A-P "So You Think You're A Sportswriter" Thread

[metirish]

]By BOB KLAPISCH SPORTS COLUMNIST NEW YORK - If you're having trouble forming an opinion about the 2005 Mets, rest assured, you're already part of a much larger fraternity. The Mets themselves are sifting through a cocktail of good news (they are 3� out of the wild card) and bad (they have to climb over four teams to make it to October), which explains why no one knows what to make of the final 44 games. Is there really a September hot streak waiting to be hatched at Shea, the one GM Omar Minaya and Willie Randolph speak so optimistically about? Or are the Mets destined to finish out the summer at exactly their current speed - winning slightly more than half their games, showing occasional flashes of excellence, but otherwise dooming themselves with that sluggish offense? No one has the answer - not Minaya, Randolph nor the players � but the Mets are at least buoyed by the fact that no one has run away from the pack in the wild-card race, and that 24 of the last 32 games will be played within the division. That's the good news. So is Carlos Beltran's decision to skip surgery. And Steve Trachsel's imminent return to the rotation counts for something, too. So why isn't anyone celebrating? "The general feeling is that we should've been in a better situation record-wise," said assistant GM Jim Duquette. "We've turned the tide, we're going in the right direction, but we all had higher expectations. We felt our record should've been better by now." What hurts most is knowing this was the year the Braves were most vulnerable, at least in the first half, and for whatever it's worth, the Yankees were languishing through their worst pitching summer in a decade. This could've been the Mets' breakthrough season, not just in the NL East, but in greater New York, as well. Instead, their wounds have been mostly self-inflicted. Despite Pedro Martinez's wizardry, the Mets still lose more than 60 percent of their games on the road - unacceptable for any team hoping to reach the promised land. The Mets have lost eight games in which they have taken a lead into the eighth inning. And for all the hype that Beltran's signing created, the offense is still decidedly middle-of-the-pack: fifth in the NL in runs, seventh in slugging percentage and 10th in on-base percentage. Of course, identifying the Mets' blemishes is easier than covering them up. You could point to the madness of ever letting Jose Reyes (and his .298 on-base percentage) bat leadoff, but Randolph's choices are somewhat limited now that Mike Cameron is out for the season. There's no getting around Mike Piazza's decline-phase .260 average, or the lack of production at first base. The Mets' fate at that position was sealed the moment Carlos Delgado and his publicity-addicted agent, David Sloane, picked the Marlins over the Mets last winter. But what about Beltran - a nice guy who obviously plays hard and is willing to play in pain for the rest of the season? The Mets appreciate the sacrifice, but that doesn't diminish the disappointment in his .267 average, or the fact that he's hit exactly one home run in his last 69 at-bats. The Mets are reluctant to say they expect more from Beltran, even though they obviously do. Instead, Minaya repeats the team's mantra, saying, "It's not about one guy here. It's a team thing." Truth is, the Mets are still looking for a leader for the last 44 games, and if it isn't Beltran, then they'll have to accept a patchwork effort - Pedro every fifth day, David Wright as he continues to mature and who knows, maybe Kris Benson, too. If nothing else, Benson did exactly what the Mets asked of him Tuesday night, kicking off a critical six-game homestand by throwing strikes at the knees and the corners, smothering the Pirates in a 6-2 win. Benson's finest moment came in the sixth inning, after allowing back-to-back singles to Daryl Ward and Rob Mackowiak. The Mets' righty regained command of his signature pitch, the sinking two-seam fastball, and induced a double play grounder from Jose Castillo, then snuffed out the rally by getting Humberto Cota to bounce to second. Those are the small moments of triumph the Mets will need down the stretch, particularly in the next two weeks. The Mets need to take at least 2-of-3 from the iron-poor Pirates and not squander that gain in a weekend series against the Nationals. The real test comes immediately afterward, when the Mets are being victimized by their second trip out west in two weeks. The only upside is facing the Diamondbacks and Giants, who entering Tuesday were a combined 22 games under .500. If the Mets fall apart on that seven-game stretch, they don't deserve to be a wild card team, and a season of modest improvement could turn to mist. What, exactly, happens to the Mets away from Shea? Like all the other burning questions, no one in the organization seems to know. "I can't explain it, but we have to do something about it," Martinez said. "We have to beat up on the little teams. If not, forget it." Pedro punctuated the point by rubbing his palms together. The gesture needed no translation: Win or else the Mets are finished. There's still time, of course, and the Mets still have enough talent to make September interesting, if not October. If you want to be kind, you can say the Mets have erased the memory of clueless Art Howe, and in that sense, the season has already been a success. But that logic won't go far at Shea - not now, not when the Mets are taking a deep breath, preparing for a final sprint to the playoffs, convincing themselves the glass really is half-full.

