I was a teenager in the Tri-State area in the late 80s, early 90s; meaning I grew up in the midst of what is clearly the Golden Age of Rap or when Rap (Grandmaster Flash, KRS-ONE, Run DMC, Public Enemy) became Hip Hop (A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, Wu-Tang). I know this era well because the baseball team I loved was painful to watch and routinely gave reason for a young fan to allow his heart and...
For the next few days, I will be bringing back my “Know Your Stats” series that I began a few years back to highlight some important sabermetric stats and concepts. Earlier today, we went through OPS and OPS+. Now we continue with wOBA… Perhaps the best way of describing weighted-On Base Average (wOBA) is to describe the faults of some of the traditional hitting statistics first. Batting...
May is in the rear view and the one third mark of the season is quickly approaching. The Slogan for May as we examine the numbers? “Coulda Been Worse!”. The offense ranked last or close to it in most categories, The most eye-popping trend to me is that the club averaged over nine strikeouts per game. Think about that. One third of all the outs in an average Mets game last month...
So the big ticket purchases of the off-season are done, the core of the team is set and as fans, we have three things to focus on. Counting down to Pitchers and Catchers reporting in Port St. Lucie by watching the front page of MetsmerizedOnline.com. Check on the final touch-ups, like if we trade the 26th man on the roster for more than a bag of balls. Playing around with lineups for what should...
We had a little stir this morning in our comment threads over something that was reported at MetsBlog regarding a post entitled, Brewers more likely to trade Ryan Braun than Norichika Aoki. The article leads off like this… There is a better chance the Brewers trade OF Ryan Braun for Mets 1B Ike Davis than deal OF Norichika Aoki, according to people familiar with the team’s thinking. I was...
Hodges14 asks… Exactly what does a hitting coach get judged by? How do you measure whether or not he’s doing an effective job? I would think it’s things like improving the team’s overall batting average and reducing strikeouts, so why is Dave Hudgens coming back? There’s a better case to be made for firing Hudgens than there ever was for firing Howard Johnson. I...
Every play in every game has some effect on the odds of winning a baseball game. Whether you are down by ten runs in the second inning or tied up in the bottom of the ninth, every action can be measured. Baseball has been played for over a century and a half. Major League Baseball has been around for over a century, and most situations have been played out over and over again hundreds of times,...
Last draft day, I watched and waited to see who the Mets would select with their first round pick. I watched as my first choice, Carlos Correa was called Number One overall, and Addison Russell, my second choice was nabbed one spot before the Mets. When Bud Selig stepped up to the podium and finally announced the Mets’ selection, admittedly I, as well as many others, groaned as our newly...
As we get ready for a brand new season of Major League Baseball, a few of us at MMO put together a list who we believe will be this season’s award winners. It’s something that we’ve been doing every year since 2006. Peering into their crystal balls this year will be Brandyn Cooper, Rob Silverman (Tie Dyed), Michael J. Branda (jessep), Jeff Spencer, Dave Landon (Retire 31),...
Last week Topps released its All-Star Rookie team for 2009 and while there were some justified selections and some questionable ones, the player that has the most intrigue for me is the Mets’ Omir Santos. He beat out phenom Matt Wieters, who most thought would be in contention to take home the Rookie of the Year award in the American League. Did Santos’ season really justify the award? First...
There has been much debate since the season ended for the Mets, on whether the Mets should get a first baseman or stick with Daniel Murphy. Here is how Daniel Murphy ranks among all qualifying National League first baseman with 450 or more at-bats. As you can see from the above chart, Murphy is woefully deficient in not just one or two offensive areas, but all of them. I found it odd that some...
This morning I will concede on a bet I made on Opening Day and pay up the $25 bucks I’ve lost. I bet my friend, a notorious Yankee fan, on who would have the better season… Our number two pitcher Mike Pelfrey or the Yankees number five pitcher Joba Chamberlain. The battle wasn’t even close. I figured there would be no way I could lose, especially when ERA and Batting Average...
