seawolf17

I really want that "ass" comment to be part of the article, but I'm sure it's not.

1) Give the Met who will have the most of each category, names but no numbers Batting categories Games - Wright Hits - Wright Doubles - Wright Triples - Reyes Home runs - Delgado RBI - Wright Stolen Bases - Reyes Caught stealing - Anderson Hernandez Runs scored - Reyes Batting average (high) - Wright On base percentage (high) - Wright Strikeouts (high) - Delgado Walks - Delgado Pitching categories Wins - Glavine Losses - Trachsel Strikeouts - Pedro Walks - Zambrano ERA (low) - Chris Woodward (one game, one inning: no runs, one hit, a walk, a double play, one man left on... We're through eight here at the new Busch Stadium, and it's the Cardinals 16... and the Mets 2.) ERA (high) - Lima (two starts, eight innings, nine runs, 12.38 ERA) ERA (low by a starter) - Pedro ERA (high by a starter) - Lima (see above) Saves - Wagner BAA (low) - Bradford BAA (high) - Lima (see above) Games started - Glavine Games pitched - Bradford 2) Give the number for the player and category specified Cliff Floyd - games - 124 Cliff Floyd - batting average - .270 David Wright - runs scored - 104 David Wright - RBI - 116 Carlos Beltran - home runs - 30 Carlos Beltran - stolen bases - 14 Jose Reyes - errors - 11 Jose Reyes - on base percentage - .352 Carlos Delgado - batting average - .318 Carlos Delgado - RBI - 110 Kaz Matsui - games - 104 Kaz Matsui - runs scored - 56 Anderson Hernandez - games - 57 Anderson Hernandez - batting average - .248 Anderson Hernandez - fielding percentage - .994 Paul Lo Duca - on base percentage - .378 Xavier Nady - RBI - 64 Victor Diaz - games - 79 Pedro Martinez - strikeouts - 197 Tom Glavine - wins - 15 Steve Trachsel - losses - 12 Steve Trachsel - walks - 58 Victor Zambrano - ERA - 3.88 Victor Zambrano - strikeouts - 194 Brian Bannister - games started - 14 Aaron Heilman - games started - 12 Billy Wagner - saves - 36 Billy Wagner - ERA - 2.09 Jorge Julio - ERA - 5.11 3)Team Categories Total runs scored - 890 Total runs against - 750 Team ERA - 3.75 Team batting average - .266 Record - 94-58 NL East Finish (1st, 2nd, etc.) - 1st Games behind NL East Winner - zero (up five) Playoffs (Division winner, Wildcard winner, no playoffs) - division winner Playoff finish - (Win WS, Lose WS, Lose NLCS, Lose NLDS, no playoffs) - lose WS 4)Tie-breakers 1st tie breaker - Total number of rainouts - 3 2nd tie breaker - Time of longest game of the year - 4:33 Do we need to have innings minimums for any of those pitching categories, or do we want to make it a crapshoot like that?

Grant Roberts was the first Met younger than me. There are still plenty of Mets older than me.

="Frayed Knot"]I like that Seawolf's picture was of a player of Japanese descent (I believe), who's now playing in Japan, hitting a HR during a Met game that was played in Japan, for the same manager that he's now playing for, and on the anniversary that it happened. Hey... I'm good.

March 30, 2000.

Wore 25 in Binghamton; that'd get my vote if it weren't for Matsui. 34 is my guess, for the departed Benson.

Bret Sabermetric wrote: They might if it represented a poor finish. If he starts out 7-10 with a few tough losses and a decent ERA, I think they'll let him go 1-6 in August and September if they're out of the race. I'm really trying to come up with plausible scenarios for a best- and-worst case. What's your downside for Bannister? 12 loses and he definitely gets yanked from the rotation, you think? When you put it that way, it makes sense. That's probably right.

I think those are pretty right except for Bannister... I doubt they let him hang around to lose 16 games.

Patch: Been out of town... just got it. Let me check it out and get back to you.

I'll say the same thing I said this time last year -- and admittedly, I was wrong last year -- I'm not 100% sold on relying on Floyd to play 150 games and hit 30 home runs this year. Maybe his health woes are behind him; but I'd much rather have a 30-year-old who's going 30-100 in 150 games every year for the last four years than a 34-year-old who's going 24-75 in 120 games over the past four years and has an ugly injury history.

