I know really Randolph wants to win, just like the rest of us. I know he is a man of strong conviction, a man who believes in a steady, unwavering focus. A man who believes that every season has it’s ebbs and flows. A man who trusts the adages that patience is a virtue, everything evens out in the end, and yes, that talented teams eventually right the ship.

But something has got to give.

Willie should be admired for his unwavering loyalty, his incredible sense of faith in his veterans, his ability to not let public opinion phase him, no matter how strong or how vicious the talk radio airwives have been.

But enough is enough.

At some point, Randolph has to realize that the Mets have a real problem here. The Met’s horrid hitting with runners in scoring position has become a mental epidemic, and while staying the course can work in some instances, it is clear this problem isn’t going away.

the first question that needs to be asked is why Jose Valentin is still put in the lineup, and Ruben Gotay is not getting four at bats every game. Sure, Valentin fooled me last year, when he suddenly went from barely being able to swing the bat to suddenly scoring homeruns out Shea. The more I see Valentin, the more I’m starting to think it was a fluke. Gotay may not prove to be an offensive juggernaut in the long run, but he is lightyears ahead of Valentin, who at the moment, is an automatic out.

When you are having trouble producting runs, you have to keep going to your hot bats. It’s mind-boggling that Randolph has let blind -loyalty get in the way of winning. Though I respect Willie’s opinion, at some point you have to get out of your own way. After all, its been widely rumored that the Rick Down firing and Franco demotion had Omar written all over it.

Willie can’t be blamed for the woes of Beltran, Delgado, and Lo Doca- nobody believes that. But it’s way too long for a third of your lineup (and most of the Met’s offensive power) to be in a prolonged slump.

Delgado and Beltran have always roller-coaster rides at the plate- they can look clueless for a month, and then carry teams on their back for two weeks. However, time has run out. The Braves aren’t going away, and the Met’s schedule is only getting harder. The Mets simply can’t keep putting this much pressure on their pitching staff.

This kind of lack of run production frustrates the starters, humbles the bullpen, and taxes the entire staff as a whole. You have to give your staff some blowout victories, where starters can throw strikes and roll outs, and the bullpen can regain some momentum. Willie is not the problem, obviously- but he has to do more to fix it. Isn’t that what a baseball manager is paid to do?
A baseball manager just simply can’t be passive in the midst of an underachieving ballclub. You can count on your hand the number of games a manager wins and loses each year because of in-game decisions. The truth is, a manager is only worth as much as he can get his team to play for him. Whether Willie has to bench some players, jumble the lineup, or start a bunch of rookies, as a manager he has to do something to change the thought process and the vibe of the team, or else you are doing little more than collection a paycheck.

There is a scene in Bull Durham where, Kevin Costner, who plays the part of Crash Davis, is asked by his frustrated minor-league manager for advice on how to break the team’s slump. “Yell at them,” Crash says.

While the manager in the dugout of those guys in the Bronx has never been a great baseball strategist, he has survived longer than any other Yankee manager because he has found a way to get his men to play for him, no matter how much controversy or distraction infiltrated the locker room.

Maybe it’s time Willie took a lesson from his mentor.