In 2003, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, a book written by Michael Lewis, sparked the interest of not only baseball fans, but also management and statistical scholars across the country. [1] Recently in 2011, this book was introduced as a sports drama movie starring Brad Pitt. Basically the storyline of the book encompasses how the main character Billy Beane, General Manager of the...
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Everybody has a chance in March It’s a cliché, but it is always worth mentioning: Hope springs eternal. And it’s never truer than with baseball. As we sip our coffee — and some of you shovel snow in the northeast — on this final Sunday before pitchers and catcher report, cool breezes and temperatures in the mid-70s welcome the start of Spring Training. Really, this is the best time of the year,...
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When the Mets acquired Mike Piazza from the Florida Marlins on May 22, 1998, they didn’t just acquire one of the premier catchers in baseball. They also found the face of the franchise for the the next eight years. At the time of the trade, the Amazins were a team on the rise under Bobby Valentine. However, despite an 88-win season in 1997, the Mets lacked the sizzle (or star-power) that...
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Ha, Ha, Gotcha! Yesterday, our own John Delcos sparked a solid debate with his post highlighting some of the good things that has happened under Sandman’s watch. This morning, XtreemIcon emailed me a comments from that post from out reader DrDooby. It was a well thought out comment that wasn’t lacking in objectivity si I decided to promote it to a Fan Shot. # 1 Beltran for Wheeler...
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The year was 2000, and the Mets had just lost to the Yankees. Being 20 and in college, I was surrounded by Yankees fans that were giving me the business. I was left with only one reply, “wait until next year!, we will sign A-Rod and take this town over!”. Then the rumblings began about how A-Rod was a 24 and 1 type of player. Well, we all know how that worked out for the Mets. It...
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