Why Terry Collins’ epic rant was worth it

“They are major league baseball players”, said Collins, his intensity escalating throughout the diatribe. And ranted. He gave an approximate four-minute rant, stated “That’s all I’ve got to say”, and walked out.

Terry Collins is stark raving mad. He starts strong but finishes The second half on fire, channeling Trey Wilson’s Skip and telling his club, through the press, that he’ll ship every last one of ’em out and replace them with someone from Las Vegas if they don’t shape up.

Those blemishes, combined with the Mets’ poor results, have have led to a renewed amount of public disdain for Collins’ managerial efforts. “Starting tomorrow we’re going to get after it”, Collins said to the media. “You come you owe a responsible to the fans, our fan base and the organization, to yourself the respect for this game to grind it out”.

The Mets are 10.5 games behind the Nats in the NL East but three games back in the wild card race, so they’re not completely out of the postseason yet.

“I think all of us are kind of feeling the pressure; there’s all the outside factors that really can weigh you down”. Everybody is too good here.

“And those who get out of it, stay here a long time”. Nobody feels sorry for you.

“There’s got to be a passion to come and play”, Collins said. There’s got to be a sense of: This is what I do for a living. There had been some speculation that Verrett would be sent back to the bullpen after an ugly start his last time out, but he’s getting at least one more chance (and NY doesn’t have a whole lot of options otherwise).

The manager spoke for 3 minutes, 27 seconds, his voice rising with emotion, his hands gesturing, tapping his chest and the table in front of him during a brutal assessment of his players’ desire and professionalism. New York, which has dropped 11 of its last 15 games overall, held a closed-door meeting after the game in which both Collins and some of his players spoke.

But it’s up to Collins to motivate the team right now. The Mets have an 18-43 record when opponents outhit them.

The Mets have scored just 224 runs since June 1, worst in baseball. The Mets and their manager continue to be embarrassed. This team is loaded with professional players that have been through awful seasons, so numerous young players will be relying on them to lead them to where they need to be.