Willie Randolph was second-guessed at the time, but not from within. Now Cliff Floyd has thrown his former manager under the bus for his decision not to bunt in the ninth inning in Game 7 of the NLCS.
Speaking in Arizona in the Cubs camp, Floyd said: ‘’(Randolph) was confused. I really thought he was going to bunt. Had I been feeling better, I thought it would have been a great call. . . . He thought about it, but (bench coach) Jerry (Manuel) talked him out of it. That’s what bench coaches do, I guess.’’
Floyd, of course, struck out, otherwise this wouldn’t be a big deal.
Funny, here’s how I remember the playoffs. Floyd said he wanted to be on the roster even though he was ailing. If the Mets made a mistake with Floyd, it was putting him on the playoff roster. In hindsight, it was misguided loyalty.
So, Randolph, with the season on the line, has the faith to use Floyd in a tough spot. Floyd, in essence, said the Mets made a mistake by activating him. All this talk about Floyd being a stand-up guy is nonsense. He didn’t say anything at the time. Why is that? Oh yeah, because he wanted to come back.
Now, 2,500 miles away he says something. Real big.
A couple of things to remember about that situation. One, even with a successful bunt, the Mets still would have needed a hit to tie the game. And, who is to say there wouldn’t have been a bunt popped up for a double play?
Two, Floyd didn’t come through. If he had, this could be a moot point.
Randolph was perturbed answering questions, finally saying, “I’m not going to get dragged into this. … That’s his opinion. I’m not going to validate it by addressing it. I make the decisions and I stand by them.’’
Floyd would have been better off keeping his mouth shut. But, I know how this will turn out. Floyd will get some heat and claim he either didn’t say it or was misquoted.
18 Comments
Say what you want about the timing, but Floyd’s right. He said he hadn’t seen live pitching (i.e., non-BP) in four days—and, yet, there’s Willie rolling the dice on him with the season on the line.
Who’s to say the bunt wouldn’t have been popped up into a DP? I defy you to tell me how many times Glavine bunted into DPs last year. The fact is Willie had an excellent bunter at his disposal for a situation that called for a bunt.
As for your contention that, even with a successful bunt, the Mets would have still needed a hit to tie the game, I’m going to pick apart your bona fides here with two simple words that I really shouldn’t have to repeat to anyone covering the Mets for a living: Bill Buckner.
Why would Floyd say all of this now, and not after the season. Doesnt make much sense. He waited til the beginning of spring to throw the manager under the bus that he says helped him change his game and become a better player. I still like Cliff Floyd, but I lost a lil respect for him today.
It’s simple. My love for Cliff outweighs my love for Willie by a considerable margin.
Nobody thinks Willie is a great in-game manager.
We’ll miss you, Cliff.
It’s simple. My love for Cliff outweighs my love for Willie by a considerable margin.
Nobody thinks Willie is a great in-game manager.
We’ll miss you, Cliff.
Bunting! Ha! Waste of time. Randolph made the wrong move. Cliff Floyd stuck out. Big deal. At least he didn’t waste his at-bat with a bunt.
To Benny (RE: Floyd/Buckner)
The Mets had their miracle in Buckner. Don’t you think you’re being greedy counting on another?
Randolph rolled the dice on him and crapped out. Sure. But, if Floyd were that incapable of hitting, he never should have been on the roster in the first place.
The Mets kept him because they were hoping lightning would strike. It wasn’t the first time last year, either, they waited for Floyd to get better. I think they were loyal with him to a fault by sticking with him. And, he responds like this?
``Shame, shame shame,’’ as Gomer Pyle would say.
Basically, Floyd said, ``you made a mistake counting on me.’‘
Way to keep it real John!
SHAME ON CLIFF.
I hope Grandma Floyd is waiting at home with a big wooden spoon because he deserves a spanking for this one.
Way to throw grenades at your former manager from another team’s camp. and way to basically make excuses for you striking out by selling out anyone you could think of.
Get him bad Grandma Floyd!
John,
I couldn’t agree with you more. Cliff should just say it’s in the past and leave it at that. I like Cliff tho.
I also think Willie is the best manager we have had in a long while. He manages the club and its personalities well. He also seems to do ok with the media.
Additionally he makes his decisions and doesn’t cry about it afterward.
A Gomer Pyle reference?
Wow.
Dave
This discussion is exactly why smart athletes like David Wright and Derek Jeter don’t say anything remotely interesting or honest. If they do, their innocuous words become fodder for inane debates for days to come (see: A-Rod and Jeter’s silly controversy earlier this week). They’re just better off being boring.
