Off Day WAR: The Best And Worst Seasons By Mets First Basemen
by James Kannengieser on Apr 14, 2009 2:30 PM EDT
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PrintNext up in the off day wins above replacement (WAR) series is the first base position. Here are the top 10 seasons in Mets history per Sean Smith's WAR database:
| Rank | Year | Player | WAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1998 | John Olerud | 7.9 |
| 2 | 1984 | Keith Hernandez | 6.3 |
| 3 | 1986 | Keith Hernandez | 5.8 |
| 4 | 1990 | Dave Magadan | 5.6 |
| 5 | 1999 | John Olerud | 5.3 |
| 6 | 1985 | Keith Hernandez | 5.2 |
| 7 | 1997 | John Olerud | 5.0 |
| 8 | 1983 | Keith Hernandez | 4.5 |
| 9 | 1980 | Lee Mazzilli | 3.9 |
| 10 | 2006 | Carlos Delgado | 3.9 |
And the bottom 10:
| Rank | Year | Player | WAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 38 | 1965 | Ed Kranepool | 0.1 |
| 39 | 2002 | Mo Vaughn | -0.1 |
| 40 | 2004 | Mike Piazza | -0.3 |
| 41 | 1996 | Butch Huskey | -0.4 |
| 42 | 1962 | Marv Throneberry | -0.5 |
| 43 | 1967 | Ed Kranepool | -0.5 |
| 44 | 1982 | Dave Kingman | -0.6 |
| 45 | 1994 | David Segui | -0.7 |
| 46 | 1968 | Ed Kranepool | -1.0 |
| 47 | 1979 | Willie Montanez | -2.1 |
Some quick notes:
- Keith Hernandez and John Olerud are two of my favorite players ever, and it's no surprise they dominate this list. If the Hall of Fame voters valued defense as they should, Keith would have received more consideration.
- Dave "Mr. OBP" Magadan. Nice 1990 season for Dave.
- The bottom 10 list is filled with some beloved characters in Mets history (Ed Kranepool, Mike Piazza, Marv Throneberry) and others not so beloved (Dave Kingman). Mo Vaughn was memorable for his fatness and the Mo-Licious sandwich, but his on-field performance was quite poor.
For more on Mets first basemen, check out Alex Nelson's retrospective at Mets Geek: Part 1 and Part 2.
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I have Dave Madagan's rookie card
I like that the players in the top-10 are all too dang skinny to have used steroids. It is a list we as fans can be proud of (or at least not worry about allegations coming out in Caseco’s necxt book.)
"The people of Houston are spending money like oil's selling at $40 a barrel."
Alex Sanchez was caught using steriods
during the first testing, he weighed like 145 pounds, you don’t have to look like a WWF wrestler to be a user.
Yeah! Shhh!
Im trying to feel good about baseball on a day off, dammit!
But seriously, John, Keith and Dave were not using the steroids. Olerud did use a magic helmet, but other than that Im pretty sure he was clean.
"The people of Houston are spending money like oil's selling at $40 a barrel."
most beloved mets
clearly butch huskey needs to be added to that list.
HELLO HELLO MR WILPON. WE WANT THE MANSION NOT THE CONDO.
Last night
I saw the advert for Jackie Robinson night and thought to myself: “Shouldn’t Butch Huskey be invited back for that? Hey, why not Mo Vaughn, too?” I know these guys shared only the common uniform number, but I can’t think of any other way to get Butch Huskey involved in any events at Citi.
'Oh yes, I know all about that duty-of-a-citizen stuff. It doesn't go. There are exceptions to every rule, and this was one of them. When a man risks his liberty to come and root at a ball-game, you've got to hand it to him. He isn't a crook. He's a fan.'
by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Apr 14, 2009 3:15 PM EDT up reply actions
What's he doing now, anyway?
I check wikipedia, and it does not say. With a name like Butch Huskey, he needs to own a restaurant and a line of outdoor clothing. Maybe he could sit in the booth and replace Wayne for 8 or nine innings a night.
"The people of Houston are spending money like oil's selling at $40 a barrel."
Olerud's 98 season was a monster
His OPS was .998. Just a cheap single away from 1.000. I can’t believe he was only a Met for 3 seasons.
wow
i was surprised to see piazza’s name on this list, certainly not because he was actually respectable at 1B, but because i forgot that he played over 500 innings at 1B for the 2004 mets. then again, there was plenty to forget about the 2004 mets…
"You know I am only teasing. I love you gals out there -- always have." - Keith Hernandez
Ha ha
Was that the same year he had the amazing frosted hair?
by TheBigStapler on Apr 14, 2009 2:57 PM EDT up reply actions
If Olerud was re-signed after '99
the Mets would have won the 2000 World Series. I will remain convinced of that till the day I die.
I was going to post that I love olerud
but a bunch of you beat me to it.
I’ve blocked out Piazza playing first. In fact, I have more vivid memories of Hundley in left field.
by HotChipWillBreakYourLegs on Apr 14, 2009 4:12 PM EDT reply actions
I remember him playing
but I thought he played like 5 or 6 games and they gave up. I forgot he played 68 games there. Crazy
I was also indisposed that season
Didn’t really get to watch more than maybe 10 mets games because of my job. I didn’t miss much as I remember.
by HotChipWillBreakYourLegs on Apr 14, 2009 4:25 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah, I just saw that.
I can just picture it now, the Mets bullpen absolutely owning everything in its path.
"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw
Wagner, Putz and Rodriguez
Could be the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings of a competitive all-star team.
by TheBigStapler on Apr 14, 2009 4:21 PM EDT up reply actions
I mean
You would almost rather the starting pitchers only go 6 innings.
by TheBigStapler on Apr 14, 2009 4:22 PM EDT up reply actions
Magadan 1990
It’s amazing that he was so productive in 1990 despite hitting only 6 home runs.
"Since we became accelerated readers, we never leave the house." - Los Campesinos
Rooke Question re: WAR
Should the average of WAR for all 1st basemen in baseball for a given year be 0.0? Or maybe the median?
With so few negative numbers on there, either we’ve had great luck with first basemen or the stat is biased towards the positive, or I don’t get it :)
And who says Dave Kingman wasn’t beloved? #26 was my first favorite Met.
My understanding
is that WAR is biased toward positive numbers. If a player posts a negative number over a significant span of games, then he should be cut for a replacement player who will give the team 0.0. As Derek Jacques explains, the stat measures performance not against the league average player, but rather against “a theoretical construct, representing roughly the lowest level of performance that a major-league team should get from a player on their active roster. The idea is to measure a player’s contributions by how much he adds over the kind of fringe talent any ballclub could pick up by signing minor-league free agents or claiming guys off the waiver wire.” (Derek Jacques, Prospectus Toolbox: Value Over Replacement Player).
"Since we became accelerated readers, we never leave the house." - Los Campesinos
Yeah, that's the idea
A WAR of 0.0 does not mean a player is league average. 0.0 means a player is “replacement level”, meaning that player is readily available for cheap at the minor league level. Think someone along the lines of Damion Easley or Argenis Reyes.
CurlyShuffle – Sorry about Kingman, haha.
by James Kannengieser on Apr 15, 2009 7:03 AM EDT up reply actions
Thanks
I get it. Forgot that replacement players could be theoretical minor leaguers or journeymen.
by CurlyShuffle on Apr 15, 2009 8:07 AM EDT up reply actions
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