Where are the Mets Applesauce - 1969 Mets, Top 50 Prospect list, Victorino, and defensive statistic technology

by Joe Budd on Jul 10, 2009 9:51 AM EDT in Applesauce

Livan Hernandez may have helped Jonathan Niese's case, while killing any trade value he might have had. There is a limit to how long a guy can go on garbage and we may be reaching it. The good news is that you can read some history and learn about the 1969 Mets. The past is a Father Knows Best episode full of coziness and warmth that will distract me from this nightmare.

Meet the Mets

Sports Illustrated's Where are They Now segment turns its eyes to the 1969 Mets.

Fernando Martinez proved that he belonged with the Mets, landing on the 15-day DL with a knee injury.

Rob Neyer speaks the truth about Oliver Perez.

Jenrry Mejia and Brad Holt are starting to get some recognition, earning spots in Basebal America's Top 50.

Livan's carriage might be turning into a pumpkin. Hopefully that pumpkin will still have enough horsepower to get him out of town.

Despite two hits and a sparkling defensive play on Wednesday night, Jerry sat Daniel Murphy last night. Metstradamus has a good description of Jerry here.

Some words in praise of Pat Misch.

To add insult to injury, here's a story about Orlando Hudson dying to be a Met.

Around the NL East

The Philadelphia get out the vote campaign for Shane Victorino's All-Star bid was successful, as the center fielder earned the final roster spot for the National League. The Philadelphia Inquirer even officially endorsed the Hawaiian.

Philadelphia is also close to signing Pedro Martinez. Phillies Nation debates itself about the signing and wins.

Raul Ibanez is close to returning.

The Phillies knocked off the Reds with help from Chan Ho Park's 3 innings of scoreless relief, Jayson Werth's home run and Chase Utley's inside the parker.

The Marlins came back from a 6-0 deficit to knock off the Diamondbacks. Florida scored 10 runs in the 8th inning.

If you're interested, you can follow the construction of the Marlins' new stadium here.

The Nationals completed their 25th and 84th games of the season last night, splitting a pair against the Astros. Game one was the conclusion of a rain suspended game from earlier in the season and resulted in a win for Joel Hanrahan who doesn't even play for Washington anymore.

Colorado rallied against Atlanta's Mike Gonzalez to earn a 7-6 victory and bring their record to 26-7 since June 4.

Around MLB

The Oakland Athletics will retire Rickey Henderson's number on August 1st.

Fangraphs convinces me that Alex Rios is the answer.

The Pirates are looking to dump second baseman Freddy Sanchez before he meets an incentive clause in his contract. The Giants are a possible destination.

Moneyball: The Movie is apparently back on.

The New York Times writes about an exciting technology coming to a ballpark near you. I'm not even being sarcastic. Objective defensive analysis.

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hooray for Rickey

Many of you probably have seen this already, but for those who haven’t, here is one of the greatest SBNation Fan Posts of all time:

Rickey.

We've got ourselves a ball club, the Mets of New York town!

by kingcritical on Jul 10, 2009 10:49 AM EDT reply actions

Thanks for sharing that

"It's Father's Day today at Shea, so to all you fathers out there, Happy Birthday." -- Ralph Kiner

by dissento on Jul 10, 2009 11:29 AM EDT up reply actions

you are welcome.

It’s an impressive piece of work.

We've got ourselves a ball club, the Mets of New York town!

by kingcritical on Jul 10, 2009 11:29 AM EDT up reply actions

everyone loves Rickey

I’m planning a HoF induction trip with another Mets fan, a Yankee fan, and a Red Sox fan, who all want to see what will be the greatest speech in the history of speeches.

by JoshNY on Jul 10, 2009 11:51 AM EDT up reply actions

That defense/baserunning camera system sounds incredible

I’ve been extremely skeptical of UZR and +/- and all that, but if this system does what the NYT says it does, defensive stats will quickly catch up to offensive stats. We’ll finally have a way to really accurately measure a baseball players complete on-field worth. Too bad they won’t be able to retroactively use the system to tell us just how good or bad players were in the old days. It’s gonna make comparing modern fielders to older fielders as difficult as it would be to compare hitters if they didn’t start keeping track of walks until 1995.

by cjmulrain on Jul 10, 2009 10:54 AM EDT reply actions

Vernon Wells Irony

From the Times article, H/T Driveline Mechanics.

by Joe Budd on Jul 10, 2009 11:21 AM EDT up reply actions

You're the best! Around!!!

Nothing’s Ever Gonna Keep You Dowwwwwwn!!!

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Jul 10, 2009 11:22 AM EDT reply actions

sweep the leg

PUT’EM IN A BODYBAG JOHNNY

Lets hope that when gut check time comes again the Mets will pass it with flying colors.

by kendynamo on Jul 10, 2009 11:51 AM EDT up reply actions

WTF is Jerry even talking about? (In regards to sitting Murphy last night)

“The primary thrust of Manuel’s argument was that the Mets will face nothing but right-handers from Cincinnati starting tonight.”

“If this was a situation where we had another lefty [tonight], then he would probably have played [last night],” Manuel said of Murphy. “But being we’re going to face three righties, it gives him a chance to keep what he has going and not let a lefty kind of get him out of that.”

No one goes to a game to see Tatis. He doesn’t sell tickets and he’s not a game changer. Just freakin play Murphy at first everyday.

by dulciusEXasperis on Jul 10, 2009 11:26 AM EDT reply actions

Agreed. This platoon stuff is crap.

We've got ourselves a ball club, the Mets of New York town!

by kingcritical on Jul 10, 2009 11:29 AM EDT up reply actions

It would be one thing

if Tatis crushed lefties and Murphy struggled against them and vice versa, but in his limited sample size against lefties, he’s hitting them better than right handed pitchers.

"We must win and we must know how to win rather than win because we have statistical people."

by Evan_S on Jul 10, 2009 12:40 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm skeptical of zone rating

But that sounds cool. Until guys have GPS units placed somewhere on their person, zone rating is going to be an inexact science.

by David G on Jul 10, 2009 1:15 PM EDT reply actions

True

But yeah, that system looks really cool. The company which is introducing it invented the yellow first-down line in football, so they probably know what they’re doing.

"I have discovered in twenty years of moving around a ball park, that the knowledge of the game is usually inverse in proportion to the price of the seats." - Bill Veeck

by Prince on Jul 10, 2009 1:52 PM EDT up reply actions