A Nice Quandary

Shall I tell you today about the fall of Maria Sharapova at lush Wimbledon or shall I address another renewal of Mets-Yanks in a momentous doubleheader for both?

Or, maybe I could just turn an analytical eye to the brave Knicks selection of a young Italian with their first pick, or the Nets extreme shuffling, trading a bigtime producer on the court in Richard Jefferson for a couple of question marks and drafting two big guys.

Ah, what the heck! Let’s do a little bit of everything. They all make for a good story.

Maria the beautiful fell to another young Russian for the second straight year at that London sanctuary of tennis. Can it really be four years since she won at Wimbledon, when both shoulders operated in pretty much the same fashion?

Those were the days when she was at the top of her game, when she moved like the wind yet hit hard enough to beat even the likes of Serena into submission. But yesterday Maria double-faulted eight times and made more unforced errors than was absolutely necessary against a determined Kudryatseva.

Sharapova, though, was once again gracious in defeat if her father was not. Instead, he proved once again that he may not be worthy of such a daughter, one who doesn’t blame every loss on a bad day or some imagined injury, one who doesn’t hold up play in a desperate attempt to change the winds of fortune. She only expressed some natural frustration at her own vulnerability.

The back-and-forth Mets face the pitching-short Yanks today, resulting in some interesting matchups, the still plugging Pedro facing the newly acquired and well-travelled Sidney Ponson and then Mike Pelfrey facing the Yanks Dan Giese, who apparently has a lot of difficulty traveling at all. (Giese missed a flight).

It says here that the Mets sweep the Yanks today. That Mets pitching duo of Pedro and Pelfrey will be too much for the Bombers, despite that awesome Yankee lineup. Doesn’t good hitting always succumb to good pitching? We’ll find out tonight, I guess, after all the votes have been tabulated.

As riveting as the baseball may be, it can’t be more dramatic than the Knicks first pick of the 19-year old Italian Danilo Gallinardi, whose Dad used to room with the apparently fearless new coach Mike D’Antoni. In selecting such an obvious family favorite, he puts himself into a precarious position, but, come to think of it, not too unlike the football Giants Coughlin’s position upon the selection of Chris Snee. And that turned out just fine.

I’m hoping the Italian Connection just points to D’Antoni’s beliefs in the kid’s abilities, which are prodigious by all accounts. But at 210 pounds, it’s a little hard to believe he could become any kind of post presence, something the Knicks desperately need, or would have needed the way they used to play.

Of course, a little more shooting never hurts, but that hasn’t really been the Knicks problem. It’s been more the curious inability of the likes of Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph to get up in the air once in a while, or great while, for that matter. But the best big man available at number 6 was Brook Lopez of Stanford, whom nobody expects to really set the NBA back on its heels.

Rome wasn’t built in a day though, even if you do bring in an Italian. I just hope he’s the shooter and ball-handler Donnie Walsh expects. I suppose the inadequacies in the post can be addressed later. After all, the Knicks have been pretty bad for a long time, what’s a season or two among friends?

The Nets surely made a lot of moves, though whether it made them any better is seriously open to question. Trading Richard Jefferson (BYE RICHARD!) is a significant loss of scoring and why don’t Bobby Simmons and Yi Xiang send me? They certainly did get bigger though, nabbing center Brook Lopez of Stanford with the 10^th pick and then what might be a very serviceable Ryan Anderson at 21.

Right now, it looks as if Vice Carter will have to do a lot of scoring, not that he’s incapable of it. But, if the 6’10” 240 pound Anderson can light up the NBA as he did the Pac 10, anything is possible. Not that I expect it this year. It seems to me the Nets are gearing up for a great first season in Brooklyn. And, as a died in the wool Jerseyan, I can’t say it makes me happy.

But it all works for me. Mets-Yanks, Wimbledon, and the never-ending saga of basketball misfortunes in New York. You can’t say it’s ever boring, or even likely to be.

Credit Where Credit Ain't Due

Well, the Mets lost another big one last night, big because all their games are big given their situation, but also big because their biggest stars both failed in the clutch.

David Wright misplayed a ground ball that would have been the third out in the second inning, giving the heretofore hard-luck Mariners another opportunity with the bases loaded. And they capitalized big-time as their pitcher yanked a high and outside Santana fastball over the fence.

The early returns from Mets fan-dom seem to indicate a distinct finger-pointing at Santana, multi-million dollar baby Johan Santana, who, after all, fell to just 7-6, but he still retains a very respectable 2.93 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP.

Well, it’s always fun to knock the millionaires but the object of fan wrath last night should have been with Wright, who isn’t exactly on his way to the poor house himself. Wright made the big error, then another error in the 8^th, and was pretty unremarkable at the plate too.

Wright’s not doing all that badly overall, what with 56 rbi’s, but he’s batting just .272 and has been remarkably bad versus right-handed pitching, batting just .222 while banging left-handers at a .435 clip. He’s scored only 44 runs but that’s more a function of the under-performers following him in the lineup.

But really, Wright was bad last night. Santana was not. His biggest mistake was to say after the game something to the effect that the Mets have to do the job in the field. Now, that may have played well in Minnesota, but Johan, baby, you’re in the Big Apple now.