[Elster88]

]The Mets have lost eight games in which they have taken a lead into the eighth inning.

This sounds bad, but I'm guessing it's not too far removed from the league norm.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I have to figure out a way to engage the Klapish filter.

[Elster88]

]clueless Art Howe

Hello, Mr. Kettle. You are black.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

I didn't think that was a particularly bad article at all. Honest (the Mets and us don't seem to know what's going to happen) and perceptive (that was a huge DP from Benson last night).

The whole "this is the year they take back New York" perspective is beside the real point, and while I get the impression that the Mets needn't convince themselves they have something still to play for -- this season HAS been different from last year in lots of ways.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Is there really a September hot streak waiting to be hatched at Shea, the one GM Omar Minaya and Willie Randolph speak so optimistically about?

Hasn't at least one member of the Mets brain trust been accused of this since 2001?

[Elster88]

Edgy DC wrote: Is there really a September hot streak waiting to be hatched at Shea, the one GM Omar Minaya and Willie Randolph speak so optimistically about? Hasn't at least one member of the Mets brain trust been accused of this since 2001?

It's lamented every year, except of course the years when they actually have one. Then the writers take credit for the idea.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

I don;t see that as an accusation. WWSB all year has been talking about having a hot streak and I believe he has the players believing it too. Some days, I'm convinced one is imminent.

[MFS62]

Johnny, please refresh my memory. What does WWSB stand for?

Later

[Vic Sage]

it seems to me emblematically empty-headed for Klapisch to pick Beltran's .267 BA as the indicator of his poor season, when he hit the same last year. Meanwhile, he ignores the 100 point drop in OPS.

and then there is this:

]What, exactly, happens to the Mets away from Shea? Like all the other burning questions, no one in the organization seems to know. "I can't explain it, but we have to do something about it," Martinez said. "We have to beat up on the little teams. If not, forget it."

the pythagorean w-l is higher than the mets actual record. They're better then they were, they just haven't been lucky this year.

It continually amazes me how sportscasters and players alike refuse to acknowledge the importance of luck in determining wins and losses. Instead, they seek metaphysical explanations, and try to do "something about it". There is nothing to be done except keep playing as hard and as well as you can, don't get down, and wait for your luck to turn.

this is not to say they deserved to be a playoff team this year, even before the "collision", but with better luck their actual production could've netted them a 85-88 win season. Maybe 90.

The good thing is, this type of underperformance relative to runs scored/allowed doesnt customarily happen 2 years in a row... unless, of course, your manager is a complete bobo who gives away outs like they're candy corns on Holloween.

oh, and great move, Mr. WWSB... the incapacitation of our entire OF has finally forced you to bat Wright in the top 1/3rd of the order. Mazel Tov. Now, if Reyes gets Gout, maybe you'll bat him 8th?

[metirish]

]It continually amazes me how sportscasters and players alike refuse to acknowledge the importance of luck in determining wins and losses.

Good point, this is why Billy Beane considers getting to the post-season a success, after that it's a crap-shoot he likes to say.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Wee Willie Small Balls. Inspired, multipurpose nickname by our own Vic Sage, invented about 5 seconds into the Willie Randolph Era, IIRC.

