“I use the .500 mark as a time to see what direction we’re headed. If we get too below that, then there has to be concern. If we get below that [.500] mark and we continue to struggle offensively as we are, I think that’s a no-brainer. We have to visit that. It would be somewhat dishonest if I said no.” – Mets manager Jerry Manuel
This is it. Today is officially the day that the New York Mets cross the invisible, yet very tangible, line from urgency to desperation.
Fernando Nieve was an afterthought in April.
He was a veteran major league pitcher in need of career CPR. The Mets put him on life support, when they plucked him off waivers from the Houston Astros in mid-March. Nieve was a footnote somewhere between the release of Duaner Sanchez and the two-week flyer the Mets took on Junior Spivey.
In the early morning hours of June 17, 2008, the New York Mets replaced then manager Willie Randolph with Jerry Manuel. The Mets were in fourth place in the National League East with a record of 34-35, 6 ½ games behind the Philadelphia Phillies, Florida Marlins and Atlanta Braves.
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