Last Stand

The Mets going into today's game are, over their history of 45 full seasons, 23 wins and 22 losses in final games of the regular season. Certainly most of these games were pretty meaningless, but note that in the seven years in which they appeared in the post-season the Mets won their final game six times. 1969 was the only season they went on to the post-season after losing their last regular season game.

This season, the Mets can only go to the post-season if they win their final game. Because playoffs to decide ties in the standings count as regular season games, and they must must win either today's game or a tie-breaker game to move to the post-season, 2007 has become a season in which winning their last regular season game is the only route to continuing play.

Well Timed

Bill James many years ago developed a stat called the "Game Score" to measure how dominant a starting pitcher was in a particular start. The formula is:

Start with 50 points. Add 1 point for each out recorded, (or 3 points per inning). Add 2 points for each inning completed after the 4th. Add 1 point for each strikeout. Subtract 2 points for each hit allowed. Subtract 4 points for each earned run allowed. Subtract 2 points for each unearned run allowed. Subtract 1 point for each walk.

John Maine's start for the Mets today had a Game Score of 89, the highest for a Met pitcher in exactly two years. Two years ago today, September 29, 2005, Tom Glavine pitched a two-hit shutout against the Rockies, with 11 Ks and 2 BBs, for a Game Score of 92. Since then, no Mets starter has been over 82, until today.

Body Blows

Pitchers who have hit batters with the bases loaded twice in a single game over the last ten seasons:
Oliver Perez, Mets last night
Sidney Ponson, Cardinals 2006
Chad Qualls, Astros 2005
Javier Lopez, Rockies 2004
Kevin Millwood, Braves 2002
Giovanni Carrara, Dodgers 2002
Steve Sparks, Angels 1999
Steve Gajkowski, Mariners 1998

Randy Jones, pitching for the Mets, had two hit batsmen with the bases loaded in two separate innings on April 28, 1982. Jones hit the same guy both times, plunking Terry Kennedy of the Padres in both the first and third innings. And both were unearned runs coming after infield errors! This was the only other time in Mets history, before last night, that a pitcher, or indeed the team as a whole, gave up more than one HBP with the bases loaded in the same game. Which makes Ollie Perez's exquisitely ill-timed feat of two bases loaded HBPs in the same inning unprecedented in Mets history.

Perez also tied Al Leiter's record of three HBPs with the bases full in his Mets career (Besides his two last night, Ollie did it on April 11 this season as well). Over all, Mets pitchers have hit batsmen with the bases loaded 52 times in the 46 season history of the franchise.

Few-Hitters

The Mets were held to three hits last night -- the fifth time this season they were held to three or fewer hits. The Mets have had eight better seasons for avoiding games with three hits or fewer. The 1980 Mets, a team with a below league average batting average and a team that went 67-95 on the season, had not a single game in which they had fewer than 4 hits. Those 1980 Mets are one of only three teams in the last 50 years to go a whole season without even one game of three hits or fewer -- the others were the 1999 Giants and the 1998 Rockies.

Division of Labor

Assuming Luis Castillo starts at second tonight, he becomes the Met with the most starts at second this season. Going into tonight's game, starts at second base for the Mets have broken down as follows:
Castillo 44 starts
Valentin 44 starts
Easley 36 starts
Gotay 33 starts
Newhan 1 start

In the past 50 years, I've found only two other teams with 4 guys who each started at least 30 games at second: the 1997 Yankees (Pat Kelly, Luis Sojo, Mariano Duncan and Rey Sanchez) and the 1966 White Sox (Al Weis, Wayne Causey, Jerry Adair and Don Buford).

Clobbered

After last night's game, the Mets have surrendered 9 or more runs three games in a row. That's only the fifth time since the early 1960s that the Mets have done that. The Mets gave up nine or more three times in a row just once in the 1970s, just once in the 1980s, never in the 1990s, once in 2001 and now they've done it twice in the last ten games!

Surrendering nine in three straight during a single series, as the Mets just did in the Nationals series, is something the Mets have not done since losing three straight at Shea to the Astros in 1973 by scores of 9-2, 9-4 and 14-8. The Mets went to the World Series that season.