Floyd is not better than Soriano; not offensively. I agree with Bret (!!!).

Johnny Dickshot wrote: Good. Yeah. No way would I have wanted a bat like that in our lineup.

Amputate it and get the hell back out there and pitch. I vote we let Pedro close until Wagner gets better.

I will always have a warm spot in the cockles of my heart for Eddie Kranepool because I met him at a baseball card show once. My dad took me to this huge show at Nassau Coliseum back in the late 80s/early 90s, and he was just there, walking around. I spent a dollar on a Kranepool card from a seller just so I could have him autograph it. I was too young to "remember" him, but I definitely knew him, and it was quite a thrill to meet a Met like that.

Funny story: Yankee fan in my office goes down to Miami Beach for a long weekend with his wife. Driving around, they come across a white Porsche convertible driven by none other than Alex Rodriguez, who was apparently taking his time rejoining the Yanks after the USA got eliminated. They stalked him for a few blocks, then parked near him. He got out with two friends and went into a Hooters; my friend approached him, said hello, and got a nice A-Rod autograph... on a Hooter's menu. Now that's an original autograph.

="Frayed Knot"]The reaction of the players is obviously the key to the long-term success of this thing. If those who played this year are no back telling all their teammates (as opposed to telling the media what they think they're supposed to) that they were real into it and what a great experince it was (or how much less boring than ST it was) then the next time you'll see players making excuses to play instead of the handful who seemed to be looking for excuses not to. But if they say it was more trouble than it's worth ... No, the sales of tickets and jerseys are the keys to the long-term success of this thing. If it sells, then they'll play. And those ballparks looked pretty full to me.

="Edgy DC"]]Derek Jeter and Al Leiter, who played with Roger Clemens on Team USA, said they talked to him about rejoining the Yankees. Jeter, for one, says he is convinced Clemens will not retire. --- The New York Times Hmm....

Or, worse, collective noses, as in more than one. That would require a lot of tissues.

I'd bet he was thinking about a team operating currently, or at least under a somewhat more modern financial/free agency/media overload structure.

Edgy DC wrote: Unmentinoed in this thread: Leiter's engineering of the Kazmir/Zambrano deal because Kazmir snottily changed the clubhouse music in spring training. I thought Kazmir smacked up someone's car. Or was that Justin Huber?

Leiter had seven solid, productive seasons, starting 30 games a year and averaging 13-14 wins per season. He also had three second-place finishes and one third-place finish, so the weighting helps boost his total. Look who's behind Leiter: 13 Hernandez - Four good seasons, one WS, one NLCS. 14 Darling - Six good seasons, one WS, one NLCS. 15 McGraw - Five good seasons, one WS, one NLCS. 16 Wilson - Six good seasons, one WS, one NLCS. 17 Grote - Eight seasons as an everyday catcher, but not a terribly impressive statistical career. One WS, one NLCS. 18 McReynolds - Five good seasons, one NLCS. 19 Matlack - Five good seasons, one NLCS. 20 Staub - Three good seasons, then basically PH duty. 21 Cone - Five good seasons, one NLCS. 22 Harrelson - Career Met high is 42 RBI. 23 Orosco - Five seasons as half a closer, one memorable thrown glove. 24 Benitez - Five good -- if star-crossed -- seasons as a closer. 25 Agee - Two great seasons, two good seasons, one WS. I think Al Leiter might just be correct right where he is.

cooby wrote: Leading Cactus League Pitcher: M. Wuertz- Chicago Cubs Leading Cactus League Batter: K. Mench- Texas Rangers Anybody else as unfamiliar with those two names as I am? Michael Wuertz is a young pitcher; Kevin Mench is usually paired with Padres manager Bruce Bochy when discussion of the Largest Heads In Baseball comes up.

Topps entered the Japanese market a few years back with a small set, based on their regular US set, but with kanji on the back: All the Japanese players (Ichiro, Ishii, Taguchi, etc.) made the cut, plus most of the other major stars.

I guess there are still guys who fit the stereotype: look at Vlad Guerrero and Soriano, who will swing at anything. I'm sure there are plenty of non-Latin ballplayers who fit that description, though.