November 23, 2006

Culture of Winninge: The criticism of Omar Minaya's moves last year stemmed from the belief that he was signing players based on their ethnicity, but after the Mets brilliant 2006 season, most will be hard pressed to not give the Hispanic GM the benefit of the doubt.

Last off-season, New York's sports talk radio shows were flooded with callers who were down right furious over Omar Minaya's image of what the 2006 Mets should be. Fans, idiotically, insisted that Minaya was intentionally and exclusively signing Latino ballplayers and was practicing racial bias in his baseball decisions; overlooking talent, and concentrating on skin tone. The people complaining on these shows made comments that bordered on ignorance and flat-out prejudice. Dubbed the "Los Mets" by the media, they were suppose to be Latin America's finest, more than they were New York's loveable losers. But after a brilliant 162 game season, and a playoff run that left the Mets one Carlos Beltran single shy of the World Series, something tells me you won't hear those same callers this winter. The Mets, black, white or latino, matter now and for the first time since Mike Piazza flied out to Bernie Williams to end the 2000 World Series. Minaya in just two years has transformed the Metropolitans from the laughing stock of the Majors to the premier team in the National League. No longer are the Mets attempting to overwhelm, over-priced, over-hyped free agents with their deep pockets, but instead now selling players on the idea of being part a winning atmosphere. The type that was established long ago in the Bronx. The recent signing of Moises Alou to a one-year $8.5 million contract, last year, would have drawn strong criticism from Minaya's harshest critics. They would have said Alou was too old, too injury prone, and too expensive, but what they would have really meant was that he was too hispanic. The Mets are the most diverse team, in America's most diverse city and what's so wrong with that. It's the way it should be. A long time ago, in Brooklyn, people fell in love with the Dodgers for the same reason. There was an intamacy and a depth to the relationship between the community and the team, because the players were so easily relatiable to the fans. They were black and irish, jews and italian, they were the same type of "bums" that sat in the bleachers. Minaya has clearly made his mark and maybe he has gone out of his way to bring in latino players, to appeal to the ever-growing latin demographic in New York, but it has worked and he deserves praise. Minaya is without a doubt, executive of the year. He has converted a franchise from pretender to contender, ressurected a team from oblivion and put them on the brink of their first World Championship in over 20 years. Say anything you want about Minaya the man, his team, or his heritage, the bottom line is that he wins and any culture can appreciate that.

posted by chrisbracey to commentary at 09:51 PM - 0 comments