metsmarathon

k. fine. i still think the hints i'm giving you guys are good enough. if you still can't get it, i'll ask this guy to bring you the answer.

wait, are you calling al leiter your darling, and asking him if he thinks that al jackson is the answer? that's just weird.

yabbut, knowing the answers, you have to admit that the hints i'm throwing out there are pretty good, right?

at this point, i don't know wether i should throw out another hint. y'all have should enough to crack the case.

valentine racked up a grand total of -0.1 WAR in his 526 metly plate appearances. i could add him to the bottom of the list, if you really want me to...

at some point in his baseball career, gary carter was a teammate of the correct answer. but he's never been a teammate of himself, so he's not correct. and if angel pagan making htis list isn't enough of a curve ball, well, wait until the last guy is revealed. hey guy, i don't make the stats. i just make the lists and choose frustratingly arbitrary cutoff points. 1. lenny dykstra 5.18 WAR/600 PA 2. beltran 5.12 WAR/600 PA 3. john olerud 5.11 WAR/600 PA 4. lance johnson 5.10 WAR/600 PA 5. darryl strawberry 4.81 WAR/600 PA 6. david wright 4.70 WAR/600 PA 7. keith hernandez 4.32 WAR/600 PA 8. edgardo alfonzo 3.98 WAR/600 PA 9. angel pagan 3.94 WAR/600 PA 10. bernard gilkey 3.91 WAR/600 PA 11. john stearns 3.78 WAR/600 PA 12. mike piazza 3.70 WAR/600 PA 13. robin ventura 3.69 WAR/600 PA 14. 15. jose reyes 3.43 WAR/600 PA not in the top 15 dave magadan #16 3.38 WAR/600 PA tommie agee #18 3.13 WAR/600 PA kevin mcreynolds #20 2.93 WAR/600 PA mookie wilson #21 2.88 WAR/600 PA howard johnson #22 2.86 WAR/600 PA gary carter #23 2.77 WAR/600 PA wally backman #29 2.57 WAR/600 PA jeff kent #30 2.53 WAR/600 PA bobby bonilla #32 2.44 WAR/600 PA cleon jones #34 2.33 WAR/600 PA gregg jeffries #41 1.95 WAR/600 PA carlos delgado #47 1.42 WAR/600 PA rusty staub #49 1.40 WAR/600 PA marlon byrd (unranked) 5.17 WAR/600 PA moises alou (unranked) 3.33 WAR/600 PA mike cameron (unranked) 2.79 WAR/600PA eddie murray (unranked) 1.21 WAR/600 PA roger cedeno (unranked) 0.37 WAR/600 PA rey ordonez (unranked) 0.15 WAR/600 PA

seo just misses at 17th. billy wagner and his alpacas are the third best pitcher in terms of WAR/250 IP. still looking for number nine. still surprised either of these took so long. jae seo before the ninth guy? sheesh! no. not jon niese. 1. matt harvey 7.27 WAR/250 IP 2. armando benitez 7.06 WAR/250 IP 3. billy wagner 6.61 WAR/250 IP 4. tom seaver 6.25 WAR/250 IP 5. brett saberhagen 5.53 WAR/250 IP 6. mike hampton 5.41 WAR/250 IP 7. johan santana 5.30 WAR/250 IP 8. r.a. dickey 5.23 WAR/250 IP 9. 10. jesse orosco 5.12 WAR/250 IP not in top 10: randy myers: #11, 5.10 WAR/250 IP dwight gooden: #13 4.79 WAR/250 IP rick reed: #14, 4.64 WAR/250 IP john matlack: #15 4.59 WAR/250 IP jae seo: #17 4.41 WAR/250 IP sid fernandez: #18 4.37 WAR/250 IP frank viola: #19 4.28 WAR/250 IP pedro martinez: #20, 4.16 WAR/250 IP tug mcgraw: #22 4.04 WAR/200 IP david cone: #23 4.03 WAR/250 IP john franco: #24 3.99 WAR/250 IP jerry koosman: #26 3.88 WAR/250 IP bobby ojeda: #33 3.17 WAR/250 IP roger mcdowell: #43, 2.30 WAR/250 IP jonathon niese: #49 1.63 WAR/250 IP unranked pitchers: terry bross: 7.50 WAR/250 IP braden looper: 4.03 WAR/250 IP larry bearnarth: 0.37 WAR/250 IP

