Texas Two-Step (Part II): Joey Does Dallas

Howdy y'all! This is your fav'rit Studious Metsimus blogger/culinary expert Joey Beartran, reporting for duty. In today's episode, I will recap my just-completed trip to Texas to see the Mets play the Rangers, where our boys in blue and orange took two out of three from the defending American League champions.

As a respected blogger, I expected the Rangers to roll out the red carpet for me upon my arrival in Arlington. I got nothing. No red carpet. Not even a wet towel to combat the oppressive triple digit temperatures. I wasn't even allowed in the press room because they didn't believe me when I said I accidentally lost my media credentials somewhere between our trip to In-N-Out Burger and Sonic. (I must have confused it for a napkin.) The closest I got to the press room was the Media Only sign outside the ballpark.



So I had to sit in the ballpark with the fans. No big deal. I could handle not being in an air-conditioned press box. Plus, it would give me the opportunity to walk around the stadium and try out the ballpark fare at their concession stands.

My first stop was at the bacon dog stand. You read that right. It's a stand that sells hot dogs wrapped in bacon. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with what I expected to be a Texas delicacy. I mean, I like bacon and I like hot dogs. Then again, I like chicken nachos and I like cannolis, but I wouldn't eat them together. That's what the bacon dogs were like. Two fine meats in and of themselves, but one big disappointment when combined on a bun.

Such a promising concept, but I wish it had been bacon AND a hot dog instead on bacon ON a hot dog.

By the time I had donated the rest of my bacon dog to the pigeon that had that "I'm going to poop on you if you don't share your meal with me" look in its eyes, the Mets had already taken a 3-0 lead on the Rangers. Considering the Mets had only scored one run in the opener of the series, putting up a three-spot in the first inning gave me hope that this game would be different.

I was all set to watch Jon Niese take the mound in the bottom of the first inning to protect the lead his teammates had provided for him when something unexpected happened. Something grabbed my attention and wouldn't let it go, no matter how intent I was on watching the game.

It was the nacho stand.

Can you get burritos at Citi Field? I think not!

This was Tex-Mex heaven! In addition to quesadillas and fajita salads, you could also build your own burrito. The vendors handed out a piece of paper, which the patron would fill out detailing exactly what ingredients were to be added to their burrito, salad, nachos, etc.

Of course, I had to try their chicken taco salad in a crispy tortilla bowl. This was not the bacon dog. This was bliss in a bowl. My sister, Iggy, who also made the trip to Texas, shared the salad (and souvenir soda) with me. After eating it, we wished we had ordered one for each of us. It was that good!

What was in our chicken taco salad? The better question might be, what WASN'T in it? Yum!

After consuming the salad, we made our way back to our seats, at which time we noticed that the Mets now had a 6-0 lead. Jonathon Niese, who was unaccustomed to the excessive temperatures, was cruising, while his mound opponent, Alexi Ogando, (7-2, 2.66 ERA and a leading candidate for American League Rookie of the Year) wilted in the Texas heat.

The Mets failed to score in the fourth and fifth frames, so I thought it would be a good time to check out other aspects of the ballpark. We checked out the Mets' bullpen (see first photo below), the seats behind home plate (see middle photo below) and then...well...you know...



After our break with the garlic fries, we walked over to the center field area, where we noticed a giant statue of a man tipping his cap. Upon further inspection, we noticed that it was a statue dedicated to the only Texas Ranger player to have his number retired by the team, Nolan Ryan. (Former manager Johnny Oates is the only other former Ranger to have his number retired, despite the fact that Bobby Valentine is the all-time winningest manager in Ranger history. Yes, the same Bobby Valentine that managed the Mets to the World Series in 2000.)

Of course, as a Mets fan who was born at Shea Stadium, (okay, so technically I was purchased by my colleague in the Mets Team Store behind home plate at Shea in 2004, but for argument's sake, let's just say I was "born" there, ya dig?) I noticed the similarities between the Rangers and the Mets with regards to retired numbers. Both teams have retired only one player's number (Seaver's No. 41 for New York and Ryan's No. 34 for Texas), both teams have retired the number of the manager who led them to their first division title (Hodges' No. 14 for the Mets and Oates' No. 26 for the Rangers) and both have failed to bestow the same honor to Bobby Valentine.

