The Outlier Quiz

[batmagadanleadoff]

cooby wrote: Ah! On the 30 years thing. I thought perhaps as an exMet he was your connection

The remaining answer played for the Mets during the outlier season in question.

[G-Fafif]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Ah! On the 30 years thing. I thought perhaps as an exMet he was your connection The remaining answer played for the Mets during the outlier season in question.

Dykstra 1993 as alluded to above?

[batmagadanleadoff]

G-Fafif wrote: Apologies for possibly violating the code of consecutive guesses, but just wanted to throw Dave Magadan's outstanding 1990 into the conversation. Probably not high-profile enough to be the answer, but it really was the outlier of his otherwise "oh yeah, him" career. It was certainly the best Dave Magadan-style season one could have imagined.

Nope on Magadan. Without studying either the author's methodology or player stats, and just on a "feel it out" basis, I would've thought that Magadan's 1990 was a bigger outlier than the as yet unsolved answer to this quiz.

Edited May 29, 2018 by Guest

[seawolf17]

According to B-R, Dykstra had a 6.6 WAR in 1993 -- but an 8.9 WAR in 1990. (!!)

[Edgy MD]

Yoenis Céspedes, 2015.

[Guest cooby]

2000 jay Payton

[batmagadanleadoff]

seawolf17 wrote: According to B-R, Dykstra had a 6.6 WAR in 1993 -- but an 8.9 WAR in 1990. (!!)

And so this post answers FAFIF's question about Dykstra.

[G-Fafif]

seawolf17 wrote: According to B-R, Dykstra had a 6.6 WAR in 1993 -- but an 8.9 WAR in 1990. (!!)

Also as alluded to above, I knew his 1990 was good, though I wouldn't have suspected it was THAT good, let alone better than his 1993. Allegedly the Phillies offered him back to the Mets after his indifferent Phillie stint in 1989. Would have been helpful.

[G-Fafif]

Kevin Elster's atypically strong 1996 with Texas?

[batmagadanleadoff]

Edgy MD wrote: Yoenis Céspedes, 2015.

Winner, winner. Chicken Dinner. I suppose you can now figure out why I phrased the top post the way I did.

[batmagadanleadoff]

G-Fafif wrote: seawolf17 wrote: According to B-R, Dykstra had a 6.6 WAR in 1993 -- but an 8.9 WAR in 1990. (!!) Also as alluded to above, I knew his 1990 was good, though I wouldn't have suspected it was THAT good, let alone better than his 1993. Allegedly the Phillies offered him back to the Mets after his indifferent Phillie stint in 1989. Would have been helpful.

That woulda been some outfield for a while -- Mitchell LF, Dykstra CF, Strawberry RF.

[Edgy MD]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Edgy MD wrote: Yoenis Céspedes, 2015. Winner, winner. Chicken Dinner. I suppose you can now figure out why I phrased the top post the way I did.

Or the opposite. I figured out the answer once I figured out why you phrased it the way you did.

Somewhere, Mazzilli 1979 weeps for recognition.

[Guest cooby]

?

[G-Fafif]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Ah! On the 30 years thing. I thought perhaps as an exMet he was your connection The remaining answer played for the Mets during the outlier season in question.

I kept going back to '86 from the Mike Scott reference. Misunderstanding on my part.

Didn't realize Cespedes's 2015 was such a departure from his norm. I had been thinking earlier today that his five weeks of thunder have certainly resonated in our expectations for the years that have followed.

[batmagadanleadoff]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: seawolf17 wrote: According to B-R, Dykstra had a 6.6 WAR in 1993 -- but an 8.9 WAR in 1990. (!!) And so this post answers FAFIF's question about Dykstra.

Plus, Dykstra in 1993, like Elster three years later, never played for the Mets.

[Centerfield]

Are they counting his entire 2015 or just his Mets-related part?

He had an .870 OPS overall in 2015. He had a higher OPS in both 2016 and 2017. And another season at .861 in his rookie season with Oakland.

[G-Fafif]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: seawolf17 wrote: According to B-R, Dykstra had a 6.6 WAR in 1993 -- but an 8.9 WAR in 1990. (!!) And so this post answers FAFIF's question about Dykstra. Plus, Dykstra in 1993, like Elster three years later, never played for the Mets.

"Mets-connected" was a hang-up here as well. Didn't comprehend it meant partial season as a Met.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Here's the article link:
https://pudding.cool/2018/04/one-hit-wonders/

Two other one time Mets made the list, though not for Mets connected seasons-- Hideo Nomo and Cliff Floyd.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Centerfield wrote: Are they counting his entire 2015 or just his Mets-related part? He had an .870 OPS overall in 2015. He had a higher OPS in both 2016 and 2017. And another season at .861 in his rookie season with Oakland.

Whole season. Because Yo's 2015 wasn't entirely as a Met, I phrased the top post the way I did.

[Guest cooby]

Thanks for explanation! That makes sense

[batmagadanleadoff]

cooby wrote: Thanks for explanation! That makes sense

You're welcome. I guess.

[G-Fafif]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Here's the article link: https://pudding.cool/2018/04/one-hit-wonders/ Two other one time Mets made the list, though not for Mets connected seasons-- Hideo Nomo and Cliff Floyd.

Andres Torres (2012 Met) and Rick Wilkins (1998 pre-Piazza Met placeholder) also made the list.

Wouldn't have guessed them either.

[Centerfield]

It's not clear what method he is using to rank his athletes.

2015 Ces hit 35 HR's and had an .870 OPS.
2016 Ces hit 31 HR's and had an .884 OPS.

[seawolf17]

By his definition - one season inside the top 20, with no other seasons inside the top 50 in WAR - Yo counts, technically.

But boy, Franklin Gutierrez's 2009 season was a big middle finger, wasn't it?

[smg58]

Where would Ollie Perez in 2004 rank? (He was a Pirate at the time, but it certainly counts as Mets-related.)

[MFS62]

Terry Leach didn't make the list?

OE: Oops, 31 years ago. (1987)
Later

[batmagadanleadoff]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Can "Mets-connected" be expanded upon without giving away the answer? I've tried to when I wrote the first post. This is the best I could do. Did I provide the best possible phrased clue or do the limits of my abilities prevent me from doing better? Beats me. I dunno? I could rephrase that, but I think I'd be making the answer a lot easier to solve. Maybe that in itself is a clue.

Here's the re-write: "Two of the players on the author's top 30 list played for the Mets during their outlier seasons. Name them."

Better, and better late than never. But if I'd wrote it that way, I never woulda hadda explain myself, thus giving more clues, and youse might of never gotten Cespedes.