There should be a stat kept on multi-millionaires who say dumb things, or inappropriate things anyway. Wright obviously screwed up, and I can say so, but Johan, you have to suck it up and take the heat. It’s not as if you were blameless.

Yeah, sure, it was a good pitch that got hit out, but c’mon Johan, it was the darned pitcher. In that situation, you just can’t serve up anything that could be yanked out like that. Against anybody, never mind the pitcher. You’ve got a change-up, it seems to me that ANYTHING that had a little movement to it would have been a better choice in that situation. And you could have been a little more gracious after the game.

That being said, the locals looked extraordinarily lifeless last night. I had been hoping for a better performance upon returning to Shea. Too much partying upon returning home? The Mets banged out a paltry four hits on the night, and worse, those four hits were attributable to just two players, Reyes and Beltran. Oh yeah, Castillo did work a base on balls and later scored.

All the rest, fuhgeddaboudit. Wright, Delgado, Nixon, Easley, Castro and Chavez produced nothing. Hernandez is a great pitcher but he only pitched into the fifth inning after sustaining an injury while blocking the plate against Beltran, who charged home on a wild pitch. And kudos to Beltran for making some better use of those quick feet lately.

But the Mets made each of the Mariners relief pitchers look like the second coming of Mariano Rivera. They managed three walks and two hits off the four relievers while managing to strike out six times.

Jerry Manuel’s calming influence may have been felt last night, but if so, maybe that wasn’t quite what was needed in that spot. After all, the Mariners were in desperate straits, having just fired their manager, McLaren after putting up just 27 wins coming into the end of June. You had to figure they’d be dangerous.

And, come to think of it, the Mets do seem to play to the level of their competition. They do well against the Angels but lose four to the last place Padres. And now losing to the Mariners, and looking even worse than the result.

To Manuel’s credit, he is responsible for the renewed running effort from Beltran, and he will apparently continue his resting of key players, and, as one could have expected, Wright will be rested tonight. (A little better timing would have been good).

For now, though, the Mets have to put a better face on their losses, and try to pull for one another, take the hit from the press, shoulder the blame, and give your teammate a pass when you have the chance. Hopefully, there won’t be many more opportunities like that.

Although nobody in the NL East seems to be playing that well lately, it’s high time for the Mets to turn things around, if they have it in them at all. It’s not as if there aren’t some encouraging signs.

Pedro is back, and though his comeback has been nothing to write home about, he hasn’t been too bad. Pelfrey has been looking good, Maine seems to be improving, looking a little more like the pitcher I saw in spring training. Even Perez, who goes tonight, has been looking a little more consistent.

Even more encouraging, Ryan Church should be returning soon, and, although he didn’t do much last night, Trot Nixon has provided a bit of a boost, albeit if only against right-handers. And last night’s right-hander WAS pretty darned tough.

But, no matter how this season turns out, it’d sure be nice to think these Mets at least like one another and are worthy of whatever accolades they may get. You don’t see the Yankees berating one another, at least not publicly, unless of course, it’s coming from the crazy owner.

I’d like to see the press give the Mets a break, but I don’t see that as a real possibility. It’s too fascinating a story, approaching reality shows for intrigue and extreme pathos. Willie, Pedro, Johan, two Carlos’s, and Jose Reyes, boy wonder. And now, of course, we have our own Gandhi in the person of Jerry Manuel.

So c’mon Johan, that was one hell of a try Wright gave on that ground ball !

Big Doings at Wrigley

Oh, to be at Wrigley Field today as THE premiere interleague confrontation kicks off today, the AL Central leading White Sox (does anybody call them Pale Hose anymore) vs. the NL Central leading Cubbies, sweet Lou Piniella vs. crazy Ozzie Guillen, Derrek Lee vs. Jim Thome, and both sides sporting new stars too, left fielder Carlos Quentin for the Sox and at least two for the Cubs in Japanese import Kosuke Fukudome in right field and Geovany Soto behind the plate.

Anyone who's ever been to Chicago on a Friday afternoon and had the opportunity to sit in the Wrigley bleachers, tall one in hand and looking across at the brickwork and down to the vines, can appreciate the enormity of this occasion, with both teams in first place and Chicago bragging rights on the line.

And both teams seem loaded with talent this year, the Cubs with old reliables Derrek Lee at first base and Aramis Ramirez at third, newcomers Soto and Fukudome and some good players at every position, Ryan Theriot at shortstop and Mark DeRosa at second. Reed Johnson will cover for Alfonso Soriano, who broke his finger and Jim Edmonds, newly imported from the Padres manning centerfield.

The White Sox have less balance, I think, but do have their stars in Jermaine Dye in right, Quentin in left and Joe Crede at third base. And while the Cubs will be handicapped without Soriano, the White Sox will be similarly hampered by the absence of Paulie Konerko at first base. Old pros Orlando Cabrera and Juan Uribe man the middle-infield, although Uribe has had trouble unseating newcomer Alexei Ramirez at second base. Powerful Jim Thome is the designated hitter and Nick Swisher is at first base.