While I was pondering those similarities, I noticed that Iggy had climbed onto Nolan Ryan's glove, so before any Rangers fans could cry sacrilege, I followed her in an effort to get her to come down. Of course, a roving photographer caught us on his glove and snapped the photo below.

Even in the middle of Texas, the paparazzi never rests.

Needless to say, we needed a place to hide before a lynch mob treated us like Frankenstein's monster for sitting on their beloved Nolan Ryan's statue. We tried to get into the Mets' bullpen, but were turned aside. We tried going back to the Tex-Mex stand, but there were too many people standing in line who might recognize us.

It got to the point where we thought everyone was after us. Every Rangers fan on their cell phone appeared to be calling the police in our minds. If I'm not mistaken, I think I overheard one of the fans talking about calling Chuck Norris so he could arrest us, before a fellow fan reminded him that Norris wasn't a real lawman. He only played one on TV.

Chuck Norris Fact: His badge will be retired alongside Nolan Ryan and Johnny Oates' number.

Running out of places to hide, we tried one last time to get into the press box. We circled the area on the second level behind home plate when we were spotted. Fortunately, it wasn't El Rangerdoro (a Lucha Libre wrestler who didn't take kindly to Mets fans on his turf) doing the spotting. A hand reached out from up above and we heard a familiar voice who offered to bring us into the Mets' radio booth, where we'd be safe from television-obsessed fans and masked wrestlers. Who was this kind soul who shielded us in our time of need?

It was none other than longtime Mets' radio play-by-play man, Howie Rose.

Thank you, Howie! You saved us from angry Rangers fans and finally got us into the broadcast booth!

Right after the save by Howie Rose, everything turned for the better. The Mets scored eight more times (finishing the game with a season-high 14 runs) and we were able to escape with a victory and our lives.

We did not attend the final game of the series the following afternoon, an 8-5 victory by the Mets. Our Studious Metsimus colleague will say it was because we had to take a flight home, but if you saw the reactions of El Rangerdoro and the other members of the Church of Nolan Ryan after we sat on their savior's statue, you'd want to get out of Dodge as soon as possible, too.

Our stay in the Dallas area was memorable for many reasons. It was memorable for the variety of food we sampled. (Bacon dogs - bleccchhh, garlic fries - acceptable, chicken taco salad - nom nom nom!) It was memorable for all the crooked numbers the Mets put up on the scoreboard in taking the series from the Rangers. And it was memorable because we went to Texas and became outlaws for a day, even though that wasn't part of the original plan.

I am glad we're back home, though. After all, I don't think Iggy and I were going to fool native Texans much longer with the disguises we put on in order to blend in with the crowd. Well, maybe we could have fooled that Chuck Norris fan...

Is Terry Collins 2011's Answer To Bobby Valentine?

Prior to the 2011 season, the Mets interviewed a number of potential candidates for their open managerial position before deciding to hire Terry Collins, a pick that was popular in the front office, but not immediately liked by the fans. Less than half a season later, Collins has made believers out of the skeptics who thought anyone not named Wally Backman would be able to manage the Mets. After a rough 5-13 start, the Mets have responded by going 28-21 (.571 winning percentage) and currently find themselves in third place in the National League East.

Collins has been able to piece together a team that has been without Johan Santana for the entire season and sans corner infielders Ike Davis and David Wright for the past month. His makeshift lineups have led to the emergence of various players who had been career minor leaguers or fringe players. Players such as Justin Turner, Ruben Tejada and Daniel Murphy have all contributed in the absence of Davis and Wright, and pitchers such as Dillon Gee, Chris Capuano and Jonathon Niese have all flourished while Santana has been rehabbing his surgically repaired shoulder.

