Mets Fire Long Tme Clubhouse Manager Charlie Samuels

The inevitable was made official today when the Mets terminated long time Clubhouse Manager Charlie Samuels.

Samuels who is under investigation for illegal gambling by NYPD and the Queens District Attorney's office, was released for "conduct in violation of club policies."

The Mets released the following statement:

"This decision is the result of a thorough internal investigation over the course of several months. The Mets will have no further comment on this matter."

Samuels was recorded on wire taps making bets on sports other than baseball, but he did admit to gambling on the game for which he was employed for the last 27 years.

The Daily News reports that:

"According to police sources, mob associates were also caught on wiretaps crowing about the inside information Samuels provided them. The investigation is believed to have begun midseason when the team began noticing missing bats and jerseys from its inventory. "

As we reported here and here, I am concerned about the fall out from his gambling. Are Mets players involved in this? I would certainly think so, but we will have to wait for this to play out.

Hopefully this will be the conclusion to a sad situation for the Mets franchise. Samuels betrayed a trust bestowed upon him by his employer, and this violation is inexcusable. There is a reason gambling isn't permitted in baseball, but due to his selfishness and addiction, he has probably corrupted more lives than we will ever know. As this column stated earlier:

"If this scandal comes down as I am anticipating, the Mets and Mr. Jay Horwitz are going to have a PR nightmare that will take the magic of Merlin to get out of."

Source: NY Daily News