Paging Nelson Doubleday, or "Can't Anybody Own This Here Team?"

This is a post that isn't afraid to point the finger. Sadly, attacking Fred Wilpon isn't as in style as it once was. Since he wrestled the team from Nelson Doubleday in 2002, I think enough time has gone by to evaluate the Wilpon regime. And, since the Mets are in a hole that they won't be digging themselves out of until 2010, we have some time on our hands.


This is the only picture of the former owner of the Mets I can find on the internet, and it gives an idea of how reclusive the guy has become since Wilpon has taken complete, disastrous control over the Mets. After Fred Wilpon and his dreams of Ebbets field finally stole the Mets out from under him with dirty dealings, collusion and legal maneuvers, Doubleday disappeared from the scene.

At least Doubleday was a hands-off owner, leaving the work of building a team to people like Frank Cashen. Sure he might or might not have made some ignorant remarks, but "only when he was drinking." The Wilpons, by contrast, have their hands in everything. And they know nothing about baseball or hiring personnel who know anything about the game and are good at their jobs. Art, Willie, Jerry. Case rested.



They have to go. But they won't.

Under their ownership, Wilpon and his lil' squirt (who is slated someday to take complete control) have given us many memories that we could discuss, like:

How they gave Tom Glavine, a four-year, $38.5 million deal.


Let the Br*ves celebrate their players.

The bone-headed trades of top prospects such as Scott K*zmir and Lastings Milledge for literally nothing.

The firing of Bobby Valentine, not Steve Phillips, who continues to know nothing about baseball.

Countless head-scratching long term deals given to aged, broken down veterans.


Julio Franco's steel-reinforced cake.

They let Willie Randolph manage the team, perhaps because they didn't want to spend money on a real, experienced manager, then they ruthlessly fired him at 2 AM somewhere on the West coast, embarrassing everyone.

The building of a new stadium (Jeffy's Job) with obstructed views...for the television network, a fawning celebration of the Dodgers that leaves Mets fans irate, a home run apple that doesn't go up when it gets the rare opportunity, walls painted black(?) and built to a height meant to stifle the production/career of the Mets only remaining homegrown star, and a bullpen that looks like a concentration camp, all named after a leader in bringing the great depression back to the US, who borrowed money from the taxpayers so that they could continue to reap outrageous profits at our expense. The ultimate symbol of the Wilpon's tenure?


"I made this!"

Also, this:



Or we could let some more pictures tell the tale:










Next year's crop of stiffs for the rotation?

The people Wilpon hires to manage the Mets only talk about plans when they first are hired. There is no plan...for baseball or an organization that is devoted to baseball. Now, for a price gouging sports entertainment complex, there certainly was a plan (not a very good one, but a plan nonetheless): build a second-rate stadium on the public teat and watch their investment grow. The conclusion I have reached is that they, the Wilpons, are the problem. Having done the real estate deal they always dreamed of, and driven the team that occupies the real estate into the ground, the Wilpons need to do the right thing and step away. In seven years they have given us one decent season, one that ended when Carlos Beltran forgot to swing. I think it is fair to say they have failed miserably as owners.