Hop Onboard The Manuel Express!!

Following Omar Minaya's press conference (more on that shortly), Jerry Manuel, the new Mets manager, took the podium, and the only thing that I can say is - "Jerry, where have you been all of my life???!!!"

Some of the highlights of Jerry's press conference:

~David Wright will be DHing tonite, in spite of Wright's asking to play, as Manuel said that his players, like Reyes and Wright, need to get some rest. Amen!

~The bullpen needs more defined roles, for the likes of Sanchez, Heilman, etc. Man- have you ever heard anyone yell about that topic before? Yes? You mean like every Mets blog from here to Hoboken??!!

~Speaking of pitching, Manuel prefers that his starters go 7 to 8 innings (well- don't we ALL???) and throw around 120 pitches per outing, but realizes that he first has to discuss this with them, and that means that Warthen has to be able to help this to fruition.

~Manuel showed his humor when someone during the press conference seemed to be talking over both the reporters and himself, he stopped things and asked him to quiet down and was quite funny in doing so. Wow- lots of personality, too!!

~Ken Oberkfell will be the Mets first base coach, Luis Aguyo will be the third base coach, Dan Warthen is, of course, the pitching coach, and Sandy Alomar takes over for Manuel as the bench coach. This is a far better arrangement then what was originally reported, as Alomar's tenure at third wasn't exactly memorable...in fact, we should never see the moves that a third base coach makes as hurting the team, because they should be wise decisions (especially from that key position). With Alomar, that wasn't the case, and his baseball wisdom will, hopefully, be of value to Manuel.

~Rather than trying to distance himself from last year's collapse, the way Willie did, Manuel said he'd have kept reminding the players about it to utilize it as greater motivation to succeed this season.

All in all, Manuel came off as an intelligent, thoughtful and funny person with a gameplan in mind and the ability to put it into practice. It remains to be seen how successful his tenure will be, but he did once win the Manager of the Year Award when running the White Sox, and he's a baseball lifer who has made an excellent first impression. Now if we can go out there tonight and have Santana beat Lackey, well, the fans will REALLY like Manuel tonight!!!

Regarding Omar, I am still digesting the press conference, and therefore prefer to comment more about it tomorrow, after I've gathered my thoughts together. In the meantime, as always,

LET'S GO METS!!!!!