Walk Machine: Mets 6, Diamondbacks 4
by Eric Simon on Aug 12, 2009 9:30 PM EDT
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Jeff Francoeur walked twice today; one intentionally, one not so much. It was the twelfth time he had walked twice in one game and the third time in which one was intentional. He has never walked three times in one game. Adam Dunn has drawn at least two walks in a game eighteen times this season and 207 times in his career. Six times this season he has drawn three walks.
Oliver Perez was his usual incontinent self, allowing six hits and six walks while hitting a batter and throwing a wild pitch -- but, quite remarkably, only ceding a single run to the Diamondbacks -- over 5.1 innings. He struck out seven but managed to throw just 53% of his pitches -- 59 of 111 -- for strikes. He did tuck his season ERA neatly under 6.00, making Omar Minaya look just a little bit smarter every day.
The rest of the bullpen conspired to allow three runs in 3.2 innings; Sean Green struck out three batters in an inning of work, but also allowed two runs to score in the process. Brian Stokes pitched a scoreless eighth and Francisco Rodriguez had another iffy outing, allowing two hits and a run in the ninth to collect his 25th save of the year.
Apart from Francoeur's career day, the rest of the Mets' offense was unseasonably productive. Cory Sullivan tripled twice and walked; David Wright collected three singles and Gary Sheffield a pair to go along with an HBP. Fernando Tatis went 3-for-4 with a walk. Omir Santos went 0-for-4 and has been overtaken by Francoeur in on-base percentage, .297 to .296. With seven weeks to go in the season, that'll be an exciting race to watch as we head down the stretch.
The Mets are off on Thursday but head back to Citi Field to take on Barry Zito and the Giants on Friday.
Swag Contest
Swag contest results can be found here and the next game's swag form already available. You can read more about the swag contest here.
SB Nation Coverage
* Traditional Recap
* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* AZ Snakepit Gamethread
Win Probability Added
Big winners: Fernando Tatis, +26.1% WPA, Luis Castillo, +25.6% WPA
Big losers: Omir Santos, -13.8% WPA, Pedro Feliciano, -12.1% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Castillo RBI single in eight, +24.4% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Montero RBI single in seventh, -20.7% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +7.4% WPA
Total batter WPA: +42.6% WPA
GWRBI!: Cory Sullivan
Game Thread Roll Call
Nice job by KeithsMoustache; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.
| Num | Name | # of Posts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | KeithsMoustache | 95 |
| 2 | blueandorange4life | 89 |
| 3 | Michkin | 69 |
| 4 | Jadden Hopkins | 68 |
| 5 | metsguy234 | 66 |
| 6 | fxcarden | 61 |
| 7 | David G | 40 |
| 8 | itsmetsforme | 36 |
| 9 | bishmets | 33 |
| 10 | dcrockett17 | 26 |
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Comments
I'd like to issue a challenge
One day without a Francoeur related post or bashing unless he has a horrifically awful game. We’ve had much worse players in the last decade than him (Bobby Bonilla, Mo Vaughn) we just have to live with the fact the trade happened and hope it comes out the best.
President of the Ramses Barden Fan Club
2 walks in a game is a huge event...
We can’t let that pass without noting it.
"If I ever decide to do a book, I've already got the title...The bases were loaded and so was I."
-Jim Fregosi
by Stephen Schmidt on Aug 12, 2009 9:47 PM EDT up reply actions
News flash
Bobby Bonilla was a better player than Jeff Francoeur. I know we lean on WAR a lot here, but Bonilla’s WAR as a Met:
1992: 1.5
1993: 3.4
1994: 3.1
1995: 2.2
You may wish to think he was awful because the Mets signed him to a bad contract and he was kind of indifferent to fans and the media, but he was a good player for most of his time here.
Yea
He was bad, then, but when people think of him unfavorably they do so with respect to his first go-round, which is probably a reflection of their expectations of him and of those early nineties Mets teams. Those teams had a lot of problems but Bonilla’s performance wasn’t one of them.
yea, agreed
I remembered being pretty excited when the Mets signed him and really disappointed in how much he “sucked,” and was pretty surprised when I looked at his numbers a few years ago that they were much better than I remembered. Hitting .249 his first year killed his reputation, I think. Plus the fact that in Pittsburgh he was considered pretty much on the same level as Bonds, but then Bonds went to another level (and then another, and then ANOTHER), and Bonilla regressed a little.
i'm talking about his second tenure
where he was absolutely horrific, hence why i said “in the last decade” and he was also a clubhouse cancer. I only vaguely remember Bobby Bonilla in his first tenure with the mets considering I was 3 years old on opening day in 1993. I remember the Bobby Bonilla who constantly fought with Bobby V and played cards in the clubhouse during the deciding game of the 1999 NLCS. His second stint was an abject failure nothing more nothing less. It’s really a shame because his early career stats made it look like he was on a fast track for the hall of fame.
President of the Ramses Barden Fan Club
by Hoyadestroya85 on Aug 13, 2009 1:34 AM EDT up reply actions
The difference
is that Bonilla wasn’t asked to be a major contributor in his second stint with the Mets, so calling it an abject failure probably means you were expecting far too much from a role player. He was bad, obviously, but a lot of role players are bad. If they weren’t bad they’d be regulars.
This
IIRC, Cashen (nominally) dealt Rojas for Bobby Bo — one overpaid bust for another — when Phillips was on leave for boning an employee.
I kind of liked Bobby Bo in the second go-around — he sucked, but I always thought he got a little bit of a raw deal the first time based on his contract.
wasn't he supposed to start
over Brian McRae? The fact that he couldn’t should speak volumes
President of the Ramses Barden Fan Club
by Hoyadestroya85 on Aug 13, 2009 3:57 PM EDT up reply actions
I would be thrilled if he turned into a Grade A masher and made us all look like fools
He could close his eyes when he swings if that’s what it takes to get results.