[Vic Sage]

7 seconds... I waited to give him the benefit of the doubt.

[MFS62]

Thank you.

Later

[Guest Edgy DC]

WWSB all year has been talking about having a hot streak and I believe he has the players believing it too. Some days, I'm convinced one is imminent.

But aren't they really just doing what a leader does --- encouraging his (or, in theory, her) team to keep grinding, stay focused, stay positive, and sooner or later their luck will catch up with them? It's not like Randolph (or any fool) was actually talking about a September winning streak redeeming the season in back in April. He's just trying to stay positive. But optimism like that (from Valentine, Howe, or Randolph) can get subtley reframed into an empty promise (and a call for heads) if it doesn't happen.

[Guest Rotblatt]

Just to expand on Vic's point, we're currently sitting 5 games below where we "ought" to be, via BP's Adjusted Standings. Based on our W3, we should be on track for 89 wins, instead of 82. And yes, that's looking like enough to give us the wild card.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/standings.php

The only teams with a bigger net loss are the D-Rays (-6.2), the Royals (-5.3) & the Rangers (-8.6). The common thread there might very well be poor in-game management, given that Pinella has been god-awful as well. Not really sure about the Rangers or Royals' skippers, but it wouldn't suprise me.

Anyone have any insight on them?

The top three in wins over projections are: White Sox (+12.2), the Nationals (+7.6) & the Cards (+7.2).

The luckiest division has been the NLW with 12.6 wins above projections.

Just to be clear, I think Willie does a nice job with the players but he doesn't seem to understand how to use his bullpen and has made some incredibly poor choices in terms of who to call up when.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

OK. While I don't doubt failure will be punished by writers by any means, I don't see Klap as necessarily setting a trap here. I think he's wondering like I am whether it can happen, whereas he might have taken a similar sentiment from Howe with a lot more skepticism.

[Elster88]

]The luckiest division has been the NLW with 12.6 wins above projections

So their records actually reflect luck?! Imagine where'd they'd be otherwise.

[metirish]

This is just wrong, from the Daily News, booing is one thing but this is fucked up, read the last two paragraphs.

