One year later, Mets in neutral under Manuel

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.

Underachievers.

On the eve of being named “interim” manager Manuel’s Mets are a combined 87-67 (.565) between 2008 and 2009 while the hated rival and World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies are percentage points better, 86-65 (.570).

So what’s new?

During the 365-day span under Manuel announced he’s a “gangsta,” the Mets won 10 straight (July 5-17, 2008) and moved into first place, coughed up a 3 ½ division lead in late-September (second straight year), signed Francisco Rodriguez, traded for J.J. Putz, purged Aaron Heilman, re-signed Oliver Perez, named Daniel Murphy the team’s starting leftfielder (February), opened Citi Field, replaced Murphy with Gary Sheffield in leftfield (May), “I could have strangled” David Wright, watched Ryan “That’s unbelievable. I can’t explain, why, how or anything” Church miss third base and roll his eyes when Luis Castillo drops a routine pop up with a one-run lead and two outs in the ninth against the Yankees.

Underachievers? Overachievers?

In his New York Times Bats blog Ben Shpigel struggled to put the proverbial square block in a round hole in trying to measure Manuel’s performance. In one year Shpigel’s summation is Manuel is “a better communicator than Randolph,” he has helped the Mets situational hitting and “he feels will give him the best chance to win that day.”

Thousands of words have been written about Manuel. Are the Mets better or worse than one year ago? Everyone is trying to place the Mets manager under their respective thumbs. It’s impossible. Manuel’s fortune and fate have yet to be determined.

It would be unfair to pull the plug, even suggest it, with the condition in which he assumed in 2008. He took a fourth place team and turned lost into found – until September.

Now, his first full season as Mets manager, Manuel has suffered a grocery list of injuries and still the team is 32-29 in the thick of the NL East race (but some would suggest “fading”). Does that make the ‘09 Mets better or worse than the ‘08, or even ‘07 Mets? It’s hard to tell with a lineup driven by utility players and minor league callups.

Manuel will be judged on the success or failures come September. That’s where the Jekyll and Hyde routine started and ended in 2007 and 2008.

2009? Manuel and the Mets must prioritize a new set of challenges. First, get to September. Second, hope the team is still in contention. Three, be healthy. Four, then deal with the demons.

Mets, beat writers on suicide watch

The New York Mets are 32-29, four games out of first place in the National League East with 101 games left on the regular season schedule. Considering the circumstances — eight men on the disabled list — the team is surprisingly buoyant.

One good week, combined with a few losses by the Phillies, and the Mets could be bobbing from the top of the division by the All-Star break.

Don’t jump … and don’t believe everything you read. Within a couple clicks of reading this you may land on Kevin Kernan’s column in today’s New York Post. It is laughable and desperate.

Kernan pleads with Mets GM Omar Minaya that “something has to be done.”

Translation: make a trade.

Luke Scott? This is no joke. April Fool’s Day was 2 1/2 months ago. Scott is batting .314 with 14 home runs this season but once glance at his career numbers suggests this is an aberration. By season’s end, when Scott becomes a free agent, he will comfortably return to the .272 career hitter he is.

Carlos Lee? OK, his power is enticing but what about the contract? Lee will pocket $18.5 million every year up until 2012. Are the Mets so desperate to trade young prospects for a veteran who is under contract until he turns 37?

“The Nationals drafted ace-of-the-future Stephen Strasburg last week … because they will be picking No. 1 next year 16-year-old phenom Bryce Harper figures to be the top pick next June … they could have two great players overnight. The Nats can become the Rays,” wrote Kernan.

Correction: Two great prospects, not two great players — not yet anyway. Strasburg has yet to throw a pitch professionally. He has not thrown a single major league pitch to Albert Pujols, David Wright or Chase Utley. Strasburg has not recorded a professional win. So, before we crown him the next Walter Johnson, Cy Young or Sandy Koufax, let’s be patient.

