The lost Taco Bell ad with Jerry Manuel and Francisco Rodriguez

Inside a Taco Bell, JERRY MANUEL walks up to a CUSTOMER staring at his chalupa.

MANUEL

You're done, kid. You're slower than John Maine.

Manuel touches his left arm. The customer gets up and Manuel slaps him on the butt.

PEDRO FELICIANO walks over. He has put on a lot of weight.

FELICIANO

Skip, I don't feel too good.

CUSTOMER

This is what happens when you make him help finish a chalupa every day.

MANUEL
Fine, I'll just go to my closer.

Manuel slaps Feliciano on the butt. He touches his right arm.

As FRANCISCO RODRIGUEZ walks toward the chalupa, he passes the exiting customer.

CUSTOMER
Let's see if you can have a good outing for a change.

RODRIGUEZ
Excuse me?

CUSTOMER
You heard me.

The customer and Rodriguez start shoving each other. Rodriguez slips and falls, slamming his jaw on the corner of a table.

CUT TO:

Rodriguez sits glumly. His jaw is wired shut.

Trainer RAY RAMIREZ turns to Manuel.

RAMIREZ
I’m afraid he won’t be finishing any chalupas the rest of the season.

Manuel throws his hands in the air. OLIVER PEREZ approaches the chalupa.

Manuel slaps Ramirez on the butt.

RAMIREZ
Aren’t you supposed to slap Frankie?

MANUEL
You think I'm laying a hand on him?

Perez picks up the chalupa, cardboard packaging and all, and starts to put the whole thing in his mouth.

MANUEL
You're not supposed to eat the cardboard.

Perez takes the chalupa out of the box. But as he brings it to his face, he misses his mouth and the chalupa flies out of his hands and up in the air.

LUIS CASTILLO settles under the flying chalupa. It lands in his hands, then bounces out and hits the floor, splattering everyone with ground beef, nacho cheese, bits of taco shell and toppings.

At a nearby table, JEFF WILPON turns to SANDY ALDERSON.

WILPON
All right, Sandy - think you can clean up this mess?

Yankees have wild card while Mets have wild Oliver Perez

Maybe Jerry Manuel just didn't want his final game to end. Why else would he pull his two best hitters, David Wright and Jose Reyes, in the ninth inning, just so they could leave the field to standing ovations? It's the sort of thing you do when the game has already been decided, not when it's a 1-1 tie and neither team is generating any offense. When the game went into extra innings, the announcers soon began making comparisons to April's 20-inning game.

Sure, it didn't really matter who won or lost the game (though a Met win would have given them a tie for third with Florida instead of a second straight fourth-place finish). But the few remaining fans at Citi Field would doubtless have preferred to save their cheers for the end of the game with a walkoff win, which now had that much less of a chance of happening.

The game staggered into the 14th inning (with Reyes and Wright's lineup spots batting twice each) before Manuel decided it was time to put this miserable season out of its misery.

He brought in Oliver Perez.

For me, the highlight of the game came when Ollie actually struck out the first batter he faced and the remaining fans began a loud chant of "M-V-P!" Ollie, perhaps panicked by what he took to be increased expectations, quickly reverted to form and hit the next batter before walking the next three to force in a run.

Now the game, and season, were all but over. But Manuel had one last dubious managerial decision left. Pat Misch pitched eight innings on Friday night, but that didn't stop Manuel from bringing him back to pitch in relief on one day's rest. The way Manuel deals with injuries and injury risk, his next job really should be in football. Fortunately, it only took Misch three pitches to get out of the inning with a double play.

Now the Mets are done and I get to hear Squawker Lisa get insulted over the Yankees selling wild card t-shirts. Met fans don't even get "Tied for Third Place" t-shirts. At least we have our own postseason fireworks to look forward to, perhaps as early as Monday. Regime change can't come soon enough.

Rays give away 20,000 tickets while Mets offer empty 'Thank you'

When I first saw the ad on SNY in which the Mets collectively say, "Thank you, fans," I thought it was a promo for Fan Appreciation Day. When I saw the logo from the TV ad on mets.com, I clicked on it, wondering what gifts were in store for the few hardy souls still heading out to Citi Field as another disappointing season comes to a close. But the link only led to an opportunity to buy full-price tickets for the remaining games. Not much of a thank-you considering that tickets are available on StubHub for as little as two dollars and field level seats in a section behind the dugout can be had for $40.

Just as Rays management felt the need to do something above and beyond, Mets management should have explored ways to actually get some fannies in the seats for the final game. How about a pregame ceremony featuring some parting gifts for those we hope will soon be departing:

• For Jerry Manuel: A personalized MRI machine in honor of his eagerness to keep players in the lineup regardless of their physical condition. Jon Niese should have been shut down before the exhausted rookie could collapse down the stretch. Carlos Beltran has played just about every game since his return and now he needs to be shut down with inflammation in the knee, just to name the two most recent victims.
• For Omar Minaya: Season tickets for the Newark Bears and the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League, so Omar can scout for the next Gary Matthews Jr., Mike Jacobs and Frank Catalanotto.
• For Luis Castillo: A deluxe DVD edition of "Inception," since Castillo must be living in a dream world if he thinks he is going to get a starting job anywhere else in MLB.

As for Oliver Perez, he should get to start the final game. But as he takes the mound, the public address announcer will inform the crowd that as soon as Ollie gives up a run, he will be released on the spot.

Finally, a meaningful game in October, as Perez pitches for his Met career. If he pitches a shutout, he can stick around. Maybe his problems really are all in his head, and he can still pitch like the guy who got that huge contract. Imagine the suspense if Ollie shuts down the Nationals into the late innings. Can he pull it off? Will the MLB network air the ninth inning live?