September Upswing

The Mets' hitting has been sizzling in September this season, .823 OPS compared to an overall OPS for the season of .775. On the other hand, the hitting for Mets opponents has been hot too, .791 OPS against in September as opposed .739 OPS against for the season as a whole.

What's particularly intriguing is that September has been a big hitting season for the entire major leagues, which is unheard of at least in recent times. September is always a month for less hitting than during the season as a whole. I've gone looking back 20 previous years so far, 1987 to 2006, and in every single one of those twenty seasons, the major league OPS has been lower in September than in the season overall.

Yet in 2007 through yesterday's games, the overall OPS for the majors is up this September, and not just a little, but substantially: major league OPS for the season as a whole is .758, but in September thus far (only 5 games left for most teams) OPS in the majors is at .782. In fact, the total OPS in major league baseball has risen every month this season, from April through September. The big hitting and poor pitching the Mets are experiencing this month is to some considerable extent not happening to the Mets alone but also seems to be a weird league-wide phenomenon, unprecedented at least in recent years.

Bullies

The Phillies have beaten the Mets 12 times in 2007. That makes the Phillies the sixth team to beat the Mets at least 12 times during a season in which the Mets finished above .500. Those six teams, in chronological order, are:
1970 Pirates, NL East Division Winner, 12-6 against the Mets who finished with a .512 win pct.
1975 Pirates, NL East Division Winner, 13-5 against the Mets who finished with a .506 win pct.
1976 Phillies, NL East Division Winner, 13-5 against the Mets who finished with a .531 win pct.
1984 Cubs, NL East Division Winner, 12-6 against the Mets who finished with a .556 win pct.
2005 Braves, NL East Division Winner, 13-6 against the Mets who finished with a .512 win pct.
2007 Phillies, ??????????????????????, 12-6 against the Mets who finished with a ??? win pct.

As you can see, if the Mets hold on and win the East this year, the '07 Phils would become the first team to beat a .500+ Mets team at least 12 times but fail to win the NL East. If the Mets can win 4 of their last 7 this season they would be the winningest Mets team ever to lose 12 games to anyone.

Moises and Aaron

Moises Alou's hit streak is now garnering lots of attention, and he is getting close to the all-time record for longest hitting streak by a player over 40 (which seems to be held by Sam Rice, who had a 28 game streak at age 40 in 1930, a season in which he had 207 hits). But maybe even more remarkable about Alou's streak is how few plate appearances he has had during most of the games in the streak. Most long hit streaks are achieved by guys who bat high in the order, because that gives them the maximum number of chances to get a hit during each game. Alou does not bat near the top of the lineup, and for the heart of the streak, 22 straight games, he never had more than 4 PAs in a game. I used the Play Index (http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/ ) to check the longest streaks of the last 50 years for games with at least one hit but no more than 4 PAs, and Alou's is by far the longest of the last half-century:

Longest Game Streaks, 1957-2007, At least One Hit and No More Than 4 Plate Appearances:
Moises Alou (2007) 22 games
Kevin Millar (2002) 18 games
Keith Moreland (1987-88) 16 games
6 players tied at 15 games

Also regarding Alou, his batting average after today's game is .340. If he finishes the season at that level, it would be one of the highest season averages for any Met with at least 300 PAs.

Highest Season Batting Averages as a Met, min. 300 PAs:
John Olerud (1998) .354, 665 PAs
Mike Piazza (1998) .348, 446 PAs
Cleon Jones (1969) .340, 558 PAs
Moises Alou (through Sept 22, 2007) .340, 325 PAs
Lance Johnson (1996) .333, 724 PAs

And lastly, Aaron Heilman finished the game for the Mets this afternoon but did not get a save. That's his 27th game finished this season, but he only has 1 save.

Most Games Finished in a Season By a Met Pitcher with No More Than One Save:
Jeff Innis (1991) 29 GF, 0 saves
Jeff Innis (1992) 28 GF, 1 save
Aaron Heilman (through Sept. 22, 2007) 27 GF, 1 save
Jerry DiPoto (1995) 21 GF, 0 saves
Mike Stanton (2004) 19 GF, 0 saves

If you increase the maximum saves to two, you add at the top Bob Miller (1974), 30 GF, 2 saves.

Capitalism II

Former Mets pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre won more games for the visiting team at RFK than any other pitcher.