And Harper? He has a world of talent — for a 16-year old kid. I am optimistic he will be a great major league player but he’s been hitting against teenage pitchers who’s baseball careers will end as teenagers. Harper needs to prove he can turn on Justin Verlander’s fastball, have the patience to time Tim Wakefield’s knuckleball or Tim Lincecum’s nasty curveball before he is pinned as the savior to the Washington Nationals. And, he’ll have to get his drivers license too.

With two Cy Young Awards, three All-Star appearances, 20-game winner Johan Santana deserves the benefit of the doubt before we take him out to the pasture and shoot him. Kernan laments “… if Johan Santana continues to stumble, it’s over.” It’s over? What’s over? Santana’s career?

Santana has had three poor starts this season (May 16 vs. Giants, June 9 vs. Philadelphia and Sunday vs. Yankees). He is 8-4 with a 3.29 ERA. His ERA was 0.46 in April, 1.77 at the end of May. Two weeks ago baseball scribes were labeling “the best pitcher in the game.” Now this?

“Fix the Mets, Omar, quickly. Make a deal — any deal,” writes Kernan.

That’s crazy talk. The Mets need a healthy Carlos Delgado, not a mediocre Luke Scott, Aubrey Huff or an overpriced, aging Carlos Lee. The Mets need a healthy Jose Reyes, John Maine and J.J. Putz.

Now, please, come down off the ledge.

Don’t jump.

Subway Series: Dave who?

Just as he did an hour before, New York Mets pitcher Dave Mlicki walked from the team’s dugout to the pitchers mound at Yankee Stadium. It was the same understated stroll he made to and from the dugout during the game only now the Stadium was quiet, empty and dark. It was eerily cool for a mid-June night. The heat — along with the cheering, jeering and chanting — left in the shadow of 56,188 New Yorkers.

Now it was just Mlicki and the mound. No blue and orange cap, no spikes, no glove or uniform, just Mlicki in street clothes carrying a plastic cup. He quietly reached down with his pitching arm, scooped up a handful of dirt from the mound and walked away.

Sixty minutes earlier, Mlicki’s face was captured close-up by ESPN cameramen just before he delivered his 119th and final pitch on his first major league complete game, a 6-0 shutout win over the storied New York Yankees.

If witnessed, his post-game walk would’ve resembled an opening scene of some big budget baseball movie, complete with all the Hollywood clichés. But this was real. It’s a true story, despite the surreal feelings Mlicki was experiencing.

Mlicki became the inspirational backstory to the Subway Series, the first-ever interleague meeting between two New York teams and the first time in 40 years since September 8, 1957 that two teams from the Big Apple (New York Giants beat Brooklyn Dodgers at the Polo Grounds) played a regular season game.

From obscurity to baseball’s biggest stage

Dave Mlicki stepped off the team bus and walked past the screaming fans into the Mets clubhouse at Yankee Stadium – uninterrupted. No one asked for an autograph, no well-wishers and no taunts from the Bronx faithful.

He thought to himself, ”They don’t know me.” Four-and-one-half years of major league service, the last two-and-one-half playing in New York for the Mets, and no one, not a single baseball fan had any idea the man with the duffle bag walking by them was the game’s starting pitcher.

To fans, Mlicki was Average Joe. He was no different than a member of the road crew, your supermarket checkout person or your next door neighbor. Humble and described by the New York media as “understated,” Mlicki’s ego was not bruised by the lack of attention. In fact, he told the New York Times, ”I’m very lucky to be doing this.”

That was an understatement. Pitchers of Mlicki’s ilk have been crushed by the pressure of performing in New York. He was on the brink of suffering the same fate. Mlicki’s record was 2-5. His ERA was 4.70. In his previous start, Mlicki lasted five innings, allowing five runs and 11 hits in a 10-6 win over the Cubs. He had won only two of his previous 13 starts.

Still, under pressure from the fans and the media, Mets manager Bobby Valentine supported Mlicki. As first pitch neared, Valentine offered only one piece of advice to his starting pitcher: ”Try to enjoy yourself.”

Not, win or watch out for this guy, but enjoy yourself.

‘I hope you enjoyed it’

The Mets jumped on Yankees starter Andy Pettitte for three runs in the first inning. ”I think maybe a couple of people changed hats after the first inning,” Yankee second baseman Pat Kelly told the media after.

