In his eleventh year managing in the major leagues, Terry Collins will finally get his first chance to manage in the playoffs. At 66 years old, Collins is the oldest manager in the MLB and has been waiting a very long time for this opportunity.
Collins is one of four managers this postseason to make their debuts. A.J Hinch of the Houston Astros, Jeff Bannister of the Rangers and John Gibbons of the Blue Jays will all be making all their first appearances this October. (Associated Press, NY Times)
“It means a lot to me,” Collins said late last week. “We sat up here and we told our fan base and our media that it’s going to get better and next year we’re going to win. And then to be sitting today and say we told you, it means a lot. It does.”
It’s really been a wild ride for Collins this season, who looked like his job was in jeopardy during the middle of the year. However, he turned everything around with help from some key late season reinforcements.
“In my years of managing in the major leagues, I never had these kind of changes on my team, and I was in pennant races for five straight years until the last week,” Collins said. “Now I see what the difference can make. I certainly wish I would have known that at those times because I would have pushed a lot harder to make some moves.”
Collins originally joined the Mets organization in 2010 as the minor league field coordinator. He was hired as the manager the following season by Sandy Alderson, and has been highly criticized throughout his tenure.
A lot of people will still argue that the Mets won in spite of Collins, but I do think he’s deserving of some credit. He’s helped the team overcome a lot of adversity and has lead them to their first postseason berth since 2006.
“I’m a baseball guy and I’m a baseball development guy,” said Collins, who leads the Mets against the Dodgers beginning Friday night in Los Angeles. “This summer, all I did was write the lineup and try to keep the clubhouse a fun place to be, and it worked out. So I was pretty happy the other day when we won that thing.”
