Only The Mets . . .

As in, only the Mets could make people angry for firing a manager who not only led the team to the worst collapse in Major League history but followed that up with trailing the Phillies in the standings by six-and-a-half games in only June. That’s basically the definition of “bumbler”:

Cowardly. Embarrassing. Disrespectful.

These are just some of the words used Tuesday by Mets fans and analysts to describe general manager Omar Minaya’s bizarre firing — at 3:14 a.m. New York time — of manager Willie Randolph and two coaches at a Los Angeles hotel.

“We could not go on as a team as it was this weekend, it was not fair to the players,” Minaya said at a hastily arranged news conference Tuesday in Los Angeles, where Minaya had fired the trio after the Mets beat the Angels.

“I had to tell him as soon as I felt the decision was made,” Minaya said of the timing.

While many agreed the Mets needed a new manager, the manner in which Minaya fired Randolph and replaced him on an interim basis with bench coach Jerry Manuel has been universally panned.

“The team handled it terribly,” said Joe Pietaro, editor in chief of New York Sports Scene Magazine. “The way they did it was to have the least amount of New York media on top of it as it happened. To bring him out to L.A., to do it after the game at the time was inappropriate.”

Besides Randolph, Minaya also fired pitching coach Rick Peterson and base coach Tom Niento. All were announced in a news release that went out in the middle of the night.

“I don’t know what they were thinking,” Joe Hamrahi, managing editor of baseballdigestdaily.com., said of the firing’s timing. “These guys are not amateurs; they have a full media-relations team that should have advised them that this would have made them look bad. I think it was a terrible mistake and Minaya is going to live to regret it.”

. . .

“I thought it was dirty,” said Jeff Mitchell, 40, of the Bronx. “They did it in the middle of the night and on the West Coast. Why let him fly out there? It makes it looks like there’s bad blood. They should’ve shown more class.”

“Terrible,” sad Robert Wilson, 46, of Murray Hill. “They could’ve handled it more professionally and more gracefully.”

Despite their historic collapse last season, the Mets were favored to win the NL pennant this year. However, the team’s $138 million payroll along with the addition of pitcher Johan Santana hasn’t helped the team rise above mediocrity. Going into last night, the Mets were 34-35, six-and-half games behind the rival Phillies.

See also: “Damn Mets!” (Observer, June 17, 2008) — the URL for which features the snappier “No Balls,” which might be a better headline.

Make Promises You Can’t Keep . . .

. . . you can always rescind them later:

The cash-strapped [MTA] will not launch a $60 million service improvement package because it doesn’t have the money, the Daily News has learned.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority last year unveiled plans that included more frequent bus, subway and commuter trains to soften the blow of fare hikes. The program was to be launched in phases starting this summer — if the authority could afford it.

It can’t, sources said.

“A final decision won’t be made on the enhancements until we report June revenue numbers next week, but revenues would have to turn around significantly as we are already $80 million behind in real estate taxes alone,” MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin said.

This Is Just Not The Yankees’ Decade

No wonder they haven’t won since 2000:

MLB is introducing a limited-edition version of the popular Crocs plastic shoe emblazoned with the New York Yankees logo.

It’s a tribute to the closing this season of the House that Ruth Built, which has played host to more World Series games than any other stadium.

The “final season” footwear is being offered only at Modell’s stores and went on sale yesterday, at $34.99 for adults and $29.99 for kids.

Each navy-blue Croc has a silver Yankee signature logo and a strap featuring the official club lettering and a Yankee Stadium patch.

“If you can’t take a piece of the stadium, why not grab a pair of collectible Crocs shoes,” company spokeswoman Stephanie Koon said.

Who do I look like, Mario freakin’ Batali?

Had You Just Shared The Wealth, You Could Have Easily Avoided All This

When you deny the public sweet locavore hooch, be prepared to risk the consequences:

Although the city faces a fiscal crunch, Staten Island’s borough president is spending $2 million in public money on a winery run by a businessman who sold him property he flipped for a profit, a Daily News probe shows.

Beep James Molinaro committed the cash from his budget to re-create a Tuscan winemaking farm on public property in Staten Island’s Snug Harbor.

The winery will be run by five local businessmen who have made thousands of dollars in donations to his campaigns, records show.

One of those businessmen is Randy Lee, a prominent local real estate lawyer and developer. In January 1991, a brokerage Lee controls sold a small vacant lot on Carteret St. to Molinaro, then deputy borough president, and a co-buyer for about $10,000, documents show.

Molinaro and Janice Errichiello sold the property for about $20,000 within a year, records show. The property then went back and forth between Molinaro and other buyers through 2004 when Molinaro sold it for $400,000, records show.

In February, Molinaro announced his plans to sponsor $1.5 million from his so-called “discretionary” capital funds for the Staten Island vineyard project dreamed up by Lee and his fellow businessmen. He has since raised it to $2 million.

With Term Limits Comes . . .

. . . a bad case of senioritis:

They grumble behind closed doors, sick of stewing inside, dreaming of freedom. They want to stop working, throw parties, cause trouble. And waiting for the days to end is killing them.

They are the 35 term-limited members of the City Council, and they’re as restive as high school seniors.

For now, they shuffle in and out of City Hall budget meetings, trying to play nice as they divvy up the city’s money. But when July 1 rolls around and the new budget takes effect, they can stop kissing up to the people who control the purse strings — and start raising money and raising hell to promote their own careers.

“It’ll get worse,” said one of the 35, who himself is trying to figure out his future. “With each day, with each event, with each budget, there’s less and less leverage that the leadership of the Council can use to hold it together.”

To hear some of them tell it, the Council is already falling apart. Ambitious pols who know what they want to run for in November 2009 need to get noticed now — which may be why some of them have been using dry budget hearings to attack the Bloomberg administration.

“I’ve never seen grandstanding like I’ve seen in the last few weeks,” said Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., who is mulling a run for Queens Borough President. “The Council will resemble a herd of cats after July.”