Oh, who are we kidding - Ollie won't make it through the first inning without giving up a run. Maybe the first batter. And then he'll be gone for good.

Now that's the way to say, "Thank you, fans."

What's worse for the Mets in K-Rod debacle - bad leadership or no leadership?

The Mets' approach to crisis management appears to be "better to keep one's mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt." As newly-fervent SNY watcher Squawker Lisa writes, Jeff Wilpon and Omar Minaya have had very little to say about the Francisco Rodriguez mess.

But Squawker Lisa is not a Met fan. Are there any Met fans who seriously want to hear MORE from Minaya or Wilpon?

Jerry Manuel has had a lot to say, and he has removed all doubt about being a fool. As I wrote yesterday, Manuel would have been happy to use K-Rod in yesterday's noon game, despite his spending the night in a prison cell.

The usually quiet Carlos Beltran offered more criticism than Manuel, saying "No one should act like that."

But Jeff Francoeur, who appeared for awhile to be the team leader the Mets desperately need, removed all doubt about him being a fool when he said of the K-Rod altercation, "Maybe it's a distraction we need."

Here's a distraction the Mets don't need - Francoeur wanting a trade because he isn't playing every day. Francoeur doesn't deserve to play every day, and good luck to him finding a place that will make him a fulltime starter. I think the Mets are better off with Francoeur in the mix, but I'd rather see him gone than starting fulltime - or complaining about it.

Getting back to management, the Mets' tendency to do things half way keeps coming back to haunt them. Minaya has had his autonomy taken away from him, but he remains the GM. Manuel, one would think (and hope) is a dead man walking, but he remains the main voice of the team. Oliver Perez has effectively been deactivated, but he remains on the active roster.

The Mets need a new version of Frank Cashen - a strong, decisive, leader from the outside who knows what he is doing, someone who will restore the Mets to glory - and get Squawker Lisa to stop watching SNY for the latest Mets debacle.

Bridge to K-Rod becomes bridge to nowhere for nowhere Mets

It was almost exactly one year ago (August 15, 2009) that a Met season already in disarray took a drastic downward turn when the face of the franchise, David Wright, ended up face-down and motionless after getting beaned. Now Francisco Rodriguez is under arrest for an alleged assault on a family member in the family room at family-friendly Citi Field.

So far, K-Rod has been suspended for two days without pay. With the power of the union, a longer suspension at this point would probably run into problems. But at least the Mets could have said that they were suspending K-Rod indefinitely, then bring him back in a couple of days depending on how things developed.

And this story is still developing. Last night, it was reported that K-Rod was upset with reporters because he was not used in the eighth inning, but now it turns out that was because the altercation had already occurred.

Many have been quick to point out a pattern of confrontations with K-Rod. But confrontations with Tony Bernazard, whose temper apparently got him fired, and Brian Bruney, who apparently was the one to provoke K-Rod, and quickly backed down in the following days, do not necessarily make you the new Milton Bradley.

Still, K-Rod also had a confrontation with an older bullpen coach, Randy Niemann. And for all we know, these confrontations are underreported and there is more to them, at least the ones with Bernazard and Niemann, than we know.

Even if K-Rod had a spotless past, the alleged events of last night are bad enough.

Meanwhile, Jerry Manuel says before the game (before the suspension was announced) that he would not hesitate to use K-Rod today. Even if one did not think K-Rod should have been disciplined, it would make no sense to use a player who had apparently spent the night in a holding cell at Citi Field and has yet to be arraigned. But Manuel must not think that would affect K-Rod's performance, considering that he also said before the game that this was not a baseball matter and would not be a distraction to his team.

Even after this incident, the Mets' main issues remain the same. Manuel needs to go as soon as possible. His inability to adapt to changing situations is such that he will probably continue to obsess over who will be the eighth-inning setup man when he currently doesn't have a closer.

And his rushes to judgment will probably cause Manuel to anoint a new closer immediately, even if K-Rod is due back in a couple of days. Manuel pulled Hisanori Takahashi from the rotation after a grand total of one successful setup appearance Tuesday, only to see him falter last night. Now he's stuck with no starter for Saturday, and has actually mentioned the dreaded Ollie.

But this is one instance where I hope that Manuel goes through with one of his crazy plans. If the Mets insist on keeping Ollie on the roster, Manuel should show upper management the consequences of that decision.

I'm just glad I don't have tickets for Saturday night's game.

Keeping Perez on the team sends a message that if your contract is big enough, it does not matter what you do. Yesterday's altercation ends up being all the more reason to dump Ollie.

As for replacing Manuel, the Mets have drawn praise for giving Wally Backman a second chance and setting him up as a potential replacement that could inspire the team, excite the fans, and come cheaply. But Backman needed that second chance because of his own legal issues, including one involving a domestic incident.

Will the Mets, who tend to be publicity-conscious at the wrong times, now shy away from Backman? I hope not. If Backman deserved a second chance before, he still deserves one. But if he is going to become the new manager, appointing him now could set off a whole new round of controversy. Maybe the Mets should bring in an interim skipper instead and then hire Backman or someone else after the season.

But if the Mets want to rally a fan base that is moving from dispirited to disgusted, get rid of Manuel as now and send Ollie packing.

Judging from Squawker Lisa's excitement last night, the only people who will be caring about the Mets before too long are rubbernecking Yankee fans.

Forget A-Rod's 600 - Mets achieve their own milestone: .500

Last night, the New York Mets became proud members of the .500 club. The Mets Hall of Fame asked for a game ball, but when Jose Reyes tried to toss one into the dugout, it ended up in the stands. David Wright then sidearmed a game ball toward the dugout, but it went down the line.

