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2009
Mets Merized Player Of The Year For 2009!
An article by 
Welcome to the end of 2009, and the beginning of 2010. It has been a rough year for Mets fans, and it seemed as if things weren’t going to get any better until the Mets finally came to an agreement with Jason Bay, who will provide some excitement in the new year. However, there were still some things to be happy about in 2009.
I’m not going to lie to you. The stats weren’t pretty in 2009. Jeff Francoeur led the Mets in many of the offensive categories, and that was mainly because he spent half the year with the Braves, not to take away from his scorching debut in New York. No Met had 30 stolen bases, hit 40 doubles, smacked 15 homers(excluding Jeff), or scored 100 runs. On the pitching side of things, Pelfrey led the Mets in starts (31) and IP (184.1), and only three pitchers on the entire staff sported a record above .500.
It wasn’t all bad however, I promise you that. Met fans were able to see Francisco Rodriguez make his debut as the new closer for the Mets, and Jeff Francoeur became our new right fielder. We saw flashes of promise and a glimmer of hope for the future in Josh Thole, Fernando Martinez, Jon Niese, Robert Parnell, and Tobi Stoner. And of course, I won’t leave out the always lovable Nelson Figueroa, along with Pat Misch and Fernando Nieve who pitched successfully for the Mets.
Did I leave somebody out???
Oh, of course… The MetsMerized Player Of The Year!
Johan Santana. Just his name strikes fear into opposing lineups. Johan Santana is a true bulldog and the argument can be made that he is the only reason the Mets pitching staff was not a total failure last year. He is consistent, he is confident, and he is dominant. Santana is reliable, is a true ace, and is still one of the best pitchers in the Major Leagues.
The Mets would be nowhere without Johan Santana, and even though he was injured last year, he still put up decent stats. Here they are:
| W | L | ERA | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | SVO | INN | H | R | ER | HR | HBP | BB | IBB | SO | SB | CS | PK | BK | WP | AVG | |
| 13 | 9 | 3.13 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 166.2 | 156 | 67 | 58 | 20 | 3 | 46 | 3 | 146 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .244 |
Johan Santana is, and most likely will continue to be, the man. He deserves a ton of respect for playing his heart out for a team that was ravaged by injuries and whose season was quickly going down the drain.
Fortunately, a new season with new faces and renewed hope will see the Mets rise to the top again, and leading the way will be our 2009 Mets Merized Player of the Year, Johan Santana.
A Summary Of My Award Winners This Year
Players Of The Week
One Hit Wonders: Ryan Church, Johan Santana, David Wright, Fernando Tatis, Nelson Figueroa.
Been There, Done That Twice: Luis Castillo, Angel Pagan, Daniel Murphy.
Three’s Company: Jeff Francoeur.
Players Of The Month
Luis Castillo (July 2009), Angel Pagan (August 2009), Daniel Murphy (September 2009).
A Final Note On 2009, The Decade, And The NYM…
Ladies and Gentlemen, tonight we move on to 2010 after another amazing decade of Mets baseball. I would never trade it for the world. As each day passes, I’ve enjoyed reading all the differing opinions on the past, the present and the future of the Mets here at Mets Merized. The recurring theme is simple, and it is such : We love the Mets. Maybe we’re suckers… or maybe we’re the best fan base in the world. We, as a fan base, young and old, male or female, unite under the common love for this team. As 2010 approaches, I encourage all of you, bloggers and readers alike, to keep expressing your opinions and keep the discourse alive and well. I conclude simply with this…
We believe in 2010 and every year after that, because we are Met fans.
LGM and Happy New Year!
About the Author: Satish Ram
I am a college freshman in New York City. I have been on the MMO Staff since 2007 and plan to be here for many years to come. I started watching baseball around 2001, and I am a pitching freak - I believe the art of pitching is the most important part of the game. I also subscribe to most old school mentalities about baseball. I'm always up for talking about the Mets.
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Happy New Year to you, Satish Ram. It’s nice to end 2009 on a happy note!!!