i'll toss out another hint. our remaining player's career spanned 17 years, though he only played for 16 seasons, and ended before the onset of the 21st century.

jeffries seems like a good answer. much more like a good answer than the real remaining answer. 1. lenny dykstra 5.18 WAR/600 PA 2. beltran 5.12 WAR/600 PA 3. john olerud 5.11 WAR/600 PA 4. lance johnson 5.10 WAR/600 PA 5. darryl strawberry 4.81 WAR/600 PA 6. david wright 4.70 WAR/600 PA 7. keith hernandez 4.32 WAR/600 PA 8. edgardo alfonzo 3.98 WAR/600 PA 9. angel pagan 3.94 WAR/600 PA 10. bernard gilkey 3.91 WAR/600 PA 11. john stearns 3.78 WAR/600 PA 12. mike piazza 3.70 WAR/600 PA 13. robin ventura 3.69 WAR/600 PA 14. 15. jose reyes 3.43 WAR/600 PA not in the top 15 dave magadan #16 3.38 WAR/600 PA tommie agee #18 3.13 WAR/600 PA kevin mcreynolds #20 2.93 WAR/600 PA mookie wilson #21 2.88 WAR/600 PA howard johnson #22 2.86 WAR/600 PA wally backman #29 2.57 WAR/600 PA jeff kent #30 2.53 WAR/600 PA bobby bonilla #32 2.44 WAR/600 PA cleon jones #34 2.33 WAR/600 PA gregg jeffries #41 1.95 WAR/600 PA carlos delgado #47 1.42 WAR/600 PA rusty staub #49 1.40 WAR/600 PA marlon byrd (unranked) 5.17 WAR/600 PA moises alou (unranked) 3.33 WAR/600 PA mike cameron (unranked) 2.79 WAR/600PA eddie murray (unranked) 1.21 WAR/600 PA roger cedeno (unranked) 0.37 WAR/600 PA rey ordonez (unranked) 0.15 WAR/600 PA

last season, there were 50 major leaguers who'd played 14 years or more (meaning they'd debuted at least as early as 2000), per bbref. mind you, this does not include any players who missed a full complete season (or two) along the way, either due to injury or spending a full year in the minors, as this only counts years appearing in the majors. like randy choate. he's only got 13 years, having debuted in 2000, but missed all of 2008.

i'm merely echoing my disgust. also, i made a math error on some of my unrankies. notably, terry bross should be at 7.5 WAR/250 IP. i'd calculated for 200 IP. how comes he only got ten freaking innings pitched from us, anyways? bearnarth looks a little better, but still, bad. looper was correctly calculated. 1. matt harvey 7.27 WAR/250 IP 2. armando benitez 7.06 WAR/250 IP 3. 4. tom seaver 6.25 WAR/250 IP 5. brett saberhagen 5.53 WAR/250 IP 6. mike hampton 5.41 WAR/250 IP 7. johan santana 5.30 WAR/250 IP 8. r.a. dickey 5.23 WAR/250 IP 9. 10. jesse orosco 5.12 WAR/250 IP not in top 10: randy myers: #11, 5.10 WAR/250 IP dwight gooden: #13 4.79 WAR/250 IP rick reed: #14, 4.64 WAR/250 IP john matlack: #15 4.59 WAR/250 IP sid fernandez: #18 4.37 WAR/250 IP frank viola: #19 4.28 WAR/250 IP pedro martinez: #20, 4.16 WAR/250 IP tug mcgraw: #22 4.04 WAR/200 IP david cone: #23 4.03 WAR/250 IP john franco: #24 3.99 WAR/250 IP jerry koosman: #26 3.88 WAR/250 IP bobby ojeda: #33 3.17 WAR/250 IP roger mcdowell: #43, 2.30 WAR/250 IP unranked pitchers: terry bross: 7.50 WAR/250 IP braden looper: 4.03 WAR/250 IP bearnarth: 0.37 WAR/250 IP