The 2011 Mets have all the makings of a nice story in Flushing, after two lost seasons at Citi Field which immediately followed two heartbreaking seasons at Shea Stadium. But this is not the first time a manager has taken a downtrodden Mets team and turned them around faster than anyone ever expected. In fact, it was only 14 years ago when another former major league manager was given a chance by the Mets to bring respectability back to the franchise.

Still beloved by Mets fans, Bobby Valentine was the club's second winningest manager after Davey Johnson.

Bobby Valentine managed the Texas Rangers from 1985-1992, where he became the franchise's all-time leader in managerial victories. But after a slow start in 1992, Valentine was relieved of his duties by future president George W. Bush and did not manage again for three years. In 1995, Bobby V took his managerial talents overseas and led the Chiba Lotte Marines to a surprising second-place finish in the Japanese Pacific League. Valentine's success in Japan (he was fired due to a conflict with the team's general manager) led him back to the States and a job managing the Mets' Triple-A team in Norfolk.

After leading the Tides to an 82-59 record in 1996, Valentine was promoted to the Mets to replace the recently ousted Dallas Green. The Mets finished the season by winning only 12 of the 31 games under their new skipper. However, with a new season came new hope, and Valentine was the purveyor of that hope.

The 1997 Mets went into the season with little to no expectations. Their biggest acquisition of the offseason was John Olerud, a former batting champion in 1993 who had done little since winning that batting title, averaging 13 HR and 61 RBI from 1994 to 1996, and failing to hit over .300 in each of those three seasons. The rest of the infield consisted of the past-his-prime Carlos Baerga at second, light-hitting shortstop Rey Ordoñez and young Edgardo Alfonzo, who had been shuttled back and forth between second and third base for the better part of three seasons.

Although Bernard Gilkey and Lance Johnson were returning to the outfield, both were coming off career years in 1996 that did little to help the team in the standings. Rounding out the outfield was Butch Huskey, who had always shown power potential, but never quite fulfilled it. Todd Hundley (he of the record-setting 41 home runs in 1996) was yet again behind the plate catching a ragtag group of starting pitchers that included Bobby Jones, Rick Reed, Dave Mlicki, Mark Clark, Armando Reynoso and Brian Bohanon. Those six pitchers combined to win a mere 40 games in 1996 and were now being counted on to lead the 1997 Mets. It didn't start off the way Valentine would have liked.

The 1997 Mets lost 10 of their first 14 games and were already seven games out of first place just two weeks into the season. But Bobby Valentine did not let the poor start deter his team. By mid-May, the Mets had climbed back to .500, but then hovered around the mediocre mark until mid-June. It was then that the team took off, winning six straight against Pittsburgh and Atlanta. By September, the Mets were still alive in the Wild Card race, but their playoff hopes finally burst during the final week of the season, as the Marlins took the Wild Card on the way to their first World Series championship. Despite falling just short of the playoffs, the Mets still finished the year with an impressive 88-74 record.

Bobby Jones and Rick Reed emerged as solid starting pitchers for the Mets, with Jones winning 15 games and earning his first (and only) All-Star selection and Reed finishing sixth in the National League with a 2.89 ERA, to go along with 13 wins (after winning a total of 10 games from 1988-1996). The infield also surpassed all expectations, with John Olerud leading the way. The first baseman batted .294 with 22 HR and 102 RBI. He also led the team in on-base percentage with an even .400 mark. The left side of the infield impressed as well, as Edgardo Alfonzo hit a then-career high .315 and Rey Ordoñez won his first Gold Glove Award. Bernard Gilkey and Lance Johnson couldn't sustain their 1996 paces, but Butch Huskey made up for that by setting career marks in batting average (.287), hits (135), doubles (26), home runs (24), RBI (81), stolen bases (8) and slugging percentage (.503). In addition, Todd Hundley followed up his memorable 1996 campaign with another solid season, batting .273 with 30 HR and 86 RBI.

No one would say that the 1997 Mets were loaded with All-Stars. But Bobby Valentine took that group of individuals and turned them into a team. Valentine used 143 different lineups, utilizing all 25 players on the roster and going with the hot hand whenever possible. The final result was the first winning season for the Mets in seven years.

