2009 SCHAEFER METS PLAYERS OF THE YEAR 2009

[Benjamin Grimm]

THE SCHAEFER METS PLAYERS OF THE YEAR

PLAYER OF THE YEAR The Schaefer Mets Player of the Year for 2009 is DAVID WRIGHT. This is the fourth time David has won in the five years that the Crane Pool Forum has been maintaining the Schaefer tradition. It was, by all accounts, a sub-par year for Wright, but he benefited from being one of the few players to remain healthy for most of the season. David led the Mets in runs (88), hits (164), doubles (39), runs batted in (72), walks (74), and stolen bases (27). His .307 batting average, .447 slugging percentage, and .390 on-base percentage also were team highs. On a less positive note, David also led the Mets with 140 strikeouts.

PITCHER OF THE YEAR The Schaefer Mets Pitcher of the Year, for the second year in a row, is JOHAN SANTANA. Despite an elbow injury which ended his season on August 20, Santana finished just 7.11 points behind David Wright, and would likely have repeated as Player of the Year if he had another two or three starts. Santana tallied 25.83 points more than pitching runner-up Mike Pelfrey. Johan led the Mets with 13 wins, 146 strikeouts, and a 3.13 earned run average.

RELIEF PITCHER OF THE YEAR In the closest of the three races, the Schaefer Mets Relief Pitcher of the Year is FRANCISCO RODRIGUEZ. Frankie finished 4.08 points ahead of Brian Stokes, followed closely by Pedro Feliciano and Sean Green. Rodriguez, in 70 games, win 3 games and lost 6, and led the Mets with 35 saves. His season earned run average was 3.71.

FUN FACTS
The highest point total earned by any one player in 2009 was the 5.59 that Johan Santana earned on August 9 in a 5-1 victory over San Diego.

The lowest "winning score" was the 0.82 that Elmer Dessens was awarded for his efforts on July 17, in an 11-0 loss to Atlanta.

The most Schaefer Player of the Game awards went to Johan Santana, with 19.

NUMBER OF SCHAEFER POTG WINS IN 2009

Johan Santana	19
Mike Pelfrey	15
Livan Hernandez	13
Tim Redding	11
Fernando Tatis	8
Carlos Beltran	7
Daniel Murphy	7
John Maine	7
David Wright	6
Fernando Nieve	6
Jeff Francoeur	6
Luis Castillo	6
Nelson Figueroa	6
Pat Misch	5
Angel Pagan	4
Carlos Delgado	4
Gary Sheffield	4
Ken Takahashi	4
Oliver Perez	4
Elmer Dessens	3
Ryan Church	3
Bobby Parnell	2
Brian Stokes	2
Omir Santos	2
Brian Schneider	1
Cory Sullivan	1
Jeremy Reed	1
Jon Niese	1
José Reyes	1
Josh Thole	1
Ramon Castro	1
Wilson Valdez	1

Season-to-date totals for 2009
Through game of October 4, 2009

Rank	Name	Points
1	David Wright	91.72
2	Johan Santana	84.61
3	Daniel Murphy	71.46
4	Luis Castillo	70.96
5	Mike Pelfrey	58.78
6	Carlos Beltran	57.53
7	Angel Pagan	54.94
8	Fernando Tatis	53.44
9	Jeff Francoeur	50.81
10	Gary Sheffield	46.94
11	Livan Hernandez	46.08
12	Omir Santos	42.66
13	Francisco Rodriguez	38.58
14	Tim Redding	37.44
15	Bobby Parnell	35.11
16	Brian Stokes	34.50
17	Pedro Feliciano	32.62
18	Sean Green	32.04
19	Ryan Church	29.47
20	John Maine	29.16
21	Nelson Figueroa	27.53
22	Alex Cora	25.69
23	Pat Misch	23.59
24	Cory Sullivan	21.72
25	Brian Schneider	21.29
26	Carlos Delgado	20.71
27	José Reyes	17.29
28	Oliver Perez	16.58
29	Elmer Dessens	16.50
30	Fernando Nieve	16.27
31	Anderson Hernandez	15.92
32	Ken Takahashi	15.41
33	Jeremy Reed	14.75
34	J. J. Putz	12.51
35	Ramon Castro	10.37
36	Wilson Valdez	10.26
37	Fernando Martinez	9.97
38	Josh Thole	9.75
39	Jon Niese	7.44
40	Nick Evans	6.78
41	Tobi Stoner	3.06
42	Lance Broadway	3.02
43	Ramon Martinez	1.73
44	Angel Berroa	1.69
45	Billy Wagner	1.66
46	Casey Fossum	1.62
47	Darren O'Day	0.69
48	Jon Switzer	0.56
49	Andy Green	0.32
50	Argenis Reyes	0.16
51	Emil Brown	0.10