Then it was Mlicki’s turn. After a lead-off single by Derek Jeter, Mlicki retired Kelly on a ground ball, then struck out Paul O’Neill and Cecil Fielder and a roar went up as the Yankees went down – quietly – in the first inning.

”When there was a strike three, they’d roar like we were at Shea … never a New York crowd like this,” said Mets reliever John Franco.

Mlicki baffled the Yankees inning after inning, piling up zeroes and pitching out of tight spots. The Mets tacked on two runs in the seventh and another in the eighth to take a 6-0 lead as Annie Herbst, Mlicki’s wife, watched her husband retire the pinstripes.

Kelly and O’Neill delivered back-to-back singles with one out in the eighth. With the pitch count mounting, Mlicki’s wife watched as Greg McMichael began warming up in the Mets bullpen. But, again, Mlicki wiggled out of the jam.

”It’s New York; you’re going to have fans from both sides,” Joe Girardi, Yankee catcher now manager, told the New York Times after the game. “That’s what makes this great. There was a lot of electricity. Unfortunately, none of it was on our side.”

The Yankees loaded the bases in the ninth inning with two outs and Valentine never budged. This was Mlicki’s game. He needed one more out – or he would be out of the game.

Mlicki finished off the Yankees, striking out Jeter looking. The book was closed: 9 innings, no runs, nine hits, eight strikeouts, two walks, 119 pitches and 11 Yankees left on base. Hundley trotted to the mound, tossed Mlicki the ball, shook his hand and said, ”You earned it.”

Valentine greeted Mlicki on the way to the dugout.

”I hope you enjoyed it,” asked the Mets manager.

George set the tone

The New York Times referred to the Subway Series as “George Steinbrenner’s personal World Series.”

He hated losing to the Mets. It didn’t matter if it were an exhibition or a regular season game said former Yankee and Met player, coach and manager Willie Randolph.

”We played the Mayor’s Trophy game … [and] Steinbrenner got involved and tried to make it very serious, like we had to win,” said Randolph. “It was do or die. I remember feeling the pressure about winning: this is a big game. We’re playing the Mets.”

Don Zimmer said Steinbrenner was “adamant” about beating the Mets – during spring training. It was “well documented that these games are important to our owner,” added David Cone, then with the Yankees. “They should be. It’s for the bragging rights of New York City.”

This was a new experience for Torre, who only heard the stories about George.

”As a manager, my responsibility is to beat whoever I play.” Torre told the media. “You can’t start getting emotionally involved. Then something is getting in there that shouldn’t be in there. If all of a sudden you want to beat the Mets more than Cleveland, why don’t you want to beat Cleveland? That’s unfair to the players.”

The Morning After

The next morning Mlicki and his wife walked to a local diner in New York. As they ate breakfast, New Yorkers at the next table ordered their coffee and eggs, read the back pages of the morning newspaper and talked about the game.

Mlicki appeared impervious.

”Dave, are you more excited than you’re letting on? You don’t seem to be reacting to this,” Annie asked.

Mlicki smiled and no one noticed.

The Magic is back, if only for a night

“ Home runs are over-rated. You don’t have to hit home runs to win. If I don’t get a home run all year, and the team wins, I’ll be more than satisfied.” – Steve Henderson (1981)

The Reccoppa family piled into Dad’s burnt orange 1970 Plymouth Duster for the short ride across the bridge on Route 37 to Seaside Heights. A visit to grandma’s summer house, a sure sign school would be out soon.

Anthony, 10, the youngest of three boys and the lone New York Met fan, suffered through his share of summers. “In school, in New Jersey, there were three teams: Mets, Yankee and Phillies,” Reccoppa remembers. “In the late-70’s, early 80’s there weren’t many Met fans and here I was with my Lee Mazzilli t-shirt.”

But this was the summer the misery and suffering would end. This was 1980, the year the Magic was Back in Flushing.

The season lived up to its catch phrase on the night of June 14, 1980, when Pete Falcone hooked up with John Montefusco at Shea Stadium. Playing in front of 22,918, the Mets were in mid-summer form, falling behind early and often.

