If leadership means getting yourself thrown out of a game for arguing with an umpire, then we got ourselves one heck of a leader at the helm of the Mets.
What Willie Randolph couldn’t do in three-plus years, Jerry Manuel has already done three times and in just under a month. For years many Mets fans felt that one of Willie’s shortcomings was his failure to stick up for his players on the field on a close call or controversial call. Some translated it to mean it was a lack of leadership on his part.
It’s quickly become apparent that if that’s what Mets fans want from their manager, then that’s exactly what their going to get from the new skip, Jerry Manuel.
Last night Manuel was ejected for arguing a reversed call which turned a ground rule double into a homerun off the bat of Ryan Howard. It was the third time he was ejected as manager of the Mets and the fourth time this season. You may remember that Jerry Manuel was also ejected as bench coach for arguing the controversial call that took a homerun away from Carlos Delgado at Yankee Stadium. Some say, that the fact Manuel argued and that Willie didn’t, signaled the beginning of the end for Randolph.
Personally, I love it when a manger argues with the umpire, and I do believe it can fire a team up. So keep on fightin’ for us Jerry!
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