Terry Collins :”Something is Going to Be Changing”

After last nights disappointing loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates New York Mets Manager Terry Collins made the following statement to reporters;

“I don’t know how to describe (the 7th inning). I’m sick of trying to describe 7th innings. … I’ll tell you what, Andrew McCutchen plays the game right. That son of a bitch runs down there 3.9, 4 flat, and you better catch it and execute it. He gets a ground ball to third base and beats it out. That’s how you play, and that’s how we’ve got to start playing. … I’m running out of ideas here. You know, do we play hard? Absolutely. That’s not the issue. The issue is not effort. It’s about execution. We need to add on points when we get the lead. I’m not looking for home runs. I’m looking for quality at bats. We can’t make careless mistakes, but we do. We give up at bats. We can’t do that. We don’t have that kind of team. … Make no mistake about it, I truly believe in the players we have. I don’t care where they started the season. I don’t care. I don’t care who were All Stars, who weren’t All Stars, this is a team thing; it’s not one guy, it’s not two guys; it’s a team thing. I sit up here every night trying to figure out what can we do to get us over the top. Should we hit and run more? Well, who do you have up there? You have guys up there you shouldn’t hit and run with. Should we bunt more? Well, if we don’t get bunts down, then you’re putting them in situations to fail. Guys are pitching good, but we get in situations where when guys need to make a pitch they don’t make the pitch. I don’t have the answers. I’m searching. I’m ringing the rag dry, coming in here, having to look at you guys looking at me like I’m a stinking fool. I told these guys, ‘We’re good enough, but we have to play the game right.’ We just can’t continue to make foolish mistakes. … They’re big-league players. They should be able to do it. They should be able to do it. I don’t know if it’s not anticipating the play. I’m not in their minds. But, it’s how you play the game. This is a team thing. And, I’m not just pointing the finger at the players. I told the coaches, ‘We’ve got to do a better job, we’ve got to take responsibility for this.’ I’m the manager. It comes back on my shoulders. … In that 7th inning, those were my players I put out there, who I believe in. So, therefore, maybe I need to make some adjustments. And, by God, they’ll be made. I don’t know it comes with finding different players. But, they’ll be made. Something’s going to be changing.”(online source)

I like Terry Collins. Always have and probably always will. He’s a baseball man who has been around a long long time and knows the score. He also seems to understand that no matter how good this team may be, (at least on paper), they don’t execute when  and where it matters most……and that is on the field.

Please keep it clean!