However, I suspect the fact is that’s never going to happen and he’s so dumb, he probably had to sign his contract with an “X.”
Here he’s quoted saying he would never wear a helmet that ACTUALLY PROTECTS YOUR BRAIN because it looks silly.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/sports/baseball/13helmet.html
He’s a grown man who wears pajamas on television every day worried about fashion. Does he pick his fielding glove based on whether it matches his eyeblack?
"If on-base percentage is so important, then why don't they put it on the scoreboard?"
what does that have to do with the price of tea in china?
In case you haven’t noticed, aesthetics are a big damn deal in sports and if protection was everything, every player would wear one of those Delino DeShields/Shane Victorino double flapped helmets. If NFL players cared about safety, every single one of them would wear one of those revolution helmets with a full facemask. So for these guys its finding the perfect balance between functionality and protection. If i were an athlete, i’d lean towards performance before protection..
President of the Ramses Barden Fan Club
by Hoyadestroya85 on Aug 13, 2009 1:50 AM EDT up reply actions
and we all know
that the only guy who really signs his name with an X is Johnny Damon
President of the Ramses Barden Fan Club
by Hoyadestroya85 on Aug 13, 2009 1:50 AM EDT up reply actions
If NFL players cared about protection they probably wouldn't play (or would at least wear cups)
I love the sport, don’t get me wrong, but the risk of catastrophic spinal cord injury alone is enough to make me thankful that subject doesn’t even come up for my scrawny, brainy teenage stepson. He looks at me like I’m a moron yelling at the TV during football. That makes me happy.
-
As for Frenchy, the “he doesn’t walk meme” is getting pretty old. Most even semi-regular readers at AA get that he’s completely dependent on BABIP, which is subject to major peaks and valleys. I don’t know how much more insight into the guy there is than that. For my money, the anti-Omir barbs were a good bit funnier.
"Those who fear disorder more than injustice inevitably produce more of both." -- Rev. William Coffin
and in almost all other measurable ways
"I reject your reality and substitute my own"
-Adam Savage
by blueandorange4life on Aug 13, 2009 10:24 PM EDT up reply actions
How about
the game on July 17 or July 22 or July 31 or Aug 3 or Aug 4.
The fact is Jeff Francoeur is not a good baseball player. It would be bad enough if he had come through the mets system, but in fact, they traded away a perfectly OK baseball player for him because the manager (who I think we can all agree is not a good manager of baseball games) didn’t like him.
And if you don’t like the talk of a mets player that is not that good, try this site: www.metsblog.com
By the way – Georgetown Sucks. Syracuse.
+1 for Georgetown sucking
-1 for Syracuse. And -1 for Villanova. St. John’s basketball baby (I’m gonna conveniently pretend this decade hasn’t happened).
good point on the Nova
I just saw “Hoya” and the rage blacked me out.
I won’t even comment on St. John’s Basketball, I just feel sorry for you (like SU Football).
We wouldn't have to talk about so much if
The MSM and other mainstream bloggers didn’t keep repeating the “Francoeur has brought energy to lineup” or “So far this trade looks like a steal” narrative. As far as I’m concerned this just balances out the Francoeur blowing from the newspaper/SNY/WFAN faction of the fanbase.
The Francouer bashing is crazy ...
Not because he is or isn’t a bad player, but because he’s far from the biggest problem this team has, and in any case, the guy he was traded for isn’t any good either. In the long term, the deal will almost certainly be a wash—you know it, I know it—so let it go already.
by RetireNumber17 on Aug 13, 2009 11:24 AM EDT up reply actions
Mex_17
Man
Everything’s Wrong
XFHDS:FHKDFUCK!
17…?
"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw
by squid92 on Aug 12, 2009 10:20 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
When the lead of the game summary
is that Francouer walked twice, I start to agree with Mex_17.
You don't cheer for the Mets. You drink for the Mets.
Francouer is comedy gold
If we didn’t laugh about him, we’d cry. Seriously. Same thing with how the Mets and MLB skipped the 8th inning. Storks? What is that? If the record books were so important, why don’t they print them on the tickets?
Grission and Husart - that is either the non-union Mexican equivelant of "Starsky and Hutch" or the key to winning the World Series.
AdaFm Rubin lobbied for Francouer's walk.
Just know, if there's ever a riot at Citi Field and Oliver Perez was the starter, I started the riot.
Adam*
Just know, if there's ever a riot at Citi Field and Oliver Perez was the starter, I started the riot.
Umm, Eric?
You are hurting my very sensitive sensibilities with all this talk of some “Francoeur” person. Could you please not ever refer to this person again on your website? I require different entertainment.
ps – god damn if i ain’t pissed off about that result in the Mexico v USA soccer match today. i know we ain’t won in Azteca ever but damn that winning goal was pretty soft all things considered.
"He's definitely mixing it into his repertoire. That's French for 'repertoire' " - Keith Hernandez
by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Aug 13, 2009 1:06 AM EDT reply actions
I'm not sure what annoyed me more
Losing yet again in Azteca, or how the match got spoiled for me (I couldn’t get out of work to watch it live so I recorded it on my DVR to watch when I got home) by the guys working the counter at the fish store up the block from my apartment while I was waiting to pick up dinner.
Only 2+ weeks until
hopefully a Josh Thole sighting? Since our catchers are like 1 for their last 35, it would be a nice surprise.
I just read on metsblog that
Cerrone isn’t sure someone would claim him. I think that almost any team with an established catcher could have him as the 2 for a year then send him down if he needs more seasoning.
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