The Craig Swan Award

[Guest Edgy DC]

The Award goes to a Met who competes for an ERA title in an otherwise non-descript year.

I still hope the year becomes more, um, descript, but please note that Really Astounding Dickey, with seven innings today, succesfully qualified for the ERA crown, checking into the race at number seven (with a bullet). In fact, he's in between Jaime Garcia and Ubaldo Jiminez --- two guys who, it should be noted, throw their bullets much much harder than he does.

Rank	Pitcher	Team	ERA	IP
1.	R Halladay	PHI	2.22	207.0
2.	T Hudson	ATL	2.24	184.2
3.	J Johnson	FLA	2.28	177.2
4.	M Latos	SD	2.29	149.2
5.	A Wainwright	STL	2.30	195.1
6.	J Garcia	STL	2.33	146.2
7.	R Dickey	=#FF8000]NYM	2.57	133.1
8.	U Jimenez	COL	2.71	176.1
9.	C Carpenter	STL	2.93	190.1
10.	B Myers	HOU	2.97	185.0
11.	C Kershaw	LAD	3.01	170.1
12.	J Santana	=#FF8000]NYM	3.02	194.0

[G-Fafif]

I'm all for the Craig Swan Award, but every Met year is descript. I'd describe this one as inconsistent.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Pretty much true. Suffice to say that by "otherwise non-descript," I meant "otherwise, less successful than hoped."

[G-Fafif]

Edgy DC wrote: Pretty much true. Suffice to say that by "otherwise non-descript," I meant "otherwise, less successful than hoped."

Spiritual equivalent of 1978 -- a couple of successful spurts notwithstanding -- might suffice. But such a detailed title and explanation would also make the awards ceremony (The Swannies) run well into the local news.

[seawolf17]

Wow. With ERAs that low, he and Santana must have like fifteen wins apiece by now.

[Guest Kong76]

Dickey's gonna fall off that list before his next start
according to the booth today. It amazes me how much
more tuned into everything Gary is than Keith (and me) ...
I shouldn't be surprised, but I am sometimes.

[Guest Edgy DC]

The Craig Swan AwardTM goes every year to the Met who best lights an ERA candle rather than cursing the second-divison darkness.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Well put.

Kong76 wrote: Dickey's gonna fall off that list before his next start according to the booth today. It amazes me how much more tuned into everything Gary is than Keith (and me) ... I shouldn't be surprised, but I am sometimes.

Same before the last start.

He needs what, another 29 innings before season's end?

[G-Fafif]

Edgy DC wrote: The Craig Swan AwardTM goes every year to the Met who best lights an ERA candle rather than cursing the second-divison darkness.

Swannie-eligible Mets of pre-Swannie era (1962-1972): Pitcher's Top 10 placement in ERA leadership, team's second-division placement (6th or lower in 10-team league; 4th or lower in 6-team division):

� Jerry Koosman, 2.08 (4th in N.L.), 1968 (73-89, 9th Place in 10-team league)


Swannie-eligible Mets of Swannie era (1973-1984): Pitcher's Top 10 placement in ERA leadership, team's second-division placement (4th or lower):

� Jon Matlack, 2.41 (3rd in N.L.), 1974 (71-91, 5th Place in 6-team division)
� CRAIG SWAN, 2.43 (1ST IN N.L.), 1978 (66-96, 5th Place)
� Pat Zachry, 3.01 (6th in N.L.), 1980 (67-95, 5th Place)


Swannie-eligible Mets of post-Swannie era (1985- ): Pitcher's Top 10 placement in ERA leadership, team's second-division placement (4th or lower in 6-team division; judgment employed on defining "second division" in the 5-team division/Wild Card era):

� Sid Fernandez, 2.73 ERA (10th in N.L), 1992 (72-90, 5th Place)
� Bret Saberhagen, 2.74 ERA (2nd in N.L.), 1994 (55-58, distant 3rd Place in 5-team division)
� Bobby Jones, 3.15 ERA (8th in N.L.), 1994 (55-58, distant 3rd Place)
� Al Leiter, 3.21 ERA (9th in N.L.), 2004 (71-91, distant 4th Place)

[Guest Edgy DC]

Good job and congratulations to all retroactive CSA honorees. I think top-ten placements goes a long way toward granting the award and its namesake their deserved respect.

I think you also have a good policy there of considering as "second-division" third-place teams in a five team division when the team is closer to fifth than first.

[G-Fafif]

"Second division" is a lovely baseball phrase that has lost much of its efficacy with realignment. That's where the judgment calls came in.

Mets finished third in '97 and '05 with a Top Ten pitcher in the ERA derby each time -- Rick Reed and Pedro Martinez, respectively. The '97 team was in the Wild Card Hunt until the last ten or so days of the season and finished four behind the Marlins for the prize. Not second division. The '05 Mets were in a Wild Card jumble until the second week of September, and wound up tied for third with the Fish at the end, if only a couple of games ahead of the last-place Nats. Their division, really, was the Wild Card Division, so hard to see them as 1978-ish in that vein.

Tom Seaver led the league in ERA in 1971 (and the world: 1.76) on a team that finished tied for third, one that never contended past June. But tied for third is tied for third. Thus not included for Swannie consideration. The Big Three of Seaver, Koosman and Matlack, in that order, finished in the Top 10 in 1976, and the Mets were totally out of it early, but they finished third, and with a relatively strong record, so no Swannies there.

The spirit of this thing will be well-served by R.A. Dickey should he continue to pitch as he has and should the Mets not turn September on its ear.

