Sep
28
Willie Randolph wants a second chance at managing
By
Former New York Mets manager and now Milwaukee Brewers bench coach Willie Randolph is hoping for a second chance at being a team’s skipper, according to the New York Posts’ Dan Martin.
“I hope [it doesn't take long], especially this year,” Randolph said. “There’s going to be quite a few openings, possibly.”
Randolph is in New York with his Brewers. Both teams are out of the playoff hunt, and are starting to plan for next season. The Mets are likely going to fire incumbent manager Jerry Manuel. While Randolph is looking for a manager’s job, he did not specifically say he wanted his old job back in New York.
“It’s a tough town, and we raised the expectations real quick here when I was here,” Randolph said. “When a manager gets fired there’s always that little window where everyone sees what happened — is the new guy better or worse or whatever. And all of a sudden, after a period of time you can always look at it, ‘Was it the right thing, worth it, did it make a difference?’ But that’s the way it is in sports. In sports, managers and coaches are expendable.”
At least Randolph was able to take his team to the NLCS in 2009, whereas Manuel wasn’t able to get his team to the playoffs. However, it was Randolph’s epic collapse in 2007 that may always link him to the Mets. New York was almost assured of winning the NL East, only to let it get away on the last day.
