Name That Coach

[Guest Edgy DC]

[Guest attgig]

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

McNulty and Omar? What, are we going to have Moreland, Daniels, and Barksdale in here too? :-P

[Frayed Knot]

And the winner of the coaching sweepstakes is ....









HoJo !!

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Uni Controversy alert! Shawn Green occupies 20! Trade him now!!!!

[Guest Edgy DC]

Wow. metirish won this contest in a cool 60 seconds. Probably less.

[metirish]

] Johnson joins Mets' coaching staff Big-league veteran to serve as first-base and outfield coach By Bryan Hoch / Special to MLB.com LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Howard Johnson has joined the Mets' coaching staff, filling a hole left by the departure of Manny Acta to the Nationals. Johnson will serve as the Mets' first-base and outfield coach, while also instructing baserunning, manager Willie Randolph said Wednesday. Sandy Alomar will shift to become the new third-base coach, replacing Acta. "It's a weight off my shoulders," Johnson said. "The Minor Leagues are what they are; it's a way for players to work their way up, and the same can be said for coaches." Johnson, a 14-year Major League veteran and two-time National League All-Star, had spent the last six years as a coach in the Mets organization. He had worked as a Triple-A hitting coach for the past two seasons with the Norfolk Tides. Randolph had conducted numerous recent interviews with candidates to fill the vacancy, including Triple-A manager Ken Oberkfell, Class A manager Gary Carter and former Yankees teammate Bobby Meacham. In the end, however, it was Johnson's versatility that won Randolph over. "I was basically looking for an outfield guy," Randolph said, "but I preferred a guy who could teach baserunning. He was the right guy for the spot." The first infielder to steal 30 bases and hit 30 home runs in the same season, Johnson's baserunning skills were developed despite lacking overwhelming speed. After going on to play the outfield as a Met, Johnson said he felt a "backward advantage" by having to learn the new positions. "I had to learn how to play all three positions at Shea Stadium," Johnson said. "They're all unique. Based on that experience and really having to start from scratch, and get a feel for it and put it into practice in games, that will really help me. I can relate to guys." Complete coverage > Johnson said he was grateful for the opportunity to reunite with some of his former pupils from the Minors, including third baseman David Wright, who looks to Johnson as a sort of father figure. Johnson said that Wright received the third telephone call he made to relay the news, only behind his wife and parents. Johnson also said that, for the foreseeable future, he is quite content with coaching and holds no managerial aspirations. "I don't have [an] agenda to manage," Johnson said. "My agenda is to win and help Willie be the best manager he can be to help the organization win. Whatever happens down the road, who knows, but my goal is to help the Mets win in '07."

[Guest Edgy DC]

Carter takes ball, goes home.

HoJo in, but Carter walks

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - On the day '86 Met Howard Johnson officially became the Mets' first-base coach, the agent for another member of Flushing's last World Series champion confirmed his client had left the organization.

Gary Carter, who skippered high-A St. Lucie to the Florida State League title last season, had been offered the managerial position at Double-A Binghamton. Carter, not wanting to partake in the Eastern League's long bus rides, informed Mets officials he preferred to remain with St. Lucie. Told that position was going to Frank Cacciatore, Carter bolted. He already has contacted the Rockies about their Triple-A hitting coach position.

HoJo will be responsible for outfield and base-running instruction with the Mets.

Willie Randolph indicated he also considered Ken Oberkfell and Bobby Meacham for the job. Oberkfell is expected to manage Triple-A New Orleans, while Meacham became the Padres' first-base coach. Sandy Alomar Sr. will shift from first to coaching third.

"I went from the infield to the outfield, so basically I had to learn how to play it," HoJo said. "I played all three (outfield positions) at Shea Stadium. They're all unique."

Adam Rubin

[Guest Edgy DC]

Carter denies bolting; is also whining.

Gary Carter currently has no job offer from Mets organization

Frank Cacciatore will guide the defending FSL champions

By ERIC PFAHLER

eric.pfahler@scripps.com

December 14, 2006

PORT ST. LUCIE � After spending six seasons in the New York Mets organization as a manager and roving instructor, Hall of Famer Gary Carter likely won't be back with the franchise next season.

"I'm out because of declining to go to (Double-A) Binghamton and nothing else has been offered," Carter said Wednesday, the same day the St. Lucie Mets announced that Frank Cacciatore will manage the team this season.

Carter said he offered to take different roles in the organization. He had applied to become a member of the New York Mets' big-league coaching staff, a job that went to his friend and former teammate Howard Johnson.

"I even offered to come back to Port St. Lucie, and they told me that was not an option," Carter said.

In 2006, Carter led the St. Lucie Mets to the Florida State League championship, the team's first since 2003. A year before that, Carter led the Gulf Coast League Mets to a 37-16 record and a trip to the league finals. This offseason, the Mets offered him a job managing at Double-A Binghamton.

"Mr. Carter was offered the Binghamton job, which is a very good job in the organization, and he chose not to accept it," New York Mets vice president of development Tony Bernazard said, noting that when Carter offered to come back to St. Lucie, the Mets already had offered the Single-A job to Cacciatore. "There's a plan for the organization, not for one person."

Carter has said he did not want the Double-A job primarily because he didn't know how his body would hold up to the long bus rides.

"Obviously, I'm disappointed," said Carter, who also played five seasons with the Mets and was a member of the 1986 World Series championship team. "I would like to stay in the game. I feel like I still have a lot to offer.

"They never gave me reasons. I would think they would be a little more accommodating."

Though the Mets have not filled all of the coaching positions within the organization, the team has not offered another spot to Carter, who said he would consider alternatives.

"I would be interested to the extent that I would still stay in the game," Carter said.

As to reports that Carter already has left the organization, that is more based on the lack of another offer than Carter turning away, he said.

"That's the assumption you can make because the Mets have not had another offer," he said. "I'm kind of, like I said, out of the loop."

Broadcasting is a possibility for Carter, who served as a broadcaster for seven years after he retired from baseball in 1992.

"If the offer was the right thing," Carter said. "I don't know if I necessarily want to go that far from home."

Carter also could end up in a different organization, though nothing has materialized.

"Some teams wait to put all their staffs together," Carter said. "Anything can happen from now until then."

But if nothing opens up, Carter could be out of professional baseball next season.

"It's going to be the first time in seven years that I'm not going to be at big-league spring training camp," he said.