Pitching is strong on both sides, both at the starting positions and in relief. For the Cubbies, Carlos Zambrano is followed in the starting rotation by Ted Lilly, Ryan Dempster, Jason Marquis and impressive rookie Sean Gallagher. The White Sox are at least as impressive with Mark Buehrle their ace followed by Jacinto Vasquez, John Danks, Jose Contreras and Gavin Floyd.

The Cubs have the edge in relief as well with Kerry Wood closing and Carlos Marmol getting him the ball. Marmol had been especially reliable until just last night, when he walked two and hit two batters, got taken out of the game only to watch Scott Eyre give up a grand slam home run. The Sox counter with the big guy, Bobby Jenks as the closer and either Octovio Dotel or Scott Linebrink getting them to Wood.

Here’s how I see the matchup: CAPS indicate a significant edge – small letters slight

Left field – Cubs Reed Johnson vs Sox Carlos Quentin – Advantage Quentin – SOX

Centerfield – Cubs Jim Emonds vs Sox Brian Anderson – Advantage Edmonds-Cubs

Right field – Cubs Fukudome vs Sox Jermaine Dye - EVEN

3^rd base – Cubs Ramirez vs Sox Crede - Advantage Ramirez –Cubs

Shortstop – Cubs Theriot vs Sox Cabrera EVEN

2^nd base – Cubs DeRosa vs Sox Uribe EVEN

1^st base – Cubs Lee vs Sox Swisher Advantage Lee – Cubs

Catcher – Cubs Soto vs Sox Pierzynski - Advantage Soto – Cubs

DH – Cubs (no DH) vs Sox Jim Thome Advantage Thome – SOX

Starting Pitching:

Cubs Zambrano – Sox Buehrle Advantage CUBS

Cubs Lilly – Sox Vasquez Advantage SOX

Cubs Dempster – Sox Danks EVEN

Cubs Marquis – Sox Contreras Advantage SOX

Cubs Gallagher – Sox Gavin Floyd Advantage Sox

Closer:

Cubs Wood – Sox Jenks EVEN

Setup:

Cubs Marmol – Sox Dotel Advantage CUBS

Managers:

Cubs Piniella vs Sox Guillen EVEN

So the Cubs have the better lineup but the Sox have some very good starting pitching. Giving the Cubs a slight advantage for Wrigley Field, I’d say the Cubs should win this Series but probably not in a sweep. Unless, of course, you subscribe to the theory that pitching and defense wins big games.

Next Friday, Saturday and Sunday, these two teams go at it once again, but at U.S. Cellular Field on the South Side. The Cubs will have more trouble in that matchup but could emerge the victor there as well. Who knows?

That’s why they play the game. It’s getting started – gotta go get a tall one.

A Manuel for Success

The Mets won their first game under Jerry Manuel tonight, coming from behind to defeat the Anaheim Angels 5-4 in ten innings, a game that may have been the Mets biggest win in two years. Not only was it a come-from-behind win but it came against a first-place team on the road.

There were several heroes tonight, among them Jose Reyes, David Wright, Damion Easley and Billie Wagner, but maybe the biggest hero was the new manager, Jerry Manuel, who the day before had outlined for his team how they would change and why the changes would help them win.

While Randolph was complaining in New York about the way he was fired, thinking it was just a couple of his coaches who were getting whacked, an outcome with which he would have apparently been totally okay, Manuel had already started implementing his plans for success, resting his key players and finding roles for his relievers, helping his team visualize success and outlining how it would be achieved.

Jose Reyes, who had been rested yesterday in Manuel's debut, looked rejuvenated all night and scored the Mets first run all by himself. Carlos Delgado, playing as the designated hitter, hit a home run. David Wright, who had been the DH yesterday, drove in the tying run in the ninth. He also made a terrific one-handed grab of a slow ground ball and rifled the ball to first base to nab the speedy Howie Kendricks, thus staving off a potential Angels rally.

And Damion Easley, who took over at shortstop for Reyes last night and looked bad doing it, failing to cover second in one case, tonight hit the game-winning home run in the 10th. But it wasn't over yet. Billie Wagner found his fastball once again, and shut down the dangerous Angels in the 10th. His fine performance followed another great inning by Duaner Sanchez, who got the win, in the ninth.

Hopefully, this huge win will take the heat off the Mets, at least momentarily, as the writers in New York continue their attack on Omar Minaya, the General Manager, and the way in which Willie’s firing was handled. Certainly a come-from-behind win is something that was seldom accomplished under Willie, who was 3-28 when behind after six innings.

The rotation tonight was as any reasonable person would have expected. Oliver Perez experienced his usual jitters but did complete his six innings allowing just four runs, followed by Joe Smith in the seventh, Scott Schoenweiss in the eighth and Duaner Sanchez in the ninth. Wagner finished up nicely. In short, we saw professional pitchers going out and performing in the roles for which they were acquired.

Willie may have decided to throw in Aaron Heilman again, or Pedro Feliciano, or, who knows, anybody who showed up with a mitt. Although I know the Willie apologists will take issue with still more Willie-bashing, I think it’s justified, given Willie’s response to his firing, a response that has me shaking my head.

