Mets Happier In Jerry Manuel Regime…

Bob Klapisch, of The Record, writes about a loose, happy Mets team…

On the scale of one-to-Animal House, last week’s little party at 35,000 feet barely registered. After all, what’s a karaoke contest for a team that, back in 1986, tore up its charter plane with a mid-air food fight that included players making out with each others’ wives?

(Players making out with each other’s wives ? Why does it take 22 years to report this, and how does Klapisch drop this little “nugget” and not follow up on it ?)

Those were the days for the wild-side Mets, who spent the ’80s and early ’90s partying. You didn’t count the hours on a coast-to-coast flight; you counted the beers. Frank Viola was all-universe: He could down a case of 24 cold ones from New York to California.

(WOW !!! I hope Viola wasn’t the next day’s starting pitcher.)

So it’s easy to brush off the Mets’ behavior on their charter flight Wednesday from Anaheim to Colorado. There was no beer chugging, just music. And the spouses were safe; they weren’t even on board.

But senior officials still say the loose, spontaneous atmosphere on the plane, and the karaoke contest that ensued, is proof that the Mets are happier, if not better, in the post-Willie Randolph era. One veteran player said Monday, “I can’t tell you the last time that happened around here.”

Even Carlos Delgado, the team’s most indifferent superstar under Randolph, sounds as if Manuel has motivated him. “We know him, I think we can relate to him,” Delgado said of the new manager. “Obviously he’s going to put his personal touch in the game.”

Manuel is an enormously charismatic man who likes to talk about baseball. But there’s something unique about Manuel’s interpersonal skills. Manuel prefers to get in the Mets’ heads, and, if necessary, in their faces, too.

He said he was only kidding about the gangster line about Reyes, threatening to “cut” if the kid ever threw another tantrum on the field. And Manuel was just as quick to explain how he ended up on the front page of the New York Post on Monday, when, according to the headlines, he likened Mets’ fans to “fertilizer.”

Manuel says he was merely emphasizing that playing in New York can be a positive or a negative; it’s up to the individual to decide if he’s going to grow from it. The answer was smooth, like the man himself. But Manuel’s Gandhi-like demeanor soon will be tested, as the Mets have four games with the Yankees this weekend and another four with the Phillies over the July 4 holiday.

Manuel’s strength is his ability to communicate, but that also serves as the rap against him, too. No one that bright could be coarse enough to make the Mets uncomfortable, which is what some people think the Mets have needed all along.

Manuel readily agreed the Mets were in need of a culture change. “You do have to be uncomfortable with losing,” he said. It’ll be his job to make sure the Mets don’t go into a trance again, after the euphoria wears off. Manuel is unveiling a formidable weapon — the lineup card. “That’s the power I have over the players, the lineup card,” he said. In other words, those who don’t hustle don’t play. Manuel has laid out his plan to scale back Luis Castillo as an everyday player. And Manuel says David Wright, who’s down to .272 after going 0-for-3 Monday night, will be benched tonight.

(Wright being given a day off is long overdue. I like how Manuel is forcing Castillo to get needed rest, and acknowledging that Beltran & Wright need rest, too.)

Wright said he wouldn’t fight the 24-hour demotion, correctly sensing, “Jerry runs a pretty strict ship, so I don’t think I’d be able to talk him out of this one. He’s the manager; he’s a very smart baseball man. If he thinks I need a day off, I’m going to go ahead and take it.”

(WOW ! What a difference from the Randolph era, when Wright would tell Randolph he wanted to be in the lineup, so Randolph kept him in the lineup. Randolph let the players manage him, which led to his demise.)

In the meantime, though, it appears Manuel has struck a chord with the Mets. The karaoke notes might be off-pitch, but to a team that still believes in 2008, it’s nevertheless music to the ears.

(Manuel, quickly, has done a wonderful job of letting the players relax, and feel comfortable. Now, it’s up to the players to improve the team’s winning percentage, so that these changes are accepted by upper management.)