The Mets are currently negotiating with a Braves' security guard who ended up with the ball used to make the final out. They have offered him the bat held by Jeff Francoeur when he took a four-pitch walk Tuesday night, an autographed picture of Carlos Beltran's knee brace and lunch with Oliver Perez.

The Mets actually got to .500 on Monday night, but before they could properly commemorate the occasion, Francoeur went and spoiled everything with a dramatic game-winning homer off of ex-Met Billy Wagner that gave the team false hope that they could get back in the race.

But they say that momentum is only as good as the next day's starting pitcher, and Mike Pelfrey was able to set things right with another disastrous outing.

Well aware of what was at stake, the Mets did their best to make it a historic night. When was the last time that every member of the Mets' usually sure-handed infield made an error EXCEPT for Luis Castillo?

Pelfrey brought his "A" game, the one where A stands for "atrocious." For the fifth time in his last seven starts, Pelfrey failed to make it past the fifth inning.

But it was Jerry Manuel who most rose to the occasion. The Braves had runners on first and third and two out in the fifth inning with Brian McCann coming up. It was still a tight game - the Mets only trailed by 3-2.

The conventional move would have been to walk McCann, who already had two extra-base hits in the game, including a homer his last time up. For the season, McCann was now 5-for-9 against Pelfrey, a .555 batting average. For his career, McCann was 17-for-36 against Pelfrey, a batting average of .472.

Behind McCann was Eric Hinske, who had not had a hit in August and, after last night's game, is hitting .220 since the All-Star break.

Oh, and Hinske, unlike McCann, is not an All-Star.

At Sunday's Mets Hall of Fame ceremony, Davey Johnson was praised for being one of the first managers to pay attention to the numbers. But what chance do numbers have against Jerry Manuel's gut? And Manuel's gut said to pitch to McCann, who promptly delivered his third extra-base hit of the night - a run-scoring double. The game was out of reach soon after that.

McCann's double raised his career BA against Pelfrey to .486 and his 2010 BA against Pelfrey to .600. Take that, A-Rod - you weren't the only one to reach 600 yesterday.

*

Exactly one year ago today, a Met team decimated by injuries trailed the wild-card leading Giants by 8 1/2 games.

Today, the much-healthier Mets trail the wild-card leading Giants by 8 games.

Mets honor '86 greats, then get started on 2010 Hall of Shame

When Davey Johnson was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame this afternoon, he told the crowd, "if you don't win, you don't really like us a lot." Johnson went on to say that the fans inspired the 1986 Mets. Unfortunately, the celebration of the Mets' last championship did nothing to inspire the current team, which put on a dismal display that left the booing crowd not really liking them a lot.

I'm glad that Squawker Lisa and I were there for the ceremonies. The actual game, not so much. At least, unlike the last game at Shea Stadium, the festivities were held before the awful game, when fans were still in a good mood.

By the end of the game, I was hoping for another ceremony - inductions into the 2010 Mets Hall of Shame, along with the following acceptance speeches:

GM Omar Minaya: Frank Cashen spoke of how his Met teams set attendance records. As I look around at the empty seats, I wonder if we, too, are closing in on a record - biggest attendance decline in the second year of a new ballpark.

But I couldn't have done it alone. I work for a team that doesn't want to spend more money, but claims that it does, which makes me look like the one who just couldn't get a deal done at the trade deadline.

Then again, if my hands weren't tied, I probably would have done something like trade Angel Pagan for Jake Westbrook.

At least I was able to stack this year's roster with retreads like Mike Jacobs, Gary Matthews Jr. and Frank Catalanotto.

Manager Jerry Manuel: Omar, you may have provided the pieces, but I was the one who batted Mike Jacobs cleanup on Opening Day and started Gary Matthews Jr. over Angel Pagan at the beginning of the year. I made John Maine my number two starter coming out of spring training. And I'm the one who pitched Fernando Nieve every day until he lost his effectiveness.

Jose Reyes, your uniform says 7, but you'll always be a number 3 hitter to me. And then there's my bullpen strategy - if you can call it that. (laughs)

Second baseman Luis Castillo: I would not be here were it not for the people on this stage. Jerry, thanks for batting me second so many times this year. And Omar, I want to thank you and ownership most of all for not eating my contract. Instead of my poor performance getting me quietly designated for assignment, your insistence on keeping me around has turned me into the Mets' version of Eddy Curry. (quickly looks down the stage) Oh, I'm sorry, Ollie - didn't mean to step on your toes.

(At the mention of Ollie's name, the fans start booing.)

Finally, I want to say that there is no greater thrill than winning a ring in New York. And I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to do just that - when the Florida Marlins clinched the 2003 World Series at Yankee Stadium.

Pitcher Oliver Perez: Dwight Gooden said that the fans' rhythmic clapping inspired him to get that third strike. I am also fortunate enough to get a strong fan response every time I take the mound.

(The crowd boos.)

When I hear that sound, it's as if you are saying Ooooooooooooh! So that's what a $36 million pitcher looks like!

(The boos get louder.)

Look, I know I've gotten a lot of grief for not wanting to pitch in the minors, but I don't see how people can criticize me for not wanting to pitch in the minors when I'm willing to pitch for the Mets!

(The booing gets so loud that Mr. Met covers his ears.)

Okay, maybe that came out wrong. But do you really want to trade me for Carlos Zambrano? His contract is a lot bigger and he's even crazier than I am! And, well, this franchise hasn't exactly had good luck with Zambranos in the past.

(The crowd starts chanting "We want Zambrano!" Security drags Ollie off the stage.)

Howie Rose: Our final induction into the 2010 Hall of Shame, is...

Met fans.

Management responded to the calls for the team's history to be honored, but when the biggest names of 1986 finally got their long-overdue induction into the Mets Hall of Fame, there were too many empty seats.