Falcone couldn’t finish the second inning, allowing five runs, five hits and two walks. He retired four batters. By the sixth inning, the Giants had built a 6-0 lead and the Mets were held hitless through 5 1/3 innings when light-hitting second baseman Doug Flynn singled. Anthony and his father kept one eye on the game as they wandered “in and out of the house” through the evening, preparing for the trip to Seaside. The Mets scratched out two runs to cut the Giants lead to 6-2 as the Reccoppa family climbed into the Duster at sunset.

“It was the first new car my father ever bought,” remembers Anthony Reccoppa. “It was red-orange, black interior, no air conditioning and an AM radio,” but good enough to pick up the Mets flagship station WMCA-AM, where sports director Art Rust Jr. boldly guaranteed the 1980 Mets would be playing October baseball at “Flushing by the Bay.”

Any hope for magic was almost snuffed out, when Mets outfielder Elliot Maddox grounded to short to lead off the ninth. Then, Doug Flynn delivered a bunt single but Jose Cardenal grounded out, advancing Flynn to second base. The Mets were down to their final out, trailing by four runs.

Then, Lee Mazzilli singled, scoring Flynn. Frank Taveras walked. Claudell Washington singled, scoring Mazzilli. With the Giants white-knuckling a 6-4 lead, manager Dave Bristol relieved Greg Minton with Allen Ripley, needing one … more … out.

“I was at this game and made the unpardonable mistake of leaving early. I didn’t want to miss the LIRR train back home and have to wait around for the next one. Besides, there was no way they’d come back in this one, was there? I learned my lesson; I’ll never leave a Mets game early again. There’s always hope in baseball. That lesson came in very handy during Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.” – Met fan comment posted on UltimateMets.com

Steve Henderson, two years and 364 days removed from the day he was tagged as “the guy the Mets got in the Seaver trade,” represented the winning run for the Mets.

Henderson had a flair for the dramatic.

Six days after the Seaver deal, on June 21, Mets chairman M. Donald Grant made his first Shea Stadium appearance since his infamous Midnight Massacre. He was greeted by a custom-designed banner that read GRANT’S TOMB.

Henderson bailed out Grant for the moment, smacking his first major league home run in the 11th inning, giving the Mets a 5-2 walk-off win over the Atlanta Braves. The longball became a long-term problem for Henderson.

The Mets adjusted Henderson’s batting style to meet their needs. The team needed power and when Henderson delivered a pair of game-winning home runs against the Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates (a grand slam off Kent Tekulve), the Mets saw an opportunity.

“After my first season [1977], the Mets changed my batting stance, to make me hit more home runs,” said Henderson. “But [in 1980] I went back to my old stance. I was more relaxed at the plate.”

By mid-June 1980 Henderson was, again, feeling comfortable with his new-old closed batting stance. Coming into the night, he was batting .340 including 17 multi-hit games. On June 8, Henderson went 6-for-8 in a doubleheader against the Pirates.

Henderson, who struck out in his first three at-bats of the night, was now facing Allen Ripley. He took the first pitch. He remembers feeling “tight” and “unable to concentrate,” so he walked back to the on-deck circle loaded his bat with pine tar, took a deep breath and cleared his mind.

Ripley delivered the next pitch under Henderson’s chin, causing him to “jack knife out of the way,” in the words of legendary Mets announcer Bob Murphy.

“I try to keep my temper, but when someone does something like that to me, throwing too close, I sort of turn into a monster,” Henderson would tell the New York Times after the game.

He took the next pitch for strike two. The Mets were down to their final strike. The following is pure speculation, but it would be fair to suggest that a burst of wind stimulated the magic dust surrounding homeplate, landing squarely on the barrel of Henderson’s bat.

Henderson turned Ripley’s 1-2 fastball from improbable, to maybe, to probably and ultimately magic. The ball cleared the right field fence and was caught on the fly by Mets reliever Tom Hausman.