santana. i'm really shocked. dude throws a freaking no hitter and you forget how good he was. shame on you all! looper. only amassed 2.3 WAR, but did so in 143 innings. he's not on the list, but rates better than john franco. 1. matt harvey 7.27 WAR/250 IP 2. armando benitez 7.06 WAR/250 IP 3. 4. tom seaver 6.25 WAR/250 IP 5. brett saberhagen 5.53 WAR/250 IP 6. mike hampton 5.41 WAR/250 IP 7. 8. r.a. dickey 5.23 WAR/250 IP 9. 10. jesse orosco 5.12 WAR/250 IP not in top 10: randy myers: #11, 5.10 WAR/250 IP dwight gooden: #13 4.79 WAR/250 IP rick reed: #14, 4.64 WAR/250 IP john matlack: #15 4.59 WAR/250 IP sid fernandez: #18 4.37 WAR/250 IP frank viola: #19 4.28 WAR/200 IP pedro martinez: #20, 4.16 WAR/250 IP tug mcgraw: #22 4.04 WAR/200 IP david cone: #23 4.03 WAR/250 IP john franco: #24 3.99 WAR/200 IP jerry koosman: #26 3.88 WAR/250 IP bobby ojeda: #33 3.17 WAR/250 IP roger mcdowell: #43, 2.30 WAR/250 IP unranked pitchers: terry bross: 6.00 WAR/200 IP braden looper: 4.03 WAR/200 IP bearnarth: 0.38 WAR/200 IP

i'm really disappointed in you guys. your collective inability to guess our mystery met hitter, he's not some no-name schlub, is really making me sick. he was, while a met, generally regarded as a good hitter, as his inclusion here should attest. it's not like the guy was a short timer, either. he was a met for longer than at least one other player in the top 15.

mcgraw - ya gotta be kidding! franco - john or julio...? because julio never pitched and john isn't in the top fifteen viola - cello bross - in his ten major league metly innings, terry bross notched just 0.3 WAR. this is nowhere near enough to get him onto the top 50 mets pitchers in terms of WAR generated. but on a per-inning ratio, he'd be better than bret saberhagen, gettint a cool 6 WAR/200 IP. bearnarth - surely this guess is beneath you. in almost 320 innings, larry amassed a mere 0.6 WAR. no. no. this is not good. 1. matt harvey 7.27 WAR/250 IP 2. armando benitez 7.06 WAR/250 IP 3. 4. tom seaver 6.25 WAR/250 IP 5. brett saberhagen 5.53 WAR/250 IP 6. mike hampton 5.41 WAR/250 IP 7. 8. r.a. dickey 5.23 WAR/250 IP 9. 10. jesse orosco 5.12 WAR/250 IP not in top 10: randy myers: #11, 5.10 WAR/250 IP dwight gooden: #13 4.79 WAR/250 IP rick reed: #14, 4.64 WAR/250 IP john matlack: #15 4.59 WAR/250 IP sid fernandez: #18 4.37 WAR/250 IP frank viola: #19 4.28 WAR/200 IP pedro martinez: #20, 4.16 WAR/250 IP tug mcgraw: #22 4.04 WAR/200 IP david cone: #23 4.03 WAR/250 IP john franco: #24 3.99 WAR/200 IP jerry koosman: #26 3.88 WAR/250 IP bobby ojeda: #33 3.17 WAR/250 IP roger mcdowell: #43, 2.30 WAR/250 IP unranked pitchers: terry bross: 6.00 WAR/200 IP bearnarth: 0.38 WAR/200 IP if you'd like a hint i'll happily tell you this. the last remaining hitter never faced any of the three remaining pitchers. the last remaining hitter player with one of the pitchers, but not while they were a met. the other two pitchers are one step removed from playing with the hitter, per bbref's oracle of baseball.

