That's the time it took for the Mets to do a complete 180 and go from Yankee-killers to road kill. I spent roughly 15 hours at Turner Field yesterday witnessing every gory detail of the Braves' doubleheader sweep and I still can't explain what happened.
The day began with manager Willie Randolph trying to retreat from the comments he made to the Record's Ian O'Connor and ended two losses later with Ryan Church, essentially the Mets' best player to this point, lying face down in the dirt.
With the sharks already circling Randolph, this is another case of terrible timing for the embattled manager. Church was diagnosed with a mild concussion -- his second since spring training -- and there's no telling how much time he could miss. A conservative estimate would be a week to 10 days, but with head injuries, it's an inexact science.
Judging by Church's condition late last night, it did not seem as bad as the concussion he suffered after colliding with Marlon Anderson back on March 1. Church, despite an ugly bruise on his upper forehead, seemed to be moving OK but was in no shape for interviews. Bench coach Jerry Manuel tried to cheer him up a little when he looked at the bruise and yelled out his signature line, "That's gangsta."
Otherwise, the Mets' clubhouse was as somber as its been all season. Sort of a flashback to last September, when the team found itself in a death spiral and could not pull out of it. Same feeling of helplessness and no idea of how to fix things. It's only May 21, but I think Randolph has until the end of this road trip to turn things around. If not, he could be history when the Mets return next week for a seven-game homestand against the Marlins and Dodgers.
Randolph is leaving the Wilpons no choice. Not only is the team underperforming, but his remarks about the team's network, SNY, and his suggestions of racial bias did not go over well with ownership. Here's Randolph's attempts to backtrack on those comments yesterday and Wally Matthews' take on the whole fiasco.
Now's a good time for nostalgia, so take a trip back those halcyon days when Mike Piazza ruled Shea with today's retrospective from Mark Herrmann. It will be interesting to see which cap Piazza will wear for the Hall of Fame -- Mets or Dodgers. Tough call. There's a good argument for both, but I have a feeling the HOF will go with the Mets. In the end, they choose.
Comments (1)
"There's a good argument for both, but I have a feeling the HOF will go with the Mets. In the end, they choose."
It would be almost criminal if he doesn't go in as a Met. LA didn't want him, and the instant he arrived in NY he was the franchise. He hit more homers as a Met and went to the World Series as a Met.
That said, it will probably be the Dodgers, if only because of Mets franchise luck.