Frayed Knot

I thought the same thing about the GR Double when watching that clip, that it would count for the same reason the HR does. Maybe it did and Gary just spoke too quickly. Pre-1920 (?) rules did Not award the HR on walk-off HRs, only the amount of bases needed to get the winning run in even for balls leaving the yard. When baseball records were first computerized (the original Macmillan Baseball Encyclopedia came out in 1969) it was discovered that Ruth had a 715th HR but it was ruled a single due to the winning run being on 3rd. A brief squabble ensued about whether the approaching Aaron would need one more homer to tie/pass than we all thought before a ruling was made that contemporaneous rules should apply thus leaving Babe at 714.

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It's quick, easy, and, except in cases of high IWs and HBPs, achieves the same goal of putting a measurement on a batter's plate discipline. That's why the first thing I look at for a player's is his slash line BA/OBA/SLG, because not only do each of those numbers tell you something about the hitter but so does the relationship between each of them. Walk 'Rate' is probably the wrong term for it but you find out about a hitter's walking ability just by looking at BA v OBA. Then Isolated Power (IsoP) is the gap between BA & SLG which effectively becomes a player's Slugging Average if you factor all his singles out of the equation. Any single, after all, including infield singles and bunt singles, increases one's 'Slugging' percentage which is certainly misleading at best. From 2004 to 2008, for instance, Mike Cameron (802) and Ichiro Suzuki (803) had near identical OPS, but of course were completely different hitters. Ichiro hit .332, 82 points higher than Cameron, but walked infrequently (46) and hit for little power (IsoP = 93 where 150 is around league norm) Cameron hit just .250 but walked at just about double the rate (85) and his slugging was 217 points above his BA. So a quick look at the slash lines of the two tells you a lot about what kind of hitter each is even if you never saw or heard of either of them. And there's no math involved beyond simple subtraction.

Simply the gap between a player's BA & OBA. The difference, unless significantly affected by HBPs which is barely relevant for most hitters, measures how often a hitter draws a walk. 65 to 70 points has been the traditional average and it's not a rate that varies much over time. It was 69 in 2024 for MLB as a whole. From his ML debut through his CIN & SEA seasons (2017 - 2022) when Winker was more or less a full time player, his BA/OBA gap was 104, significantly above league averages and even his 'down' rate as a Met (75) was still higher than league norms. For comparison, Keith Hernandez was 88 over the length of his career. You can usually find ultra high rates in power hitters where both careful pitching and high numbers of IWs start to play a major role such as Giambi (122) or Thome (126), or freaks like Bonds (146) and Williams (138)

The Mets actually saw the second worst* mini-stretch of Winker's career in 2024 which, particularly at only age 31, indicates that maybe it was more the exception than the rule. His career OPS/OPS+ is 804/118 as opposed to the 683/95 he put up over 129 PAs in Queens. In particular his usual high walk rate [105 career) was down at 75. Still good, but well under his norm which can probably be attributed to assuming more of a PH role. Maybe more ABs translates into more of a usual season for him even if he doesn't get everyday playing time. * he had an injury filled disaster of a partial season (197 PA) in 2023 w/the Brewers

I don't think I saw the entire flick, but my one memory was that of Costner's character keeping up with the pack during a race despite actively dying of the aforementioned mysterious medical issue. Yeah right! Try having a bad head cold and yet managing to keep up with the main body of the peloton.

I know we had a thread (or at least a discussion) on this at one time. Probably out in Archiveland somewhere.

Last call. https://twitter.com/nut_history/status/1879927785306919028 So basically you're telling me that Pete killed Uecker. No wonder the market for him suddenly dropped.

Keep in mind, Vladdy Jr fans, that he's an FA one year from now so temper your desires, as well as the price you'd agree to pay for him, accordingly.

I saw this about a billion years ago. Don't remember enough to render much of an opinion but my younger self was OK with it at the time IIRC

OTOH, it's tough to see how one or more of the teams labeled as interested are going to get into a bidding war and top the Mets offer, at least not by much. And if the ultimate winning bid does only top it by a bit is Pete going to take it just because it's the highest so as to prove some kind of point? Or because of pressure from Boras/MLBPA to never settle for less than top offer? There's a saying about how the decisions you make strictly for the most money often are the ones that make you less happy. Given Pete's stated position that he wanted to remain in New York, will he ultimately swallow hard and accept the offer from the Mets even though it's four years shorter and less than half as lucrative as the one he rejected in 2023?

The Mets made what they perceived as a last-ditch effort to sign Pete Alonso by offering him a three-year contract in the $68 million to $70 million range and, when that was rejected, began their pivot away from their slugging first baseman, The Post has learned. The Mets did not send out a statement that the Alonso Era was done. But they have come to believe – without some unexpected late reversal — that it is. Joel Sherman -- https://nypost.com/2025/01/16/sports/what-the-mets-were-offering-pete-alonso-before-talks-broke-down/ Not sounding too much like a negotiation ploy.