Most Career Wins at RFK Stadium:
Joe Coleman 29
Dick Bosman 23
Camilo Pacual/Jim Hannan/Phil Ortega 21
Casey Cox 20

Most Career Wins By a Visiting Pitcher at RFK Stadium:
Mel Stottlemyre 14
Dave McNally 13
Mickey Lolich 10
Jim Kaat 9

this entry and the previous one based on searches in the Day-By-Day Database at http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/008676.php

Capitalism

RFK Stadium (known as D.C. Stadium from 1962 to 1969), where the Mets just made their final appearances, hosted major league baseball 1962-1971 and then 2005-2007. Frank Howard, who briefly managed the Mets and coached for them for 6 seasons, hit more than twice as many homers at RFK than anyone else.
Most career homers hit in RFK Stadium:
1. Frank Howard 116
2. Don Lock 51
3. Ken McMullen 47
4. Mike Epstein 35
5. Jim King 32
6. Chuck Hinton 27
7. Harmon Killebrew 25
8. Alfonso Soriano 24
9. Paul Casanova 23
10. Boog Powell 22
Ryan Zimmerman has 21 homers at RFK and could still move into the top ten in the last few games left before MLB leaves RFK.

Most homers by a Met at RFK:
Carlos Beltran 7
David Wright 4
Shawn Green 3

Stop Sign

Jose Reyes landed safely at first base four times tonight -- two singles, two walks -- yet neither stole a base nor was caught stealing during the game. I believe this is the first time in Jose's career he's gotten safely to first four or more times and not at least had a stolen base attempt. In only one other game did he get safely to first four times and fail to successfully steal a base -- April 30, 2006 in Atlanta -- but in that game he tried but was caught stealing.

Start to Finish

Mets starters through last night have averaged 5.9 innings pitched per game this season, slightly higher than the overall National League average of 5.8 innings per game for starting pitchers. American League starters average 5.9 innings a game in 2007. Cleveland's starters lead the majors in average length of appearance at 6.3 starter innings per game -not surprisingly given that the Indians have maybe the two most effective starters in the AL this season, Sabathia and Carmona. Florida and Washington trail the majors in this category in 2007, with both teams averaging 5.3 starting pitcher innings per game.

Compare these 2007 numbers to 1974, one of the best years of the past half century for starters pitching deep into games. In 1974, Mets starters averaged 6.9 innings per game, one full inning more than in 2007. The overall NL average was 6.5 starting pitcher innings per game; in the AL it was 6.6. The top team in this regard in 1974 was Boston, whose starters averaged 7.2 innings per appearance; San Diego was the worst with 5.8 starter innings per game.

Another way to look at starter innings is to look at what percentage of starter appearances went into the seventh inning.
% of Major League Starters Completing More Than 6 IP (one out in the 7th inning, or further):
1970s: 58.9%
1980s: 53.4%
1990s: 47.8%
2000s: 41.5%

Although the average in the current decade of the 00s is 41.5%, in the last two seasons -- 2006, and 2007 to date -- the percentage of starters that go at least as far as an out in the 7th have been, respectively, 38.6% and 37.9%.

Low Ceiling

Lowest winning percentages to lead an entire league in winning percentage over a full season, MLB history:
1983 Dodgers and 1974 Orioles: .562 (91 wins, 162-game season)
1959 Dodgers .564 (88 wins, 156-game season)
1967 Red Sox and 1982 Cardinals .568 (92 wins, 162-game season)

Through last night's games, the top winning percentages in the NL this season are the D-Backs at .559 and the Mets and Padres at .553. Somebody has to pick up the pace if the 2007 NL is going to avoid having the lowest winning percentage ever to lead a league.

Bleak Streak

The last time the Mets gave up 9 or more runs three games in a row, before these past three games, was June 21 to 23, 2001 (starter Kevin Appier was terrible, but starters Rick Reed and Glendon Rusch were betrayed by the bullpen -- especially egregious was Rick White giving up 6 runs in the 11th inning against Atlanta). The Mets did not have any such streak of 9 or more runs surrendered in three consecutive games in the 1990s, had only one such streak in the 1980s and only one in the 1970s. In their very early expansions years, 1962 to 1965, the Mets had four streaks of three straight games giving up 9 or more runs. The Mets have never given up 9 or more in four straight games.