Omar’s biggest mistake was that he did not pull the trigger sooner. He also played his hand so very close to the vest that Willie was shocked when the axe finally fell. I think Omar was done in by his own sense of humanity, which prevented him from acting with cooler determination.

His comments regarding the fact that Willie was the first black manager in New York, and that he was the first Latino General Manager in New York, also reveal a man torn between achieving success and sustaining the opportunity he had created for another minority.

That Omar emphasized several times that Willie was “his hire” also is a reflection of his own insecurities, and an extreme reluctance to admit his own mistake. It does not speak well to his confidence in his own position, one that he has coveted for his entire life.

In short, all these factors prevented Omar from firing Willie last year, when many less feeling General Managers would have pulled the trigger, and would have been entirely justified in doing so. That Willie should now express nothing but shock and resentment is entirely unjustifiable. He should have expressed his thanks for the opportunity, a chance that no one but Omar had ever offered him.

There also seems to be a great deal of resentment among the New York press for Tony Bernazard. And why? Because he didn’t get along with Willie! Maybe they should be asking themselves why Willie had so much trouble with this individual, one who has had a great deal of success in various venues in the baseball business.

I think the answer to that question would reveal a great deal about Willie’s inflexibility, his recalcitrance, his refusal to have his beliefs questioned, his inability to function well in an organization. And all or even any one of those characteristics would have contributed to his failure as a manager.

Jerry Manuel in just two days has exhibited managerial talents that Willie never had shown. Manuel has laid out a strategy for getting his team better. Resting key players, especially for an older team, can only help, and it may have already shown its effectiveness. Having clearly defined roles for players, a concept that should have been painfully obvious, was never that under the reign of Willie Randolph.

So let’s move on, New York. Willie was a New York hero as a player, as a Yankee, a great second baseman. He very nearly took the 2006 Mets to the World Series. But he had very little success as a manager after that. Let’s leave it at that for now. More could be said.

I’ll look forward as a Mets fan to a continuation of good baseball, come-from-behind victories and 25 players all uniting behind someone they view as a good manager, a fine tactician and strategist, someone who acts in concert with the rest of the organization and who can extract the best out of a team. His name is Jerry Manuel.

Better Late Than Never

Well, the timing was horrible, but then it would have been bad whenever the final decision on Willie finally came in. That the decision followed a great team performance is ironic at the very least. That it came at about 3 AM in the morning smells funny, like those stories of the Colts and Irsay leaving Baltimore in the middle of the night.

But they finally ANNOUNCED a decision. That they made the decision a week ago is perhaps indicative of what really ails these Mets, unprofessional management. To keep a good man hanging that long is despicable. While I'm sure there were reasons for the delay, they would seem to pale compared with the indignity they inflicted on a guy who did his best for them for three years.

Incredibly enough, some of the very players most responsible for Willie's demise were great last night. Aaron Heilman was especially good, getting two outs while leaving two Angels on the bases. Reyes was mercurial, scoring the first run virtually unassisted. Beltran, although he has been fine in other ways all year, smacked two home runs last night, helping cement his place in the Mets batting order. Sanchez and Wagner showed how to close things out.

This is a group that apparently needs constant pressure to bring the best out of them. Of course, that’s at odds with the reality of their fall from grace last year. The pressure of having a seemingly insurmountable lead in a pennant race didn’t prevent their 2007 disintegration. Maybe they just wanted to do something nice for their longtime mentor. I prefer to think of it that way.

And if they were feeling guilty, it was late in coming. Without singling out any individuals, their team performance was always just short of a win. And just unremarkable enough to send their fans off to the bar for a stiff one.

Some of you may recall Sparky Anderson’s style in leading one of those Reds teams to the pennant many years ago. Sparky was infamous for his pitching changes; he’d flash the hook with just the slightest provocation, sometimes just on a whim. But the quick hook worked for that team.

That’s what Willie could have used – a quick hook. And not just with the pitching staff. I really feel the Mets could have won ten games more this year if Willie just moved a little faster, faster to get a non-performer out of the lineup, faster to pull his relievers when it was obviously not their day.

Willie’s style would work only with a team that was solid, top to bottom. Willie constantly challenged each of his players to be champions. These Mets just weren’t. These Mets needed a riverboat gambler, someone who could maneuver a way to finish ahead, even with a bad hand.

Early reports seem to point to Bobby Valentine. While that would be nice, I don’t expect that to happen. But he’d be just the guy to revive this moribund group. This is a group that sits on its laurels, they win one or two games and think they’re world-beaters, then they revert to their old ways, the full swings when just a hit would do nicely, the stupid base-running when nothing fancy was required, the lack of focus in the field.

I hope the players don’t start thinking the pressure is off now. They need to start winning two out of three, and three out of four, to have a chance of making the playoffs at this juncture of the season. They have to climb over some good teams, Philly and Florida and Atlanta all present their special challenges.

Judging by management’s incredible bungling of the Randolph affair, I’d hope the new manager, eventually, is a strong personality, someone who can roll over obstacles coming from the front office. For now, we have a temporary fill-in, Jerry Manuel. It’s doubtful he can materially change anything unless the players buy in and start performing as they never did for Willie.