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

I know I'm forever praising the cards....but I just have to point out the attention to detail. There's an obvious attempt to match the style of that year's card photos with the card design. The 1974s were among the first with decent action photos in abundance, and that's replicated here. And the 1970s, as with the Stokes card, had many head shots.

The only thing left would be to have one of those 1971 and 1973 classics where the action shot looks like it was taken from the stands! I think the 1973 Tommie Agee card shows him with a painted on Astros uniform, playing centerfield at Shea with at least two other Mets also getting airbrushed into Houston uniforms.

These days, Topps is so good at Photoshopping uniforms that you have to really look hard to find the fakes. But in those days, I swear they were marking up glossy photographs with a fresh box of Crayolas.

Anyway, going a long way to saying I love the cards and appreciate the effort.

[G-Fafif]

Added kudos for the cards, every last one of 'em. Wow, the love affair with Brian Stokes, or decent seventh innings, is hot and heavy here.

Marlon Anderson and Robinson Cancel the only 2009 Mets to get zero Schaefer love. Emil Brown forever lords it over them.

[Edgy MD]

I think I voted for Marlon once. But it probably turned out to be statistically insignificant.

Heartbreaking that nobody could break through David's open door.

[Benjamin Grimm]

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Anyway, going a long way to saying I love the cards and appreciate the effort.

Thank you! The array of cards above happens to represent at least one sample of every Topps year that I've "retroed," from 1970 to 1977. Tim Redding's card is the first one I've done from 1976. (You can see the full gallery, if you'd like, on the UMDB Facebook page.)

I have three more cards, for players who looked, as the end of the month approached, like they were going to be a winner, but ended up falling just short. They've not yet been seen, and I'll probably post them later on in this thread.

Edgy DC wrote: Heartbreaking that nobody could break through David's open door.

91.72 is, by a considerable margin, the lowest total ever for a Schaefer Player of the Year. Santana was well on his way to a win until his season abruptly ended. That left Castillo and Murphy as Wright's only challengers, and they didn't make it much of a challenge.

[metsmarathon]

i'd love to see points per game, points per sip, and games per sip (or would that be the other way around?) stats.

because i'm greedy and cannot be sated by the sublime cards.

[Centerfield]

Great job Grimm, as always. Unfortunately, those cards are the highlight of the year.

[Benjamin Grimm]

metsmarathon wrote: i'd love to see points per game, points per sip, and games per sip (or would that be the other way around?) stats.

Check this out then: http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/rawdata.php?year=2009

[ashie62]

That Livan Hernandez wasthe pitcher of the month once speaks volumes

[Edgy MD]

Not really. He was far better in May.

It's a month. Anybody can win. Pagan, f'rinstance.

[metsmarathon]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: i'd love to see points per game, points per sip, and games per sip (or would that be the other way around?) stats. Check this out then: http://potg.leaptoad.com/mets/rawdata.php?year=2009

curse you and your giving me something to waste my friday with!

[Benjamin Grimm]

That page has been there for years now. I guess it's been a while since I've "publicized" it.

I'll be interested in seeing the results of your Friday time-wasting.

[Guest d'Kong76]

I read the initial post about an hour after it was posted and I felt guilty
for not voting more. The cards are cool, the data lists are cool, and
it will be interesting how the 2009 rankings compare with the voting.

Much thanks to Ben G for all he's done this year in keeping this place
going and for riding out the Schaefer voting while most of us quit.

Also, thanks to themetfairy for the sticktoitness of starting a good
majority of the voting threads.

[metsmarathon]

do you have any stats on voters? that would be cool to see...

who gave out the most sixes, who gave out the fewest
who voted the most, who did the fewest
who spreads their votes the thinnest, who the thickest

inquiring, pesky minds want to know.

well, they don't want it too much, really. just enough to suggest it.

[Benjamin Grimm]

For THAT, you'll have to cull the individual threads. I just keep track of the totals.

