A few Mets Opening Day facts in honor of tomorrow's season opener (thank you Cole Porter for the entry title and baseball-reference.com's Play Index for the data that produces the stats):
--The Mets have been playing for nealy half a century now, but only once have they had the same three starting outfielders on opening day as they had the previous season's opening day. In their opening game of the 1985 season, the Mets had George Foster, Mookie Wilson and Darryl Strawberry as their starters in the outfield, the same three guys who started in the outfield on opening day 1984. (Note that it's been even longer than that since the Yankees had the same three starting outfielders in two straight opening day games. The last time the Yankees managed that was in 1968, when Tom Tresh, Joe Pepitone and Bill Robinson were the opening day starters in the outfield, just as they were in 1967.)
--Most opening day starts for the Mets at third base, through 2007:
Howard Johnson 7
Hubie Brooks 4
David Wright 3
Robin Ventura 3
David should match Hubie's total tomorrow.
--Most Career Opening Day Homers For the Mets:
Todd Hundley 4
Darryl Strawberry 4
Mike Piazza 3
Cleon Jones 3
Bobby Bonilla 3
--Most Career Opening Day Homers For the Mets -- Active Mets:
David Wright 1
Carlos Beltran 1
-- Most Career Homer Runs, in Opening Day Games, Against the Mets:
Karl (Tuffy) Rhodes 3
Adam Dunn 2
Corey Patterson 2
Andy Van Slyke 2
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Very Catchy
Most Games Played As Catcher for the Mets in One Season:
1. Todd Hundley (1996) 150
2. Gary Carter (1985) 143
3. John Stearns (1978) 141
4/5. Mike Piazza (1999)/ Gary Carter (1987) 137
The capacity to play many games behind the plate in a single season must be genetic -- compare the top of the preceding list with the top of the next list:
Most Games in One Season At Catcher for Any MLB Team, All-Time:
1. Randy Hundley (1968) 159
2/3/4. Frankie Hayes (1944)/Ray Mueller (1944)/Jim Sundberg (1975) 155
5/6/7. Ted Simmons (1975)/ Carlton Fisk (1978)/ Johnny Bench (1968) 154
1. Todd Hundley (1996) 150
2. Gary Carter (1985) 143
3. John Stearns (1978) 141
4/5. Mike Piazza (1999)/ Gary Carter (1987) 137
The capacity to play many games behind the plate in a single season must be genetic -- compare the top of the preceding list with the top of the next list:
Most Games in One Season At Catcher for Any MLB Team, All-Time:
1. Randy Hundley (1968) 159
2/3/4. Frankie Hayes (1944)/Ray Mueller (1944)/Jim Sundberg (1975) 155
5/6/7. Ted Simmons (1975)/ Carlton Fisk (1978)/ Johnny Bench (1968) 154
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Ex-Met Makes History
Former Met Victor Diaz, playing for Texas in 2007 (his first season not in a Mets uniform), had an on-base percentage of .259 and a slugging percentage of .538 in 108 plate appearances. It is almost impossible to combine that low an OBP with that high an SLG. To have a high slugging percentage you generally need some significant number of hits, and it's awfully difficult to have a significant number of hits yet end up with an OBP as low as .259. To put what Victor did in perspective note that he is the first batter in the history of the major leagues to combine an SLG over .530 with an OBP of under .260 in a season while coming to the plate more than 40 times. How did he manage this unprecedentedly odd feat? Well, he had 9 homers, 12 singles and 4 doubles in his 108 PAs, and one single solitary walk. So he had as many extra base hits as singles and walks combined. What a goofy season.
Thank you to Bill James, who pointed out Victor's odd season, in an article about odd seasons Bill posted yesterday on his new online site, creatively titled Bill James Online: http://www.billjamesonline.net/Home.aspx
Thank you to Bill James, who pointed out Victor's odd season, in an article about odd seasons Bill posted yesterday on his new online site, creatively titled Bill James Online: http://www.billjamesonline.net/Home.aspx
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Ten-Fold Stars
30 Win Shares in a season is a level achieved only by the top stars of the year -- at 30 Win Shares a player is often getting into MVP territory (in the NL last seaosn only David Wright, Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera and Matt Holliday had 30 or more Win Shares). To total 300 or more Win Shares in a decade means essentially a player has averaged MVP-type level play year after year over the entire decade. As you might expect, then, this feat has been rarely accomplished. Over the past five complete decades (1950s through 1990s), only six players have topped 300 Win Shares over a full decade:
1950s: Mantle, 317 Win Shares
1960s: Aaron 340, Mays 337, Frank Robinson 307
1970s: Joe Morgan 315
1980s: none
1990s: Bonds 351
In the current decade that will run from 2000 to 2009, with two seasons remaining three players have enough Win Shares accumulated to make 300 plausible:
--Barry Bonds has 277 over the period 2000-2007, and if he does latch on with a team he could still make it to 300 over 2000-2009.