Happy New Year, Joe.
Happy New Year to all the staff who do a great job, week after week.
Finally, Happy New Year to all my fellow posters.
Let’s go get ‘em in 2010.
Fernando Nieve deserves a spot on this year’s rotation. He’s performing well in the Venezuelan Winter League and picked up where he left off before his freak injury last season. His stuff is truly nasty and his K/bb ration this winter is 26/3. He manhandled some of major league baseball’s best lineups last year, and were it not for him, the Mets would’ve been swept by the Yankees in last years Subway Series.
So, Fernando Nieve gets an Honorable Mention for the 2009 Mets. He’s one of the few ballplayers that did nothing to embarass the organization, and performed well in his role.
I agree that Nieve could make a huge contribution this year. But last season he was two different pitchers. At times he looked like he Cy Young; other times he pitched more like Burt Young. (Yo Adrian. You want the bird? Go in the ally and eat the bird!”)
But when he was on he was awesome!
I agree on Santana. He gave us the feeling that no losing streak would ever last more than 4 games, since we had him every 5 days, until he got hurt. Our rotation sucked, but he was the only thing that kept it from absolute suckage. Gary Cohen’s right, there is a big-game atmosphere when he starts.
Another honorable mention could have been Beltran. He had a great start to the year, but his value was seen when we lost him. We were treading water when we lost Reyes and Delgado, but it was after we lost him that we fell off the map. After we lost him, there was only one significant bat (two if you count Sheffield) left in the lineup.
Also, unless I forgot something, I think Castillo was the only opening day starter to not go on the DL. And Pelfrey was the only starting pitcher to not go on the DL. Some credit for that, I guess.
My MetsMerized player of the year…. Daniel Murphy.
He is my choice for being jerked around by Mets Management. For having to learn new positions pretty much WHILE playing them. For having to listen and read (from the media to fans) how he’s nothing better then a bench warmer. For never making excuses or hiding from the media if something happened.
Is he the greatest player in the game? no. Is he a player who tried his best and didn’t complain through a train wreck of a season? yes. Way to Daniel.
Lets try that last line again: Way to go Daniel.
On the field with his play, and in the dugout with his attitude, Daniel Murphy is going to make Mets fans forget the streaky, sometimes scintillating, sometimes terrible, play of ‘Moneybags’ Delgado. Carlos’ offensive and defensive contributions can only diminish with time.
Sure, I’ll agree on Johan. Though it’s kind of by default, since everyone else was hurt all year. He was only hurt for part of the year.
My wish for the next decade: Wilpon sells the team to a competent owner, and we operate like a model franchise.
Johan Santana is the absolute correct choice!
If you look at the 2 other ridiculous posts up above I guess it’s a nice gesture to want to give awards to people you like because they’re nice boys or they try hard but it doesn’t work that way. That’s for people who are satisfied with being second class.
This blog is about JOHAN SANTANA and it’s about time we give some accolades to the single most valuable member of this team who almost single-handedly saved our season in 2008 before some other “nice” guys folded yet again in the heat of a pennant race.
And who can forget Santana’s “I’m a man” outburst at Laughing Jerry this season. Despite his injuries, a couple of bad outings, the team’s injuries and all the other shenanigans he still posted a 13-9 record with a fantastic 3.13!
This man is the Mets player of the Year for 2009 and in my opinion for 2008 too! Good job Satish.
This man could tell the Mets organization to take a hike after all the nonsense of last season and the slow reaction to improving the team in the offseason. If that happened our 2010 season is over before it ever gets started.
But he’s still here and because of that we have a chance.
and if that happened 2010 would be lost.
Johan’s last start of 2008 was heroic. He put the team on his back.
Too bad we blew it the next day.
If you took the time to notice the last sentence in the article it encourages us to express our “opinions”. Thats exactly what I did. Don’t like it, tough.
Oh, and by the way, if this team tanks again in 2010 what makes you think that Santana and his agent don’t march into Omar, Freddy and Jeffy and tell them “to take a hike”.