Fast forward to 2011. Terry Collins is now the former major league manager who was hired by the Mets after a layoff of several years. After spending time guiding young players in the Mets' farm system in 2010, Collins is now managing a number of them in the big leagues.

Not much was expected from the Mets in 2011, but after a slow start, the Mets are now playing very good baseball. They're coming together as a team, with veteran leadership (Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes), emerging talent (Justin Turner, Ruben Tejada, Daniel Murphy), and young pitchers developing into top starters (Jonathon Niese, Dillon Gee).

Like Bobby Valentine did with the 1997 Mets, Terry Collins is instilling confidence in the 2011 Mets. His goal is not to reach .500, but to surpass it. Mediocrity is not an option with the current Mets. It is a stepping stone. Terry Collins expects this team to perform on the field, regardless of who he puts out there. It is why the Mets have been able to leapfrog past the Nationals and Marlins in the NL East and why they are within 4½ games of the Braves for the Wild Card lead.

Bobby Valentine did wonders with a group of players that "on paper" shouldn't have performed as well as they did. He taught them how to believe in themselves and their ability to get the job on the baseball field. The players responded to their manager and made the fans believers as well. Fourteen years later, Terry Collins is trying to do the same thing with his group of Mets.

Will Collins succeed as Bobby Valentine did almost a decade and a half ago? That remains to be seen. One thing is certain, though. If the players continue to follow Collins' philosophy, then there's no reason to believe that this team can't surpass expectations. The Mets can go as far as they want to go. It's a good thing they have a manager who knows this and is willing to take them there.

Is Bobby Valentine just interviewing poorly?

Seriously, it wasn't that long ago that it looked like Bobby Valentine would have the pick of the litter of terrific manager jobs.

Everyone knew the Braves job was going to go to Fredi Gonzalez... but the Cubs job looked available, as did the Marlins and Dodgers.

The Mets were out there as were the Mariners and Blue Jays. And a place like Milwaukee could be a fit. And the challenge of Pittsburgh could have been attractive.

Well the pickings are getting slim now. The Dodgers handed the keys over to Mattingly where he seems destined to fail.

The Cubs, Diamondbacks and Marlins surprisingly kept their interim managers. Toronto and Milwaukee each swiped coaches from other teams.

The Mariners dusted off Eric Wedge, the Pirates look like they are closing in on Clint Hurdle and the options have all whittled down to one team:

The Mets.

He's not going back to the Mets. And new GM Sandy Alderson doesn't care for strong willed managers.

He'd rather hire a cardboard cutout of Bobby Valentine than the real McCoy.

I wonder what gives. Say what you want about Bobby V... he's a solid baseball mind and could be exactly what a dead from the neck up franchise could use.

Plus his personality and unpredictability make him damn good for the game.

Is he interviewing badly?

Is he giving that all knowing smirk to the owners making his potential employers feel silly?

Either way, I think baseball is going to be a little more dull in 2011 because the Cubs went with Mike Quade and the Mariners took Eric Wedge out of mothballs instead of giving Bobby V a shot.

Hey Bobby V and Buck... take your time picking a team

Bobby Valentine was rumored to be the new manager of the Marlins and supposedly Buck Showalter is hovering around Baltimore ready to wear the black and orange.

And yet Edwin Rodriguez is still in charge of the Marlins and Juan Samuel is helming the Orioles. And I think that is a good thing.

Not only do life long baseball men like Rodriguez and Samuel get to potentially finish up the season, but Bobby V and Buck, two of the most intriguing managerial candidates out there, could feast on one of the most robust and potentially rewarded managerial free agency off seasons in history.

Assuming that Joe Torre will join Bobby Cox, Cito Gaston and Lou Piniella in retirement (which he should) and Jerry Manuel won't be asked back to manage the Mets (which he probably won't) then there are jobs with lots of potential glory and obvious hazards out there for two managers who have worked in the bright spotlight, had success but looking for that ring.

Let's look at the potential landing spots.

ATLANTA BRAVES

THE UPSIDE:

- The team looks like it is playoff bound, so you will be inheriting a winner.