Photo by Jon Lewin.

If Mets win, it will be in spite of Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya

I feel bad for Fernando Tatis and wish him well now that he has undergone shoulder surgery and is on the 60-day DL, but the fact remains that almost 1.5 of Omar Minaya's Opening Day roster consisted of players that would not make most major-league teams. It took half a year, but the Mets have finally purged the roster of Tatis, Mike Jacobs, Gary Matthews and Frank Catalanotto.

A case could be made that a pennant contender would also not have players like Luis Castillo, Oliver Perez and John Maine, who were not only on the Opening Day roster, but started the season in prominent roles.

If the Mets still had their Opening Day roster, and Ike Davis, R.A. Dickey, Hisanori Takahashi and Ruben Tejada were not on the team, they would not have gone 48-40 in the first half.

Minaya does deserve credit for finding Dickey and Takahashi. Everyone keeps getting ready to write Dickey off, but last night he kept the Mets in the game against two-time defending Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum. Imagine if Maine or Perez had been pitching instead.

Tejada improves the Mets' defense over Castillo, and when he was hitting at least a little, the Mets were winning, going something like 15-5 in the first 20 games Tejada started after Castillo went on the DL. But with Tejada in a deep slump, the nearing return of Castillo may not be the disaster that it appeared to be a couple of weeks ago.

But Perez is also nearing a return, which brings up a big difference between last year's Met team and this year's. Last year, the team and fans waited, mostly in vain, for injured players to return. But now that Carlos Beltran is back, most fans and probably the team as well are dreading the return of players like Perez.

Despite Jerry Manuel's numerous curious moves, I was ready to give him credit for the Mets' successful first half until the handling of Jose Reyes' oblique injury. The Mets appear to have forgotten the lessons learned last year about rushing players back. The organization as a whole likely shares responsibility, but it was Manuel who put Reyes in his original lineup for Thursday night's game against the Giants, because, as Metsblog reported:

"I assumed that he was ready to play…I put him in the lineup, and then [Ray Ramirez] came to me and said that there is still a bit of discomfort, even though he feels much improved, and I took him out of the lineup."

Reyes had not swung a bat since Sunday, but Manuel assumed he was ready to play. Manuel added that Reyes appeared "much better," which appears to be more wishful thinking on Manuel's part. As Metsblog writer Michael Baron wrote:

…if he’s not ready to play, i don’t think he can be 'much better' as Manuel indicates…i think it would be ok if someone simply said 'the guy is hurt, he needs time off to rest'…that really would be ok, because that would mean nobody is going to try and accelerate his return, like last year, and prolong this issue…

The Mets went through this last year and nobody lost his job. If Reyes is out any length of time, someone needs to be held accountable.

And if Reyes is out, the Mets don't have to worry about trading for some so-so starter who probably won't make an appreciable difference to a team whose big problem now is scoring runs, because the Mets will be out of the race.

The real reason Jerry Manuel visited Johan Santana on the mound in the ninth?

After Johan Santana completed his 3-0 shutout of the Reds last night, Jerry Manuel claimed that he only visited the mound in the ninth to see how Santana was feeling. From Metsblog:

Santana said, 'I want to finish it,' Manuel said, 'OK,' and, 'That was that.'

Santana's been on the Mets for 2 1/2 years and has built a reputation as someone as competitive as anyone else on the team. And Manuel still felt the need to ask him how he felt?

What did he expect Santana to say - "Better take me out, Skip. K-Rod needs his regular work"?

Manuel even admitted after the game that he would have been that much more reluctant to remove Santana since the last batter had reached on an error (by Jason Bay).

So why did Manuel bother to come out to the mound? Was he just messing with the crowd, getting them to boo when he approached the mound, then cheer when he left Johan in?

Or was Manuel starting to do his usual managing by the book, but resisting the urge to make the usual knee-jerk decision and making the right move for this game?

After Bay's error, Johnny Gomes was coming up as the tying run. Following Gomes was Drew Stubbs. Two righty hitters with power. Stubbs had just hit three homers in a game on Sunday. Going by the book would mean taking out Santana and bringing in your righty closer.

Fortunately for Santana and the Mets, Manuel threw away the book in the ninth inning last night.

*

On June 21, I wrote that it was "Way too soon to bury Johan Santana." Santana had one more lousy start after that, then has allowed only one run in 16 innings over his last two starts. I'm glad to see that Santana is looking like he can pull off one of his second-half surges.

But June 21 was also just after I wore my new Mike Pelfrey shirt to his game at Yankee Stadium. Back then, Pelfrey was looking like the ace of the staff and a sure All-Star, with an ERA of 2.39. Now that ERA is exactly one run higher at 3.39.

Squawker Lisa wore an "In Joba We Trust" shirt to that game, and Chamberlain has been struggling as well. Could it be that our Subway Series shirts are cursed? What do you think, Lisa, should we bury our shirts at Yankee Stadium next to the David Ortiz jersey?

Ghost of Castillo play hangs over Met win

Last year's Bronx Subway Series opener ended in the ultimate nightmare for the Mets when Luis Castillo's drop turned victory into defeat. This year, two of Jerry Manuel's moves almost caused the same result.

Things could hardly be going better for the Mets right now, so I hate to harp on the few negatives. And Manuel did manage the bullpen well in the seventh and eighth. But when the Mets tacked on runs in both the eighth and ninth, this should have been a routine victory, not one in which future Hall of Famer Derek Jeter got to bat in the ninth as the tying run.

