But it's gotten so bad and there is so little succor to be had at AAA-Buffalo, (what, you expect Fernando Martinez to be healthy?) that the Mets have had to take the extraordinary step of activating their 61 year old manager Terry Collins.
Collins who was a middle infielder during his playing days never did it make it past triple-A and has been retired as a player for about 30 years now.
The Mets' now player-manager describes his thoughts and the decision:
"Listen, this is a tough one. But I just couldn't look my guys in the eye and ask them to fight through the dings they all have and to keep playing hard without my doing my part. I know I'm a bit old for this young man's game and don't deny that I've lost a step or three. But when the options looking down the bench are Willie Harris and Nicky Evans - and don't forget we even had Mike Nickeas up here for a while and I KNOW I can outhit him - I figured we just had to give it a shot."
When asked why they didn't go with one of the younger coaches like Chip Hale or Ken Oberkfell, Collins responded:
"Those guys are great. Don't get me wrong. But neither one of them can even get their fungo shots out to the middle of the outfield. Obie volunteered for the gig but I just figured that as the skipper I just had to give it a go."
Collins then summed things up:
"I don't plan to give myself a whole lot of ABs. Hell, I'm not Pete Rose looking to attain or pad the hits record. I just want to help the team. And while you won't see me running fast, I sure will be running hard."All articles featured on The Apple are fictitious. No Mets were harmed in the writing of this story. Story by Larry Smith. You can follow Larry Smith on twitter @dr4sight
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