- With McCann, Heyward, Hanson, Jurjenns and McLouth, you have a solid nucleus for a winner for years to come.

- The recent playoff success helps make it an attractive free agent destination.

THE DOWNSIDE:

- The shadow of Bobby Cox will lurk over this team for a generation.

- 14 straight trips to the playoffs is a tough act to follow.

- If they win how much credit can you claim? It will be like Joe Altobelli winning in 1983 with a team Earl Weaver put together.

- Ted Turner no longer runs the team, so the days of spending big to win now are over.

- The fans don't care. They can't even sell out playoff games!

THE VERDICT:

Best leave Bobby Cox to pick his own successor. Between Terry Pendleton and Fredi Gonzalez there are a bunch of Cox's former lieutenants who can take over the job without making the organization feel like they are going in a totally new direction.

BALTIMORE ORIOLES

THE UPSIDE:

- The Orioles are a tradition rich organization with some of the best and most passionate fans in the game who are DROOLING for a winner.

- They won't be trying to move unless they get a "Camden Yards like stadium."

- Matt Weiters, Adam Jones and Brian Matusz are a nice trio to build a team around.

- The passion is high but the expectations aren't. This will be their 5th straight 90+ loss season. They haven't had a winner since 1997. Put a winner on the field and Camden Yard will be full of grateful fans.

THE DOWNSIDE:

- There's a reason they have gone more than a decade without a .500 team... the only teams in American Pro Sports with worse management are the Raiders and the Clippers.

- That Orioles winning tradition is harder to sell when the last Orioles championship took place before their young stars were born.

- The Orioles have been good and developing hyped prospects, not quality major leaguers.

- Oh that A.L. East... good luck spending with the Sox and the Yankees.

THE VERDICT:

A good gig if you want to look like a hero (a la Jim Leyland with the Tigers.) Better hope the Red Sox, Rays and Yankees get injured. Better yet, better hope Peter Angelos sells the team!

CHICAGO CUBS

THE UPSIDE:

- Hey you want to be a God to a fan base and be instantly considered a Hall of Famer? Then manage the Cubs to a World Series title.

- You don't need to worry about fan support nor revenues.

- Maybe the new ownership will open up the purse and do "Operation Red Sox - 2004" and get all that Billy Goat crap put to rest.

- With players like Castro and Soto, they have some young stars to build with.

THE DOWNSIDE:

- If winning a title for the Cubs is so easy, then why hasn't anyone done it since the days of Tinker to Evers to Chance?

- They've had over 50 managers since 1908 including Joe McCarthy, Rogers Hornsby, Leo Durocher, Lou Boudreau, Dusty Baker and Lou Piniella. Good luck!

- The Cubs lead the league in unmovable awful contracts. As long as Jim Hendry is buying the groceries, the Cubs won't be cooking up anything that tasty.

THE VERDICT:

It is the easiest route to immortality and having a major city treat you like a God. But the fan base is getting restless and the new ownership is a wild card. Also for whatever reason, Ryne Sandberg has been anointed the new Cubs manager savior... good luck with that.

FLORIDA MARLINS

THE UPSIDE:

- The team has a tendency of winning a World Series every once in a while. Might as well win one on your watch.

- Living year round in Miami isn't that bad.

- No pressure. The fans will be so busy watching Wade and LeBron that they won't notice you until you are in the World Series.

- You could manage the team when the excitement of an actual BASEBALL stadium opening in Miami occurs in a few years. Maybe some fans will show up as well.

- If you can harness the potential of Hanley Ramirez, you could have a Hall of Famer on your hand.

THE DOWNSIDE:

- Ebenezer Scrooge thinks that Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria is cheap.

- Joe Girardi and Fredi Gonzalez each led overachieving low budget teams to surprising records... and both were rewarded with being fired.

- Fans didn't seem to care when they won in 1997 and 2003. Why would they care now?

THE VERDICT:

Maybe the new stadium and new revenues will mean longer contracts for their players. Miami may be a cool place to live, but so far it is no baseball town. But if this is the last managerial stop, then why not? If you retire, you'll already be in Florida!

