The second of the managers to be whacked this week — Willie Randolph and John Gibbons being the others — spoke out today, one day after being fired. Not unlike Willie who was critical after his firing, McLaren took a small hammer to his former team. Via Mullet’s perm at FanHouse:
”There is tension, friction and a little jealousy. We (the staff) tried to deal with it, but they got to do it on their own.”
…
”The tension and jealousy has been there, and crystal clear,” he said. ”The only reason I mention that, not to deter any criticism from myself, but to make this team better.”If they can get in that room and work some issues out, they’ll be better off. Sometimes we get caught up in own world.”
”I am not calling anybody out. I’m not bashing them. Its hard to come to the park when you lose for gosh’s sake. But we’ve had a divide, hitters vs. pitchers. On a good team, those things are overlooked. But (not when) you’re losing.”
Well, gotta say something to make yourself look good, right? Thing is, there’s jealousy and tension on good teams. Remember the fight between Youkilis and Manny in the dugout? I’m sure things aren’t much of a difference on the M’s compared to other teams. The only thing different about the Mariners is they’ve scored the fewest runs in the AL. I’m guessing that’s the main problem; winning obscures mostly everything.
