Down Must Go Down

Oliver Perez did not pitch well on Wednesday night, but he did not deserve to lose.

In the postgame comments, Willie Randolph alluded to Ollie’s struggles with his command, and suggested that the team was looking for a well-pitched ballgame, ” … maybe win 1-0, 2-1 … ”

Huh?

Willie, you must be joking. The supposedly most dangerous lineup in the National League goes up against a kid with a seven-plus ERA, who is one start away from AAA, and you were looking for a 2-1 victory?

Puh-leeze.

If you have to “find a way” to beat Scott Baker, it’s time to either make wholesale changes with the lineup (not going to happen), or FIRE RICK DOWN.

This is getting ridiculous already. Maybe it’s not really Down’s fault (actually, it is), but someone’s head must roll. You can’t trade Carlos Delgado, you can’t fire Carlos Beltran, and you can’t demote David Wright (though, you CAN demote Ricky Ledee). That said, Down must be the fall guy. It’s not like he’s providing anything of value anyway.

You want to keep the mealy-mouthed wacko in the organization? Fine, make him your roving minor-league batting instructor. But get him out of the Major League dugout.

A change of some kind is necessary to shake things up — this lack of offense is not going to fix itself. Sometimes, you need a catalyst for change. Removing Down is the logical move.