batmagadanleadoff

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Rays don't stand a chance tonight. Not with Dickey and his Radically Altered knuckler. We could beat 'em even with eight Jason Bays in the lineup. Never mind.

Rays don't stand a chance tonight. Not with Dickey and his Radically Altered knuckler. We could beat 'em even with eight Jason Bays in the lineup.

Yeah, but Fry's gotta rely on decidedly non-Metly cards like these to fill out his Holy Books: Oh, that's a given. Nevertheless, I'm surprised he hasn't reanimated those who are no longer with us, placed them in period-specific uniforms and issued Topps updates for all of them. That sounds like the super-secret project I'm working on.

I'd guess that about 25% of all Mets ever never appeared on a single card in a major league Mets uniform. Nine Mets "never got a regulation-sized, acceptable card from anybody," majors or minors, according to Jason Fry of Faith and Fear in Flushing, both sources with which I'm familiar. Brian Ostrosser got a 1975 minor-league card that looks like a bad Xerox. Leon Brown has a terrible 1975 minor-league card and an oversized Omaha Royals card put out as a promotional set by the police department. Tommy Moore got a 1990 Senior League card as a 42-year-old with the Bradenton Explorers. Then we have Al Schmelz, Francisco Estrada, Lute Barnes, Bob Rauch, Greg Harts and Rich Puig. They have no cards whatsoever � the oddball 1991 Nobody Beats the Wiz cards are too undersized to work. Jason has not only created a special set for the "Lost Nine" (like what Grimmy does for the Schaefers, but he had them printed up on regulation Topps card stock "because I am insane") but is working on a new version because they just weren't perfect enough the first time. Yeah, but Fry's gotta rely on decidedly non-Metly cards like these to fill out his Holy Books:

Nobody shows up for a Mets/Cubs game, last week of the '79 season. I am shocked. Shocked.

Edgy DC wrote: Where the heck is 1975? SSPC produced large sets in '75 and '76. Swan appeared in the '76 set but was MIA the year before.

Edgy DC wrote: That sucks. And he gets no less than two cards with two faces for his five lousy innings with California in the second half of 1984. At least Swan's represented. I'd guess that about 25% of all Mets ever never appeared on a single card in a major league Mets uniform. Edgy DC wrote: It's amazing how little productivity the Mets got out of Swan and Stearns from 1981-1984.... Didn't Swan get hurt like right after signing what was then the most lucrative contract in franchise history?

Edgy DC wrote: Where the heck is 1975? There ain't no 1975. You have to boomph your way out.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Where's he pitching in that 81 shot? Looks too "big" for Wrigley. Looks like Wrigley to me. It's not the big stadium -- it's the tiny crowds.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Swan looks like he REALLY wants you to come hang out in the sauna with him. Doesn't he always? (/rolls eyes)

The Expos had a similar ticket run in 2003 to commemorate their 35th anniversary. Most of the images used were dynamic action shots.

I think that in general, the Mets cheaped it up on the photos. Design, too, probably. Perhaps they wanted to avoid licensing fees, I'm guessing. With the Mets, I'm always imagining that there's a teen-ager in the family long on designing aspirations and short on talent who nevertheless gets these gigs so that the team can pinch a few more pennies. Whatever, they often relied on their in-house head shots to produce this run of tickets. It's a shock to me that the organization even put out these tickets, with a different image for each game.

In-depth: Which Mets will see Rays shift? By Mark Simon, ESPN Stats & Information You're going to hear a lot about defensive positioning these next few days, largely because the Rays are viewed as the team for whom this takes a high priority. The Rays lead the majors in defensive shifts used, as manager Joe Maddon and his staff try to put his team in the highest-percentage position to get an out. The Mets will probably face more than their usual share in these next three games. Here are the four Mets most likely to be challenged by an unusual defensive alignment this series, alongside images providing the justification for such a move. IKE DAVIS Davis has seen his share of defensive shifts this season. The shift that would seem to make the most sense against Davis is the one that would put the shortstop behind second base and the third baseman in the shortstop position, thus giving the defense two infielders to guard the area between the normal second-base position and the base itself. Smart positioning has almost certainly impacted Davis' numbers this season. He has reached base 11 of 20 times when hitting a line drive in 2012 (with five lineouts to infielders), and 10 of 60 times when he has hit a ground ball. His success rates in both areas are below major-league norms. LUCAS DUDA Duda will likely warrant a shift, though he has shown the ability to hit the ball the other way on occasion. Of the 54 ground balls he has hit this season, 42 have been to the right of second base. That's about a 78 percent rate. Those who have studied such matters generally endorse playing a shift on a hitter if he's pulling the ball at an 80 percent rate. If you expand the look to line drives, as we did in the image on the right, there are a couple more that were infield-playable hit to the right side. All the line drives Duda hit to the left side were hit into the outfield Duda amounts to a legitimate shift candidate, once we add line drives to the mix, though his shift may not be as extreme as Davis'. JASON BAY/SCOTT HAIRSTON Most teams don't shift against right-handed hitters, but the Rays are not shy about doing so. Bay's profile is basically begging for a shift. The image on the right shows Bay's ground balls and line drives this season. Amazingly, he has hit 23 of them without hitting a ball to the right of second base. Dating back to last season, Bay's last 40 ground-ball outs have been fielded by either the pitcher, shortstop or third baseman. Hairston's batted-ball profile is almost identical to Bay's when it comes to direction of line drives and ground balls. He has hit 43 ground balls and line drives this season and only one was to the right of second base. Whatever treatment Bay gets, Hairston will likely see the same. http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/48341/in-depth-which-mets-will-see-rays-shift