i think it's time to do away with the ten vote limit. writers should be allowed (and perhaps instructed) to vote who whomever they feel meets the standards for enshrinement. i really find it distasteful how a seemingly great many of them try to game the balloting. i'd find some fair amount of difficulty in winnowing down my hypothetical ballot to only ten. but here goes, since we're all doing it. what can i say, i'm a follower! 1. barry bonds 2. roger clemens 3. greg maddux 4. mike piazza 5. jeff bagwell 6. frank thomas 7. alan trammell 8. curt schilling 9. tim raines 10. edgar martinez other guys who i'd throw a vote towards if given half an opportunity 11. mike mussina 12. tom glavine 13. rafael palmiero 14. larry walker 15. mark mcgwire 16. craig biggio sosa is tough. he hit a lot of home runs, but i never really got the feeling he was actually good. weird, right? happily, his WAR total was 17th best among any on the ballot, and his JAWS score relative to the averave hof'er at his position was also 17th best on the ballot, at less than 90% of the average hof left fielder. so, um, justification. hooray.

i adore it.

okay. i'll give a hint. the mystery player wore one number as a met, and he also wore that same number when he was not a met. he also wore different numbers when he was not a met. one of those numbers was 17.

i don't recall a tyson kirk ever playing for the mets. some guy named mike cameron did, and was already guessed. not a bad guess altogether, but less productive than howard johnson. wally backman also played for the mets, and was also less productive than howard johnson. 1. lenny dykstra 5.18 WAR/600 PA 2. beltran 5.12 WAR/600 PA 3. john olerud 5.11 WAR/600 PA 4. lance johnson 5.10 WAR/600 PA 5. darryl strawberry 4.81 WAR/600 PA 6. david wright 4.70 WAR/600 PA 7. keith hernandez 4.32 WAR/600 PA 8. edgardo alfonzo 3.98 WAR/600 PA 9. angel pagan 3.94 WAR/600 PA 10. bernard gilkey 3.91 WAR/600 PA 11. john stearns 3.78 WAR/600 PA 12. mike piazza 3.70 WAR/600 PA 13. robin ventura 3.69 WAR/600 PA 14. 15. jose reyes 3.43 WAR/600 PA not in the top 15 dave magadan #16 3.38 WAR/600 PA tommie agee #18 3.13 WAR/600 PA kevin mcreynolds #20 2.93 WAR/600 PA mookie wilson #21 2.88 WAR/600 PA howard johnson #22 2.86 WAR/600 PA wally backman #29 2.57 WAR/600 PA jeff kent #30 2.53 WAR/600 PA bobby bonilla #32 2.44 WAR/600 PA cleon jones #34 2.33 WAR/600 PA carlos delgado #47 1.42 WAR/600 PA rusty staub #49 1.40 WAR/600 PA marlon byrd (unranked) 5.17 WAR/600 PA moises alou (unranked) 3.33 WAR/600 PA mike cameron (unranked) 2.79 WAR/600PA eddie murray (unranked) 1.21 WAR/600 PA roger cedeno (unranked) 0.37 WAR/600 PA rey ordonez (unranked) 0.15 WAR/600 PA you guys give up, or're ya thirsty for more? because you're never going to guess this guy who was really productive with his bat (and glove), according to baseball reference's WAR list. well, you might, if i ever decide to pepper this thread with hints.

