In the end, Sandy Alderson, the proud Marine, had tears in his eyes and regret in his baseball heart over how this season has gone for his beleaguered Mets.
But he is preparing for a much bigger fight now than the NL East: His second bout with cancer.
“None of us write his or her script,’’ Alderson said Tuesday at Citi Field, where he announced he is stepping away from the 32-45 Mets as general manager and likely will not return. “You deal with circumstances as they arise. This is a busy world and we have to deal with life as it presents itself and I will deal with it.’’
In the end, his manager Mickey Callaway could not hold back his emotion over this turn of events.
“Coming into this job I heard a lot about Sandy Alderson, what a leader he was, how bright, how selfless he was, I experienced all those things firsthand and he lived up to all those qualities,’’ Callaway said, his voice cracking. “Now, knowing that he went through what he went through, he’s a bad-ass Marine.’’
In the end, Mets players gave Alderson, 70, a standing ovation in the clubhouse after he told them of his situation.
“Everybody in there is here because of Sandy,’’ David Wright said. “For Sandy to be so quiet and so reserved about his health and what he has been going through and for him to kind of choke back tears and to break down a little bit in front of us, and to thank us when we are not playing as well as we could have been and a lot of the blame is getting put on him, he showed us how much he cares for us as men in there.’’
No one with the Mets knows Alderson better than J.P. Ricciardi, the special assistant to the GM, who first started working for Alderson as an area scout with the A’s in 1985.
“Sandy is the same guy today as he was back then and when things go well he is in the background,’’ Ricciardi told The Post. “When things go poorly he is in the front. He is the epitome of a leader. I think Sandy should be in the Hall of Fame. Not only has Sandy changed the way front offices look at the game, someone has to be the pioneer, I think with analytics and the free-thinking in the game today, Sandy was the one who paved the way for all of that. I truly love the guy.’’
Assistant GM John Ricco and Ricciardi will run the major league side, with former GM Omar Minaya heading scouting and development. Expect the Mets to search for a new baseball boss after the season.
Alderson was up-front about his situation.
“I was originally diagnosed with cancer in 2015 and at the end of April, early May a recurrence was detected and since that time I’ve been undergoing treatment,’’ he said. “The treatment will continue. I expect to have surgery. My prognosis is actually good. In the meantime, the chemotherapy, the surgery, all take their toll.
“It’s a difficult day for me. You’re diagnosed with cancer. You’re cancer-free for a period of time and it comes back.’’
Then a long pause, as Alderson’s eyes filled with tears, and he added, “You gotta deal with it.
“It’s a matter of rearranging priorities, accepting the limitations. My family has been tremendously supportive. I have tremendous doctors. I’m confident this will end up happily but you know, it’s an adjustment.
“This is a results business. If I were to look at it on the merits, I’m not sure coming back is warranted,’’ Alderson said, essentially firing himself by pointing to bad free-agent signings this past offseason.
“It’s been incredibly difficult as it has been for most Mets fans,’’ the man who built the 2015 World Series Mets said of this season. “I’m disappointed with where we are, disappointed to have left Mets fans basically in this situation. I do this to make other people happy and when you’re not making people happy it’s difficult.’’
This Marine knows it is time for another fight.