JERRY Manuel says the Mets are playing hard, but during six straight losses and 10 in 11 games, we have had to trust him on that. If these guys have been battling, it’s like Art Howe used to say after every game how his teams were battling, and we all know how tiresome that grew and what credit it earned that Mets’ manager in the end.
Supposedly, it is set in stone even harder than Angel Pagan’s head that Jerry is Omar Minaya’s guy, Minaya is Jeff and Fred Wilpon’s guy, and that manager and general manager deserve another chance next season with a much healthier team. As September gets longer with every game and the season grows shorter, that assumption should be about as safe as Dan Murphy’s assumptions that ninth inning ground balls are foul.
The Mets, thanks to two ninth-inning Mike MacDougal walks, a slowly-turned double-play attempt and a bad throw on what should have been the third out by shortstop Ian Desmond, almost thrilled the few thousand who hung — as opposed to the millions who want to hang themselves — with a ninth-inning comeback last night. Manuel’s team fell short, 6-5, to the worse-than-the-Mets Nationals, when Jeff Francoeur’s laser up the middle that could have won it knocked MacDougal’s glove off instead, enabling him to recover.
“We’re still putting forth the fight,” said Manuel.
No question that’s true about Carlos Beltran, who had two hits, got thrown out at the plate on a good gamble on Wilson Valdez’s fly ball in the sixth, and nearly killed himself getting down to first on a ground ball in the ninth to keep the game alive. A good thing, because if the Mets lose 20 of their last 25, should the manager get a pass when he is trying to tell us — as he should tell us — that winning remains important?
“Have we shifted to development or do we still value winning?” said Manuel. “I would say winning is still paramount with me unless it’s a young player like Josh Thole. Bobby Parnell became a part of that situation.”
Parnell got bounced back to the bullpen Thursday because the Mets want to give the rehabbed John Maine some starts. Also because Parnell was terrible, although barely worse than Mike Pelfrey continued to be last night, giving up two-run homers to Ryan Zimmerman and Josh Bard.
Thole made a throwing error that led to a fifth run, which didn’t help, but was easier to live with than brainlock, like Murphy’s, or the ongoing failure to seize opportunity, like Pelfrey’s.
It’s hard to conceive of the Mets entering 2010 with Maine, Pelfrey and Oliver Perez as starters Nos. 2-3-4 and expecting to turn 2009 into just a bad dream. But for two of those pitchers, the final two weeks could provide some reassurance. And with 14 games to go, the Mets are providing little.
“We try to play in a professional, somewhat exciting, manner that the people who do come out will appreciate,” said Manuel. “Hopefully that type of thing we will build on and become [our] trademark.”
The true trademark of the Mets hasn’t been only a Red Cross, but guys watching ground balls go past them in the ninth, making ridiculous base-running decisions and not running hard to first base.
All season they talked a better game about competing despite it all than they actually played. So Wilpon’s promises towards Minaya and Manuel notwithstanding, it’s hard to believe that, unlike the fans, the bosses aren’t still watching. Certainly, they should be.