For now, it’s Omar’s show. Omar Minaya brought this group together and will be judged at the end of this season. We won’t see a permanent manager until a decision is made on whether a new general manager is needed. The new GM can then hire a permanent manager. The only thing this Wilpon Group has done right so far has been their decision to defer the naming of a new permanent manager.

Omar’s another one of those “good guys” whose force of personality alone brought the Mets players they otherwise would not have gotten, Carlos Delgado and Pedro Martinez for sure, and maybe a host of others.

This was a Mets team built to win a World Series, one that eliminated the risk of having any unproven players in the lineup or in the field. The only risk not eliminated was age. And age reared its ugly head. Just look around the clubhouse and see who’s missing, or who’s hurt again, or who’s too old to get motivated by a young upstart manager.

For this Mets fan, this firing is the beginning of payback, not for Willie really at all, but for all those players who wouldn’t perform for him. You can count on one hand the players who really did try their hardest all the time, or at least gave the appearance of doing so.

And, just maybe, these players were indeed trying their hardest and performing near the top of their capabilities. And, if so, then look to October and a new GM, a GM who’ll need a very large broom indeed.

Sometimes things just don’t work out. Look at the recent firing of Bavasi in Seattle. He had a team that won 88 games, so he brought in Richie Sexson and Carlos Silva. Any fantasy player could have told him those two wouldn’t have a positive effect. The good GM’s manage risk more evenly and don’t take huge risks unnecessarily.

The Mets risks know who they are. Hope they’re tuned in.

Dumb and Dumber

Today I find myself a little sore after having spent hours on a ladder painting my shingles on Thursday. "Oh well", I said to myself, "at least I got the house painted".

If Willie Randolph had had the job, he'd have put Mike Pelfrey on the ladder, then with the job almost done, he'd have replaced him with Billy Wagner. After all, Mike has to live to paint again.

Then when Billy dropped the brown paint can for the shingles all over the white stucco foundation, he'd drag out somebody else. Or two or three more somebody else’s. And the wall still wouldn't be finished. But everybody'd be fresh for the next time. Doesn't that make you feel better?

<>Nobody knows the affects of exercise on the body better than I. And there's no doubt that pitch counts have an affect on a pitcher's performance. But I believe the data is being misinterpreted. A little information can be a dangerous thing.

While the brainiacs in baseball are getting a little smarter with respect to the effects of exercise on the body, they still aren't dealing with the information correctly. Instead of losing a well-pitched game by removing your starter after a certain number of pitches, wouldn't it be smarter to let him go as long as he can, through nine innings if he can, and simply rest him another day?

You then maximize your team's chances in the current game. You get a happy pitcher, one who's met the challenge of the day. The fans aren't frustrated by some nebulous decision resulting in a loss. And your pitcher not only gets rested, but maybe gets even stronger for his succeeding starts.

<>Wouldn’t that mess up the rotation? Well, it would certainly affect the “every fifth day” maxim. But how smart is that? When compared to the nonsense being perpetrated on Mets and Yankees fans today, all in the name of pitch counts, a minor alteration to the rotation is certainly more favorable.

A change in the roster could also be needed. There might be another long reliever required, another someone capable of giving five full innings. How hard would that be?

The current thinking, managing pitch counts within each game, does not take into account other key ingredients to the psyche of a pitcher, the starter’s confidence and sense of success or the reliever’s entirely understandable misgivings about messing up a heretofore successful outing.

There’s no more superstitious lot than baseball players. Evidence how many pitchers jump over the baseline, or wear the same hat all year, or until they lose a game anyway. How difficult it must be to relieve in a non-relief situation!

The brainiacs are setting the relievers up for disaster. And hurting their starters self-esteem. Not to mention the manager’s psyche. It’s really very simple. I just ask that, instead of managing pitch counts game by game, manage them over the course of the entire season. It really would be easier on everyone, the pitchers, the manager, the fans, and more importantly the team.

There’s been no more shell-shocked team than these Mets. There’s been no more shell-shocked manager than Willie Randolph. The entire situation has swung from questionable to laughable.

The Mets are cursed. They don’t need a new manager or general manager. They need an exorcist. And, while I say this tongue in cheek, there has been some kind of cloud hanging over Shea, and every other stadium the Mets happen to be occupying.

Something always happens to these Mets. They either don’t hit, or get good starts and horrible relief, or they make a mistake running the bases. Or make a critical error. What we have here is a self-fulfilling prophecy, the prophecy of doom.

This team expectation of doom is not without reason. And I must put the fault on management. Blame whoever you want, ownership or Omar or Willie.

Willie only makes a mistake when a decision is made. Every decision he makes comes up zeroes. And, while part of the reason for this lies with the aforementioned curse and team expectations of doom, those expectations have only matured after long experience of failure. Very often, they have been Willie’s failure, Willie’s decision.

While pitching hasn’t been the only problem, it has been the major one. Willie saves his starters and kills his relievers. He kills his positional guys as well, especially the ones he relies on, “his guys”.

Carlos Delgado and Luis Castillo, these men are old. They show it just about every day. But Willie keeps them in the lineup. You may say that he has not had good alternatives. But in most cases, any alternative would have been better than playing these two old-timers.