Jay Jaffe's sensible and even-keeled state of the Mets, written right after the third game of the St. Looey series, which includes more on the Mets run differential and close game outcomes. Mets� moment in the sun may not last Johan Santana�s no-hitter on Friday night was the biggest story of the Mets� weekend, given both the pitcher�s comeback and the franchise�s lack of a no-no in its first half century, but Saturday and Sunday were pretty good, too. Behind R.A. Dickey�s shutout on Saturday and Jon Niese�s career-high 10 strikeouts on Sunday, the Mets held the Cardinals � who came into the series as the NL�s highest-scoring team � to one run in the first three games of their four-game wraparound series that concludes Monday afternoon. In doing so, they moved into a three-way tie atop the NL East. They shouldn�t get too comfortable there. Even by beating the Cardinals by a combined score of 19-1, the Mets� run differential for the season is ?6 runs; they�ve been outscored 245-239, though their record is 31-23. No team in either league has outdistanced their expected (Pythagorean) record by a wider margin than their 5.1 wins, or posted a better winning percentage in one- and two-run games than their .727 (on a 16-6 record). And perhaps none has outdistanced its preseason expectations than the team that began the year under one of the darkest financial clouds in recent memory, not to mention the indignity of losing free agent Jose Reyes, the franchise�s marquee player, to the division-rival Marlins. Despite the weekend�s lockdown of the NL�s top offense, run prevention has been the Mets� weak spot. Their 4.54 runs per game allowed is the league�s third-worst, but that�s not all on the pitching staff. Rather, their ranking parallels their 14th-ranked defensive efficiency (their rate of turning batted balls into outs); their .676 mark is 14 points below the league average. That showing may reflect the cost of making offense-first decisions at second base (Daniel Murphy) or having them made for them by injuries (Kirk Nieuwenhuis for Andres Torres in centerfield, several players for Ruben Tejada at shortstop). Fortunately, the staff�s 8.2 strikeouts per nine is third in the league, minimizing the number of balls in play, and their other peripherals are closer to average. The rotation has been better than expected, buoyed by the return of Santana (2.38 ERA, 9.0 strikeouts per nine) and sterling work from Dickey (2.69 ERA, 8.6 strikeouts per nine, and a league-best 91 percent quality start rate), both of which have helped offset the loss of Mike Pelfrey to Tommy John surgery. Niese (9.0 K/9 and Dillon Gee (8.1 K/9) have both missed bats as well, but inflated home run rates have driven their ERAs above 4.00. In all, the unit�s 61 percent quality start rate is tied for fourth, while their Fair Run Average (runs per nine, adjusted for defense and bullpen support) is seventh at 4.34. The bullpen has been the bigger problem; its 4.60 Fair Run Average ranks 13th, as does its 35 percent rate of allowing inherited runners to score. That said, closer Frank Francisco hasn�t been as bad as his 5.82 ERA suggests; he has converted 14 of 16 save opportunities despite being scorched for a .383 BABIP, and his FRA is just 2.64. He�s one of four Mets relievers with a BABIP above .350, along with Manny Acosta, Ramon Ramirez and Bobby Parnell. On the other side of the ball, even given injuries to Torres and Jason Bay � two-thirds of their starting outfield � and a dreadful slump from Ike Davis, the offense�s 4.43 runs per game ranks fourth in the NL. That�s driven by a .336 on-base percentage, the league�s third-best mark � itself a combination of a .323 batting average on balls in play (fifth in the league, nine points above average) and an 8.4 percent unintentional walk rate (both tops in the league); meanwhile, their .392 slugging percentage is 10th. In other words, it�s patience and a bit of hit-�em-where-they-ain�t luck, particularly with runners in scoring position, where their .264/.359/.409 line has been good for the league�s third-best OPS, helped along by a .319 BABIP, 34 points above average in that situation. Leading the offensive charge has been David Wright, who ranks second in the National League in on-base percentage (.468), third in batting average (.363), and eighth in slugging percentage (.581) � marks much closer to his career line (.303/.384/.511) than last year�s disappointing performance (.254/.345/.427), which wasn�t helped by his missing two months with a stress fracture in his back. His 3.1 Wins Above Replacement Player is not only second in the league, it�s more than three times the value of last season�s mark. Wright has gotten the most help from Nieuwenhuis (.301/.366/.405), Murphy (.307/.359/.390), and shortstop Ruben Tejada (.305/.362/.400), little of it expected at the outset. Nieuwenhuis, a 24-year-old rookie, has filled in admirably for Torres and Bay, first after the former strained a quad on opening day and missed more than three weeks, and then after the latter broke a rib when he tried to make a diving catch on April 24. Manager Terry Collins will have to find Nieuwenheis playing time once Bay (.240/.316/.460) returns from a rehab assignment, perhaps as soon as this weekend. Tejada is on the DL as well due to a quad strain, but the oft-injured Murphy has been a lineup mainstay, starting 49 games (tied for the team high with Wright). One way that Collins could fit Bay and Nieuwenhuis into the lineup would be to bench or farm out Davis, who is hitting just .166/.230/.284, and to play rightfielder Lucas Duda at first base. The book appears to be out on the 25-year-old Davis, who was limited to 36 games last year due to an ankle injury; he�s seeing fewer fastballs than any hitter this side of Bryce Harper, and is flailing at breaking balls outside of the strike zone as he struggles to control his long swing. A minor league stint would appear to be in order (he has options remaining), and while Collins has said the team has no plans to ship him out, the brass may have to reconsider. Such a move could help the defense as well, since a variety of defensive metrics agree that Davis has been subpar at first, while Duda has been brutal in the outfield. The Mets� run differential and record in close games both suggest the team�s ride at or near the top of the NL East will eventually come to an end. Even after St. Louis leaves town their next 18 games come against teams with winning records, namely the Nationals, Yankees, Rays, Reds and Orioles. But for a team that most expected to finish the year in the basement, and perhaps up for sale, this weekend�s triumphs are worth savoring. http://mlb.si.com/2012/06/04/mets-moment-in-the-sun-may-not-last/