We can debate the strategy behind Randolph’s decision until we turn blue, but it’s not going to change the fact that the Mets lost that game and Randolph will be managing the team for the next three years. But, personally, I thought pinch-hitting with Floyd was a bad idea—if he hits it on the ground, it’s the worst double play in Mets postseason history. And considering the lack of options on the bench at the time (Castro? Anderson Hernandez? Chris Woodward? Blech!), a bunt probably is the best move in that spot. But, really, it’s pretty silly to debate what could have been.
To RyanMcC. (RE: Floyd and options)
When you consider his mobility, the only reason Floyd was kept on the postseason roster was to go for the bomb. Floyd lobbied hard to stick and the Mets went with him with the hope he would find lightning in a bottle. He was there to swing for the downs and failed. You’re right. We could second guess forever, but the real second guess should be the decision to have half a player on the roster.
To John:
That’s a pretty risky strategy, though, no?
Maybe it’s not. I only have my illustrious little league and softball career to judge it on. But I imagine a lot of players go for a fly ball or home run and then wind up hitting a ground ball. And if Floyd hits a ground ball, that’s two—maybe even three!—outs. The guy simply
But you’re right—in retrospect, Floyd couldn’t play in that series and the Mets should have put someone else on the roster. But didn’t he aggravate his injury in Game 1 of the NLCS?
Also: You presumably know Cliff Floyd. Doesn’t he speak off-the-cuff like this all the time? Imagine he were still with the team. Would he have answered the question the same way, or would he have been more diplomatic? And is there any reason to believe that Floyd and he had a rift in their relationship? Everything I read seemed to say that they were very close.
Oops…bad proofreading….I meant to write “The guy simply couldn’t run” after my second paragaraph.
To RyanMcC (RE: Cliff and risky strategy)
Absolutely it was risky. The Mets were hoping he could just jog around the bases and not have to run. Basically, he was in a position where he had to swing for the fences, and the pitchers aren’t stupid. They had to know that so there was no reason to give him anything to hit.
Yeah, he speaks off the cuff, or thinks he does. No way he says that if he stays with the team. The reason he didn’t say anything at the time is because he wanted to come back. I guess the thing that bothers me most is that Randolph and the Mets were loyal to him and kept him on the playoff roster – maybe it was misguided loyalty – and he couldn’t return the favor. His criticism is essentially saying the Mets made a mistake in sticking with him.
John,
Beyond Floyd’s lack of loyalty—which, I agree, isn’t admirable at all —I think he was probably right. With his Achilles in the shape it was, he shouldn’t have been put in that spot. A bunt with Tom Glavine—the all-time leader for pitchers in successful sac. bunts, by the way—seems more prudent. And it’s not like the macho sports culture is going to allow Floyd to tell the manager that he just couldn’t get the job done.
But at the risk of playing armchair psychologist… Floyd could very well just be feeling guilty about not coming through and wanted to shift the blame to Willie.
It’s not a question of counting on another miracle taking place—it’s the idea that they had first and third and two outs, and scored two runs on one AB without getting the ball out of the infield. And the key to all of that was having runners in scoring position when Stanley made his wild pitch and when Buckner booted the grounder.
Had Willie opted for the bunt there, then you have second and third with one out for Reyes. Would the screaming liner Reyes hit to center have plated a runner from third? Would the Cards have even pitched to him in that situation? Would the presence of the tying runs in scoring position have caused Wainwright to abandon his curveball for fear of bouncing it in the dirt? To me, these are all better questions than sending up a guy who hadn’t seen life pitching in four days and was too hurt to play.
In the final analysis, Willie managed that situation as if it were the AL: He waited for the three-run homer.
Should Floyd have been on the roster at that point? I don’t think so—and that’s not Monday morning quarterbacking, either. I thought a healthy Milledge, with all his maturation issues, would have been the better bench player in a tight playoff series.
As for Floyd’s comments, I can’t find fault with the “you made a mistake by counting on me” message. I don’t think the machismo world of sports will allow a player to excuse himself from a pivotal playoff situation without series questions about his intestinal fortitude (see Trachsel, Steve, 2006 NLCS). Instead, I think the manager has to know in advance which players are going to be his best options for any given situation—and that the responsibility and blame has to rest with the manager.
The only question I have about Floyd’s comments is whether he should have voiced them at all. I don’t have an issue with the timing (should he have said it right after that game? I don’t think so) nor with the apparently truthful content. I just don’t know if he accomplishes anything by making them.
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