Collins in firing line in Valley of Stupid
Those in-game manager interviews ESPN does are typically mundane, but it would have made for great theatre during Mets-Giants on “Sunday Night Baseball” if one of the voices asked Terry Collins the following question.
“What did you think of your GM, Sandy Alderson, recently saying: ‘There are no present plans to make any (manager) changes.’”
Considering he was appearing on national television, Collins would’ve given what passes for a diplomatic answer. Who could blame him if he elected to say: “That wasn’t exactly a vote of confidence from Sandy, but I understand. At this point in time they would blame me for the decline of Western Civilization ... or the Zika virus.”
Very true, but not today. Only because the Mets had Monday off before getting down with St. Louis, a team they must overtake in the wild-card race. Also, with a few swings of his bat Yoenis Cespedes rekindled memories of the run he went on last August. The combination will keep Valley of the Stupid Gasbags — and their constituency — off Collins’ back until the next loss.
Or the next move they claim he botched. So, Collins must wait for late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. Then the micro-managing will continue. Every move will be overanalyzed, every decision second guessed, with the second-guesser swearing “this isn’t a second guess, I said it as it was happening.”
The issue of Collins’ future will again be an issue. Whether it is a call to dump him now, or a “guarantee” if the Mets don’t make it to the postseason he will be the scapegoat. With Collins, there is always something. Nonetheless, in the dog days of August, Collins is a gift to the VOS. What better way to pump up a shrinking audience of firsttime, longtimes than building a case to fire a manager whose team went to the World Series last season, right?
The topic, albeit cockeyed, is ear-burning. It sure beats listening to soliloquies on whether Victor Cruz will actually “get on the field.” Or that question for the ages: “Will the Jets carry four quarterbacks this season?
Yes, Collins is providing for the media. He is also providing cover for the people he works for, which is a pretty big deal.
Mets ownership rarely goes public, although Sunday on ESPN-98.7’s “Bats and Balls,” Adam (Balls?) Rubin told Wallace (Bats?) Matthews, that while in San Francisco, Mets COO Jeff Wilpon, along with radio mouth Howie Rose and PR boss Jay Horwitz, toured Tom Seaver’s northern California vineyard. Rubin did not report if Collins was invited.
Seriously though, ownership, which historically has taken major heat inside the VOS, and Alderson, have not “enjoyed” the daily scrutiny Collins has come under this season. Obviously, the owners are not going anywhere. Neither is Alderson, unless he chooses to. No Gasbag or columnist is calling for the GM to be fired. Or repeatedly, like over and over and over again, reconstructing the way the roster was constructed.
It would not matter. For Collins is management’s heat shield, the ultimate deflector. So it’s Collins — whose job it is manage and motivate Cespedes — comes out in support of the slugger playing golf. Then Alderson calls Cespedes hitting the links with an injured quad a “bad optic.” Collins gets ripped while Alderson appeals to media, and fans sensibilities. They would rather see “their” players placed in solitary confinement between games.
Collins, on a daily basis, has a lot of answering to do. Much of the time he does it live, on camera during his postgame press conferences, which air on SNY. There is no ducking or do-overs in this setting. Collins shoots straight and, unlike his counterpart in the Bronx, Joe Girardi, does not come off rigid or scripted. Collins is unpredictable and can be combustible.
Why would anyone, especially considering the Mets are in shouting distance of a wild card, want to see someone as entertaining as Collins get pink-slipped down the stretch?
Oh, we forgot. Baseball is a serious business. Just ask anyone who treats the game like a religion. Yet as the piling on Collins, the don’tuse-injuries-as-an-excuse, continues, there is another side supporting him. Dumping him now, they say, won’t help the Mets.
A change would be a total PR move, a cosmetic reaction from an organization worried about an empty ballpark in September and low TV ratings as baseball is relegated to minorsport status by the beginning of the National Football League season.
Still would anyone, including those who want Collins out, buy into the new manager and hope the Mets would be selling? alling for Collins head now, is just part of a media business, which now, more than ever, is based on irrational ravings. We suggest it’s time to move on. It is all getting boring.
Besides, the coming of a new Mets manager would only provide one major benefit:
Someone else to blame.
C