Final score: Mets 7, Giants 6

The Shea Stadium scoreboard in right field began flashing, HENDU CAN DO! then HENDU DID DO! Fans coaxed Henderson out of the clubhouse for a curtain call before parading down the exit ramps chanting “Lets Go Mets!”

“My dad was pounding on dashboard and my mother was yelling at him, ‘We’re going to get in an accident,” said Reccoppa.

It was Henderson’s first home run of the season and his first home run since July 13, 1979 (226 at-bats). One month after losing 15-4 to the Cincinnati Reds, the Mets were 9-18. Now, the Mets were 27-28, one game under .500.

“The ones over the Pirates and Dodgers were nice, but this one was unbelievable,” said Doug Flynn later. “You keep busting and busting, then Henderson hits his first home run, and it’s a three-run game winner.”

The Reccoppa family arrived, greeted Grandma with a quick hug and turned on WOR in time to catch Henderson and then Mets manager Joe Torre on Kiner’s Korner.

The Mets would follow that magical night with seven straight losses, followed by an August swoon, losing 14 of 17 games. The 1980 Mets were better remembered for a magic moment.

Familiar refrain (DuFresne) getting old — fast

Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies. — Andy DuFresne

Since he took the reigns as Mets manager one year ago, Mets manager Jerry Manuel has been seen a lot. I know this because my wife now knows him by name. Her recognition of Manuel is “a tell” in my life. When some in my sports world is identifiable by name to my beloved wife, I know this athlete has reached the saturation level.

Although, in this instance, Manuel is a curious figure. My wife indentifies with Manuel because, in her eyes, he reminds her of actor Morgan Freeman. Yes, the same guy that played “Red” in Shawshank Redemption. There is a connection between this pop culture cable retread and Tuesday’s Mets-Phillies game: tie game, late innings, close calls, great defensive plays (Werth, Tatis), the big hit and the Phillies escape with a win.

Like the seemingly, never-ending cable movie loop, you can anticipate the scenes ahead. As a Met fan, this anticipation collides with a dreadful dose of fear. “Terrible thing, to live in fear,” said Red.

Funny, and slightly ironic, that Freeman’s character is named “Red.” All he needs is a bright red cap with the signature “P” on the front.

When Chase Utley turned on an inside fastball by Bobby Parnell in the 11th inning last night to give the Phillies a 5-4 lead, over the hush of Citi Field, I could hear Red’s now famous narrative, signaling the end:

“I find I’m so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it’s the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend, and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.”

Moments later, reading from his post-game press conference script Manuel delivered another familiar refrain, “We had many, many opportunities. We just couldn’t seem to get the big hit.”

That would explain the 16 runners the Mets left in scoring position, but not the anger and frustration Mets fans were treated to as a parting gift. The only answer to that question appears to be hope.

Andy Dufresne: There’s something inside they can’t get to, that they can’t touch. That’s yours.
Red: What’re you talking about?
Andy Dufresne: Hope.

Santana has Hall of Fame heart

Johan Santana said he felt he had the stamina and “stuff” to get through the eighth inning Monday. Clinging to a 6-5 lead Santana, sans velocity, had thrown 91 pitches when Jerry Manuel fetched him.

Santana, visibly upset, shook the baseball at his manager and said “I’m a man.” Translation: I can finish. It was an inspiring display of leadership. Santana was fearless in the heart of the storm. It’s a moment you want every Met to see — again. Passion and desire, in a New York Met uniform, on public display, caught on tape. Someone, submit that to Baseball Tonight for their “top play” moments.

A quick glance at last night’s boxscore is an injustice to Santana’s performance Monday. Seven innings pitched, five runs, eight hits does not tell the story. Then again, maybe we (the fans) expect too much from Santana who said after the game, “Just because you’re Johan Santana doesn’t mean you’re going to throw a shutout every night.”

True, but it makes for a nice fantasy, no?

“(Santana’s) velocity was down, but his changeup is always good,” Rollins told the New York Daily News. “It makes a big difference when you’re throwing 94 (mph) as your top speed as opposed to 91. The guys are a little more comfortable in the box. He was 91 from the start…and it stayed there.”