LOS ANGELES DODGERS

THE UPSIDE:

- A Chance to manage one of the marquee, big market, high profile organizations.

- They have a rich farm system that produces solid big leaguers at a steady rate.

- They also have a pitchers ballpark and play in a pitchers division, so it is about as attractive a destination for any quality free agent arm to land.

- They have a wonderfully rich tradition that treats its Champions with dignity.

THE DOWNSIDE:

- Mel Gibson's divorce was civil compared to the fiasco that is the McCourts.

- A championship window might be closing and shockingly it is not out of the question that the Dodgers might be dismantling the team soon.

- You know Joe Torre doesn't WANT to leave... but he also knows that managing a losing team isn't how he wants to end his legacy. Why should you take Joe's scraps.

THE VERDICT:

If the divorce settles and the Dodgers can act like one of the few big market, big budget teams that they are, then this is a job sent from heaven. But despite all the resources, talent and solid managers that have come and gone through L.A. recently, they still have startling turnover (nobody from the 2004 playoff roster was on the 2006 playoff roster and they had three different managers since the 2004 NL West title.) A good gig if you win. Lousy if the divorce drags on.

NEW YORK METS

THE UPSIDE:

-You win in New York and you are a God. And currently only one position is available in New York.

- The expectations aren't as high in Queens, but winning there might be more special because it has been so infrequent.

- You never have to worry about management cutting corners on free agents. They are as aggressive as any team not named the Yankees.

- National exposure and a passionate fan base would make any title even bigger.

- Both of you (Bobby and Buck) have unfinished business in New York.

THE DOWNSIDE:

- Both Buck and Bobby V managed in New York before. Are you two considered damaged goods?

- Omar Minaya is to the Mets what Jim Hendry is to the Cubs. Aggressive but wreckless with contracts and can put a loser on the field with a $100+ million payroll.

- Every move is broken down to the point where you have to answer to Joey from Sheepshead Bay calling in to WFAN when your bullpen move didn't work.

- No matter how big the Mets get, they are the poor stepchild of the Yankees.

THE VERDICT:

Untold glory and unspeakable headaches can come from being the skipper in New York. Joe Torre gave the Yankees 6 pennants and 4 World Series titles and that wasn't enough for some people. Make sure you can work well with Omar... just ask Willie Randolph how fun it was.

TORONTO BLUE JAYS

THE UPSIDE:

- Toronto is a great city. Big, cosmopolitan and clean... with universal health care.

- It's also a passionate sports town and when the Blue Jays have something to offer, they show up in record numbers.

- With Marcum, Romero, Litsch and Drabek, they have a nice foundation of young pitching... which as we know is the cornerstone of any championship run.

- Expectations are low. Exceed them and be a hero.

THE DOWNSIDE:

- In case you didn't know, Toronto is in Canada. You try luring free agents across the border!

- Also in case you didn't know, Toronto is in the American League East. Unless you see the Red Sox, Yankees or Rays crumbling any time soon, you are more likely to see the EXPOS in the playoffs before the Blue Jays.

- Unless you really see Jose Bautista and John Buck being the cornerstones to a title team, this team is going to REALLY stink for a while.

- Toronto fans are passionate, yet don't you feel they'd give Joe Carter's home run back in a second for a Stanley Cup.

- People in America will put out a missing persons report for you.

THE VERDICT:

Let some young manager working their way up the ranks take over Toronto. This is no place for a skipper with some success under their wing... except for Cito Gaston.



If I were advising the two... I'd tell Bobby Valentine to take over the Dodgers. Eventually the divorce will die down and L.A. would eat up his larger than life style.

As for Showalter, I wouldn't touch the Orioles with a cattle prod. I'd go to the Mets, especially if Minaya is shown the door. Buck put together a winner in New York once before and he can do it again... and this time follow it all the way through.

Choose carefully, you two. You already have playoff experience and some aura about your dugout smarts in the bank. A World Series title on your resume... you might be talked about as a Cooperstown candidate.

And remember... all the smart baseball people read this blog and take my advice to heart.