Name That Coach

[Guest Edgy DC]

Who gets Acta's job?

Also, before he goes, won't somebody (not everybody) post a legit and specific memory of Manny Acta at the UMDB.

[metirish]

Hojo gets it.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Interesting choice, getting promoted to the big club after getting a suspension last season for an unauthorized absence.

[metirish]

Oh yeah, I forgot about that..

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

Could also be Teufel. (Is he still with the organization?)

At least Acta isn't shut out on the UMDB anymore, but the two memories that have popped up don't have much meat to them.

[metirish]

I'm seeing Ken Oberkfell getting mentioned in the media,Luis Sojo too.....I'd not like that choice.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Recall that Acta --- like Matt Galante before him --- was also infield coach, so that leaves two empty roles to fill, suggesting an infield instructor might be hired.

Although Alomar could take over the infield duties, as being merely first base coach isn't much of a role.

[metirish]

Oberkfell appaerently could fill both duties.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Good choice. Are you changing your vote?

I was thinking maybe Juan Samuel, but he's been hired to be third-base coach for the Oriioles.

[metirish]

I'll stick with Hojo.

[Centerfield]

HoJo's Guide to Playing the IF:

"Hit 30 HR's so no one cares about your errors."

[Guest Iubitul]

Lee Mazzilli.

[seawolf17]

I'd be available and willing if they're interested. I should send my resume over. I make a great 3b coach for my sister's ambulance corps softball team.

[Guest OlerudOwned]

Since I'd rather name drop than make an educated guess, I'll say Wally Backman.

[metirish]

It would be cool for Backman to get in the game with the Mets.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Cary Carter, who had interviewed for a big-league batting instructor job recently, has supposedly been offered the B-Mets job, but is hedging on accepting it, "I think (the pay) would actually be less if I went there because of the tax implications," Carter told the paper. "And, really, to be honest with you, I just don't know if my body can hold up to those bus rides -- nine, 10 hours."

Carter has also told Scripps-Howard that he's a candidate for the Mets third base coaching box. The Mets already have a staff catching instructor they appear happy with, so if they hire him, he would be exclusively a third base coach, with Manny Acta's infield instructor tag likely falling to Sandy Alomar.

I guess, if Carter's so bus-sensitive, they can also give Oberkfell the Mets third base job (and infield instructor job) and send Carter to New Orleans, where the Zephyrs ride airplanes instead of busses.

[Guest Edgy DC]

A really crappy column featuring Carter trying and failing to resist the urge to self-promote:

Ray McNulty: Carter, Mets a perfect match: So why hasn't it happened?

He has been a roving instructor, working with catchers throughout the organization for four years.

He has been a minor league manager, bringing a Florida State League championship back to Port St. Lucie last summer.

He is one of only two players enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame after spending a productive portion of their careers with the New York Mets.

So why would the Mets NOT want to hire Gary Carter to be their third-base coach?

Why would they not want him back in uniform, back at Shea, back where he belongs?

Is it because he's too big a name, too popular with the fans, too good with the media?

Is it because his presence would remind everyone how long it's been since the Mets won a World Series?

Or is it because he was a member of the best Mets teams ever, when New York was a National League town, at a time when Randolph's Yankees were American League also-rans?

"You'd think from a PR standpoint . . .," Carter was saying Monday in Hobe Sound, where he played in the Celebrities Fore Kids Golf Classic, a fundraiser that provides financial assistance to Treasure Coast children with cancer.

He didn't finish the thought.

And, really, he didn't need to.

From a public-relations standpoint, Carter, who interviewed for the job last week, would be a tremendous hire. The fans love him. He has always been a friend of the media, even in New York, where the tabloids can be brutal. He provides a nostalgic link to 1986, when the Mets were at the top of the baseball world.

Imagine seeing Carter, wearing his No. 8 uniform, standing in the third-base coach's box on a sun-splashed Opening Day.

"It'd be wonderful," Carter said, his eyes sparkling as he pictured that moment in his mind. "I hope it happens."

So do I.

And, I'm guessing, so do most Mets fans.

But will it?

I have my doubts.

After all, no one on Randolph's coaching staff has any ties to the Mets of yesteryear.

Oh, the modern-day Mets occasionally will resurrect a few ghosts for promotional appearances, just to draw more people to the ballpark. They'll parade out Mookie and Darling � and even Darryl � to throw out a ceremonial first pitch. They'll make sure the Miracle Mets of 1969 are never forgotten.

But they don't want them hanging around.

At least not on an every-day basis.

These are the new Mets.

Los Mets.

The Mets of Minaya.

And there might not be a place in the present for the past.