Sometimes, you have to wonder how much control Willie really has. The pitching coach isn’t his choice, for example, and it’s unclear to me who makes the decisions there. Or, even worse, does every decision become a committee meeting?

The hitting coach also makes me wonder. When asked about the team’s failures in situational hitting, his reply was to the effect that he didn’t think his players were the kind of players that could successfully adjust to a situation. Well, I must say, that explains a lot. And their failures in situational hitting have led to quite a few losses.

So let’s recap. The players aren’t the right players, the manager has made bad decisions, the pitching and hitting coaches are kind of questionable, and the team itself seems to be cursed.

Add to this the fact that the owners have apparently leaked some information to reporters that they haven’t bothered to share with anyone else. Where else would the media get the idea that Willie’s job is in serious jeopardy?

While some will question whether a Billy Martin-type or Bobby Valentine could have done any better with this team, I say they could have and would have. At this point, anybody not named Willie would be better.

So let’s pull the trigger already.

Michael Strahan - One of a Kind

Well, he finally did it. Michael Strahan retired after 15 long years of football. And he will be missed. Not only was he the best defensive end on the Giants team (and arguably the NFL) but he was the easiest to talk to (most times) and everybody liked him (well, just about). And he stopped the run too. He was truly one of a kind.

Throughout the Giants triumphant playoff run and Super Bowl, it seemed as if there were a lot of heroes. And there certainly were. Eli, Steve Smith, Amani Toomer, all those rookies.....but there was always Strahan. He always got a lot of attention. And he deserved it.

What do most people remember about him? First and foremost, unfortunately I think, is the gap-toothed smile, that gap-toothed smile that became his trademark. And, who knows, given his overall effect on the Giants football team, maybe it was one of his greatest assets.

I’ll bet it helped him be a leader. It made him approachable. Instead of the dour expression you might expect from a man who mixed it up with the biggest, meanest people on the planet, Michael would sport that gap-toothed grin. And all would seem right with the world.

That’s what the Giants will miss most - his leadership. How many people can be elected captain of a team when he’s not even there? Well, that’s what happened with the Giants last year. At the time, I viewed it as an enormous negative. What kind of mixed-up priorities did this team have?

But it turned out to be a harbinger of good things to come. The Giants were saying, “HE’S OUR LEADER” loud and clear. Not Eli, not Coughlin, not Amani. It’s Michael Strahan and we don’t care that he’s not here. Who knows? Maybe that’s what ultimately brought him back for that one last triumphant run to glory.

In preparation for this column, I looked at Strahan’s career stats, and, while laudable, primarily for their consistency, stats don’t tell his story. Stats are a more reliable indicator for a quarterback. But for a defensive end, who can be double-teamed or even triple-teamed, you would have to examine the performance of every other defensive lineman and linebacker to really gauge his overall significance.

There was one best way of gauging his importance. You just had to watch him. He had one of those classic defensive end bodies. Listed at 6’5” and 255, it’s hard to believe he carried that much bulk. He was always so fast. And quick. (There is a big difference there)..And he played with abandon.

All the great defensive linemen had speed and quickness. And power, of course. But the primary asset is speed. You can make a guy powerful, and you can even improve a guy’s speed and quickness through training, but the gift from God is really the natural speed.

Strahan always had it. In fact, sometimes I thought he tried to rely on his speed too much. There were too many games when I thought he’d just run himself out of a play, the offensive lineman would just ride him out behind the quarterback.

But, more often than not, in moments that counted, Strahan would make a play. He’d do what he had to do. And Strahan could do it all, run like a deer, stop on a dime, change directions in a heartbeat, bull his way through a block or even jump bodies to make the play.

But he was smart too. He’d study his opponent. He’d understand the defensive scheme. And certainly for the latter days of his career, in those last several years, he became a leader, and then he became THE leader.

In fact, the best indicator of his prowess on the field was what happened to the Giants when he wasn’t on the field. The best example was the 2006 season. The Giants couldn’t stop anybody. That they finished a .500 team and made the playoffs by a hair was remarkable. But, even that accomplishment may have been out of reach if not for the exhortations of Strahan.

Read Michael’s book. And then read a book called “The G.M.”. The two, taken together, give you a good idea of the power of Strahan. He endured the pain. He made Tiki a better person. He made Coughlin a better coach. I think he even made some reporters better reporters.

Just as his opponents on the line couldn’t know what to expect from Strahan, whether he would run around them, or bull through them, or whirl like a dervish, so did his personality consist of several quite different elements, some that could scare you but others that could charm.

When Strahan was going through that ugly divorce, it was easy to turn against him. You’d read some ugly things, and you’d wonder. But could any of us endure a microscopic examination of his life and emerge unsullied?

Well, Strahan is nothing if not resilient. He endured that experience just as he endured the pain of every Sunday, or the relentless questioning of those reporters. He’s just a tough guy. And maybe that’s what we should remember the most.

Not just fast or strong, but tough too. And enduring. Following his rookie year, he played 15 or more games in every year but two. In those years he played just 8 games in 2004 and 9 games in 2006. He was always tough and he was always there. If he could walk, he’d be in there.

