Mets ornament of the day: Jerry Manuel giving Santa the bunt sign

Jose Reyes got a lot of gruff for bunting in his last Mets at-bat, believing he wanted to snag one more base hit then scamper off to greener pastures with a batting title added to his resume.

Not true. I think Jose was paying tribute to former manager Jerry Manuel.

Manuel was known for his devotion to bunting. This made his managing pretty predictable.

Man on first with no outs? Jerry was in the dugout frantically giving the bunt sign. Actually, it seemed to get to the point that of there were men on any base, and an out total of less than two, Jerry would call for the bunt.

The toughest part for fans was not no Mets played seemed to be all that good at bunting. You'd think with all that practice, the players could practically lay one down the third base line with their eyes closed.

Actually, I'm almost convinced that Mike Pelfrey really did go up there with his eyes closed. It would explain a lot.

Oh well. Despite managing on autopilot, Jerry seemed like a nice guy and he had cool glasses. Plus, he'll go down in history as the guy who managed the first game at Citi Field.

So this ornament, showing Santa attempting to lay down a bunt, is my reminder of the Manuel era.

Meeting the new Mets in Fort Lauderdale

The future of the Mets? Fernando Martinez and Dan Murphy get ready to take cuts.

I can understand why teams threaten to uproot and move their spring training sites after experiencing the contrasts during last weeks’ Grapefruit League road trips.

We’re going to set Josh’s baseball places aside for another adventure of our own, starting in beautfiul Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, where both the Marlins and Cardinals train.

We arrived Tuesday afternoon, just as players were ending practice for the day. We had time to explore the gift shop, which stocked items for the two home teams as well as the frequent spring opponents, plus World Baseball Classic teams.

Trenni Kusnierek of the MLB Network was preparing to tape interviews for the 30-30 show.

The Marlins' batting cages are pretty colorful. The Cardinals are on the other side of the complex.


It was too late to inside the stadium, but as we were walking outside Dad spied a ball flying over the stadium wall and bouncing in the street in front of us. The exact same thing happened to Dad last year when we attended a minor-league game at the site.

Walking further we spied an MLB Network crew setting up for one of the 30/30 broadcasts.

The next day we shot down to Fort Lauderdale for the spring opener against the Orioles. You already know my parents spoil me wildly, and Dad got us there as the gates opened so we could check out batting practice.

The stadium is one of the oldest in use, and is nestled in an airport industrial park. Not the most picturesque location, but the planes flying over head reminded me of Shea.

Sadly, you can sense the Yankee Taint. The team trained there from 1962 until moving to Tampa. The Orioles took over in 1996.

The stadium lacks amenities you expect these days. No one wants to use a port-a-potty, and the food offerings were limited. But the team tried, adding a large barbeque that had the whole area smelling great and a lovely vendor from Queens warming large pretzels over charcoal – as they should be!

There were two booths like this that were as close to a team store as the stadium gets.



The old stadium has steep, narrow ramps and aisles, and on this particular day there were a lot of fans in their golden years. It was sad to watch them struggle, and it made it tough to get around quickly.

Since there wasn’t much to explore and many obstacles, I made my way right down to the Mets dugout and found a good spot to watch batting practice.

The A-team stayed back in St. Lucie, but Luis Castillo, Nick Evans and Dan Murphy were among the group taking cuts, with batting coach Howard Johnson pulling several aside for short discussions.
HoJo works with Luis Castillo, then Dan Murphy.



Sandy Alomar Sr. worked with Bobby Kielty on his fielding.

Jerry Manuel came out and hit fungos, then later came over and sat by the dugout signing autographs, including my glorious Mets book.


And Jerry looked like a genius during the game, with the oft-booed Luis Castillo moved to the lead-off spot and driving in four runs before being lifted in the sixth.

Nick Evans also looked great, going three-for-three with three runs scored.

And some forgotten players looked great, too. Angel Pagan had three hits and drew a walk. Jose Valentin didn’t do much at the plate, but made multiple outstanding plays at third.


Mega prospect Fernando Martinez looked horribly overmatched in his first at-bat, flailing at a two-strike pitch with the bases loaded. But he stroked a nice hit and scored a run in his next turn at the plate.
Fernando Martinez at the plate.

I was giddy watching the Mets pile on runs, even in a spring game, considering the Streak of Shame, which ended on a come-from-behind nail-biter in Cincinnati.

Jerry met with the media after the spring debut.

Walking out after the game I ran into General Manager Omar Minaya, asked him to sign the Mets book, which he did happily. I thanked him for the autograph, then said, “Thank you for everything you’ve done.” Remember, we were in rough shape for a while before he took over.

Omar smiled, and started to say something, but then someone else yelled, “Now go get Manny!” and he moved along.


Then we learned that while players take the bus home, but coaches get to drive home in their own cars – in uniform. HoJo stopped by his car to talk to fans, sign a certain Mets book and pose for photos.