]Home stand finale one bad trip No matter how the Mets tried to put a happy smile on it, one loss felt like two. Three dreadful innings Saturday night melted into one frightful inning yesterday, and when the screaming at Shea was over, the Mets didn't look or feel like much of a playoff team. It could be our imagination, but it sure seemed like they were packing their bags extra slowly following a 7-4 loss to the Nationals that wrapped up a 4-2 home stand. A dreaded road trip loomed, four games in Arizona followed by three in San Francisco, and the more Willie Randolph downplayed its importance, the more this upcoming week began to sound as if it would count twice in the standings. Randolph kept insisting we shouldn't make "too big of a deal" about the trip. "I don't want guys to get too crazy," he said, as if his players might otherwise head west whistling and skipping, and blissfully ignorant of their 23-35 record in the other guys' ballparks. Oh, but they knew. You could see it in their eyes, in the way they squinted when the subject was broached. You could hear it in the voices, their clipped responses to questions about failure, and not yesterday's failure, either. That's the curious thing. The Mets should have been thrilled to escape Shea's vicious clutch, its voracious fans who in the space of 24 hours had so viciously turned on a team that is still in the middle of the wild card race. Kris Benson was the first Met to feel the sharp teeth. His pitching line read like something out of Kansas City: two-thirds of an inning, 10 batters faced, six runs on eight hits. Benson lasted 25 minutes, threw 37 pitches and spent the rest of the day punishing himself. "We just couldn't stop the avalanche," Randolph said. "Just chalk it up to one of those days." One night earlier, Randolph made a decision that reverberated through breakfast. He pulled Pedro Martinez after six innings, after he threw 78 pitches (a statistic the Mets, like most teams, follow as closely as the dollars on their paychecks). Martinez left with an 8-0 lead, but hours later, after his teammates were booed more harshly than ever while narrowly pulling out a 9-8 10th-inning win, Pedro admitted his back had tightened up, probably from a bad night of sleep. There are tens of thousands of Mets fans who either ignored or never heard that hardly minor fact. If only Benson could blame his afternoon on a lumpy pillow, or a romp with one of his nine dogs. But he said his body felt fine, that his stuff wasn't any different from his last start, when he allowed Pittsburgh only two runs in seven innings. Rather than slip into the showers and out of sight yesterday, Benson plopped onto the dugout bench and stewed in his own sweat and grime through 8-1/3 innings. He was half slapping himself, half hoping his bad karma would have a reverse effect. "I didn't feel right going back in the clubhouse," said Benson. The locker next to Benson's was the only cheerful spot in the house. It didn't have a name plate, and it might have a different occupant once the team returns home, but for now it belonged to Mike Jacobs, the only Met who dared to smile. He kept gushing about how "unbelievable" and "awesome" it felt to hit a three-run homer in his first big league plate appearance. He'd be wise to freeze the sounds of the crowd's clamoring for a curtain call, because there is no guarantee Shea will always be so kind. Jacobs' homer in the fifth provided the only reprieve from a crowd that appeared to have stayed overnight, too disgusted to move. Its grumbling reached fever pitch as the Mets kept teasing and retreating, leaving runners stranded everywhere. The seventh inning was particularly painful, as lefty reliever Joey Eischen struck out Cliff Floyd on three pitches with the bases loaded. Few were in the mood to give any Mets a break. People who were in the stands Saturday night during that bullpen meltdown say some of the vitriol went far over the top, into the racist sphere. Aaron Heilman was serenaded with chants about Hitler, Danny Graves had his Vietnamese heritage ridiculed and Dae-Sung Koo was viciously mocked. An organization that prides itself on family values might want to check out the action on the first-base line during the next home stand. To their credit, the Mets' relievers had nothing to say about these few fans who wear their bigotry like a badge. Graves was roughly booed when he came out of the bullpen yesterday, but he pitched an easy sixth and seventh and left to cheers. Heilman induced the Nats into a double play to end the eighth. Soon the clubhouse was swarming with reporters and TV cameras, jostling for position among suitcases and weary players. Nobody bothered talking with the relievers, the Mets who had done their job. They walked toward the bus, and what they hope will be friendlier environs.

[Elster88]

I am starting to dislike Met fans.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Mets fans are idiots.

[MFS62]

Yet there are some sportscasters who take the high road.

Costas refuses to host show about Holloway
CNN wanted him to anchor show about girl who went missing in Aruba

NEW YORK - While some cable TV hosts are making their living off the Natalee Holloway case this summer, Bob Costas is having none of it. Costas, hired by CNN as an occasional fill-in on �Larry King Live,� refused to anchor Thursday�s show because it was primarily about the Alabama teenager who went missing in Aruba. Chris Pixley filled in at the last minute.

�I didn�t think the subject matter of Thursday�s show was the kind of broadcast I should be doing,� Costas said in a statement. �I suggested some alternatives but the producers preferred the topics they had chosen. I was fine with that, and respectfully declined to participate.�

Costas� manager declined to elaborate on what Costas didn�t like about the topic. Thursday�s guests included Beth Holloway Twitty, the girl�s mother; a television reporter; and an investigator in the case. Seven of the show�s 10 guests talked about the missing girl, the other segments were about the BTK killer.

The Holloway case has been a big attraction on cable news networks during a slow news period, with Fox News Channel�s Greta Van Susteren getting record ratings as she�s paid almost nonstop attention to it. Reports of Costas� decision first surfaced on the mediabistro.com Web site on Friday.

�There were no hard feelings at all,� Costas said. �It�s not a big deal. I�m sure there are countless topics that will be mutually acceptable in the future.� Wendy Walker, senior executive producer of �Larry King Live,� described it as a mutual decision for Costas not to do the show because he was uncomfortable with the subject matter. �We love having Bob ... and since �Larry King Live� covers an extremely extensive palate of subjects, there will always be shows that he will enjoy hosting,� she said.