is that brian mcrae? because if it is, you still have time to change your answer. teuffel is also not the right answer. i don't have the numbers in front of me, but i think he's #19, 3.4 WAR/600 PA

neither tommie nor bobbie make the cut. 1. lenny dykstra 5.18 WAR/600 PA 2. beltran 5.12 WAR/600 PA 3. john olerud 5.11 WAR/600 PA 4. lance johnson 5.10 WAR/600 PA 5. darryl strawberry 4.81 WAR/600 PA 6. david wright 4.70 WAR/600 PA 7. keith hernandez 4.32 WAR/600 PA 8. edgardo alfonzo 3.98 WAR/600 PA 9. angel pagan 3.94 WAR/600 PA 10. bernard gilkey 3.91 WAR/600 PA 11. john stearns 3.78 WAR/600 PA 12. mike piazza 3.70 WAR/600 PA 13. robin ventura 3.69 WAR/600 PA 14. 15. jose reyes 3.43 WAR/600 PA not in the top 15 dave magadan #16 3.38 WAR/600 PA tommie agee #18 3.13 WAR/600 PA kevin mcreynolds #20 2.93 WAR/600 PA mookie wilson #21 2.88 WAR/600 PA howard johnson #22 2.86 WAR/600 PA jeff kent #30 2.53 WAR/600 PA bobby bonilla #32 2.44 WAR/600 PA cleon jones #34 2.33 WAR/600 PA carlos delgado #47 1.42 WAR/600 PA rusty staub #49 1.40 WAR/600 PA marlon byrd (unranked) 5.17 WAR/600 PA moises alou (unranked) 3.33 WAR/600 PA mike cameron (unranked) 2.79 WAR/600PA eddie murray (unranked) 1.21 WAR/600 PA roger cedeno (unranked) 0.37 WAR/600 PA rey ordonez (unranked) 0.15 WAR/600 PA

staub's 6.9 WAR took almost 3,000 plate appearances to accumulate. still, he's on the top 50, if only by a sliver of a thread. 1. lenny dykstra 5.18 WAR/600 PA 2. beltran 5.12 WAR/600 PA 3. john olerud 5.11 WAR/600 PA 4. lance johnson 5.10 WAR/600 PA 5. darryl strawberry 4.81 WAR/600 PA 6. david wright 4.70 WAR/600 PA 7. keith hernandez 4.32 WAR/600 PA 8. edgardo alfonzo 3.98 WAR/600 PA 9. angel pagan 3.94 WAR/600 PA 10. bernard gilkey 3.91 WAR/600 PA 11. john stearns 3.78 WAR/600 PA 12. mike piazza 3.70 WAR/600 PA 13. robin ventura 3.69 WAR/600 PA 14. 15. jose reyes 3.43 WAR/600 PA not in the top 15 dave magadan #16 3.38 WAR/600 PA kevin mcreynolds #20 2.93 WAR/600 PA mookie wilson #21 2.88 WAR/600 PA howard johnson #22 2.86 WAR/600 PA jeff kent #30 2.53 WAR/600 PA cleon jones #34 2.33 WAR/600 PA carlos delgado #47 1.42 WAR/600 PA rusty staub #49 1.40 WAR/600 PA marlon byrd (unranked) 5.17 WAR/600 PA moises alou (unranked) 3.33 WAR/600 PA mike cameron (unranked) 2.79 WAR/600PA eddie murray (unranked) 1.21 WAR/600 PA roger cedeno (unranked) 0.37 WAR/600 PA rey ordonez (unranked) 0.15 WAR/600 PA

