Why Bobby Makes Sense

With the Omar Era coming to an end and the Wilpons FINALLY expressing a need to change the culture of the organization I feel compelled to chime in on the future of the Mets. While I agree that priority number one is to hire a General Manager who has the autonomy to choose the manager, the fact is that the GM should have to look no further than Bobby Valentine when making that decision. There are a number of reasons I feel this way and below are the top 5:

1. He will energize the fan base. There has been a lot of talk about the need to energize the fan base. Lets face it, the Mets are not going to be anything close to a perennial contender for a few years. This is not a situation, where they are one player away and need just a little boost to get over the hump. Changing the culture of this franchise is a long-term project; and because of that there is no one player on the horizon whose acquisition is going to get people pumped up. This is not a 2007 Hot Stove situation, when fans believed Johan Santana was enough to get them past the infamous collapse and on to a championship season in 2008.

The fact is, the Mets are in a much different situation now and need to look at more long- term goals. Therefore, the fans will not buy into an overpaid superstar as a savior. They will however buy into Bobby V. Why? Read On.

2. Most importantly, he is a damn good manager. Of all the major sports coaches, baseball managers have the least to do with impacting a win or loss. While this is less so in the National League than American League, you would be hard pressed to find anyone involved in sports to believe that baseball managers have as much of an impact on the outcome of a particular game as an NFL or NBA coach. That being said, Valentine is one of a handful of managers who actually makes a significant difference in the win-loss column.

Just think about the 2000 Met team Valentine took to the World Series. While the team did feature two serious offensive threats in Mike Piazza and Edgardo Alfonzo, a formidable top of the rotation duo in Mike Hampton and Al Leiter, and a pretty decent bullpen, the rest was a below .500 team. For heaven’s sake the outfield consisted of rotating Timo Perez, Daryl Hamilton, Jay Payton, and Benny Agbayani, (and that was after the departure of Derek Bell and Rickey Henderson). The infield was not much better, showcasing an injury plagued Robin Ventura at third base, (.232; 24; 84 RBI’s), a defensively challenged Todd Zeile at first, (.268; 22; 79), and the combination of Rey Ordonez, Melvin Mora, and Mike Bordick at shortstop, (a combined .236;10;60). This cast was part of a National League Championship team?!?! How did that happen?!? Well, much of it had to do with Valentine’s crafty managing style, a style that was put on full display when he completely out-managed Tony LaRussa in the 2000 NLCS.

While players may not all love playing for him, the fact is that Valentine seems to get the most out of mediocre talent. This, coupled, with an uncanny ability to always be one step ahead of his opponent leads to more wins simply because he is the dugout.


3. He gives the Mets an identity. Over the past month of the season Mets radio broadcaster Howie Rose talked a lot about the added pressure that David Wright carries around as being the face of the franchise. Rose pointed out that Wright’s the guy who is expected to make all the PR appearances, do all the commercials, and who serves as the go to guy for reporters. And while its true that this can take its toll on a player, I would also add that Wright is pretty boring. He never says anything very interesting, never expresses much emotion, drops cliché after cliché in describing the team, and rarely, if ever, veers from the party line. In other words, he is your typical modern day baseball star.

Valentine is everything that Wright is not. And while it is unusual to think of a manager as being as identifiable with a team as its star player that is exactly what makes him so unique.

4. He takes pressure off the players. I never understood why it was a bad thing that Valentine was a lightning rod for controversy. His antics and remarks always caused the media to focus on him, while his players could just play. This quality would be even more beneficial to today’s even softer and more sensitive player.

5. The New York Factor. No need to go into an entire in depth analysis of the extra hardships posed by managing in New York. We hear, read, and talk about it to death. Simply put, it takes a special kind of person that can handle the media and the pressure. Valentine has proven he can do both and be successful.