Manuel brought in Elmer Dessens to start the seventh, then pulled him after Dessens gave up a double to Francisco Cervelli. Pedro Feliciano entered, got all three outs in the seventh, then pitched the eighth as well. So far, so good. Manuel managed the bullpen aggressively, pulling Dessens quickly, then letting Feliciano go an extra inning. Thanks to the tack-on runs, the Mets led, 4-0, going into the bottom of the ninth.

With a four-run lead, it makes sense to at least start the ninth with someone besides Francisco Rodriguez. Granted, with Feliciano and Dessens already used, there was no clearly good option. But Raul Valdes, who had pitched only once since June 2? And there was a reason he has pitched so infrequently - his meltdown in San Diego when he allowed eight earned runs in two appearances while getting only one out.

Bringing in Valdes to start the ninth was a mistake. But leaving Valdes in after he gave up a single to Cervelli was a bigger mistake. You want to give him a chance with a four-run lead? Fine. But when Dessens, who is pitching a lot better than Valdes, gave up a hit to Cervelli in the seventh, Dessens was out. So why should Valdes get another chance?

Once Valdes gave up a hit to Curtis Granderson, Manuel finally brought in Rodriguez. After a 12-pitch at-bat, Brett Gardner walked. Suddenly, the bases were loaded with one out and the top of the Yankee order was coming up.

I was watching in a bar that was showing the YES broadcast, and they decided this was a good time to show the Castillo play. (I'm guessing SNY did not make the same decision.) But the Yankees were suddenly in a position to pull out what looked to be a hopelessly lost game. And once again, the culprit was Manuel's book.

In the postgame, Manuel admitted that he was not going to bring in K-Rod until it was a save situation. Manuel manages by the book way too often, without considering other factors. Here's a thought - a four-run lead against the Yankees, in their ballpark, is not as safe as most other four-run leads. Manuel didn't need to wait for the second baserunner to consider it a save situation.

I know the Yankee bats are slumping right now, but it's still a great lineup, and they bombed Roy Halladay just three days ago.

Fortunately, it all worked out. The Mets have won eight in a row, are 7-0 on the road trip, and have clinched at least a tie in this year's Subway Series.

The ghosts may have come out at the old Yankee Stadium, but the closest we came to the ghost of the Castillo play came when tonight's Met second baseman, Ruben Tejada, dropped a ball in the eighth, allowing Nick Swisher, who had tagged up, to slide safely into second. But Swisher didn't score.

I couldn't help but wince, though, when David Wright caught the game-ending popup with one hand.

Jerry Manuel: Managing without thinking

Football coaches have a two-point conversion chart that tells them under what circumstances they should go for two instead of kicking an extra point. The chart tells them what to do - they don't have to think about the decision.

Kind of like how Jerry Manuel makes many of his decisions.

When Manuel brought Francisco Rodriguez into the game in the eighth, the pitcher's spot was due to bat third in the ninth. The book says to do a double switch with the player who made the last out.

So Manuel followed the book and double-switched Jeff Francoeur out of the game, replacing him with Gary Matthews Jr.

Here's what this move accomplished: With two outs and none on in the top of the ninth, Matthews came up instead of Frankie.

Going into the game, Matthews was hitting .193 with 23 strikeouts in 57 at bats. That's 40% of his at bats. So it's not exactly second-guessing to say I was not surprised when Matthews struck out again.

In return for giving Matthews another chance to strike out, Manuel removed Francoeur, his hottest hitter and a strong defensive right fielder, and replaced him with Matthews, who does not belong in the major leagues.

Fortunately, Matthews did not have a chance to come up again in a big spot or fail to make a throw that Francoeur would have made. Manuel had another plan for blowing the game.

Bringing in Raul Valdes.

Manuel mismanaged Valdes when he stretched him out to be a spot starter, than used Fernando Nieve instead on Saturday night in Milwaukee. Nightly Nieve has been mediocre for weeks since Manuel started burning him out. But Manuel wanted Nieve to start over Valdes because the Brewers had a mostly righthanded lineup.

When you have two journeyman pitchers, you should go with the one who's hot, not by the book of which one is a lefty. But only Manuel would figure that the best use of an overworked reliever would be to give him a start. Not surprising, Nieve did poorly.

Meanwhile, Valdes didn't pitch for six days, then came into the Monday night game and gave up four runs without retiring a batter. He pitched so poorly he looked as if he were injured.

Maybe Valdes was messed up because his perceived role kept changing. Or maybe there was something wrong with him and he would have pitched poorly had he started on Saturday.

But once Valdes had his Monday meltdown, one would think that he would not be used in a big spot just two days later unless there was no alternative. Yet despite having other options, Manuel sent him out tonight for the eleventh.

It was clear from the start that there was still something wrong with Valdes. The only out he got was on a sacrifice bunt.

But Adrian Gonzalez, scheduled to bat fifth in the inning, is a lefty, so the book says to be sure to leave Valdes in.

Going into the game, Gonzalez had nine homers and 23 RBI in 128 AB against righthanders, but no homers and 5 RBI in 58 RBI against lefties.

Make that one homer and 9 RBI.

When Gonzalez came up with one out and the bases loaded, Valdes had only retired one of the nine batters he had faced in his two San Diego appearances, and that was on the sacrifice bunt. The odds of Valdes retiring Gonzalez, who was already 3 for 5 (and by the way, two of those hits were off lefty Johan Santana), were pretty low.

Would Jenrry Mejia have gotten Gonzalez out? Who knows. But it was worth a try, since Valdes was not going to get the job done.

It's a shame that the Mets can't score runs for Johan and that Frankie blew the save. But at least Johan is pitching really well and Frankie still has overall good numbers. Would I trust him in a playoff game? Maybe not, but the Mets aren't likely to have that worry for awhile.

Not when their manager is making moves that make no sense.

