Death & All New York

Firings are imperfect. The majority are acrimonious and insensitive. The minority are compassionate and empathetic. With that stated, firings have protocol. They are private. They are prompt. They occur sans spectacle.

On Tuesday morning, the New York Mets fired Manager Willie Randolph. Bench Coach Jerry Manuel supplanted him. According to General Manager Omar Minaya, alteration was necessary. “Is it Willie only? No, it's us,” Minaya said. “I can't replace 25 players. And the players care. The players give 100 percent. It just wasn't working. I think the players were pressing.”

Billy Wagner was both shocked and unsurprised. “After winning yesterday's ballgame, that's [the firing] the last thing you have in mind,” he said. “You say, `Well, we're rolling. We might get back on track and we're going to start playing better It is a distraction every day. You try to keep away from the papers, but they're always in the clubhouse and you read and they're always talking about firing Willie, firing Willie.”

During his tenure, Randolph amassed a 302-253 record. He won one division championship. “I thought he [Minaya] was talking about whacking a couple of my coaches,” said Randolph. “That’s why I was stunned. I didn’t think it was going to happen. At the time, I felt the way he was talking to me, that I was pretty secure for the time being. Not the way I would have handled it.”

With the Chicago White Sox, Manuel logged a 500-471 ledger. He also won only one division championship. “Being a coach, the relationship is a lot different,” Manuel said. “But I think at the same time they have to respect that. And now that you’ve moved into the office of manager, you haven’t changed, but there’s a definite line in the sand that has to be drawn as to how they can approach you and how you can approach them.”

Last season, New York’s collapse was both epic and self-inflicted. The Mets did not hit. Their pitching imploded. They allowed nine seven-plus run contests. For this implosion, Randolph was sacrificed. Now, the New York masses wait… Their craving? Minaya’s head on a silver plate.