June 22, 2008
* On a personal level it is natural to feel for Willie Randolph, but there is nothing new about firing managers in MLB. The media sensationalism around this story is ridiculous. Randolph lost to an inferior team in the NLCS in 2006, presided over an awful collapse in 2007, and had the clubhouse in total disarray in 2008. He had no support from his players and let the dissent grow unchecked. He had to be fired, but of course there is little news in that alone so the headlines had to make it more dramatic. Thank you Omar Minaya and the Wilpons for making this move - and thank you Andrea Peyser ["Race-card joker dug his own grave," The Post and nypost.com, June 18] for shooting straight.
JOHN BENEDICT
Danbury, Conn.
* Omar Minaya has taken way too much flak from the press as a result of the perceived mishandling of Willie Randolph's firing. Remember first that the Mets are a business (although the fans might not see it that way) and in business when a company or a division falters, someone usually gets fired, even when they alone are not solely responsible. Forget who made the decision and when: Minaya did the right thing by getting on a plane to tell Randolph himself, which was far better than his finding out from anyone else.
LARRY SCHACHTER
Demarest, N.J.
* Who really cares how Willie Randolph got fired? So what if he got on a plane to Los Angeles and wasn't let go until the next night? Poor baby. Look, Randolph seems to be a great guy, but considering his lack of experience and his Yankee-bred sense of entitlement, he's lucky he got hired in the first place.
IRV GOLDFARB
North Woodmere, N.Y.
* Willie Randolph plays the role of the victim to perfection. He was "shocked" to learn he was being fired? Really? How shocking can it be when his team has underperformed for over a year and there had been speculation about his dismissal for months prior. Randolph said his firing came "way, way too early." Maybe he was fired too early in the morning on Tuesday, but it certainly was not too early in the season. If anything, it was probably too late.
MATT CHERRY
Manhattan
* Mike Vaccaro summed up the Mets' treatment of Willie Randolph perfectly in his column on the firing ["Midnight massacre an Amazin' act of cowardice," nypost.com, June 17]. The Mets have proven, yet again, that they are a classless, second-rate organization. They're an embarrassment to the city.
JOHN NARDELLA
Brooklyn
