25 D.C. Cabs

“The two clubs are a lot different … over here in New York it seems as if everything is somewhat segregated … guys stick to themselves pretty much and in D.C. it was more unified … it’s different everywhere you go, but I’m trying to get accustomed to it …” -Willie Harris, when asked to compare his old club to his new club before Thursday’s game

Or maybe the team just doesn’t like your cologne.

I don’t know if you can call this “gossip”, but stuff like this is fascinating.  You don’t usually get this kind of information about how a club is when we don’t see them.  Usually if a ballclub takes the 25 men/25 cabs approach, you’ll never hear somebody actually say that … especially after just a couple of months playing with them.  So I like glimpses like this and I think it’s important to note it and keep it in the back of our minds.

But when you combine the fact that you don’t usually hear this kind of candidness with a media group and overblows everything and fans that constantly look up at the sky to make sure it isn’t a little closer today than it was yesterday, nothing ever starts in the back of our minds.  Every tidbit like this is Thriller, it goes straight to the top of the list.  So I’d just like to remind you of certain things before we move along with this:

• Players don’t have to like each other to win.  See the mid-70’s Athletics for proof of that.
• Players don’t have to hate each other to lose.  Jeff Francoeur and Alex Cora were clubhouse leaders.  How did their Mets teams do?
• Willie Harris’ unified Nationals teams finished in last place three straight seasons.

So I highly doubt that Harris had some hidden agenda here.  Rather he was asked a question from Debbi Taylor and decided to answer it honestly.  It almost seemed like in the middle of that soundbite he realized he was revealing too much and reverted to the standard “I’m gonna miss those guys over there.”  There’s no problem with being honest.  The Mets though always seem to treat it as such … go back to the Cliff Floyd “no light at the end of the tunnel” comment from 2004.  Instead of killing the messenger, it would behoove the Mets, especially Terry Collins, to take note of this and see what can be done to improve this situation if it even needs improving.  25 men/25 cabs isn’t going to hurt you as much as a flawed roster will.  And 25 men/25 cabs isn’t going to hurt you when you’re on a six-game winning streak.

The important part is that, if necessary, it’s Collins that has to improve stuff like this.  This can’t be done by the front office.  Last time they tried we had to endure Francoeur and Cora.  And it certainly shouldn’t be done by ownership.  Murdering toolboxes to exorcise demons has always been and should always be done by the people in that room and nobody else.  But first, and most importantly, Collins has to know enough to decide whether this is a problem that even needs fixing, or is it just a result of people having computers on their phones and communicating via text 95% of the time so that when it’s two hours before game time and the rules say you have to put those things away, nobody knows what to actually say (like Harris does, apparently).

So am I worried that Willie Harris said something like this?  Absoultely not.  I’d rather we worry that the so-called “closer” struck out with the tying run on base in the ninth last night.