Thank You Terry Collins - A Poem
You came in on November 23, 2010
A legitimate shocker
Many people wanted Wally Backman
But I loved that you got a chance
I always remembered the nasty cut under your nose
During that fight between the Astros and Montreal in ‘96
When Moises Alou threw the helmet
And accidentally hit you
As well as an emotional breakdown when you resigned
From Anaheim in 1999
You never thought you’d be a Major League manager again
But you did
You truly worked your way back into a managerial spot
In the minor leagues
Japan
The China National Team in the WBC in 2009
There was the one intangible
That you had
Which put you over the top
Unbridled passion
As Mets manager
It wasn’t easy to start
Your first ejection was on April 21, 2011
After the umpire refused to look down the line
And for the first time in a Blue and Orange brimmed uniform
You got the old heave ho
But I truly appreciated you
For two main reasons
First, after your press conference on June 1
When you blew up on your frustrations with losing
Defending Chris Capuano’s pitching performance
And not happy with the lack of execution of plays
At the plate and in the field
And the second
Was at the end of the season
When you defended Jose Reyes
For the bunt single in the first and taking him out
To win the NL Batting Title
And got incredibly emotional
Defending your players
From that point on
I realized I was a huge fan of your managing style
Due to one thing
Unbridled passion
Your roster in 2011-2013 was unwatchable
As a die hard Mets fan
It was, at times, terrible to watch
Yet somehow
You got 70+ wins out of those guys
Unbelievable to do
Many consider you to be a true
Player’s manager
And I get that vibe
You made the most out of Eric Young Jr
RA Dickey
Marlon Byrd
And so on and so forth
Even the way you tried to mature Jordany Valdespin
In spite of his “I’m the man right now” spiel
And his downright arrogance
Came off professional
During this time period
I genuinely believe that you have the spirit of
A baseball junkie
You eat, sleep, breathe and live baseball
And although
Success wasn’t given overnight
You brought an absolute fire
And determination to succeed
In that clubhouse
Due to your
Unbridled passion
When 2015 rolled around
The vibe in Flushing was different
You nurtured the young arms
Harvey, Syndergaard, Matz, and DeGrom
You kept the team going
Through the Captain’s medical issues
You brought fire to a clubhouse
When the bats weren’t there
And in spite of it all
Mejia’s multiple suspensions
The bats not hitting for average
Wheeler’s Tommy John
The trade that wasn’t made
The Dark Knight drama
This team won the National League East
Watching you in the dugout
In the ninth inning
With tears in your eyes
Making your first playoff appearance
Was absolutely inspiring
That hard work does pay off
And through the NLDS
Beat LA
And through the NLCS
Whooping the Cubs
Becoming NL champions
And the crushing defeat at the hands of Kansas City
By the way
I would have kept Harvey in on Game 5 too
You seemed like you were having the time of your life
Thanks to your
Unbridled passion
2016 was almost the end
But somehow
Figuratively using
Paper clips and bubble gum
You kept the team motivated
And after that Arizona game in August
With that driven press conference
To bring that effort out
You did your part
And the players did theirs
To make it to the National League Wild Card game
And 2017
Has had to have been one of the most frustrating times
With injuries
The Dark Knight drama
And every other incident imaginable
The Mets jinx
Somehow you will get the blame
But it is not your fault
What more can you do?
I feel for you
At 68, you kept hope alive
And helped motivate the talent
To bring Flushing, Queens back to baseball prominence
535-559 as of August 21, 2017
As Mets manager
Back-to-back playoff appearances
The most games managed as a Met skipper
And respect from all Met players
And the fan base
You aren’t perfect
But we all love you for your
Unbridled passion
If this is it
I, among one of many Mets fans
Just wanted to say
Thank You Terry Collins.
Jon Harder
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