Author: Matt Balasis

When Mets Worlds Collide

We learn by association. We remember who we were with and what we were doing on important dates. 9/11, maybe the Hale-Bopp comet, maybe even the Kennedy assassination or Nixon resigning. And always right there is baseball and the Mets. You may have a detailed recollection of 1986 or vivid memories of what the world was like in October of 1969. For me, 1969 was about a house fire and the Mets,...

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The Book on Mets BABIP

You know those people who say BABIP is a meaningless stat? They don’t know what they’re talking about. I know because I used to be someone who said BABIP was meaningless and I didn’t know what I was talking about. Fangraphs defines BABIP as Batting Average on Balls In Play. It measures how often a ball in play goes for a hit. A ball is “in play” when the plate appearance ends in something other...

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The Spin on Spin Rate

First there was PITCHF/x and things were good. Things were great in fact since around 2006 when it was installed in ballparks all over the country. We had exit velocity to ponder. Exit velocity is a hilarious stat when you think about it. It’s the statistical equivalent of noticing that geese can fly. It adds a measure to the obvious, but that measure is still interesting in it’s own right when...

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Competition Vs Consistency: The Collins Conundrum

A little competition never hurt anyone as they say, but there’s something beyond the whole “rising to a challenge” boost you get from a rival when you’re looking at competition within an organization. When positional battles benefit the team, they take on an impetus all their own. On the other hand you have consistency, baseball is an ebb and flow game of rhythm and...

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It Is The Winter Of Mets Content

Most people tend to become more mellow as they get older … not me. I think I’m just as cranky as ever. See I live in constant fear that some alternate version of myself will breach the space-time continuum and make an attempt on my life … So I’m tense, all the time, and I’m constantly hiding stuff and second guessing myself because I wonder what my parallel-universe self...

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