"Willie, You're Fired!"

So, Willie Randolph got the axe several months later than anticipated. This was after both Omar Minaya and the Wilpon ownership gave their vote of confidence twice since last October on the New York Mets' skipper.

How did they do it? The Wilpons probably called Donald and Ivanka Trump in from Manhattan to do the dirty deed in Flushing, Queens. They probably also called Rick Peterson and Tom Nieto into the boardroom as well. Omar was sitting right next to The Donald. A nod from the General Manager and three successive calls of "you, you're fired!" from the Donald and all three packed their bags out of Gotham. Cut back to the boardroom...

Donald: "Omar, why didn't you do this a few weeks ago?"
Minaya: "We thought we had confidence in him, Mr. Trump."
Donald: (Shrugs) "OK. Ivanka?"
Ivanka: "It was the right thing to do."
Donald: (Quizzical look) "Fair enough..."

Now, the Yankees wouldn't need The Donald to take care of their business. Hank Steinbrenner will have to bring an equally bigger gun to the pull the trigger: The Boss. George is still in the (old) building and can fire a guy without flinching. Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi may have to take note.

Before "The Apprentice," television made light of George Steinbrenner's way of handling human resources issues. Miller Brewing Company had a commercial where the elder Steinbrenner and his former manager, the late Billy Martin were having a Lite beer. In the commercial, The Boss fired Martin. In turn, the infamous manager responded "Oh, not again!"

Back to the Randolph termination, was it the right thing to do? Who became impatient in the front office with the club since they are just two games under .500? No one's offering any explanation at this time except there's a press conference later this afternoon. Was there something in the Mets' offices at Shea Stadium that transpired feeding into the speculations thrown around New York for the past few weeks? We would like to know.

We would also like to know if Jerry Manuel can right the Mets' ship. Or, how long Girardi and Cashman have left to work in The Bronx? Or, will there be any other surprise firings of managers and general managers before the end of the regular season?

We would like to know.