Mangagement 101: Wait til spring training to single out players for being the goat of the previous year's playoffs.

Another file from the annals of questionable comments by Mets mangager Willie Randolph:

From Mets.com:

Willie Randolph says his sleep usually is uninterrupted. But he acknowledges that one play from last season gnawed at him early in the offseason.

He described it this way:

"Bases loaded, 3-1 count, Valentin."

The circumstances were these: Jose Valentin at bat with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the sixth, Game 7 of the National League Championship Series, score tied at 1. Endy Chavez had made his temporarily game-saving catch in the previous half-inning.

Cardinals starter Jeff Suppan had a 1-2 count -- not 3-1 -- on Valentin. The Mets needed a sacrifice fly.

"If we scored in that inning, I think we go to the World Series," Randolph said. "After Endy made that play ... I thought it was our time to win the game."

Valentin swung and the Mets missed their chance.

"Not to blame him," Randolph said. "That was one at-bat, one play. ... There was a lot of crazy stuff that happened in the course of the series. The big one for me was after Chavez's catch.

"I think Jose got real big there. He wanted to be the hero. He'd had big hits for us all year. When you're in a situation like that, it's all about getting it done. And he tried. But you could see, he got real big."