The longest streak by any team since 1962, when the Mets came into the league, of games giving up 9 or more runs is by the Mariners, who had a seven game streak of such games in 2000. Both the White Sox and Astros have had four-game streaks surrendering 9 or more runs this season.

(source as usual is the baseball-reference.com Play Index)

Striking Point

David Smith, the founder of Retrosheet (www.retrosheet.org), has posted a study at that site of the effect of the pitch count on the results of plate appearances. There's lots of information there, but here's one quick point to keep in mind as you watch any baseball game. In plate appearances where the batter never gets to strike two, the average OPS is about .900. That's Mike Schmidt-level performance. In plate appearances where the batter does get to strike two (icluding counts of 0-2,1-2, 2-2 or 3-2), the average OPS is about .550. That's Al Weis/Doug Flynn/Bobby Wine-level performance. Certainly, a large part of that difference is that at less than two strikes, a batter can never strike out, and there's nothing like having strikeouts off the table to turn a good-field/no- hit shortstop into a Hall of Fame slugger. But the point is interesting nonethless in keeping what you see during an at-bat in perspective: when the hitter gets to two strikes, it's a very different game.

To read Smith's article, go to the Retrosheet site, click on Research, and then look for Smith's article "How Valuable Is Strike One?"

Small Ball

The Mets yesterday had 16 batters reach base (8 hits, eight walks) , but only had nine Total Bases (seven singles, one double). the ast time the Mets had at least 16 men reach base with so few Total Bases was back in 2004 (June 12) in a 4-3 loss to the Royals, in which the Mets also had 7 singles, one double and 8 BBs. That game was part of the only series the Mets have ever played in KC. The fewest TBs the Mets have ever had in a game where they had at last 16 men reach base is 6, which they the team has done three times, most recently in a 5-3 loss to the Cubs back on August 8, 1987 (6 singles, 9 walks and one HBP -- Darryl Strawberry hit by Mike Mason).

Betes Noires

The Mets have lost their seventh straight game against the Phillies. The last time the Mets lost more than that many times in a row to one team was a ten-in-a-row streak of losses to the Marlins in 2004. The longest such streak in Mets history was a streak of 12 straight losses to Hank Aaron's Braves that ran from June 1962 into April 1963. I count 7 Aaron homers during that 12-game streak, five of which came in 5 straight games against the Mets. That's the longest streak by a hitter of consecutive games against the Mets with at least one homer, tied with Ryan Howard, who last season and running into early this season also had 5 straight games against the Mets with at least one homer.

Extra Punishment

After last night, the Mets have lost to the Phillies in extra innings four times this season. The last time the Mets lost so many extra-inning contests to a single team in a season was back in 1992, when they lost four times in extras to the Pirates. Barry Bonds was NL MVP for Pittsburgh that season, his last before moving to the Giants. One of those extra inning Pirates over Mets games was a 16-inning affair at Shea started by Tim Wakefield for the Bucs and Pete Schourek for the Mets. The game was still 1-1 after fifteen innings, and after Pittsburgh took a 4-1 lead in the top of the 16th, Dwight Gooden pinch hit for the Mets and singled in the bottom of the 16th inning (Doc pinch-hit three times in his career, and had two hits -- besides the single against Pittsburgh he also tripled against the Marlins as a pinch-hitter in the last game of the 1993 season). Willie Randolph was the Mets primary second baseman in 1992 and started there in three of the four extra-inning losses to Pittsburgh.

Most extra inning wins against the Mets in a single season:
Phillies (2007) 4
Pirates (1992) 4
Cardinals (1986) 4
Expos (1979) 4

Not Getting Two

I was quite surprised to find that the Mets are 30th, dead last, in the majors in number of DPs turned this season. (sources: mlb.com and USA Today's website).

That's not necessarily a bad thing. Teams with good pitching will often be low in DP totals because they allow fewer base runners, throw more strikeouts, etc. But I was surprised. I remember back during the first few games of the season the Mets were turning double plays at a prodigious pace (7 in just the first two games).

Fewest DPs turned, so far in 2007:
Mets 113
Astros 118
Brewers/Cubs 123

Most DPs turned, so far in 2007:
Pirates 169
Rockies 165
Yankees 160

Gray Streaks

Moises Alou currently has a 17-game hit streak going. Using baseball-reference's Play Index streak tool, I found that in the major leagues over the last 50 years there has been only one hit streak longer than that by a player over 40 years old.