I’ve already heard that some people think he is a big phony. That stems, I’m sure, from the times you’d see a different person from the one you thought you knew. But Strahan really is a complex individual, and I think people were just seeing the many sides of Michael.

The capacity to laugh and enjoy, but also the capacity to be very tough. All the great ones had it, certainly Ali, Marciano or even Howie Long.

And Michael Strahan too.

Great Equalizers...Clay...Distance et al.

All week I have been amazed by the French Open tennis action, and what a difference the surface has made in the outcome of matches and tournaments. Thank God for clay, I thought. There’s always a good chance of seeing a Final you could never dream of when they’re sliding around on that red stuff. It surely beats the hard courts for long rallies.

And, sure enough, there was the lovely Maria Sharapova, while not actually looking too much like a “cow on ice” (as she had once referred to herself), losing to her compatriot Dinara Safina. The really big servers, the Williams sisters for example, had already been beaten. So the Roland Garros faithful had the pleasure of watching two rather unlikely semifinals, a Russian duel between Safina and. Kuznetsova and an all-Serb matchup of the elegant Ivanovic versus the quick-as-a-snake Jelena Jankovic.

And what a semifinal was the latter. Ivanovic proved that she’s not justt a pretty face, sliding back and forth with ease and grace while slamming winners left and right to come back in the third set to prevail. Safina beat Kuznetsova a bit more easily to advance, all of which sets up a tantalizing women’s final, one unimaginable on grass or blacktop.

As much as I await the men’s results, and the fate of the Frenchman Monfils, who has the misfortune of drawing Roger Federer later today, I look forward even more to the Belmont on Saturday afternoon, and wonder about the outcome of what has set up as a classic duel between Big Brown, winner of the first two Crown jewels rather handily and the bred-for-distance Casino Drive, half-brother (through the dam amazingly enough) to the last two Belmont winners.

The great equalizer will be the distance, of course, in that affair, not that there aren’t other variables to consider; Big Brown’s cracked hoof, for example, or getting stuck on the rail. But, even these two seemingly-unrelated questions are amplified by the 1 ½ mile distance. That is to say, one factor is aggravated by the other.

A cracked hoof, although it’s been pooh-poohed by Brown’s loquacious trainer Rick Dutrow, maybe wouldn’t figure too heavily over a mile and a quarter but what will it do over those last two furlongs, especially considering the injury did necessarily affect Big Brown’s training.

And, in a shorter race, Kent Desormeaux would figure to just sprint to the lead, thus staying out of trouble while saving ground. But will Big Brown be able to overcome the energy-sapping effort it’ll take to take the lead in a potential stretch duel after 11 furlongs? After all, there is a rabbit in the race and Casino Drive has the pedigree to get the distance.

The race is setting up for a late drive, either by Casino Drive or even one of the others, for, after all, this is first and foremost a horse race, and horse races tend to propagate unusual finishes. Otherwise, there’d be happy railbirds everywhere, and that’s a prospect I can’t even imagine.

Then, there are the NBA Finals, and the home-court equalizer. The advantages of playing at home in the NBA can scarcely be over-estimated. Without going into boring statistics, the numbers favoring the team on its home court are staggering. While some of the advantage is due to a familiarity with the court, and some due to the noise of the home crowd, it’s those whistle-blowers who have the greatest affect on the outcome.

Very unfortunately, I might add. Even the most die-hard NBA fans have this year cringed at some of the calls, none more noteworthy than the no-call in Game 5 of the Lakers-Spurs game that handed the victory to the Lakers.

Given the questionable nature of the trades that made this Celtics-Lakers death match possible, the ridiculous Pau Gasol trade from Memphis to the Lakers, of course, but also the timely Boston acquisitions of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, one has to wonder whether this entire season was story-boarded back in the New York offices of NBA Commissioner David Stern.

Happily, although the Celtics have jumped out ahead in Game One at home, the whistles did not largely figure in the outcome. It was more the defense of the Celtics and the ineffectiveness of Kobe, no doubt forced by the Celtics Defense.

In any event, though, it’s a no-brainer to figure that, once this Series finds its way back to La-La Land, the odds will swing to the Lakers, no matter what should happen in Game Two in Boston. Jack Nicholson, a host of other stars and starlets, the Laker-Girls, all that gold and purple figure to sway the result, if not the officials.

A discussion of equalizers would not be complete without mentioning injuries in football. I still savor with fondness the Giants playoffs-run this past year, but it was all the more remarkable considering the injuries the G-Men withstood throughout that run.

It wasn’t just Jeremy Shockey. There were what could have been devastating injuries to the secondary, against opponents who certainly should have been able to take advantage, Giants-killer Freddy Garcia, the irrepressible Tony Romo to Terrell Owens combination, and Hall of Famer Bret Favre.

Last but not least, if certainly the sweetest, there is the lingering image of Tom Brady, with Giants seemingly draped around, under and through him, trying desperately to find Randy Moss. In retrospect, it was a lack of injuries along the defensive line that spelled defeat for the Patriots.