roger cedeno contributed 1 WAR in his three seasons with the mets. his offense wasn't really the problem, picking up 3.3 oWAR. defense, on the other hand, knocked him down something fierce, at -3.9 dWAR. note that if you add 3.3 and -3.9, you fail to come up with 1.0. this is because the positional adjustment appears on both sides of hte ledger. i think. eh, something like that. 1. lenny dykstra 5.18 WAR/600 PA 2. beltran 5.12 WAR/600 PA 3. john olerud 5.11 WAR/600 PA 4. lance johnson 5.10 WAR/600 PA 5. darryl strawberry 4.81 WAR/600 PA 6. david wright 4.70 WAR/600 PA 7. keith hernandez 4.32 WAR/600 PA 8. edgardo alfonzo 3.98 WAR/600 PA 9. angel pagan 3.94 WAR/600 PA 10. bernard gilkey 3.91 WAR/600 PA 11. john stearns 3.78 WAR/600 PA 12. mike piazza 3.70 WAR/600 PA 13. robin ventura 3.69 WAR/600 PA 14. 15. jose reyes 3.43 WAR/600 PA not in the top 15 dave magadan #16 3.38 WAR/600 PA kevin mcreynolds #20 2.93 WAR/600 PA mookie wilson #21 2.88 WAR/600 PA howard johnson #22 2.86 WAR/600 PA jeff kent #30 2.53 WAR/600 PA cleon jones #34 2.33 WAR/600 PA carlos delgado #47 1.42 WAR/600 PA marlon byrd (unranked) 5.17 WAR/600 PA moises alou (unranked) 3.33 WAR/600 PA mike cameron (unranked) 2.79 WAR/600PA eddie murray (unranked) 1.21 WAR/600 PA roger cedeno (unranked) 0.37 WAR/600 PA rey ordonez (unranked) 0.15 WAR/600 PA

did i make it clear that the list is compiled by baseball reference, and counts offensive WAR and defensive WAR towards the total? i hope that i did. our mystery guy may surprise you, but hey, i'm not the one calculating what WAR measures. i'm just dividing by plate appearances and asking you to guess about it.

ooh, now that's an excellent guess. unfortunately for the purposes of this quiz, marlon byrd does not meet the minimum WAR cutoff in that he is not on the list of 50 mets batters with the highest WAR total. he garnered 4.0 WAR this year, in a measly 464 plate appearances, and woudl've knocked hte socks off almost everyone on this list, except for good ol' lenny dykstra. but he's not on the list, and is unranked. our mystery guy lifted a bat for the mets for at least one full season, possibly more. 1. lenny dykstra 5.18 WAR/600 PA 2. beltran 5.12 WAR/600 PA 3. john olerud 5.11 WAR/600 PA 4. lance johnson 5.10 WAR/600 PA 5. darryl strawberry 4.81 WAR/600 PA 6. david wright 4.70 WAR/600 PA 7. keith hernandez 4.32 WAR/600 PA 8. edgardo alfonzo 3.98 WAR/600 PA 9. angel pagan 3.94 WAR/600 PA 10. bernard gilkey 3.91 WAR/600 PA 11. john stearns 3.78 WAR/600 PA 12. mike piazza 3.70 WAR/600 PA 13. robin ventura 3.69 WAR/600 PA 14. 15. jose reyes 3.43 WAR/600 PA not in the top 15 dave magadan #16 3.38 WAR/600 PA kevin mcreynolds #20 2.93 WAR/600 PA mookie wilson #21 2.88 WAR/600 PA howard johnson #22 2.86 WAR/600 PA jeff kent #30 2.53 WAR/600 PA cleon jones #34 2.33 WAR/600 PA carlos delgado #47 1.42 WAR/600 PA marlon byrd (unranked) 5.17 WAR/600 PA moises alou (unranked) 3.33 WAR/600 PA mike cameron (unranked) 2.79 WAR/600PA eddie murray (unranked) 1.21 WAR/600 PA rey ordonez (unranked) 0.15 WAR/600 PA

i wonder if it's time for a hint. or can you guess this last remaining mets hitter's name unaided? i'm pretty sure most die hard mets fans have heard of him. he is, after all, one of the top 50 WAR producers among mets batters, as recorded by baseball-reference. to be fair, his total includes some credit for his defense, though he really wasn't terribly reknowned for his glovework. fielding his position contributed a measly 0.2 WAR.