The NBC Sports personality, also host of �Costas Now� on HBO, had agreed to be host for about 20 editions of �Larry King Live� this year. He�s done six, the network said. His decision is reminiscent of Keith Olbermann, the former sportscaster who left his MSNBC news show in the late 1990s in part because he was asked to repeatedly cover the Monica Lewinsky story. Olbermann is back now for his second run at MSNBC.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

]The Holloway case has been a big attraction on cable news networks during a slow news period

When I read that, I was reminded of how, four summers ago, it was also a "slow news period" and the cable news networks were talking about nothing but Chandra Levy.

I also remember a lot of people lamenting that the news was slow. That ended abruptly on September 11.

Of course, with American soldiers facing danger every day in Iraq, this shouldn't be called a "slow news period."

[Willets Point]

Looks like the Shea security let all the bigots sit in the front row along the first base line, but kept all the Jewish and dark-skinned Mets fans in the Mezz back rows.

[metirish]

Not a terrible article form Klap, a few lines though.

]Klap: Willie rubs off on Mets Tuesday, August 23, 2005 By BOB KLAPISCH SPORTS COLUMNIST PHOENIX - The door to Willie Randolph's office was closed, and even his coaches knew better than to walk in or even knock. Business was being transacted inside, and you didn't need very long tentacles to know why Mike Jacobs had been summoned and what the rookie and the manager were talking about. Only a few hours away from his first major league start, Jacobs may or may not have been surfing on a tidal wave of adrenaline. Randolph studied the kid's face for clues, then ushered him inside for a one-on-one the Mets say has become their manager's calling card this summer. When the door opened, the rookie was smiling, and so was Randolph. "I appreciate it," is what Jacobs said. No other words were necessary. It was a subtle triumph, and a revealing moment in Randolph's evolution as the Mets' leader. Slowly but surely, Willie is carving out the personality traits that could be critical to his team in the final 38 games. He's a compelling mix of Lou Piniella's passion and Joe Torre's wisdom, with just enough of Billy Martin's edge to remind the Mets never to cross him. Randolph has taken the Mets a long way in 2005 - further than they should've gone, considering how flawed they truly are. Yet they began a critical seven-game road trip Monday night with a 4-1 win over the Diamondbacks prompting Randolph to say, "I feel a different energy right now. If you are a manager you're attuned to your team, and I feel good about [the road trip]." The Mets aren't the best team in the wild-card race, but their blessing is knowing the field is stocked with similarly blemished teams. The Astros can't hit, the Marlins and Phillies have underachieved all year, and the Mets just took two-of-three from the Nationals. So now it's a sprint, starting with this trip. For all the weight that Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran will be asked to assume at the 11th hour, no one will have a greater impact on the Mets' fortunes than Randolph. If he panics - if he fails to negotiate that fine line between having to win this week and preserving his engine parts for late September - the Mets are sunk. But if Randolph can keep the Mets in that perfect state of cool - Hemingway called it grace under pressure � they have a chance to survive a brutal stretch between now and Sept.�11, when they're on the road for 17 of 20 games. Working the clubhouse, talking to players, getting in their heads is what Randolph does best. He says, "I've been in these situations before. This is my environment. It's all I know, so I wake up excited about what's in front of me." Randolph got his schooling from Torre, who's earned his millions as a Yankee from the moment the game ends until the first pitch the next day. He wrote the patent on keeping the clubhouse free of turmoil, and it's obvious how Randolph has borrowed that formula with the Mets. There aren't a lot of team meetings in Randolph's world, nor is there much deep-tissue anxiety whenever the Mets lose. That's partly because Randolph is in the first year of his contract, and he doesn't feel Steinbrenner's hot breath on his neck. Still, Randolph and Torre are alike in how they regard their place in their team's day-to-day fate. "I'm responsible for this team, and that's why I don't feel any pressure," Randolph said. "My job is to keep players confident and motivated and I'll do whatever I can to help. The rest is up to them." It won't be easy. Randolph has a difficult decision ahead regarding Steve Trachsel, who's coming off the disabled list today just in time to be sent to the bullpen, where he'll be impatiently waiting to pitch. It'll be up to Randolph whether to let Trachsel suffer a bruised ego, or perhaps go to a six-man rotation. That would preserve Martinez's shoulder. But the Mets also need Pedro to throw more, not less, as the pennant race heats up, which is why Randolph is so careful not to commit to any policy changes. No contender uses six pitchers in September. Conventional thinkers would call that lunacy. But how does Randolph muscle Jae Seo out of the rotation after he allowed just one earned run in three starts? Then again, how do the Mets keep pushing Pedro, who's thrown nearly 400 innings in the last two seasons and doesn't come close to the 95 mph radar gun readings of his prime? No wonder Randolph seems so intense these days. The spring training feel-good aura has morphed into something much edgier - which isn't necessarily bad, not when you compare Randolph to the oblivious Art Howe. It's impossible to think of Howe dealing with a race this tight, having to navigate the Mets through a path that will take them through Florida, Atlanta and St. Louis on the next road trip. If the Mets are still breathing by mid-September, it's because Pedro's arm is still intact and Beltran is finally driving in runs. But that karma comes from the manager's office, too, where Randolph is teaching the Mets about September's holy grail - grace under pressure. E-mail: klapisch@northjersey.com

