When the Mets won their first World Series in 1969, they received 51 complete games from their starters. Last year their staff posted just one complete game. Many people wish that we would go back to the starting usage from that earlier era. My thought is that in the overall scheme of things, we’re better [...]
However big you think you are, baseball will humble you. Barry Bonds once went 23 ABs without a hit. Gary Carter went 247 PA between his 299th and 300th career homers. Willie Mays started his career 1-26. The flip side of that is if you stick around long enough, every dog has his day. Let’s [...]
For the fourth straight year, there are more Hall-worthy candidates than there are spots on the ballot. But an interesting thing happened since the last election. Former commissioner Bud Selig, the one who turned a blind eye while steroids exploded on his watch, was elected to the Hall. Forgetting for a moment the insanity of [...]
Despite several tons of virtual ink, the Mets didn’t sign Dexter Fowler and they didn’t trade for Andrew McCutchen. Which means we’re likely to see a fair amount of Curtis Granderson in center field in 2017. Ideally, Granderson would be in left field because of his sub-par arm. But he’s likely to be better suited [...]
It may have been the NBA that brought the concept of “Keep Gettin’ Dem Checks” to our consciousness but Terry Collins has turned it into an MLB art form. Truly, did anyone think that the guy hired to be a placeholder at age 61 back in late 2010 would still be managing the club in [...]
An autobiography of the 17th pick of the 1970 Draft.
For those of us who aren’t independently wealthy and who try to be optimists, 2016 sure was a lousy year. The Mets’ closing kick in August and September could only make up for so much. But it’s the season to be joyful and triumphant. Let’s try a Christmas verse and see if it helps. I [...]
The idea of the Mets trading for an upper shelf center fielder is one that refuses to die. Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports that the Mets and Pirates discussed Andrew McCutchen in a minor way and that rumor took off again. Then today on MetsBlog there's talk of a three-way deal where the Mets land [...]
With the Statcast data now making its way out to the public, we’re going to see new metrics proposed. This is going to be a turnoff to some people and that’s okay. What you have to ask yourself is: Am I happy with my current level of knowledge and understanding of the game or am [...]
There were three defining areas for the 2016 Mets, two bad and one good. The bad ones were the injuries and the hitting with runners in scoring position (RISP) while the good one was the team’s strong finishing kick. We’ve discussed the injuries and the kick in greater detail, so now it’s time to discuss [...]
There’s been talk around the blogosphere about the Mets ponying up and making a deal for Andrew McCutchen. The former MVP winner fell on hard times in 2016 but most people are projecting a significant bounce-back year from McCutchen in 2017. But how realistic is that? Let’s look at a couple of different measures. First, [...]
Well, if you were refreshing MetsBlog, ESPN and MLBTR continually the past few days, this year's Winter Meetings were kind of a drag. Certainly nothing like last year. Not even a Rule 5 guy to pretend to be excited about. What's your take on the past few days?