Wow. What a story.

-- pinch hit in the 7th inning of the Mets/Giants marathon 23 inning game; then warmed up Mets pitchers in the bullpen until the 15th inning when the Mets finally ran out of pitchers. -- struck out in Bunning's perfecto on a pitch Hawk said was six to eight inches wide of the strike zone. According to Hawk, the home plate ump was expanding Bunning's strike zone all game long. (From The Amazin' Mets, 1962-1969, William Ryczek)

Chad Ochoseis wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: metirish wrote: I'm being illogical here but since Bay came back we suck. Ha! Bay's been can of corning them all weekend long. So naturally, the one time one of Bay's leisurely pigeon flight fly ball outs would at least drive in a run, he whiffs. I'm developing a Frenchy like contempt for the Beirut Bomber because I think he's done. Forkable done. It's looking like as far as Bay goes, I'll be spending the rest of the summer talking about sunk costs and stunk costs and sunk Mets. We've been sucking since the no-hitter, actually. Blaiming Bay for the past week is like blaming the smell of a five-foot-high manure pile on the top two inches. Oh, I could blame others. That's easy.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: metirish wrote: I'm being illogical here but since Bay came back we suck. Ha! Bay's been can of corning them all weekend long. So naturally, the one time one of Bay's leisurely pigeon flight fly ball outs would've at least driven in a run, he whiffs. I'm developing a Frenchy like contempt for the Beirut Bomber because I think he's done. Forkable done. It's looking like as far as Bay goes, I'll be spending the rest of the summer talking about sunk costs and stunk costs and sunk Mets. You know what? I take some of this back. There's no shame in sucking at Bay's age. He's almost 34 and he's two and a half a years older than when the Mets signed him. And to whatever wear and tear he came with, add a bad concussion and a rib problem that cost him about a month and a half of play. There are inner circle hall of famers who were done before 34. I blame whoever it is in the FO that insists on Bay playing because of the sunk costs sunk into him. Who would that be?

metirish wrote: I'm being illogical here but since Bay came back we suck. Ha! Bay's been can of corning them all weekend long. So naturally, the one time one of Bay's leisurely pigeon flight fly ball outs would've at least driven in a run, he whiffs. I'm developing a Frenchy like contempt for the Beirut Bomber because I think he's done. Forkable done. It's looking like as far as Bay goes, I'll be spending the rest of the summer talking about sunk costs and stunk costs and sunk Mets.

When the bottom of this season drops out and the Mets finish 15 games behind the second wild card, you can all point to Bay's return to the lineup as the tipping point for the Mets freefall.

"Chewing this piece of gum will cause the ball to bounce off the opposing pitcher and into center field."

I just spoke to Beirut: they don't want Jason Bay.

In his last three AB's, Bay's lofted lazy fly ball outs, each one about 30 feet short of the warning track. This is about as good as you can hope for with Bay: that if he keeps this up, at least he won't be grounding into DP's with a man on and less than two outs.