--Alex Rodriguez has 271 over 2000-2007, and based on recent performance will likely make it easily to 300 over 2000-2009.
--Albert Pujols has 251 Win Shares, and again based on recent performance he should make it to 300 by 2009, though any substantial dropoff in performance, as unlikely as that is, or significant injury would leave him short. Albert is a bit behind Bonds and A-Rod in this decade only because Albert only first broke into the majors in 2001, so he has one year, 2000, with zero Win Shares.
For those interested in earlier history, the 300+ Win Shares decades for the first half of the 20th century were:
1900s: Honus Wagner 421 Win Shares
1910s: Cobb 386, Walter Johnson 378, Tris Speaker 361, Eddie Collins 338
1920s: Ruth 413, Hornsby 362
1930s Ott 323, Gehrig 323,Foxx 314
1940s: none
1950s: Mantle, 317 Win Shares
1960s: Aaron 340, Mays 337, Frank Robinson 307
1970s: Joe Morgan 315
1980s: none
1990s: Bonds 351
In the current decade that will run from 2000 to 2009, with two seasons remaining three players have enough Win Shares accumulated to make 300 plausible:
--Barry Bonds has 277 over the period 2000-2007, and if he does latch on with a team he could still make it to 300 over 2000-2009.
--Alex Rodriguez has 271 over 2000-2007, and based on recent performance will likely make it easily to 300 over 2000-2009.
--Albert Pujols has 251 Win Shares, and again based on recent performance he should make it to 300 by 2009, though any substantial dropoff in performance, as unlikely as that is, or significant injury would leave him short. Albert is a bit behind Bonds and A-Rod in this decade only because Albert only first broke into the majors in 2001, so he has one year, 2000, with zero Win Shares.
For those interested in earlier history, the 300+ Win Shares decades for the first half of the 20th century were:
1900s: Honus Wagner 421 Win Shares
1910s: Cobb 386, Walter Johnson 378, Tris Speaker 361, Eddie Collins 338
1920s: Ruth 413, Hornsby 362
1930s Ott 323, Gehrig 323,Foxx 314
1940s: none
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Big Mistakes
Since the first official World Series in 1903, there have been about 1,200 major league post-season games, split virtually evenly between about 600 World Series games and 600 league playoff (league championship series or division series) games.
Of those 1,200 games, only 4 have ended on an error. The New York Mets were the winners in two of those four games -- in both cases giving the Mets their third win of a World Series. These were the only two World Series championships in Mets history. These two walk-off errors are, naturally, two of the most famous plays in Mets history, and among the most famous in all World Series history: the Buckner error on Mookie Wilson's grounder to first in 1986, of course, and J.C. Martin's sacrifice bunt attempt (with men on first and second, nobody out) in the 10th inning of the 4th game of the 1969 World Series -- the throw to first by Orioles pitcher Pete Richert hit Martin in the elbow and caromed away, allowing pinch runner Rod Gaspar (Jerry Grote had doubled to lead off the inning, and Al Weis was on first after an intentional walk) to score from second base for the winning run.
The other two walk-off errors in post-season history were:
--The third game of the 1914 World Series. Connie Mack's perennially powerful (three World Series championships in the previous four years) Philadelphia A's already trailed the underdog Boston Braves 2 games to none. The A's thought for sure they had their first win of the Series notched when they scored two runs in the top of the 10th, but the Braves came back and scored two of their own in the bottom of the tenth. And in the bottom of the twelfth, a sequence unfolded similar to the Mets' last inning in the J.C. Martin game. Hank Gowdy doubled for the Braves, just as Jerry Grote doubled for the Mets in that fateful 1969 game. And just like Grote, Gowdy was replaced by a pinch-runner. And just as Al Weis was then intentionally walked in 1969, so in 1914 was the Braves' Larry Gilbert. And just like J.C. Martin in '69, Herbie Moran in 1914 laid down a bunt that was fielded by the pitcher, in this case the A's Joe Bush. But unlike Pete Richert in 1969, Bush opted to try to get the lead runner at third -- and threw the ball away, allowing the runner to score from second to end the game. The Braves went on to sweep the Series, and Connie Mack promptly dismantled his great team -- the A's dropped into last place for years thereafter.