[metsmarathon]

awww.... damnit!

[Elster88]

Great job as always Ben. Thanks again.

[Edgy MD]

Classiest design from that era:



Most understatedly elegant design from that era:



Most generically ugly design from that era:



Bleh!

Design from that era that gives me the most warm fuzzies:

[Benjamin Grimm]

I agree with the first three selections. For me, though, 1971 would also win in the "warm fuzzy" category.

My three favorite baseball card designs are, easily, 1971, 1972, and 1973. Those are the years when I cared the most about baseball cards, and a still have an abiding affection for those cards.

Here are three cards I prepared this year for guys who almost won a POTM award, but were surpassed in the final days of the month:

[metsmarathon]

so i don't have time to post this neatly and in a huge table, but the results of my quickie tabulations are as follows:

the player who received votes in the highest percentage of games played is:
carlos beltran 82%
carlos delgado 81%
jose reyes 78%
david wright 76%
ramon martinez 75%

i also looked at plate appearances in games voted on, versus total plate appearances, to account for playing time.
the player who received the votes in the highest percentage of plate appearances is:
carlos delgado 85%
carlos beltran 84%
jose reyes 81%
ramon martinez 77%
david wright 77%

the player with the highest number of schaeffer points per game-voted is:
carlos delgado 0.99 PPGV
jeff francoeur 0.92 PPGV
angel pagan 0.90 PPGV
josh thole 0.89 PPGV
carlos beltran 0.87 PPGV

the player with the highest number of schaeffer points per PA-voted is:
ramon castro 0.40
fernando tatis 0.24
cory sullivan 0.23
jeff francoeur 0.22
carlos delgado 0.22

the player with the highest number of schaeffer points per game played is:
carlos delgado 0.80
carlos beltran 0.71
jeff francoeur 0.68
david wright 0.64
angel pagan 0.62

and finally, for the hitters, the player with the highest number of schaeffer points per plate appearance is:
carlos delgado 0.19
josh thole 0.17
jeff francoeur 0.17
carlos beltran 0.16
cory sullivan 0.15

thank you. pitchers will be next!

[metsmarathon]

the pitcher who received votes in the highest percentage of games played is:
tobi stoner, billy wagner, & casey fossum 100%
johan santana 96%
francisco rodriguez 89%
fernando nieve 88%
pedro feliciano 84%

the pitcher who received the votes in the highest percentage of innings pitched* is:
tobi stoner, billy wagner, & casey fossum 100%
johan santana 97%
fernando nieve 88%
oliver perez 87%
francisco rodriguez 87%

the pitcher with the highest number of schaeffer points per game-voted is:
johan santana 3.53 PPGV
livan hernandez 2.88 PPGV
john maine 2.65 PPGV
mike pelfrey 2.35 PPGV
fernando nieve 2.32 PPGV

the pitcher with the highest number of schaeffer points per IP-voted* is:
pedro feliciano 0.85 PPIPV
billy wagner 0.83 PPIPV
ken takahashi 0.81 PPIPV
sean green 0.69 PPIPV
brian stokes 0.69 PPIPV

the pitcher with the highest number of schaeffer points per game played is:
johan santana 3.38 PPG
fernando nieve 2.03 PPG
livan hernandez 2.00 PPG
john maine 1.94 PPG
mike pelfrey 1.90 PPG

and finally, the pitcher with the highest number of schaeffer points per inning pitched is:
billy wagner 0.83 PPIP
francisco rodriguez 0.57 PPIP
ken takahashi 0.56 PPIP
pedro feliciano 0.55 PPIP
johan santana 0.51 PPIP

thank you, and don't forget to tip your waiters.
i hope you find this somewhat interesting. i think i did.


*the total number of innings pitched in games a player received votes is somewhat inaccurate because in grimm's data, a third of an IP is recorded a 0.1, rther than 0.33. it shouldn't affect things too much...

[Benjamin Grimm]

So if Santana had made just two more starts, (and received his average of 3.38 points in each of those two starts) he would have ended up with more points than David Wright, even while missing the entire month of September.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

I somehow missed this thread the first time around and only now found it in the POTG Archives. As stated by others earlier, thanks to Grimm for the wonderful work in tabulating the Schaefer points and posting the baseball cards. Impressive work.

With marathon's love of statistical analysis and numbers, it's not too difficult to pick him out as the engineer of the forum.