The New York Mets manager Jerry Manuel stiffed the Mets fans by resting all their position starters in a Saturday afternoon homegame against the Florida Marlins. In making the decision to bench his stars, Manuel showed either blatant disregard or sheer arrogance towards the Mets faithful.On a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Flushing, Queens, excited Met fans, young and old, where mistreated to a D-League lineup that excluded David Wright and Gary Sheffield.
Just think of all the kids who were disappointed and letdown. Think of those who's visit will be their only one this season. Think of fans who shelled out big bucks to see a game to be mistreated to a bunch of minor leaguers!
But there is a lot more to the story then just upsetting the fans. Last year Jerry Manuel promised not to bench his stars on a homestand after he did the same injustice to the hometown fans - is senility setting in?
Get this. The Mets had an off day the previous day. But Manuel still went ahead with decision knowing that on the following Monday the Mets were starting a next road trip was against the weaker teams and lowest fan attendance in the National League (Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Nationals) - a perfect time to rest the players.
But here is the kicker!! The Mets were facing the Marlin starter Josh Johnson. Johnson was undefeated against the Mets (6-0 lifetime) and Jerry Manuel made the conscious decision to concede the game before it was even played. The Mets front office should really question his decision-making and competitiveness.
But this is just another episode in the long history of the Mets front office and managers to completely disregard and disrespect all that is the Mets - it's history, some of it's former players and especially their fans.
I believe Mets fans will get over this, as long as the next Manuel "mis-decision" doesn't cost the Mets a chance at the pennant.
