To be honest, I don’t know what else there is to say.

The Mets handled Willie Randolph incredibly wrong.  There is no doubt about that.  Randolph definitely should not have his job anymore and Rick Peterson absolutely had to go.  But not like this, not while New York was asleep and not in the middle of a road trip against an excellent team like the Angels.

Nice work by Fred Wilpon to completely throw GM Omar Minaya under the bus by saying that both the timing and the decision was Minaya’s and no one else’s.  This is, of course, asinine because no owner worth their salt wouldn’t have a say in such a decision.  Former Mets GM Steve Phillips even went on 1050 ESPN Radio to say, in essence, that Wilpon’s statement was a load of crap.

Then there is the sewer sludge that spews forth from Hank Steinbrenner’s mouth.

After his starting ace Chien Ming Wang hurt himself running the bases he referred to the National League as 19th century baseball and told them to get with the 21st century.

Despite the absolute idiocy of his tirade, I have a theory.

Its very possible that Steinbrenner made such obviously idiotic and inflammatory comments to keep the spotlight off of his team that hasn’t played well for much of the year.  The Yankees are under constant pressure by the New York media, and perhaps this was a ploy on his part to deflect that pressure onto him.

I sincerely hope that is the case, but it remains one of the dumbest things uttered by a baseball man in certainly my lifetime.

This is a very difficult town to make sense of, even if you grow up here and learn everything you know from New York first-hand.  One usually thinks of New York as a big market and the big market attracts the best minds and voices of the game and yet, some of the strangest things come forth from this city.  Michael Kay has a job here, Suzyn Waldman has a job here, Max Kellerman and Brian Kenny, though I find them both bright and likable, are perhaps two of the biggest homers on radio anywhere, constantly using fancy language and that famous term “comparative analysis” to convince listeners that the Yankees are the best team in baseball all year every year.  Perhaps the most egregious was Kellerman’s proclamation that Mariano Rivera is the best player in baseball is the best evidence of this.

And, of course, we have the Steinbrenner family here, who are never shy about sharing their opinions on things.  We also have the Wilpon family here, who are perhaps the dumbest family to own a baseball team in the last fifty years.  It is both frustrating and mystifying on one hand, yet on the other hand, it is all gold for a writer such as myself.

It appears that New York Mets manager Willie Randolph doesn’t know the meaning of the word “shutout.”

On Wednesday night, Mike Pelfrey, a young kid finally pitching with confidence, held the Arizona Diamondbacks scoreless for eight innings.  He gave up one hit in the ninth and was immediately pulled.  Pelfrey’s pitch count was 112.

On Thursday night, Johan Santana, the ace, the stopper, held the Diamondbacks scoreless for seven innings.  He was pulled.  Santana’s pitch count was 116.

Randolph, in his effervescent wisdom, doesn’t seem to realize one basic truth: A tired Johan Santana is ten times better than any fresh arm that is coming out of his bullpen, including Billy Wagner.

The lucky weasel was saved on Wednesday by Carlos Beltran’s 13th-inning home run, but nothing could save Randolph from pulling the same stunt again on his ace the next night.  At 116, he pulled Santana out of a marvelous pitching performance.  What is he saving him for? He’s the ace, he’s the one guy that should (and can) be able to pitch a game from start to finish.  Especially with the bullpen the Mets happen to have.

Decisions like these are why Randolph will never win a World Series.  Remember when John Maine took a no-hitter into the eighth against the Marlins last year? Maine gave up one hit, a ball that went about thirty feet from the plate that no one could make a play on, and Randolph pulled him.

See, you don’t do that to a pitcher.  He didn’t let Maine finish what he started and Maine had every right to finish that game.  Who cares if he’s at 115 pitches? It was his game.  His team was up 13-0, I’m sure Maine could have stuck around and if he gave up a couple runs, then you can take him out.

Poor Mike Pelfrey, who aside from being only a decent pitcher at best also happens to be a very unlucky person.  The kid had everything going that night and was about to pick up his first career complete game, boosting the confidence that so desperately needs boosting.

Then his manager got in the way.

Its going to be an interesting night in New York baseball.

In the minds of New York Yankees fans, their entire season rides on tonight’s game.  That is, of course, completely ridiculous.  Welcome to New York.

Joba Chamberlain takes the mound tonight and all of New York will be looking for him to be the same electric pitcher he is coming out of the bullpen.  They expect 98 MPH fastballs all night long, they expect devastating sliders for seven innings.

However, none of the above is all that likely.

Chamberlain will likely pitch only four innings and should be in the 93-94 MPH range.  He will also have to throw at least four different pitches in order to be successful, which means he cannot rely on his fastball and slider all night or he’ll start getting hit.

Chamberlain also has never had to adjust to a major league lineup.  Someone in the lineup tonight is going to get a hit off of him, and it will be up to Chamberlain to learn and make adjustments on the fly, something he hasn’t done at all in his bullpen work in the Majors.

Tonight will certainly not be the night the Yankees season is saved, despite the hopes of fans all over New York.

Out in San Francisco, Pedro Martinez is on the hill for the Mets for the first time since April 1st.  Expectations are much lower because Martinez is now considered a luxury for the Mets rather than a necessity.  A good start by him will help the team’s confidence and bode well for the future, but it is not the end of the world if he’s a little rusty.   His injury was a leg injury, not an arm, so he should be fairly sharp.  He’ll never throw 92 MPH again, but he should re-gain the form he had last September which would be just fine for the Mets rotation now that Santana is in place.

Lots of high hopes for tonight in New York.  We will see what, if anything, comes to fruition.  I’ll try to keep an eye on this while I’m in the press box in Newark covering the Bears against the Bridgeport Bluefish.