Oh, Oberkfel, Don't Go...

I just saw this posted in today's NY Daily News, by the great Adam Rubin...

"Ken Oberkfell, named minor-league manager of the year by Baseball America last year after guiding Triple-A Norfolk to a division title, is scheduled to interview with the Nationals for a major-league coaching position today."

What does Oberkfell have to do to get some respect in the Mets organization?! He is a great AAA Manager, his players admittedly love playing for him, he's a developer of talent, has an excellent pedigree as a player and was managed by one of the all-time greats (Whitey Herzog). Is it that he's part of the "old school" Mets? For my money, I would rather see Oberkfell as bench coach of the Mets, as we'd have Willie's potential replacement in place in case Randolph's learning curve doesn't even out this year.

Oberkfell reminds me of a guy like Jim Tracy or Ron Gardenhire- great baseball mind, players like playing for him, and until someone steps out on a limb and hires him, he'll remain unnoticed for some reason or another. I remember hating Oberkfell as a player because he was part of those Redbird teams that were one of our chief rivals back in the early-mid 80's. I always wanted him on our team, though, because he also seemed to be a winner as well as a versatile player. Since that was never realized, I'd love nothing more than for Omar to right this potential wrong and bring Oberkfell to the majors with Los Mets!!!

Jonathan and I have discussed this for 2 years now, as I'm sure many fans have- it's up to Omar to change the course of this particular ship and keep Oberkfell in the family- so WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR???!!!! KEEP KEN WITH THE METS!!!! Don't let Jimmy B steal him from us!!!!