Longest hit streaks, last 50 years, player over age 40:
Pete Rose (June 1982) 21 games
Moises Alou (August/September 2007) 17 games (and counting)
Pete Rose (May-August 1981) 17 games
Paul Molitor (August/September 1998) 17 games
Dave Winfield (April/May 1992) 17 games

Can't Get It Right

Shawn Green had a nice game last night, but his season over all has been less than adequate for a starting right fielder. The Mets primary starting right fielder (the player who started more games in right for them than any other during the season) over the past 11 seasons has been:

2007 Shawn Green
2006: Xavier Nady
2005: Victor Diaz
2004: Richard Hidalgo
2003: Roger Cedeno
2002: Jeromy Burnitz
2001: Timo Perez
2000: Derek Bell
1999: Roger Cedeno
1998: Butch Huskey
1997: Alex Ochoa

The Mets have changed primary right fielders every single seasons for the past 11 seasons (icluding trying Roger Cedeno twice), and it appears inevitable that they will do so again next year. The degree to which this has been a black hole for the team is pretty amazing. The best try was probably Mike Cameron moving over there when the team signed Beltran to play center, but the big 2005 collision between those two guys indicated that the outfield wasn't large enough for these two swift, wide-ranging center fielders, so that experiment was a failure, too. The jury is still out as to whether Milledge, Carlos Gomez or Fernando Martinez might be a long-term solution to this gaping hole.

Stealthy and Wise

I have an article just published over at the Baseball Analysts website discussing a significant increase this season, and in recent seasons, in stolen base success rate in the majors. http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2007/09/stealthy_and_wi.php

The trend discussed in my article is one the Mets have helped lead. Back in 2004, before the arrival of Willie Randolph and Carlos Beltran, and before the emergence of Jose Reyes as a major base stealing threat, the Mets suddenly jumped tremendously in their stolen base success rate. The team record for stolen base percentage before 2004 had been 76.4%, set back in 1987. In 2004 the Mets leapt to an 82.3% success rate (after a routine 69.3% figure the previous year), and it has hovered around 80% since then. This season, the Mets are a handful of successful SBs above even their 2004 rate record: through last night's game the Mets are at an 82.5% rate.

One way to put the Mets current SB success rate in perspective is to note that the Mets have already obliterated by a large margin the team record for stolen bases in a season. The 2007 Mets have 184 SBs through 145 games, a pace that would produce about 205 SBs for the season, compared to the previous full season franchise record of 159 SBs back in 1987. Yet the Mets are getting caught stealing at a rate which would produce only 43 or 44 outs caught stealing for the season, which is fewer than the team had in 1987, and is actually one of the lower numbers in team history. Just for an amusing comparison, the 1969 World Series winning team was caught stealing 43 times, about the same as what is expected this season. But compared to the current 200+ SB pace the 2007 Mets are on, the '69 Mets stole 66 bases all season long.

Overdogs

The Mets are now 42-19 in 2007 against teams that are currently at a winning percentage below .500. At that pace, the Mets would finish with the majors' best winning percentage against sub-.500 teams since 2004, when the Cardinals were 59 wins and 24 losses against sub-.500 teams. http://www.baseball-reference.com/games/situational.cgi?from=2000&to=2007&0=2&1=3&rsgtlt=gt&rs=5&ragtlt=gt&ra=5&2=6&trgtlt=gt&tr=10&3=8&mvgtlt=gt&mv=10&4=11&owlsgtlt=lt&owls=.500&teams=team&years=each&submit=Run+Situation

Crowd on the Mound

The Mets have used 23 pitchers so far this season. That used to be a high number. In 1989, 23 pitchers used in a season would have been tied for the 9th most used by a team, over a single season, in history. Now it’s a routine number. 13 major league teams have used more than 23 pitchers in 2007. Four teams in history have used more than 30 pitchers in a season, all of these being teams in the last few years. The 2002 Padres remain way ahead of everyone else:

Most pitchers used in a season by a major league team:
2002 Padres: 37 pitchers
2000 Indians: 32 pitchers
2006 Royals: 31 pitchers
2002 Indians: 31 pitchers

Hot Corner Sluggers

Most Homers in a Season by A MLB Third Baseman (counting only homers hit in games playing third base):

1. Alex Rodriguez (2007) 50 (and counting)
T2. Mike Schmidt (1980) and Adrian Beltre (2004) 48
T4. Alex Rodriguez (2005) and Eddie Mathews (1953) 47

Mathews was 21 years old when he hit 47, setting the record for third basemen that stood until Schmidt broke it in 1980. But Mathews that year also set the record for homers by a 21-year old, at any position, a record that no one has even come remotely near.