Randolph got his schooling from Torre, who's earned his millions as a Yankee from the moment the game ends until the first pitch the next day. He wrote the patent on keeping the clubhouse free of turmoil, and it's obvious how Randolph has borrowed that formula with the Mets.



well that's just funny, Joe wrote the patent, WTF?

[Elster88]

I know it shouldn't bother me, because the drivel of idiots shouldn't bother me. But it's distressing that a lot of the success from this year will be passed off as being borrowed from the Yankees, because somehow Willie brought it over.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

I do think WWSB and Joe are alike however. Neither has distinguished themselves as a brilliant strrategist, both tend to trust only a few relief pitchers at any one time, both seem to have managed dissention and distraction well.

No need for the shot at Art Howe -- he'd won plenty of big games with the right talent.

[Guest mlbaseballtalk]

Surprised no one has yet to make comparisions between Willie and his REAL MANAGING MENTOR, that would be Billy Martin.

Course not in the asshole, paranoid, drunken old bastard way, but in the master stratgist, the small ball, getting his guys to play his style, ect.

Course that would mean the media would have to stop kissing up to Steinbrenner and remind themselves about how horrid the times were back then

Steve

[metirish]

Good one Steve, Willie himself has said that the manager he learned the most form is Martin and that out of all the people he has worked with Martin has had the most influence.

[Guest Rotblatt]

From today's Daily News (bold added):

]Minaya didn't write off the Mets' playoff chances when Carlos Beltran and Mike Cameron collided Aug. 11 in San Diego, sending both players to the hospital with concussions and fractures that likely ended Cameron's season. But things didn't look good at that point, not after the Mets lost that game to the Padres, 2-1. However, since that road trip ended with Pedro Martinez losing a no-hit bid and the game to the Dodgers, the Mets have gone 9-4. They've done it without significant contributions from Beltran - relying heavily on Ramon Castro, Mike Jacobs, Miguel Cairo and Victor Diaz.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/story/341794p-291853c.html

Um, Miguel fucking Cairo? Are you serious? This is what he's done for us since then:

.137 AVG/.170 OBP/.176 SLG/.346 OPS
2 BB, 4 K, 1 SB, 1 CS, 3 R, 1 RBI

That's absolutely terrible. He's probably been one of the worst regulars in baseball over that time frame, and you're calling it a significant contribution?

Jesus, Matsui has been better than Cairo since then:

.231 AVG/.259 OBP/.269 SLG/.528 OPS

And it's not like it wasn't obvious that Cairo's sucked to anyone who bothered to watch the games. You DO watch the games,don't you?