Still, on a night that he didn’t have “it,” he contributed with an RBI double and heart worthy of Hall of Fame consideration.

Ibanez should be angry with users, not doubters

No player in Phillies history — which dates back to 1890 (and includes a two-year blip in 1943-1944 when they were the Philadelphia Blue Jays) — has reached the 20 home run plateau faster than Raul Ibanez. Not Mike Schmidt. Not Ryan Howard. Not Richie Allen, Greg Luzinski, Chuck Klein, Jim Thome, Del Ennis or Johnny Callison.

Ibanez smashed Thome’s previous record of 77 games Monday against the New York Mets, blasting a home run in the cavernous confines of Citi Field. It took Ibanez 56 games to reach the 20-home run mark. It was a historic shot by Ibanez hit, ironically, on the same day fans, media and talk radio fired shots at the 37-year old’s success.

Ibanez arrived at Citi Field Monday, stewing over recent claims that his power was synthetic, a by-product of a player who uses performance-enhancing drugs. Midwest Sports Fans, a fan-based sports commentary website, published a pointed story titled “The Curious Case of Raul Ibanez” Monday claiming, “… it’s time for me to begrudgingly acknowledge the elephant in the room: any aging hitter who puts up numbers this much better than his career averages is going to immediately generate suspicion that the numbers are not natural, that perhaps he is under the influence of some sort of performance enhancer … Sorry Raul Ibanez and Major League Baseball, that’s just the era that we are in — testing or no testing.”

With one stroke of the enter key the report traveled from the Midwest to the Northeast, eventually landing in a subsequent column in the Philadelphia Inquirer. The centerpiece of the story, Ibanez, stepped in.

“You can have my urine, my hair, my blood, my stool - anything you can test,” Ibanez told the Inquirer. “I’ll give you back every dime I’ve ever made if the test is positive.”

“I’ll come after people who defame or slander me,” he added. “It’s pathetic and disgusting. There should be some accountability for people who put that out there. There should be more credibility than some 42-year-old blogger typing in his mother’s basement … Unfortunately, I understand the environment we’re in and the events that have led us to this era of speculation.”

Ibanez has no reason to be angry with the sports fan, the blogger, who speculates. The report does not accuse Ibanez of using performance-enhancing drugs. If Ibanez truly understood the “environment we’re in,” he would direct his frustration and anger at Jason Giambi, Jose Canseco, Andy Pettitte, Gary Sheffield, Manny Ramirez — admitted cheats — who confirmed our suspicions about Steroid use in Major League Baseball. It’s the deceit, deception and duplicity of his peers that have created the black cloud that now hangs over his bright red cap.

‘09 Cora playing like an ‘86 Met

At the height of winter, just as New York sports fans were coming to grips with the fact that the Giants would not repeat as Super Bowl champs, the news that the New York Mets signed former Red Sox utilityman Alex Cora to a one-year, $2 million contract was hardly a backpage splash.

At age 33, Cora is best known for his utility play during the 2007 Boston Red Sox championship season and his 18-pitch at-bat in 2004. In 11 seasons, he’s churned out a .246 career batting average. If you look at the big picture, Cora’s career numbers place him somewhere alongside Desi Relaford, Ken Boswell or Rob Wilfong historically.

In 29 games for the Mets, Cora is batting .297, but that’s not why the Omar Minaya invested $2 million on Cora. Although he plays for the ’09 Mets, Cora would have fit right in with the ’86 Mets.

In a New York Times profile published today, Ben Shpigel explains, while David Wright may have more hits, Carlos Beltran may hit more home runs and Jose Reyes will steal more bases, Cora has something none of them have: experience.

Cora knows how to win. He is gritty and outspoken. His grit is on display nightly as the Times points out, “…wearing a splint every game, Cora packs his thumb in ice afterward, occasionally takes some anti-inflammatory medication, and he is good to go …”

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“That’s the true measure of a guy I have the ultimate respect for: a guy who plays hurt, doesn’t go about announcing it and just goes out there and does his job and does it well. I haven’t known him long, but Alex is quickly becoming one of my all-time favorites.” – David Wright on Alex Cora

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His voice has set the tone for the team. As the Mets battle through injuries, it is Cora who hammers home the “no excuses” policy in the clubhouse. According to the Times, Cora is on record saying that if someone disagrees with him they “don’t belong in this clubhouse.”