In baseball, of course, there is a slight advantage to playing at home, but it never really seems to be a significant determinant of a game’s outcome. The great equalizer in baseball is pitching. Or the lack thereof, as the case may be.

I was reminded of this last night as I watched the Mets lose a close one to the Padres, on bases on balls followed by a hit batsman, served up by the usually reliable Scott Schoenweiss. But it could have been worse. It could have been Heilman.

No Stuff Is No Stuff

Andy Pettite said it best, I think. When asked about Joba Chamberlain and his thoughts regarding Joba's start tonight, Andy said "...But stuff is stuff, and he's got great stuff. So he should be successful." Now turn that around for a second and you get "no stuff is no stuff and he's got bad stuff. So he should fall on his face."

All of which brings me around to the case of the Yankees Kyle Farnsworth . He is a perfect example of a pitcher with no stuff. Farnsworth is fast. He's been as fast for the Yankees as he was for Atlanta, Detroit and the Cubs before that. He's got a career ERA of 4.47 with a 1.40 WHIP, certainly nothing to write home about. The only things that come home are opposing batters, who seem to do it with alarming regularity, and very frequently at the worst possible moments.

Farnsworth's career won-loss record may characterize his career a little better. He's 28-47. While a won-loss record for a reliever is usually not indicative of a reliever's performance, in Farnsworth's case, I think it is. He has 26 career saves in 11 seasons. He's surrendered 105 home runs in 701 career innings. It seems to me I've seen at least half of them.

Farnsworth throws hard. When in trouble, he tries to throw even harder. His temperament's not really suited to that of a reliever either. He can't seem to maintain an even enough temperament to simply answer a question. When asked about Chamberlain and possible added pressure, he snapped "It hasn't done anything to me like that."

All this comes to mind as Joba prepares for his first major league start. It bothers me that the man is being held accountable for relinquishing his 8th-inning assignment to pitchers such as Farnsworth. How long will it take the Yankees to realize what any baseball fan could have told them a long time ago? Farnsworth is not a closer, he's not a holder, at best he's a guy to throw in there with an eight or nine run lead.

It's not as if there's nobody else. Without going into specifics, there's Hawkins who's been in similar roles and well, I just can't imagine anyone else being a worse choice. Why does it take so long for the Yankees to realize it?

Slow to change....the Yankees certainly aren't the only team in New York about which the same thing could be said. The Mets have a similar problem but one with entirely different characteristics. They have an eighth-inning guy they'll only use once in a while. His name is Duaner Sanchez. But the Mets choose to keep throwing Aaron Heilman in there.

Heilman's career numbers as a reliever aren't bad, especially if one chooses to ignore the fact that it was Heilman who lost that 7th game in 2006 to the Cardinals. But a 4.21 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP compare favorably with Farnsworth's career numbers. For example, Heilman's given up only 41 home runs in 404 innings pitched, about a 1 in 10 compared to Farnsworth's 1 in 7.

But Heilman's numbers this year are horrible. His ERA is 6.37 with a WHIP of 1.58. Without a big story, the Mets have lost 16 of the 26 games in which Heilman has appeared. Heilman is 0-2 with just two blown saves but also has only 5 "holds" in those same 26 appearances. And, while he may not have blown the rest of his opportunities, he has sure come close to it.

Slow to change...Willie Randolph is probably the best example of this in the entire league. Even more so than Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi because Willie exhibits that same ridiculous persistence with Delgado and Castillo, and seemingly any and every veteran player on the roster.

That persistence, some would say stubbornness (I certainly would), is the reason the Mets are looking up at the rest of the division. Is it surprising to anyone that Delgado and Castillo began to turn things around after riding the pine for a little while? Or that Heilman did enjoy a couple of good outings after being taken out of the relieving rotation for a spell?

Supposedly, Heilman’s problem is one of location. And, while that is undoubtedly partly true, I doubt that a pitch of Joba’s, in precisely the same location, would travel quite as far into the stands. Because the pitch would have either arrived in that spot a lot sooner, or would have dived into that spot, or backed up into that spot.

You get the picture. Joba has stuff. He doesn’t always have to hit the perfect spot. The only things that Joba has not been able to overcome have been Cleveland bugs, about 20 million of them, most of which seemed to favor Joba’s face for “location.”

Yes, stuff is stuff and vice-versa. Some have it and some don’t. And, especially with relievers, there is one other crucial ingredient required to be truly successful. And that is confidence or temperament.

Joe Borowski is usually named as the quintessential example of a reliever who, inexplicably, gets batters out in the ninth inning with amazing frequency, and yet has no stuff. What Borowski does have, beyond shoulder problems this year, is guile and moxie, and maybe the confidence of having been there, done that.

But, when Borowski experienced trouble this year, Cleveland got him on the disabled list where he belonged. And, their closer by committee approach, while not 100%, worked better than would have a Borowski with just one good wing.

Slow to change…we see way too much of that in New York. That’s why we are seeing such consternation that Joba will be changing roles. He was great in that eighth inning role. Why change?

A legitimate starter is harder to find than an eighth-inning guy. The Yanks just need to find one. His name isn’t Farnsworth. But there are probably hundreds of them. The Joba’s can be counted on one hand.