SubscribeHoward Megdal wants YOU!
Howard Megdal, author of The Baseball Talmud, wants your vote.
The office?
General Manager of the New York Mets.
I know, this isn’t usually an elected position, but hear Megdal out.
“Over the next ten days, I will answer any and all questions about my candidacy for General Manager of the New York Mets, my vision for our favorite team going forward, and why you should help to elect me to this critical position.
“I urge you to come participate in the discussion, moderated by the great Dan Szymborski, Editor-in-Chief of Baseball Think Factory and baseball contributor to ESPN Insider. After all, since I will be the elected representative of the fans, I feel it is vital that I know, in specific, what your hopes and dreams are for the Blue and Orange.”
Megdal announced his “candidacy” at a press conference at The Marriott Marquis on Monday. A few members of the press noted that since the Mets have actually been doing well of late, the timing might not be so opportune.
“[M]y vision for the New York Mets goes well beyond the past nine games or the next nine games. It is about a consistent future for the team my daughter will grow up watching,” Megdal wrote on his new website, MegdalforGM.com, where you can see a video of the press conference as well as read his very earnest speech. All that’s missing is the part about being born in a log cabin. Oh wait, there it is (kidding).
A few excerpts:
My administration will be one of transparency as well. I will not be perfect; mistakes are a part of a game as complicated as baseball. It is why we love it. But I will not hesitate to acknowledge those mistakes, as Franklin Roosevelt put it, admit them frankly and try another.
* * *
Under my watch, the Mets may not be champions every year. Baseball is, after all, a game designed to break your heart. My only guarantee to you is that when I am GM, should you bring your kiddies, and bring your wife, you are guaranteed to have the time of your life. That’s my pledge to you. And when luck smiles down upon our well-constructed teams—and it does more often upon the well-thought-out teams—Octobers will be regular occurrences at Citi Field.
For as Branch Rickey said, “Luck is the residue of design.” And no move I make as General Manager will happen without that grand design in place, without you, the fan, aware of how it fits, and without my complete emotional investment in making the choices I do.
To paraphrase John F. Kennedy, “Ich bin ein Mets fan.” For those who don’t speak German, that phrase literally translates as, “I am a Shake Shack Burger.” But let us not lose sight of the larger point. I am you. In the coming months, you, the fans, have a chance to put me in a position to voice our preferences and discontents not just by cheering and booing, but in every decision, large and small, of the baseball team we all love so much.
I agree that the timing is probably not the best. Read a snippet in the paper this morning that the Mets are actually a MLB Best 16-5 since late May.
Of course, knowing the Mets, the latest surge will be short-lived, so Megdal may have a better entry point sometime during the summer.
The improved play by the Mets has also probably cost Bob Melvin, supposedly Jewish on his Mom’s side (albeit based on wikipedia) a shot at Jerry Manuel’s job, at least for now. I think barring a playoff appearance the Mets may also seek a reunion with Bobby Valentine in the offseason, or perhaps make overtures to Joe Torre for a 30-year reunion, but that’s just a hunch.
Impressed by Ike Davis’s power numbers by the way.
Interestingly, I found Melvin included in The Big Jewish Book of Baseball (Horvitz and Horvitz), but not Jews and Baseball, Vol. 2 by Boxerman and Boxerman, the Jewish Major Leaguer card set, or The Baseball Talmud by Megdal.
Yep, Melvin’s a mystery, Ron. I asked the guys at Jewish Sports Review once, and the closest they had on anything definitive was that they do believe he is Jewish on his Mom’s side, but from what they heard Melvin doesn’t wish to identify with his Judaism (hopefully that’s not really the case).