It all began late last night while I was listening to WFAN and I heard Rickey Henderson's name. It's after 1, I hear something about Rickey moving up to something else from special minor-league instructor status and all of a sudden I'm curious.
Then Rick Down's name is mentioned. Rick Down's name is mentioned in the same sentence as "fired." My ears start to perk up.
Finally, trusty FAN late-night show host Mark Malusis clarifies that (former) Mets hitting coach Rick Down has indeed been fired and replaced on the coaching staff with Rickey Henderson.
I went in to work today talking baseball with my boss and saying how happy I was with the coaching change. The Mets replaced a lame-duck coach with a man whose name is synonymous with "blindly confident;" the mention of it instantly calling to mind a word that the 2007 Mets have seemingly forgotten how to pronounce:
Swagger.
Rickey's one of the greatest of all time!
First off, understand that baseball, more than other sport, is a game of symbolic moves and gestures, many of which have absolutely no tangible statistical effect and are made just because, well, just because. In some sense, they're necessary.
The hiring and firing of hitting coaches is never anything more than a gesture along these lines. Major League Baseball players know how to hit and most likely tune out what some old bum who's making less than them has to say anyway.
That said, if you're team's hitting isn't quite right, what do you do?
That's right, when you're the Mets, your offense has underachieved all season, and your team is in dire need of some sort of shake-up, firing Rick Down is a fabulous idea. They should have done this three weeks ago.
And who better to give a team desperately lacking some cajones some cajones than Rickey himself. Rickey's just gonna be Rickey, and hopefully he brings some of his attitude and quirks to the team, making the Mets realize that all they have to do is just be the Mets, because if they actually play up to their potential there's no reason they can't decorate Shea with one more championship banner for its final year.
Give HoJo the hitting coach job, put Rickey at first and let him make Jose Reyes even better at stealing bases, and let the chips fall where they may.
So I'm happy. I'm home from work on a Thursday afternoon, Rickey Henderson is going to be a coach for the Mets, and there's one more day between today and the weekend. Then I learn that not only will Lastings Milledge be promoted, but Julio Franco will be designated for assignment to make room for him on the 25-man roster. Am I dreaming?
Thanks, Julio, for all that you've done to help Carlos Beltran play in New York, but you know as well as I do that it was time for you to go. Happy trails. In the meantime, the Mets made a roster move that has been needed for about a month and that I didn't think would get made this year.
The fans don't like up and down, and apparently neither do the Mets. Before I could say "inconsisent first half" again, I read on metsblog.com that Omar signed the recently-released-from-the-Dodgers Marlon Anderson to a minor-league contract.
Anderson's nothing special, but he was money as a pinch-hitter for us in '05. It can't hurt to at least give him another shot, especially with the Mets' bench sorely lacking a reliable pinch hitter at the moment.
Blockbuster acquisition Marlon Anderson could provide some pop to the middle of the Mets' order. Really, though, it's a move worth at least trying. Good deal(s). The Mets didn't acquire Roy Oswalt, (although they may be able to?) but these moves show that Omar Minaya, for one, is at least a little serious about taking care of business again in Queens. More frequently than every other night.
I keep saying that the Mets don't really need any more impact players right now. Retooling is where we want to go. There's still 77 more games, but this is a step in the right direction. Symbolically, at least.
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