All in all, a very good day at the ballpark. The home opener was even better. That's next.


The stadium has a designated autograph area. Note the slot in the fence. Also note the lack of players signing autographs after the game.

Candlesticks, canned Willie, Crenshaw and the rest of the Friday Five

Now that every baseball writer in the country has vented his spleen over the way the Mets fired Willie Randolph, can we move on?

Seriously, it’s like they were having a contest to out-outrage each other. And the main beefs didn’t have to do with whether Willie should have been booted. No. Their undies were in a bunch over the time of night and the distance from home.

Excuse me, sportswriters. Can you please tell me what is the acceptable time of day and distance from home to fire a manager?

I can deduce from the rantings that 3 a.m. East Coast time and 3,000 miles from New York is bad. So are we talking noon in Denver? Or 2 p.m. at a Sonic Burger in North Carolina? Maybe 10 a.m. at the White Castle near the Sunrise Mall?

Seriously, somebody out there deliver the guidelines because Mike Greenberg of ESPN radio is still worked up.

Two other managers got canned this week, but apparently the time and place of those firings met with the approval of the media, since spleens were left unvented.

Despite being distracted by the dismissal and the dissing, I am able to deliver a Deezo Friday Five in a relatively timely fashion.

1) So far, I like the Jerry Manuel era. He already has called Jose Reyes “she” because of his tantrum and said he’s like a “gangsta” threatening to “cut” players who don’t behave.

That means in two days, he’s delivered two interesting quotes, which is two more than what we heard from Willie during his 3.5 years on the job.



2) This week marks the 20th anniversary of “Bull Durham,” which, when you think about it, is a dumb title for a great movie. It’s like saying “Met New York” or “Empire Evil.”

SI.com interviewed director Ron Shelton about his favorite scene.

“Like most of the general public, I liked the meeting on the mound because I had to fight to keep it in the movie,” he said. “The studio kept saying the scene did not advance the plot. I said: 'There is no plot. It doesn't matter.' When we screened it for audiences, it was always the audience's favorite scene.”

Here’s the dialog:

(Larry jogs out to the mound to break up a players' conference)

Larry: Excuse me, but what the hell's going on out here?

Crash: Well, Nuke's scared because his eyelids are jammed and his old man's here. We need a live... is it a live rooster?

(Jose nods)

Crash: We need a live rooster to take the curse off Jose's glove and nobody seems to know what to get Millie or Jimmy for their wedding present.

Crash: Is that about right? [the players nod] We're dealing with a lot of shit.

Larry: Okay, well, uh... candlesticks always make a nice gift, and uh, maybe you could find out where she's registered and maybe a place-setting or maybe a silverware pattern. Okay, let's get two! Go get 'em.

Brilliant! But I would have asked him about the title.


3) Sidewalk chalk. My daughter likes rules. She’s destined to be a dorm R.A., if not the person overseeing the R.A. program, running it with an iron fist.

She was understandably outraged when someone in our neighborhood decided to walk their dog and allowed them to make a No. 2 deposit on our grass without scooping it up.

She proceeded to take a break from drawing otters on my driveway to offer on the sidewalk what we shall call “constructive criticism” to dog walkers, in graphic detail.

And the big block party is this weekend, when most of the neighborhood will be setting their folding chairs near that sidewalk.

Could be worse. There were no drawings of dead baby barn swallows. But we now have new rules about acceptable uses of sidewalk chalk.



4) My favorite part of the block party is the “extreme” bocce game.

The equipment is the same, but this isn’t the kind of thing you see in the parks with old guys gently rolling balls on small, flat courts.

In those games, someone rolls a small white ball called a jack. Then players roll larger balls at it, getting points for coming close to the jack.

In extreme bocce, you throw the jack overhand in any direction, with the entire neighborhood serving as the court. Backyards, front yards, across streets — it’s all in play. Someone’s flowerbed usually gets a little mussed up, but as long as nobody breaks a window, it’s all good. We praise each other for our difficult placements and yell "extreme!" whenever someone's petitunas are endangered.



5) This week’s Hidden iPod Gem harkens back to my days as a desk aide in the Nassau Community College Student Union.

Typically, my duties including wearing a gray smock-like shirt, answering an occasional question and helping with whatever events were scheduled for that evening. Some day I’ll tell you the story about helping Dr. Ruth with her projector.

But one fun part was being around when bands came in for their soundchecks. Marshall Crenshaw was in during his “Field Day” tour, warmed up by playing “Someday, Someway,” which was neat, and “Whenever You’re on My Mind,” which was and is one of my favorite songs.

Crenshaw fans bemoan the “Field Day” mix, saying the drums are too high, vocal too low and everything else too muddy. That may be. But I still love “Whenever...”

Here's a clip of him singing it recently in a place that looks like the Student Ballroom look like a career highpoint.