according to plan they make adjustments and improvements to the situation toward the common goal. This is where they seemed to have failed, on a basic fundamental level. Much like your comments earlier, they have hidden behind injuries of key players and thrown their hands up in defeat. As I said earlier, I do NOT say fire these people just for the sake of doing so. Each of these “leaders” have earned a trip to the unemployment line due to each of their own performances. Fundamentaly, the Mets are broken; and the people responsible for fundamental aspects are the Coaches. The GM is at fault for the staff and depth, and overal is accountable for the success of an organization. many different teams in many different sports usually let coaches and GM’s go after several years of failure to reach a championship.

By: Kay

Kay — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:22:50 +0000

Actually what I said is, all things considered, our offense is pretty good, sans the homerun numbers, but ALL OUR HR HITTERS ARE GONE…..

Putting HJ on the hot seat right now is not making sense.

I’ll go as far as saying, that I think Manual is getting the brunt of things unfairly too.

This is a make shift team, and NO one wants to recognize that, lets just chop heads for the sake of chopping heads.

By: Ace

Ace — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:50:34 +0000

I’m not just wildly casting blame like throwing a dart at the dart board. Clearly as you say our offense is horrible, and i believe HJ has some ownership in that. As you say, there are significant amount of players on the DL. However I disagree that this is a good excuse for HJ, Manuel, or Omar. HJ in particular, sometimes his job is to take a chunk of coal and make it a diamond; he does not have those skills yet. Manuel too for that matter, he is not ready for his current role, they need mentoring. I do not say just fire any of them because someone needs to be fired, they have all earned a change in venue, Omar especially! None of them seem to have been able to instill a sense of urgency in this organization. As far as pitching rotation, we are clearly weakest there. The Mets have little depth, and IMHO the reason for this is a lack of vision on the part of the owner, GM, and managers. Most believe a change is necessary for this team, and as always opinions differ as to what should be changed. But, to take a team in a different direction it requires management and leadership, two things that go hand in hand and the Mets sorely lack both.

By: Kay

Kay — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:19:40 +0000

Really this offense is POOR? This rag tag team that is put together, with ALL the stars on the DL is 6th in the MLB in average and 2nd in the NL in average. In in the top half or higher in slugging and OBP.

We are at the bottom of the barrell in homeruns – again with EVERY STAR ON THE DL which must be considered.

Oh yeah and we are DEAD last in strike outs – that includes the fact that DWright has ane exceptionally high number of K’s this year.

So, to say HJ is not doing is job, is quite inaccurate. Just another case of, this season is bad where can I place the blame today.

By: frank

frank — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:15:26 +0000

the problem is that the mets pitching rotation is inconsistent and the hitting is just horrible.. this team has so many problems that ots hard to fix one without fixing the other first. during th off season the mets should look for good quality hitters and pitching.. and oh yeah HoJo and some of the minor league staff should be replaced they are doing a horrible job .