Terry Collins Looks Like the Right Man for the Mets Job

Collins's letter to the fans scratches the right itch.

Terry Collins wasn't the first choice of a lot of people for the Mets managerial job this offseason.

The Wally Backman contingent was loud in their preference for the former second baseman because they thought he'd change the culture around the Mets.

Accountability would be on the upswing after a pair of managers who couldn't or wouldn't get the team to stop playing with their collective heads up their collective rear ends.

Those who didn't want Backman still didn't want Collins, who hadn't managed in a long time and didn't draw too many positive reviews during his runs with the Angels and Astros. He wasn't helped by an interview process that seemed to include everyone up to Jeff Torborg.

But, as Mick Jagger once sang, those who didn't get what they wanted might have gotten just what they needed. We present as evidence the letter that Collins sent to those on the Mets' mailing list on Friday morning.

With our 2011 opener tonight in Florida, I want to make this pledge to Mets fans — our team will play the game the right way.

 We will always hustle on the bases, run balls down in the outfield and never take anything for granted, no matter the score of the game.

We had a great Spring Training. From day one my message has been look ahead, not backward, and not to worry about what the people outside the clubhouse are saying. If we pitch and play defense like I know we can, we will surprise a lot of people, a lot of people.

Before you say it, we know this is a rather transparent bit of PR designed to sell tickets and hope to a fan base that hasn't been buying much of either in recent years. Much of that apathy and/or hostility has been a result of off-field factors reaching into the baseball realm.

Thanks to Bernie Madoff, that hasn't gone away. Collins's letter serves as a way to shift the attention back to the field and, assuming his players make good on the promises, the attention will stay there as long as the team keeps playing hard.

It also helps that he's being totally direct. Jerry Manuel had his moments of inspiration, but he almost always went off on tangents that made it hard to remember what his point was in the first place.

Collins doesn't give off that vibe. His decision making process is going to be a simple one using the criteria he set out in the above letter.

It might not lead to a playoff spot or even a winning record, but it's a nice change nonetheless. And a perfect message to leave fans with before the ball gets rolling.

Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City. You can follow him on Twitter and he is also a contributor to Pro Football Talk.

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