Firing Jerry Manuel won't save season, but it's a start

The biggest problem with the Mets is not Jerry Manuel or the struggling offense. It's the starting pitching. When the Mets were winning eight in a row, the starters allowed only nine earned runs, Johan Santana was back, Mike Pelfrey looked like an All-Star, and there was optimism about the rest of the rotation, even Ollie.

Since then, Santana gave up 10 runs against Philly, Pelfrey has a 6.88 ERA in three May starts, John Maine threw the first twelve pitches out of the strike zone Saturday night, Jon Niese is hurt after his third straight poor start, giving him a May ERA of 8.76 and Perez has pitched himself out of the rotation.

The Post's Mike Vaccaro thinks it's time to fire Manuel, and it's hard to argue against that. But even if Bobby Valentine somehow rides to the rescue, this team won't get any better without a big change in the rotation. And it's not coming from Buffalo.

Dan Warthen looked like a good pitching coach during the winning streak, but now his staff is back to allowing too many walks and looking confused and frustrated. If Manuel goes, Warthen must go with him. And the teamwide batting slump means Howard Johnson must go as well. And Razor Shines, who should have been let go last year.

The two areas that Manuel has most mismanaged are the cleanup spot and the bullpen. Last year, Manuel batted over-the-hill Gary Sheffield fourth even before the wave of injuries made it a reasonable choice. This year, Manuel has been so obsessed with breaking up the righties that he has used Mike Jacobs, Frank Catalanotto and now Chris Carter in that role. But not Ike Davis.

Davis is either ready to play a big role on the Mets or he's not. You can't bat him sixth as part of the heart of the order but think he's not ready to hit cleanup.

Although Jose Reyes batting third didn't work out, I actually applaud Manuel for at least trying it out. He knew Reyes wasn't happy about it but thought that it would help the team. It was an arguable strategy, but one that was thought out and could at least be debated.

But trying out everyone who bats from the left side but not the one good lefty you've got makes no sense. If you're not going to use Davis, then stop worrying about breaking up the righties.

Sure, in a perfect world you don't want to have a bunch of righties in a row, especially when they all strike out a lot. But does Manuel really think that the opposing manager is going to change his strategy because he doesn't want to have Jacobs face a righty? Maybe that's because that's how Manuel thinks, which leads us to his biggest flaw, bullpen overuse.

Earlier today, ESPN's Buster Olney listed the most overworked bullpens. Finally, a place where the Mets are number one, with 139 2/3 innings. As Olney points out, the Mets pen has been great, with a 2.84 ERA, but he notes that Fernando Nieve is already starting to be affected by his extreme overuse.

Manuel is using Nieve and Pedro Feliciano as if he does not expect to be around later in the season when they are both burned out or worse.

Perhaps the worst thing Manuel has done as manager was during the 20-inning game, when he had Francisco Rodriguez warm up over and over again in extra innings. Frankie went on to finish April strong with an 0.84 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 10 2/3 innings, but his May ERA is 3.38 and he only has five strikeouts in eight innings. If something turns out to be wrong with Frankie, Manuel's extra-inning screwup will likely have something to do with it.

Probable replacement Bob Melvin doesn't sound like an exciting choice, especially compared to Valentine. But Manuel didn't seen exciting back in 2008, and he did spark the team for a few months.

So maybe the season isn't going down the drain quite yet. But it sure feels that way.

The only first-place team in New York is in the National League

The Mets are alone in first place!

Sure, it's only April, but I didn't think this day would come at all this year. I was hoping for meaningful games in September.

Squawker Lisa, Joe Torre may not be welcome in the Bronx, but you'll be pleased to know that he did get to see a first-place New York team during his East Coast trip. In fact, his sorry team helped them get there.

But while the Dodgers, Braves and Cubs have all looked pretty bad against the Mets, when a team wins eight of nine, they must be doing something right. For most of that time it was the starting pitching. Tonight, in game 2 of the doubleheader, the bats finally woke up, particularly David Wright's. Thank you, Torre's bullpen!

No more talk of hanging tough until Carlos Beltran gets back. Beltran may never get back at this rate. If he does, great. But if not, the Mets tonight showed they have the potential for a strong lineup even without Beltran.

There were so many highlights today - Wright's breakout game, Jason Bay's first Met homer, Ike Davis' two-run double, and on the pitching side, Johan Santana's scoreless start despite not having his best stuff and Hisanori Takahashi stellar again in long relief.

But my favorite moment of the doubleheader might have been what appeared to be the lowest point - Oliver Perez walking the pitcher on four pitches, loading the bases. The Mets still led, 3-2, and it was only the fourth inning, but Jerry Manuel had seen enough, and he pulled Ollie from the game.

Earlier in the day, I criticized Manuel for planning to start Perez Sunday night against the Phillies before the rainout changed the rotation. But tonight, Manuel was decisive, cutting his losses with Perez and giving the Mets a chance to win.

This is not to say that they can't win with Ollie, but they couldn't win with Ollie tonight. Keep him in the rotation, but keep him on, as the announcers noted, a very short leash.

On this homestand, Manuel has gotten the best of Torre, Bobby Cox and Lou Piniella. And right before that, Tony LaRussa, whose dubious moves in the 20-inning game continues to have consequences. Cardinal infielder Felipe Lopez went on the DL with an elbow strain. Lopez thinks his elbow got worse when he pitched an inning in the marathon game. Lopez threw 21 pitches in that inning.

Manuel outmanaging Hall of Fame managers. Omar Minaya making the right move in bringing up Ike Davis, even if it should have been three weeks earlier.

The Mets are in first place. Amazing!

How could Jerry Manuel plan to use Oliver Perez over Johan Santana against the Phillies?

