Even for as big a hater as I am, I would not have guessed that things would get ugly in New York as quickly as they have this season. Yesterday Mets’ manager Jerry Manuel said “I thought we appeared unprepared and I have to take responsibility for that. ... I’m talking about having the information but not trusting it for the most part.”
Criticize Manuel if you want, but what he’s really saying here -- borne out by reports that he lit into the team behind closed doors after the game -- is that he and his staff told the players to expect Livan Hernandez to throw his usual assortment of tired old junk and that no one appeared to pay any heed.
Sleeping on a guy like Livan Hernandez and/or ignoring the manager on the first Sunday game of the season? Not pretty.