Bill Southworth: Makes his ML debut with the Braves while still a month shy of his 19th birthday on the last weekend of the 1965 season, the team's final one in Milwaukee. He'd get 9 Plate Appearances over three games: a single and a HR (accounting for his only two ML RBI) in 7 ABs plus two HBP ... and then never played in the majors again. So that's how you play for a team that left a city 59 years ago and still be ten months short of turning 80!

Gotta be one of the last surviving Milwaukee Braves, no? Actually I see now that he didn't make his ML debut until he was 28 in 1962, so one could conceivably be a Wisconsin Brave and be not much over 80 y/o. A 23 y/o coming up in 1965, for instance, would 'just' be turning 83 this year so there have got to be a couple still hanging on. Still, Felix Mantilla, six months younger than The Ueck, was also a Milwaukee Brave so they are among a diminishing species.

Mets pushing Pete for an answer -- Joel Sher-Man and Jon Hey-Man While the sides are said to be making progress on at least the structure of a proposed deal that’s expected to be for three years and include at least one opt out, there was no word by Wednesday that the sides have closed the substantial financial hurdle that’s hung over these high-profile talks regarding the star free-agent first baseman. And the Mets have let Alonso’s camp know they need a decision — and soon — on whether the two sides can do a deal as they want to make sure to leave themselves enough time and options to pivot elsewhere prior to spring training It is unknown if the Mets have given Boras/Alonso a specific deadline for an answer one way or the other. The article goes on to list the Giants, Angels, Mariners, Jays, and Red Sox as potential landing spots for Pete if not in Queens. And also talks about Vientos to 1B with some combo of Baty, Acuna, Mauricio taking over at 3rd as a possible in-house solution for a post-Petey world.

This thread turns two years old tomorrow.

=TheNextMetsManager post_id=183019 time=1736988008 user_id=193] =metirish post_id=183016 time=1736986556 user_id=72] Let's hope the X-rays are ok if this does happen

I assumed this thread was about another minor league name change.

When I first saw this Subject Heading I was afraid to open because I thought this would involve a minor league team name even dopier than the Rumble Ponies. But I was even more afraid that it was going to be a story with photos of Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, and John Fetterman together in a hot tub ... so I guess I got off easy.

Yeah, nothing until May, but then two in a row and three weeks out of six May 18 @ Yanx May 25 hosting LAD June 22 @ Phils ----- Then 'hosting' the Mariners in Williamsburg PA on August 17 Second half of the year has not yet been set, but there are sure to be some and even more (and with less advanced notice) if the team is doing well.

Elian Pena, a 17 y/o SS from the Dominican Republic. His name had been mentioned in some of the discussion over [CROSSOUT]Rori[/CROSSOUT] Roki Sasaki. Sasaki's bonus had to come out of each team's Int'l Bonus pool money and the Mets were already said to have committed a bulk of it ($5mil of the total $6.2) towards Pena. This may have been part of the reason for Sasaki saying 'Sayonara' to the Mets, but his agent had stressed to Sasaki that his money was going to be made over the long term so the difference in up front signing bonus was going to represent chump change in the long wrong ... so probably not.

Having never seen Chalamet in anything else prior to this (that I know of anyway) I have zero opinion into whether he's a great guy or an ******* off camera. Nor am I all Chalamet'd out the way some of you seem be.

After his good (if brief) 2020 season [993/162 OPS/OPS+, 13th in MVP voting] Dom (retroactively) claimed to have played injured for much of '21 although I don't remember the specific ailment. Some of that might have been due to outside (team) pressure but a lot, he said, was internal, that he simply felt an obligation to 'play through' whatever was bugging him but eventually realized it did him more harm than good and resolved not to make that same mistake again. But while presumably healthy the next year, by '22 the Mets were heavily into the Alonso era meaning irregular play for Dom and mostly at unfamiliar positions even though he was the better 1B glove. That's why I thought a full time assignment in '23*, even with a declining team like the Nats, would be good for him but he simply wasn't the same hitter for whatever reason. He was one and done with Washington before splitting around 300 PA with Boston and Cincy last season. * the 586 PAs he got with the Nats were, by far, the most of his career. That, plus the injured 2021 season, were the only ones to top 310

Though not specific as to which substance, "drug overdose" is the listed cause of death. Apparently there was a long history of use. His body was found at his home by his mother.

Both Dom and Cooper played in Boston for pieces of last season. Neither were particularly successful. I always rooted for Dom so this move is going to make that tough. Best case scenario is if he looks good enough in the minors to force a move to another team via an opt-out or a trade. I thought him being handed a full time job in Washington back in '23 after his big stumbles in '21 & '22 would help right his ship but he only got worse. Still not yet 30 y/o (June) I like that he's still in there fighting.