Most Homers in MLB in an Age 21 Season (Age 21 season defined as the season the player was 21 on June 30):

1. Eddie Mathews (1953) 47
2. Albert Pujols (2001) 37
3. Hal Trotsky (1934) 35

Athletes

31 pitchers have had at least 100 plate appearances as batters for the Mets. Only one has accumulated an on base percentage over .250 in his batting career for the Mets: Tom Glavine, who is more than 30 points higher than anyone else on the list. The top 5 (thank you baseball-reference.com Play Index):
1. Tom Glavine .268 OBP
T2. Rick Aguilera/ Ray Sadecki .236
4. Jon Matlack .230
5. Tom Seaver .217

Note that at age 41, Glavine's OBP as a hitter in 2007 thus far is over .300.

On the slugging side, the list looks like this:
1. Rick Aguilera .290 SLG
2. Doc Gooden .260
3. Sid Fernandez .232
4. Tug McGraw .229
5. Rick Reed .227

(Of course, I'm only including true pitchers here -- not stunt pitchers of an inning or two like Todd Zeile.)

Complete Absence

Mets starting pitching staff this season has zero 9-inning complete games this season (both Mets CGs in 2007 have been rain-shortened). The fewest 9-inning complete games Mets starters have had in a full season was in 2004, when they had 2 such games. The most was 47 in 1969. Here are the average number of nine-inning complete games the Mets have had per season during each of the decades from the 1960s on:

1960s: 35
1970s: 34
1980s: 19
1990s: 10
2000-2006: 5

If the Mets do end up, as seems likely, with no 9-inning complete games in 2007, that would reduce their average per season since 2003 to 3 (15 such games total over the five seasons 2003-2007). The Mets are just one of four NL teams that have no 9-inning complete games this season. There have been a total 37 such games by all of the 16 teams in the NL in 2007, for an average of about 2 per team so far. Brandon Webb has four all by himself, including three over the period from Aug. 5 to Aug. 17, during his big scoreless streak.

Second Thoughts

Some media attention tonight went to the new season record for homers by a Reds second baseman set by Brandon Phillips in the game against the Mets this afternoon. Phillips hit his 28th homer for the season, breaking Joe Morgan's old record. Here are the top home run seasons by a Mets second baseman:

1. Edgardo Alfonzo (1999) 27 homers
2. Edgardo Alfonzo (2000) 25 homers
3. Jeff Kent (1995) 20 homers
4. Jeff Kent (1993) 19 homers
T5. Jose Valentin (2006)/Edgardo Alfonzo 2001 17 homers

The list above includes only homers hit as a second baseman, so in some cases will not match the player's full season homer total.

Ups and Downs

Before their current cycle of five wins followed by five losses, the last time the Mets had a five game losing streak followed immediately by a by a five game win streak was the first 10 games of Willie Randolph's managerial career. The Mets lost his first five games, April 4 to 9, 2005, then immediately won the next five in a row (the Mets also won the next game to stretch the win streak to 6).

The Mets also won five in a row in September of that season, the second win of which, on September 24, 2005 (a Tom Glavine sparkler -- 8 IP, 2 R against the Nats), got the Mets to .500 for the season at 77 wins, 77 losses. The team has not been under .500 at any time since that day. Willie Randolph as of today is 54 games over .500 for his career as a manager -- the 72nd highest total of all time according to http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/ .

BTW, although the Mets are under .500 against the Phils (6 wins, 9 losses) and Braves (7 wins, 8 losses) this season, the Mets have outcored them both in their head-to-head games. In games against the Phillies the Mets have scored 71 (4.73 per game) and given up 70 (4.67 per game), in games against Atlanta they've scored 65 (4.33 per game) and given up 58 (3.87 per game).