-- After many years without a first place finish, the Yankees finally won the AL East in Joe Torre's first season as manager of the Yanks in 1996. The Yanks lost the first game of the best-of-five league division series to Texas at Yankee Stadium, and fell behind 4-1 in game 2 (the big blow a three run homer by Juan Gonzalez, who homered off of Johan Santana yesterday in Santana's spring training debut with the Mets). But the Yankees crept back with single runs in the 4th, 7th and 8th innings, while Mariano Rivera pitched two and two thirds perfect innings in relief of Andy Pettite and then John Wettlend pitched two more run-free innings -- the game was tied into the bottom of the 12th inning. Just as in the 1914 and 1969 World Series games, a first and second, no-out situation (Derek Jeter single, Tim Raines walk) led to an obvious sac bunt opportunity. Chunky Yankee third baseman Charlie Hayes, who had entered the game earlier as a pinch hitter for Wade Boggs (!) laid a bunt down toward third base where Dean Palmer (according to Win Shares, the worst fielder in major league history to play a significant number of innings at third base) picked it up but bounced his throw two feet in front of first and past second baseman Mark McLemore who was covering first on the bunt. Jeter came in to score and the Yankees won the rest of the games against Texas, the ALCS against Baltimore and the World Series against Atlanta, the first of four Yankee championships in a five year period. That 1996 Yankee team included not just Raines (36 years old) and Boggs (38 years old) in the stars-in-their-twilight category, but Darryl Strawberry (34 years old) as well. Charlie Hayes, who laid down the bunt that won this game for the Yanks, was the fielder at fault in the case of another historic error -- on August, 15 1990 Terry Mulholland pitched a game that would have consitituted a perfect game if not for an error by Hayes in the 7th inning (Wikipedia points out that more men have orbited the moon than pitched a perfect game).
Of those 1,200 games, only 4 have ended on an error. The New York Mets were the winners in two of those four games -- in both cases giving the Mets their third win of a World Series. These were the only two World Series championships in Mets history. These two walk-off errors are, naturally, two of the most famous plays in Mets history, and among the most famous in all World Series history: the Buckner error on Mookie Wilson's grounder to first in 1986, of course, and J.C. Martin's sacrifice bunt attempt (with men on first and second, nobody out) in the 10th inning of the 4th game of the 1969 World Series -- the throw to first by Orioles pitcher Pete Richert hit Martin in the elbow and caromed away, allowing pinch runner Rod Gaspar (Jerry Grote had doubled to lead off the inning, and Al Weis was on first after an intentional walk) to score from second base for the winning run.
The other two walk-off errors in post-season history were:
--The third game of the 1914 World Series. Connie Mack's perennially powerful (three World Series championships in the previous four years) Philadelphia A's already trailed the underdog Boston Braves 2 games to none. The A's thought for sure they had their first win of the Series notched when they scored two runs in the top of the 10th, but the Braves came back and scored two of their own in the bottom of the tenth. And in the bottom of the twelfth, a sequence unfolded similar to the Mets' last inning in the J.C. Martin game. Hank Gowdy doubled for the Braves, just as Jerry Grote doubled for the Mets in that fateful 1969 game. And just like Grote, Gowdy was replaced by a pinch-runner. And just as Al Weis was then intentionally walked in 1969, so in 1914 was the Braves' Larry Gilbert. And just like J.C. Martin in '69, Herbie Moran in 1914 laid down a bunt that was fielded by the pitcher, in this case the A's Joe Bush. But unlike Pete Richert in 1969, Bush opted to try to get the lead runner at third -- and threw the ball away, allowing the runner to score from second to end the game. The Braves went on to sweep the Series, and Connie Mack promptly dismantled his great team -- the A's dropped into last place for years thereafter.
-- After many years without a first place finish, the Yankees finally won the AL East in Joe Torre's first season as manager of the Yanks in 1996. The Yanks lost the first game of the best-of-five league division series to Texas at Yankee Stadium, and fell behind 4-1 in game 2 (the big blow a three run homer by Juan Gonzalez, who homered off of Johan Santana yesterday in Santana's spring training debut with the Mets). But the Yankees crept back with single runs in the 4th, 7th and 8th innings, while Mariano Rivera pitched two and two thirds perfect innings in relief of Andy Pettite and then John Wettlend pitched two more run-free innings -- the game was tied into the bottom of the 12th inning. Just as in the 1914 and 1969 World Series games, a first and second, no-out situation (Derek Jeter single, Tim Raines walk) led to an obvious sac bunt opportunity. Chunky Yankee third baseman Charlie Hayes, who had entered the game earlier as a pinch hitter for Wade Boggs (!) laid a bunt down toward third base where Dean Palmer (according to Win Shares, the worst fielder in major league history to play a significant number of innings at third base) picked it up but bounced his throw two feet in front of first and past second baseman Mark McLemore who was covering first on the bunt. Jeter came in to score and the Yankees won the rest of the games against Texas, the ALCS against Baltimore and the World Series against Atlanta, the first of four Yankee championships in a five year period. That 1996 Yankee team included not just Raines (36 years old) and Boggs (38 years old) in the stars-in-their-twilight category, but Darryl Strawberry (34 years old) as well. Charlie Hayes, who laid down the bunt that won this game for the Yanks, was the fielder at fault in the case of another historic error -- on August, 15 1990 Terry Mulholland pitched a game that would have consitituted a perfect game if not for an error by Hayes in the 7th inning (Wikipedia points out that more men have orbited the moon than pitched a perfect game).
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