The Mets are now a game out of first, with a big series against the Phillies coming up this weekend. Whom would you rather see pitch for the Mets on Sunday - staff ace Johan Santana or staff enigma Oliver Perez?

Before Monday's rainout, Jerry Manuel was going with Perez.

Using the same sort of rigid thinking that prompted Manuel to bat Mike Jacobs fourth because it was more important to have a lefty break up the righties than to have a major-leaguer hitting cleanup, the Met skipper did not want to skip anyone in the rotation, even with off days and pitchers of vastly different quality.

So Santana, scheduled to start Tuesday, was going to be passed over Sunday night because Thursday's off day would push back the whole rotation and make it Ollie's turn to pitch.

Monday's rainout means that both Ollie and Johan are pitching today, which gives Jerry the out to rework his rotation. Now it appears that Santana will pitch on Sunday against the first-place Phillies instead of Monday against the Reds.

But Santana always should have been pitching on Sunday. The only reason Manuel wanted Perez to face the Phillies was that he did not want Ollie to go six days between starts.

Perez has exceeded expectations so far with an ERA this season of 3.71, but his WHIP is 1.53 with the help of ten walks in 17 innings. It's not as if he's in such a groove that nobody should upset his routine.

The Yankees were willing to skip Phil Hughes until April 15, but Manuel won't skip Ollie?

Tony LaRussa managed the 20-inning game for the long haul. He did not appear to care if the Cardinals won the game because they are the heavy favorites in their division and LaRussa has no worries about losing his job.

The first week of May is way too early for a critical series, but Manuel can't pull a LaRussa this weekend against the Phillies, for his sake and for the team's sake.

Jerry Manuel: 'You have to applaud the fight'

Art Howe's losing Met teams "battled." Jerry Manuel's losing Met teams put up a fight. Manuel believes it's a fight worth cheering:

You have to applaud the fight. We have, at least in these first 10 games, given ourselves a shot and haven't been able to come away with anything significant. I think if we continue to do that, it will eventually turn for us. If we continue to keep this attitude and fight, and bring it every day, some things are going to start going our way."

So if last night's game was at home, and the Mets came back from 4-1 down in the ninth to lose, 4-3, the fans should have applauded the fact that the Mets "gave themselves a shot." Good luck with that.

About the only player I would have applauded last night was Oliver Perez. I didn't have a problem with taking Ollie out during the seventh; it was good to see him walk away with a positive outing for a change.

But to bring in Fernando Nieve for his seventh appearance in the first ten games was questionable at best. And bringing in Raul Valdes with the bases loaded - shades of Javier Vazquez in the '04 ALCS. For the second time in three days, Manuel went to an unproven pitcher in a big spot, and just like Jennry Mejia on Wednesday, Valdes gave up a game-deciding homer.

With Pedro Feliciano unavailable, Manuel could have turned to Ryota Igarashi. If he insisted on a lefty because the great Felipe Lopez had to be turned around, bring in Hisanori Takahashi.

And there's nothing to applaud about Mike Jacobs and Gary Matthews Jr., both now batting .190. Yet Jacobs is still hitting fifth against righties and Matthews still finds his way into the starting lineup way too often.

Before booing Jason Bay, wouldn't it be great to see how he can do without Jacobs hitting behind him?

Meanwhile, Jeff Francoeur is hitting .457, but by-the-book Manuel bats him behind Jacobs instead of Bay.

The Mets are in last place, two full games behind the Nationals. The only team worse in the National League is the 1-9 Astros.

But look on the bright side. We can "applaud the fight."

Mets' productive offseason bears fruit (alternate reality edition)

The following things happened on Wednesday:

• Joel Pineiro pitched seven strong innings, allowing one run on five hits and no walks while striking out seven.
• In a game in which 21 runs were scored, Nelson Figueroa pitched 3 1/3 strong innings, giving up one run on two hits and a walk, to get the win.
• Felipe Lopez went 2 for 3.
• Orlando Hudson singled in a run off of John Lackey.

Lackey, by the way, allowed two runs in 6 2/3 to get the win. His ERA so far this year is 1.42. But I left Lackey out of the above list because, while I wanted him on the team, the decision to sign Jason Bay instead is at least defensible (though it would be nice to see Bay with more than one RBI, the same number that Ollie Perez has).

But Pineiro could have been a Met, Figueroa should still be in the organization, and if last night's game was going to end up in the hands of a middle infielder, I would have much rather seen Hudson or Lopez up there than Alex Cora.

Cora was batting - against a lefty - because Jerry Manuel for some reason used Fernando Tatis as a pinch-runner earlier in the inning, when it would have made much more sense to use Cora as the pinch-runner and Tatis as the pinch-hitter. Or, as reader Guinness points out, use a pitcher such as John Maine, who has pinch-ran before.

Yesterday afternoon, I wrote that it was too early to talk about replacing Jerry Manuel. Well, as Yogi Berra would say, it gets late early out there.

Too early to start talking about replacing Jerry Manuel

The Mets season has gotten off to a terrible start, but I don't want to see Jerry Manuel fired anytime soon. It's not because I think it's too early to panic - I've been in panic mode since the Mets refused to address their starting pitching needs in the offseason.

And it's not that I think Manuel is doing a good job - batting Mike Jacobs fourth was practically a fireable offense in itself.

But the reason to change a manager during the season is if you think the team is underachieving, and, sad to say, the Mets have mostly lived down to expectations.

Manuel has made some bad moves, but there's a good chance that he can correct them. Already he has moved Jacobs out of the cleanup spot against righties. If John Maine gets dropped from the rotation, we should finally see Johan Santana pitch every fifth day, rather than make sure that all five starters get to pitch. The Yankees are willing to skip Phil Hughes, but the Mets can't skip Maine or Oliver Perez?

