In a move sure to spell success for New York sports pundits and nothing better than second place for the team, the New York Mets will announce Terry Collins as their new manager on Tuesday. Collins has an impressive catalog of non-championship seasons and third year firings, here are the highlights:
- 1993-1996 – Managed the Houston Astros to three straight 2nd place finished before being fired after a late-season collapse
- 1997-1999 – Led the Anaheim Angels to back-to-back 2nd place seasons then fired after a player mutiny with 29 games to go in the ’99 season
- 2006-2008 – Resigned in the middle of his second season managing the Orix Buffaloes of Japan, the team would go from 5th to 2nd after his firing
So here we are with managerial go-round number four. It’s long been accepted (foolishly) in major pro sports that hiring someone with experience, even if they were terrible before, is wiser than trying an untested rookie and baseball is the best old-boys network going but this is ridiculous. How many times can a guy finish second and be let go mid-season before someone sees the pattern?
