At Last, The Mets Hire A Winner

Baseball is a game about enthusiasm and believing the team can win. It's a game about attitudes. Often, I've said that what the Mets need most is a new team psychiatrist. So I was delighted to see that, at last, the Mets have hired someone who understands baseball and who will spark this team. Someone who will prevent the now usual end of season implosion. And it's not a new psychiatrist. That person is the incredible Razor Shines.

The New York Times reports:

Razor Shines keeps 10 of his championship rings at his home in Austin, Tex. He wears the 11th, from the 2005 World Series champion Chicago White Sox, around the Mets’ complex. He will receive No. 12 in a few months.

He won that last year, as a manager in Philadelphia’s farm system, but no one here will ever see it. He knows that red clashes with orange and blue... snip . "Instead, I’ll wear the Mets ring in here next year.”

Heading into his first season as the Mets’ third-base coach, Shines followed up that prediction with a hearty laugh that has become the soundtrack to their spring training. Whether he is hitting fungoes, throwing batting practice or positioning the outfielders, Shines is injecting enthusiasm and instilling confidence with a vocal, demonstrative style that complements the more measured approach of Manager Jerry Manuel, his friend of nearly 30 years.

Watching Shines interact is like a seeing a game of verbal pepper. Don’t let me down now, David. That’s what I’m talking about, Carlos. Good Lord have mercy, José. He is continually talking, constantly moving. He jogs from station to station, bumping fists and slapping fives. Security guards get them, too.

That's right. Please, Carlos, David, Jose, Luis, Fernando, please don't let me down.