Rolling Seven

Paul Lo Duca had 7 RBI for the Mets tonight, a rare occurrence for a Met hitter. Lo Duca's performance was just the 8th time a Met hitter has had 7 RBI in a game; Dave Kingman holds the team record with 8 RBI in a game on June 4, 1976.

Paul is just the second Met catcher with 7 RBI in a game, matching Todd Hundley's feat of May 18, 1996 (Gary Carter had 7 RBI's in the great 1986 season, but he played first base for part of that game).

Lo Duca is the first Met ever to have 7 RBI in a game from the 8th spot in the order, or indeed from any spot in the order other than 3, 4, 5 or 6. The only other Met with 7 RBIs in a game over the last 10 seasons was Jose Valentin on July 8 last year.

Damian Miller of the Brewers, another catcher, is the only other NL hitter with 7 RBI this season. Miller is the Brewers' number 2 catcher so generally plays only every few days. On June 27 this season he had a homer and a double and 4 RBI. His next game was July 2, when he had two homers and 7 RBI, for a two game total of 3 homers and 11 RBI. In his other 44 games this season he has not a single home run and only 8 RBI.

Pedro and History, Part II

Most Ks by a Major League Pitcher through his Age 35 Season:
1. Nolan Ryan 3,494
2. Roger Clemens 3,153
3. Bert Blyleven 3,090
4. Walter Johnson 3,070
5. Pedro Martinez 3,002 (and counting)

courtesy, as usual, of the database at http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/

Pedro Martinez in History

Just so we remember what place Pedro Martinez has in history, here is the top all-time career ERA+ numbers for pitchers through age 35 (minimum 1,500 IP):
1. Pedro Martinez 160
2. Walter Johnson 154
3. Three-Finger Brown 153
4. Roger Clemens 151
5. Lefty Grove 147
6. Ed Walsh 146
7. Greg Maddux 145
8. Cy Young 143
9. Addie Joss 142
T10. Grover Alexander/Kid Nichols 140
12. Carl Hubbell 139
T13. Tom Seaver/Harry Brecheen 136
T15 Christy Mathewson/Whitey Ford 135

ERA+ concept (ERA+ of 100 in any season is a league average ERA for that season by a pitcher in a neutral home park – the better the ERA, that is the lower the ERA, the higher the ERA+) and numbers are from baseball-reference.com.

Not Easy Being Green

After a good start this season, Shawn Green has gone back into the same hole he was in last year. Let's use OPS+ to look at Green's last seven seasons. OPS+, for those who don't know, is a stat developed by Sean Forman at http://www.baseball-reference.com/ in which 100 is equal to the year's league average OPS (for a player playing in home park with a league average balance between hitting and pitching). But if 100 represents a league average hitter (including middle infielders, catchers, pitchers in the NL, etc.), it is obviously below average for a corner outfielder. An average right fielder OPS+ in recent seasons has been more like 110 rather than 100. In any event, here are Shawn Green's OPS+ numbers for the last seven seasons, including 2007 in progress:

2001: 157
2002: 155
2003: 117
2004: 113
2005: 113
2006: 94
2007: 95

I checked to see if any other corner outfielders in history were regular starters (400 PAs or more) in their age 33 and 34 seasons and in both seasons had an OPS+ of below 100. There were three others besides Shawn:

George Foster (Mets, 1982-1983)
Dan Gladden (Twins 1991, Tigers 1992)
Garrett Anderson (Angels, 2005-2006)

Anderson has struggled with some injuries this season but his OPS+ is back to about average for his position at 113 (though not in the 130 range he managed in 2003 and 2004).

Gladden did not get over 100+ OPS at age 35, and that was his last season in MLB, though he played in Japan and won a Japanese league championship in 2004 to go with his two Twins rings. Gladden's career OPS+ was only 94 -- he never much of a hitter at all.

George Foster had an OPS+ of 150 or over in 5 of his previous six seasons when the Mets brought him over for the 1982 season. He proceeded to give the Mets two OPS+ years of 90 and 95 in 1982 and 1983. The next season at age 35 he come back a bit to 111, and at 36 was up to 122, but at age 37 in 1986 he was falling back below 100 and the Mets released him in August just as they were going on to a World Series win.