RANDOLPH: BRIDGES BURNED AND NO GOING BACK

Willie Randolph: The best Mets manager ever the way I see it. 

There are a lot of ways to talk about burning bridges, but I will talk about it in the light of the Mets firing manager Willie Randolph in 2008, which was probably one of the top 10 mistakes of the franchise (somewhere between trading Tom Seaver and giving Bobby Bonilla a huge contract).

Baseball is America's game, and it has been said that baseball mirrors life, in general. One can find all the components, every color of the spectrum, where it involves the human condition. So, to discuss 'burned bridges,' I can think of no one better than Willie to use as an example.

Willie played baseball for 18 years and was an amazing second baseman and clutch hitter. He was and is a dyed-in-the-wool Yankee and New York sports legend. During his career, Willie batted .276, knotted 2,210 hits, 687 runs batted in, and garnered I cannot remember how many Golden Gloves for impeccable fielding. As a manager, Willie managed 555 games,earning a winning percentage of .554 (nothing to sneeze at).

Well, Mets General Manager Omar Minaya was Willie's boss, not to mention a damn fool at that too. In a terrible scene that surely stung, Manaya unceremoniously fired Willie while the team was on the road -- out of nowhere. This was despite the fact that Willie is one of the winningest managers for the Mets ever (right there with Gil Hodges and Davey Johnson). He brought the team to the 2000 World Series and Mets Baseball had done nothing but flourish under Willie's stewardship.

Minaya humiliated Willie for no good cause, and under Manaya's leadership the Mets, in the ensuing years, became the biggest joke in four states and a laughingstock in their own city. Thanks, Omar, you bite.

If you were to ask Mets fans if they want Randolph back, I'd really doubt you'd have anyone say they didn't want Willie as skipper again. But how? The bridge between a deal and Willie is in rubble. Even if the Wilpons, who are the worst owners in Baseball, could get Willie's attention -- Wille could never trust them or the organization again. The relationship between the Mets and Willie Randolph is as dead as Disco after the Shea Stadium bonfire.

It's like in life. There are times when relationships are blown apart and, despite all the kings horses and all the kings men, no one can put that bridge back together again; not even that bunch from "Bridge over the River Kwai." The emptiness that happens between people because of ridiculous arguments can turn a relationship into a barren wasteland. And, as much as that was unwanted or regrettable, there are times when moving on is just better for all concerned.

Yet, where there is life, there is hope. I will never get done hoping that Willie (who is only 60), will come back. Meanwhile, in our own lives, maybe time can heal wounds enough to start rebuilding that bridge that came down between you and someone else, or even me and someone else. It may take years, but all the good things are worth the effort.

Things change in life: sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. But, things surely change.