[Chad ochoseis]

I'd always thought "second division" simply meant "sub-.500", regardless of where the team placed. I haven't heard the term used in years. It has a charmingly old-time ring to it, like referring to the Tigers as "the Detroits".

[G-Fafif]

It had a little more going for it when there were eight-team leagues and finishing fourth was viewed as an accomplishment for the likes of the Philadelphias and the Washingtons and the perpetually put-upons.

[G-Fafif]

Bump. This quest needs to be followed. Dickey has two starts left and is tenth in the league with a 2.92 ERA. He's also 15th in the NL in WHIP and first in books on the top shelf of his locker.

[Gwreck]

G-Fafif wrote: It had a little more going for it when there were eight-team leagues and finishing fourth was viewed as an accomplishment for the likes of the Philadelphias and the Washingtons and the perpetually put-upons.

It also was the dividing line between which teams got postseason shares and which ones didn't, and at that time, that extra money was a pretty big deal compared to what salaries were.

[G-Fafif]

A poor start by Ubaldo Jimenez (in a game the Rox really needed) pushes R.A. up to 9th in ERA. Jerry's improv rotation has him going Friday.

[Ceetar]

G-Fafif wrote: Bump. This quest needs to be followed. Dickey has two starts left and is tenth in the league with a 2.92 ERA. He's also 15th in the NL in WHIP and first in books on the top shelf of his locker.

Someone with more time atm should put up Dickey's numbers against Lackey's and Pineiro's.

[G-Fafif]

Good news: R.A. has surpassed the 162-inning threshold for ERA leadership qualification.

Bad news: His ERA is rising every inning.

[G-Fafif]

R.A. @ 2.92, tenth in N.L. Hamels is 11th at 2.93. For the purposes of the Craig Swan Award, the Mets must get to Hamels on Sunday. Best thing that could happen Dickeywise would be an afternoon loss by the Braves Saturday and a Phillies win in the evening and then maybe the opposition will be so hung over...

This is what it's come to.

[seawolf17]

G-Fafif wrote: This is what it's come to.

Praying that a guy who most of us lambasted when he was signed as a sign that Omar and crew were completely worthless finishes higher than tenth in the ERA race? Yeah, I'd say that's pretty sad.

[G-Fafif]

Hamels up to 3.09, well behind Dickey (yay!).

[G-Fafif]

Current ERA standings of parochial interest:

5. Hudson, ATL 2.80
6. Oswalt, PHI 2.80
7. Myers, HOU 2.89
8. Kershaw, LAD 2.91
9. Latos, SDP 2.91
10. Dickey NYM 2.92
11. Cain, SFG 2.95
12. Santana, NYM 2.98
13. Jimenez, COL 3.00
14. Hamels, PHI 3.09

[G-Fafif]

R.A. Dickey, human being, via Andy McCullogh in the Star-Ledger.

Sometimes, Anne admits in jest, she gets a little jealous. The secret about her husband is out. She met R.A. when she was 12. They were friends in high school. She transferred to the University of Tennessee to be with him. They�ve been married for 14 years, sharing joy, soothing pain, building a family. In April, Dickey allowed a leadoff single in a Triple-A game. He retired the next 27 batters � the almost perfect game. Anne listened on an internet broadcast in Nashville. As the innings passed, the kids went outside to ride their bicycles. R.A.�s mother went with them. Anne stayed by the computer. When the game was over, she dashed into the street and hugged her mother-in-law. �He did it,� she shouted. �He did it.� Her husband created that sort of joy here in New York this summer, during the early months of summer when these games still mattered. His teammates saw a combination of off-field serenity and on-field ferocity, his mouth roaring with each pitch. �He looks like a lion,� first baseman Ike Davis said. Earlier this month, Dickey logged a complete-game victory over Pittsburgh. Jonathon Niese approached him after the game. He was in elementary school when the Rangers drafted Dickey. Now he lockers next to him. He leaned in, his voice lowered. �I just love watching you pitch,� Niese said. �I really do.� After tonight, the pitching stops and the uncertainty returns. Dickey will turn 36 next month. He plans to train for a triathlon, travel with his family. They know this much: Their fourth child is due on Opening Day 2011. They will take everything else moment by moment. �It�s become much more about the journey than the destination,� Anne said. She paused for a moment. Laughter tinged her voice. �But I do the hope the destination ends up with one team for a very long time,� she said. �That would be a beautiful thing.�

Meanwhile, from a bloodless statistical perspective, a big night ahead where the Swannie concerned. Current standings:

7. Myers, HOU 2.89
8. Kershaw, LAD 2.91
9. Latos, SDP 2.92
10. Dickey, NYM 2.92
11. Cain, SFG 2.95
12. Santana, NYM 2.98
13. Jimenez, COL 2.99

[G-Fafif]

R.A. climbs to seventh with his final start, checking out at 2.86. May everybody else near him get bombed from here to Sunday.

[G-Fafif]

With Dickey holding tight in seventh, Matt Cain getting lit up slots Johan Santana in tenth at 2.98. The challenge: Ubaldo Jimenez, in eleventh, at 2.99. He needs to win for his 20th, which once seemed a foregone conclusion.

[G-Fafif]

By placing in the Top 10 in Earned Run Average for a losing, second-division Mets club, R.A. Dickey becomes the first New York Met pitcher to earn a Swannie since Al Leiter in 2004. R.A. finishes seventh in the National League in ERA at 2.84, 0.01 behind Tim Hudson. Johan Santana misses the cut by finishing eleventh, at 2.98, 0.06 behind Mat Latos. Jerry Manuel, send R.A. out for another bow!

[Guest Edgy DC]

I think we should send him a plaque.