4 NY Mets managers who were let go without receiving a fair chance

2) Willie Randolph

Willie Randolph was named as the manager of the New York Mets on November 4, 2004. This appointment not only made him the 18th field manager in the history of the Mets, he also became the first African American manager of a New York MLB team. Randolph’s MLB career spanned from 1975 to 1992. His stellar resume includes 6 All Star games, 5 world championships, a silver slugger award and even a plaque in Yankees’ Monument Park. Following his playing days, Randolph was a Yankees base and bench coach for 11 seasons, while intermittently interviewing for managing jobs with other teams.

After the 2004 season, Mets ownership decided to take the team in a new direction. The Mets hired a new general manager in Omar Minaya, who promised to turn the franchise around. He brought in Willie Randolph to serve as the new Mets manager, succeeding Art Howe. Pitcher Pedro Martinez was signed and as Mets fans are apt to say every year, hope springs eternal.

The NY Mets record improved by twelve games in 2005 under Randolph. Their 83 wins marked the most since their National League pennant winning team of 2000. By 2006, the resurgence was complete. With the addition of established stars Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado, and the further development of future stars David Wright and Jose Reyes, the team won 97 games and finished in first place in the National League East. They would come to within one game of going to the World Series, losing to the eventual champion St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS. However, Randolph was the first manager in major league history to have his team's record improve by at least 12 games in each of his first two seasons. On January 24, 2007, the Mets signed Willie Randolph to a three-year, $5.65 million contract extension.

The Mets fortunes took a turn for the worst in 2007 as the Mets experienced a complete and sudden collapse. The team entered the final 17 games in the season with a seven-game lead in the NL East. But with injuries to the pitching staff, the team went on an ill-timed losing streak, losing 11 of the next 15 games. This resulted in the Philadelphia Phillies winning the division by one game.

The Mets began the 2008 season with a modest 34-35 record when GM Omar Minaya decided to pull the plug on the Willie Randolph era. In the early morning hours of June 17, 2008, Randolph was fired. The timing was particularly unusual as it happened on a West Coast road trip, after a win, and at 3:11 AM NY time. 

Willie Randolph’s managerial career statistics stand at 302-253 with a winning percentage of .545. And this got him fired? The strangest fact about Willie Randolph was that he was never offered another managerial position in MLB.