So it turns out it was Mets‘ manager Willie Randolph who got the 3 AM phone call, and not Hilary Clinton. Go figure.

Actually, it was 3:18 AM EST to be exact. After the Mets beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (still the dumbest name in all of sports), in Los Angeles, and after Randolph had his post-game press conference in which he discussed needing to build upon their recent success (the Mets have won three of their last four games), he was summarily fired. The Mets put out a press release at 3:18 AM, and GM Omar Minaya was unavailable for comment. Shady much?

So if the Mets are to build on their recent success, they will have to do it sans Randolph, pitching coach Rick Peterson, and first base coach Tom Nieto. Randolph has been replaced by bench coach Jerry Manuel.

Yea, well that sucks for the Mets. Part of the criticism of Randolph is that he is too laid back. Manuel has reportedly been asleep for the past four or five years, so I’m not entirely sure this is a step in the right direction. The best part of the whole situation is that everyone knew that Randolph was going to be fired. So why then would Minaya, or the puppet master pulling his strings, wait until the Mets were on a bit of a roll, and about as far away from Shea as possible? It’s pretty much the most humiliating way Randolph could have been fired.

And I’ve got to say, it’s all fine by me. I feel bad for Randolph, who seemed like a fairly upstanding guy, but this is just going to create further havoc for the Mets, which can only benefit the Phillies. Hopefully this will just further send the characterless and leaderless Mets into a complete losing tailspin. I hate to see good guys get treated so poorly, but I couldn’t be happier that the Mets are in turmoil and look like complete @$$holes.