Art Stapleton, of The Record, writes about the Shea faithful’s pre-game response to Jerry Manuel.
Jerry Manuel walked by for the first time tonight night and the chants from behind the Mets dugout began almost immediately.
Jerry ! Jerry ! Jerry !
It was the perfect welcome home for Manuel, who took the Shea Stadium field for the first time as the manager of the Mets in their series opener against the Seattle Mariners.
Of course, in the group of those chanting fans, there was still someone holding a sign that read, “We Want Willie,” an obvious reminder to everyone of how much has changed since the Mets were here last.
(A “We Want Willie” sign ? Who’s this guy ? Rip Van Winkle ? Was he asleep since last June ?)
Manuel was hired as the team’s interim manager on the heels of general manager Omar Minaya’s decision to fire Willie Randolph last week. He said he was nervous about meeting the media here for the first time, not necessarily about coaching the game in which he would make his Shea debut as the man calling the shots in the Mets’ dugout.
“What we’ve got to do is we’ve got to play good baseball,” Manuel said. “I just hope everything [from the home crowd] is positive, but if not, the bottom line is that we’ve got to play good and consistent baseball.
“If we do that, we’ll do fine.”
(Manuel is correct. He’s in a grace period. The Wilpons, Omar, the media, and the fans, need to see improvement, for the grace period to continue.)
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