Sure, I'd love to see Bobby Valentine back, but even he would have trouble with Omar Minaya's roster - and the lack of a budget he apparently had after signing Jason Bay.

Manuel should get more time, but not much more - maybe three weeks. If the Mets approach mid-May in last place behind the Nationals, there won't be any debate about getting a new manager.

But even more important will be getting a new pitching coach. And bringing up Ike Davis. And Fernando Martinez if Carlos Beltran looks like he won't be back anytime soon. (I don't want to hear about how Martinez is now a corner outfielder - if he is hitting, he will be a better option than Angel Pagan or Gary Matthews Jr.)

And by the end of the season, firing the GM.

Fortunately for Manuel, but unfortunately for the Mets, there are plenty of scapegoats to go around.

What moves would you like to see the Mets make now? Tell us what you think.

Remembering the 2000 AL Manager of the Year race

The Managers of the Year were announced earlier today and Squawker Lisa and I just competed in a trivia contest, so here's a trivia question:

Who won the American League Manager of the Year in 2000 and who finished second?

And who did they beat out?

Before I give the answers, Lisa and I had a great time at the trivia contest, which was run by our fellow blogger The Omnipotent Q of the Mighty Quinn Media Machine. The best thing was seeing Lisa trying to keep her cool in a Red Sox bar decorated with various pro-Red Sox and anti-Yankee memorabilia! It was also fun to hear how the three Red Sox players Lisa dislikes the most - Jonathan Papelbon, Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia - are Q's favorite Bosox.

As for the 2000 AL Manager of the Year race, here are the runners-up:

3. Lou Piniella, Mariners
4. Mike Scioscia, Angels
5. Joe Torre, Yankees

So who beat out this impressive group?

The AL Manager of the Year in 2000 was White Sox skipper Jerry Manuel.

Second place went to A's skipper Art Howe.

In the NL that year, Bobby Valentine finished fourth, behind winner Dusty Baker of the Giants, the Cardinals' Tony LaRussa and the Braves' Bobby Cox.

Chin up, Mets fans! You have a lot to be excited about!

Squawker Jon, I'm sorry to see you so blue. You're bummed that your Mets are nowheresville. And to add insult to injury, you're stuck seeing the Phillies and the Yankees in the playoffs.

So, since I feel your pain, I want to remind you of a few things you have to be thankful for:

* Johan Santana may not have sniffed the playoffs in the two years since he became a Met, but former Met prospect Carlos Gomez, who was part of the deal, scored the game-winning run in yesterday's epic Twins-Tigers game. And here, people say that the Mets' farm system is a mess. They're wrong. Gomez knew how to touch third base and everything yesterday!

* Jerry Manuel is coming back! And so is Razor Shines! Whoo-hoo!

* Your team is finally honoring its history with memorabilia. Last week they gave Mariano Rivera the pitching rubber that he got his 500th save from, with a touching note attached from Jeff Wilpon and Omar Minaya.  Not only was that game against the Mets, but that's also the same rubber that Francisco Rodriguez used to walk in Mariano with the bases loaded. See, your team is noticing important milestones in its history!

Any other reasons that Met fans should be thankful? Tell us about them!

Mets need a lot more than 'tweaking'

After the last game on Sunday, Jerry Manuel said the Mets need to do some "tweaking" for next year. The Mets need a lot more than tweaking, but you wouldn't know it from Monday's news about the coaching staff.

So Razor Shines and Luis Alicea need to go because of all the baserunning miscues. It took Manuel all year to figure out that something was wrong with the coaching on the bases?

Then Manuel says that Shines is under consideration for bench coach. So his incompetence at third could get him promoted?

Or would Shines be an insurance policy for Manuel against getting fired. When Willie Randolph got fired in June 2008, the Mets promoted bench coach Manuel. If Jerry gets a midseason ax, would the Mets dare put the Third Base Coach of Life in the top spot?

One might have thought that Dan Warthen would be axed as pitching coach. Met pitchers had the second-highest number of walks in MLB, only ahead of the Nationals. It is not clear what blame, if any, Warthen deserves for all the injuries, but they did happen on his watch. Warthen's predecessor, Rick Peterson, was known for scientific training methods meant to minimize injuries, and pitchers were much healthier when Peterson was around.

Manuel defended Warthen by saying that Mike Pelfrey, Oliver Perez and John Maine had their best results when Warthen was around. Maybe that is true of Pelfrey, though his good stretch in the middle of 2008 began when Peterson was still with the team.

But Warthen was nowhere in sight when Maine went 10-4 with a 2.71 ERA and nearly made the All-Star team in the first half of 2007, which was also when Ollie had a 3.14 ERA and 1.16 WHIP. Under Warthen, Perez did have a 1.38 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in July 2008, but his overall second half under Warthen ended with a 3.97 ERA and 1.38 WHIP.

Jeff Wilpon said a lot of things that were good to hear - expressing a willingness to have a high payroll and admitting that the team did a poor job in communicating information on injuries.

But when Wilpon said that both Omar Minaya and Manuel must "step up" in 2010, it sounded a lot like the Willie Randolph situation two offseasons ago. Would anyone be surprised if Manuel loses his job in midseason next year? Only by then, Bobby Valentine will be unavailable - perhaps even managing within the division.

Even at this news conference, Manuel was still laughing and joking at inappropriate times. He even suggested that some would consider winning 70 games with this team worthy of being named Manager of the Year. Manuel very quickly said he was joking. But even as a joke, that is a disturbing thing to hear.

Does Manuel understand how disastrous this year was? Perhaps not, since he said the first choice for new coaches would be to promote within the organization. The same organization that has failed to teach the players fundamentals in the first place.

Even the trainers are coming back. Will anyone be held accountable for this miserable season?