On the day he signed with the Mets, Minaya told the media, “You win championships with a 25-man roster. Alex Cora has been an integral part of teams that have been to the postseason in four of the last five years.”

Cora added, “I’m committed to do everything I can in any role to win.”

Six months later Cora is walking the talk and worth every penny the Mets invested.

Has the bear finally caught up to Glavine?

In the final chapter of his new book The Complete Game, former Mets pitcher Ron Darling shares the mixed emotions he felt when, in 1995, then Oakland Athletics manager Tony LaRussa broke the news that his career was effectively over.

Darling wrote, “There comes a time in every athlete’s career when there’s nothing left … [In 1995] I thought I’d put enough distance between me and the bear to for keep running for a while. Let the bear bite someone else in the backside and leave me alone and do my thing – even if my thing wasn’t quite what it used to be.”

The Atlanta Braves released Tom Glavine Thursday. It was a business decision. It boiled down to two choices: prolonging the inevitable with Glavine or take the hit now and look toward the future (Tommy Hansen).

Few baseball people deny the Braves made the right choice, but everyone agrees the Braves handled it poorly.

When it comes to making major organizational change, timing is as important as the change itself. Just ask Mets GM Omar Minaya. Last year at this time, coincidentally, Minaya decided it was time for the Mets to make a change. With the team hovering around .500, media speculation that the Mets were suffering from a seasonal “hangover,” and alleged racial comments then Mets manager Willie Randolph made to the media, Minaya decided it was time to make his move.

Sure it was news, big news in New York, but Minaya’s choice to let Randolph make the cross country trip to Anaheim, followed by the decision to make the move in the middle of the night, shifted the focus from news to controversy. Changing managers naturally lends itself to enough media second-guessing, Minaya’s poor timing only escalated an already difficult situation. It became a public relations nightmare.

It’s a lesson the Braves could have learned from handling last week’s decision to cut ties with Glavine, a future Hall of Famer, Atlanta legend and fan favorite. Braves president John Schuerholz apologized to Glavine publicly on Friday saying, “I tossed and turned pretty much all night long really, after we finished our meeting with Tommy, thinking about here’s this guy who has meant so much to our franchise, to the game of baseball, Hall of Famer, represented our city in grand fashion, and the meeting ended in a way that didn’t make me feel good. I want to offer an apology to Tommy.”

Heartfelt, but too late — and unnecessary — now. The damage is done. History is written. The Braves could have avoided this in February when they chose to offer Glavine a contract. Instead, Glavine’s last memory of his relationship with the Braves is “being paraded out” to a sold out crowd in Rome, Georgia.

“That, to me, is extremely aggravating,” said Glavine at Thursday’s press conference.

Which takes us to the next intriguing question: Will another team sign Glavine? Is this the end of his career? The rumor mill give-and-take will suggest obvious teams in need of pitching. The Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and Texas Rangers have all surfaced as potential suitors for Glavine. The problem is, team execs believe the Braves made the decision to let Glavine go for a reason.

“My feeling is that Atlanta knows about Tom Glavine more than anybody,” Milwaukee Brewers GM Doug Melvin told WTMJ. “At this point, I don’t think we would have an interest. “He had left to go to Atlanta, go to the Mets, came back for a final try. It is a tough business when you have to tell people that they have to move on.”

In The Complete Game Darling explained, “It’s especially tough for a pitcher to come to the realization that he’s done … There’s no setting it aside and hoping it goes away. Is there a magic number in your stat line that tells you when you’re through? No, not really. For some pitchers it’s earned run average … maybe it’s a number on the radar gun … maybe it’s knowing your manager and your teammates no longer trust you to pitch them out of a tough spot …”

It appears the bear finally caught up to Glavine.

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So, when is the time right? How should the Braves have handled Glavine? Here’s one perspective from AJC sports columnist Mark Bradley.