There might not be a job for Carter � not at the major-league level.

"I told them I could do everything," said Carter, who played for the Mets from 1985-89 and now lives in Palm Beach Gardens. "I could coach third. If they want to move Sandy Alomar Sr. over to third and put me at first, I would be happy to do that. I think I'm ready to make that transition (from minor-league manager to major-league coach)."

The Mets have offered Carter the manager's job in Binghamton, N.Y., home of the team's Double-A affiliate. But he's not excited about the long bus trips, which can run up to 10 hours, between Eastern League cities.

Besides, Carter doesn't see any need for another year in the minors.

"I've proved myself at both levels (rookie league and Single A), and I don't think there's anything else to prove," Carter said. "If I go to Double A, what's the difference there? Because I'll learn the double-switch? I already know how to do that. And you're talking about a league that I played in, back in 1973 � which is a very difficult league, travel-wise.

"If it was Triple A and the travel was by plane, it would be a different story."

In fact, Carter talked to the Los Angeles Dodgers about managing their Triple-A team in Las Vegas. But they weren't interested.

"I put my feelers out there," he said. "I submitted my name to all the managerial positions that were open. Obviously, there wasn't anything there."

Which might've been blessing in disguise.

As much as Carter wants to stay in baseball � "I'd hate to leave the game at this point, especially being around for the last six years like I have been" � he said he hopes to stay in the Mets family.

"I even offered to come back to Port St. Lucie," he said.

But he believes he's ready to get back to the major leagues.

He believes he's ready to be the Mets' third-base coach.

"I think the timing is right," Carter said, "now that there is an opening."

Not only is there an opening, but it's an opening that could help him someday get the major-league managing job he has been working toward.

And, perhaps, that's why you might not see him at Shea next season.

The Mets were the best team in the National League last season, before losing both Pedro Martinez and Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez for the playoffs, before losing to the world-champion St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS.

So the expectations are high for 2007.

Anything less than the World Series will be a disappointment.

But what if the season goes the wrong way? What if the Mets stumble out of the gate? What if they're out of the championship chase in July?

If you were Randolph, would you want someone as popular and polished as Carter on your staff, knowing that he wants to be a manager and that at least some in the New York media wouldn't hesitate to push him for your job?

I have my doubts.

ray.mcnulty@scripps.com

[Guest patona314]

metirish wrote: Oberkfell appaerently could fill both duties.

Oberkfell has also worked at the big league level w/the mets before

[Guest patona314]

patona314 wrote: ="metirish"]Oberkfell appaerently could fill both duties. Oberkfell has also worked at the big league level w/the mets before

my mistake. i was confusing oberkfell with bruce benedict.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Shut up, McNulty. Nothing worse than these columns advocating one retired Major Leaguer over another for a job either can do and both want.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I love the notion that Randolph wouldn't want him on the staff because Carter being popular and well-known and wants to be a manager makes him a threat to Randolph. But the only argument he can come up with for Carter joining the staff is that he's popular and well-known and wants to be a manager.

More loveable is that Carter, asked a question that is leading him towards self-pomotion, catches himself and stops, takes another tack, and then ends up self-promoting anyway.

The girl can't help it. She just can't help it.

Obviously Gary Carter makes for better copy than Johnny Organizationguy.

[metirish]

McNulty taking a dig at Oamr with his Los Mets.....sorry Gary,can't hire you cos your white....

[Guest Iubitul]

According to Adam Rubin, Luis Sojo has been told that he is not under consideration for the job.

[metirish]

Good....say no to Louie Sojo

[Guest cleonjones11]

How about Pedro...he'sdone pitching let him earn his money

otherwise

Grant Roberts

[metirish]

From Newsday...

] The Mets are considering Rickey Henderson and Gerald Williams as first-base coaches, replacing Manny Acta. Sandy Alomar will move to third base.

Daily News

] HELLO HOJO: Howard Johnson is the heavy favorite to be named to the Mets' coaching staff, succeeding Manny Acta, who was named Nationals manager. Randolph indicated he was close to a hire, and that Sandy Alomar Sr. would shift from first base to third base.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Rickey Henderson as a full-time first base/baserunning coach would be awesome, if he could stay motivated. It would be pretty nice if he could merely be a half-assed coach.

I think the Mets under Willie have shown themselves to have a prettty motivated staff.

[metirish]

I like Henderson as a choice...still I'm sticking with Hojo...

[metirish]

] EXTENDING PETERSON: Pitching coach Rick Peterson, who never doubted he'd return to the Mets, has a new multi-year contract with the club, according to a team insider.

I like that...

[DocTee]

I guess that means we're stuck with black hats for a while.