680 The Fan: Glavine press conference audio

Mets go south out West, return North to face AL East

The Mets trip West started in the North with three wins. A loss in the final game of the series against the San Francisco Giants sent them South along the coast, where they continued to loss three more times to the Los Angeles Dodgers, leaders in the National League West. Heading south in the National East standings, the Mets flew North to face the American League East Boston Red Sox injured, off course and searching for an exit strategy.

At those crossroads is where we meet Jerry Manuel, compass in hand, navigating through the storm.

Injuries

The roadmap through Boston will be a challenge for the Mets, who will face Daisuke Matsuzaka, Josh Beckett and Tim Wakefield, with a makeshift lineup. There will be no Carlos Delgado (hip/torn labrum) launching lasers off the Pesky Poll bordering the short right field porch, no Jose Reyes (calf tendinitis) at the top of the lineup sucking up ground balls and no Alex Cora (thumb/torn ligament) to spell the Mets starting shortstop.

Ineptitude

With the Mets “A” and “B” plans sidelined, the team has recalled 36-year old Ramon Martinez from Buffalo. Plan “C?” In the immortal words of Dr. Phil, “How’s that workin’ out for ya’?” Martinez went 0-for-12 against his former team, the Los Angeles Dodgers He committed two errors in the team’s five-error nightmare Monday, which had the media comparing the ‘09 Mets to the ‘62 Mets.

It may be the only time in baseball history that a team who lead 3-2, lost 3-2. In the tradition of Marvelous Marv Thronberry and the lovable losers led by Casey Stengel, the Mets found a new way to loss when Ryan Church missed third base trying to score on an extra base hit by Angel Pagan. How do you miss third base?

“It’s hard to miss third base,” Manuel told the media in the post-game press conference. “I don’t know if I ever remember seeing anyone miss third base in a situation like that. I don’t have any explanation for it.”

Inexperience

With Delgado out for 10 weeks, at least, Manuel started Jeremy Reed in Los Angeles Monday. You can literally count the number of starts Reed has made at first base (three) in his six-year major league career. With the game tied at two and the bases loaded for the Dodgers in the 11th, Reed fielded a routine ground ball and made an errant throw to home. E3. Mets lose 3-2.

With Reed back at first on Tuesday, Daniel Murphy started in left field. The Mets defensive inexperience was, once again, exposed. Murphy erred in the first inning, allowing the Dodgers to score first, and you know what that means? Dodgers win 5-3.

After Wedneday’s 2-1 loss, the Mets boarded a flight for Boston riding a four-game losing streak. The Mets were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base Monday, 2-for-8 RISP and six LOB Tuesday and 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position with nine LOB Wednesday. The ugly totals: 3-for-30 (.100) hitting with runners in scoring position with 26 men left on base.

On defense, six errors against the Dodgers, 32 in 40 games this season (second only to the Washington Nationals).

Just two months ago, Manuel and the Mets were strolling through the Port St. Lucie clubhouse, watching plasma screen video replays of the Mets “greatest opposite field hits.” The fundamentals were laid out for all to hear: situational hitting, smart baserunning, and team defense.

But injuries exposed a lack of depth and experience. And discipline … the “fundies” as Keith Hernandez would say … great question.

The Mets could salvage the road trip by finishing their hot and cold streak with one more hot streak. For that to happen, Manuel can ditch the compass for a stethoscope.

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Mets vs. Red Sox …

Pitching Probables vs. Boston Red Sox
Friday: Mets (Johan Santana, 4-2) @ Red Sox (Daisuke Matsuzaka, 0-1)
Saturday: Mets (Mike Pelfrey, 4-0) @ Red Sox (Josh Beckett, 4-2)
Sunday: Mets (Tim Redding, 0-0) @ Red Sox (Tim Wakefield, 5-2)

Red Sox on the web:
RedSox.com
Blog: OvertheMonster.com
Boston Herald Blog: Boston Herald
Blog: Cursed to First
Boston Globe: Extra Bases Blog
TV: NESN
Radio: WEEI.com

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