(bumped from fanposts. --eric)

With the 2009 season done and over, it's time to start handing out hardware. I present to you the first annual Gangsta and Grission Awards. Some of the categories had very tight races, while others were as one-sided as the Imperfect Game. The votes are in, however, and all winners receive as a way to remember their achievements, a Golden Jerry.

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Hey everyone, I am new to SB Nation and Amazin Avenue. My name is Bobby and I would like to share this with you. I wrote this piece for my old blog back in August so the numbers might be a little outdated but they still speak very loudly. Here you are:

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The Mets have had 17 different guys on the disabled list throughout the season, not mentioning several guys having multiple stints on that list. 17 out of a 25 man roster. That is 68 percent. Think about that.

Now I am going to give you another statistic. This year, the Mets have used 47 different players on the major league team. 17 injured players, 47 overall. That is 36 percent.

36 percent. 36 percent of all Mets this year have been injured.

That is more than a third. So next time you think that the Mets suck this year, and Mets fans just use injuries as an excuse, think about what your team could do with over a third of its roster missing. That is 8.25 players, but since you can't have a quarter of a player on the DL, lets just say he is Day to Day throughout the season and can not play more than 5 consecutive days.

So lets think about it.

If the Red Sox were missing Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, Jason Bay, Victor Martinez, Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Jonathan Papelbon, and Mike Lowell for the entire year, could they make the playoffs? Now obviously all of the Mets players are not all out for the whole year but we have had 17 different guys on the DL, so according to my math that is equivalent to have that 36 percent out the whole year, since after all, these Red Sox are only 8 guys. Now also say J.D. Drew can not play more than 4 or 5 games in a row since he is Day to Day. All season.

Now think about the Dodgers. Minus Manny Ramirez, James Loney, Matt Kemp, Russell Martin, Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Jonathan Broxton, and Andre Ethier. For the whole year. And Orlando Hudson is day to day. Could this team make the playoffs?

Could the Yankees make the playoffs if they did not have CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Mark Teixiera, Jorge Posada, Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Mariano Rivera? And Nick Swisher is day to day?

Take the Giants. Now take away Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, Brian Wilson, Pablo Sandoval, Bengie Molina, Freddy Sanchez, Randy Winn, Nate Schierholtz, and Randy Winn is day to day. Not a playoff team.

The Angels could not play in October if they did not have Chone Figgins, John Lackey, Brian Fuentes, Maicer Iztures, Mike Napoli, Vladmir Guererro, Kendry Morales, and Jaun Rivera all gone. And Bobby Abreu is day to day.

Picture the Phillies without Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, Cliff Lee, Shane Victorino, J.A. Happ, Brad Lidge, Jayson Werth, and Pedro Feliz is day to day.

I think you get my point. There is not a single team in baseball who could endure what the Mets are going through. You have to give them credit for being able to still have a better record than  9 other teams up until this point. And remember them while you make your predictions for the 2010 season.

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Well that is it. What do you guys think? Isn't this astonishing? I had to do a little bit of research to find those numbers but it was well worth it in my opinion, I would really love to watch the Phillies straggle 15 games out of first because they are missing all of their stars.

If the Mets could somehow pull off a trade for Adrian Gonzalez,  would the community here be willing to do so if it meant blocking Ike Davis? Or is Gonzalez, and whatever prospects a trade for him would require absolutely worth it?   Keep in mind that there would be no guarantee we would keep Gonzalez past 2011, as he might certainly be willing to test free agency.  Seems to be a lot of support for Davis, and I'm curious how deep that runs.

During the season we spend our time reading recaps, checking blogs, and looking at a glut of boxscores and stats.  But now the ticker-tape type info is about to come to a full stop, and the deck is cleared for some bigger, fuller reads.

So what should the winter reading list include?  What are the best baseball books?  Maybe some categories would help, but feel free to free-associate.

1.  Books by or about baseball people.  (examples: "Ball Four," "Veeck as in Wreck," any good player bio)

2.  Books by baseball writers/journalists.  (examples: "Boys of Summer," "The Bad Guys Won")

3.  Books that analyze the game or the stats.  (examples: stuff by Bill James.)

Seems like just about everybody's got one so why not throw in my two cents.  For the record I'm going to try to be as realistic as possible so Francoeur stays and I won't sign Holliday, Lackey & Pineiro then trade for Halladay, Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez.

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Many people think Yankees vs. Philies is the worst World Series match-up possible for a Mets fan to take a side in and still be able to look in the mirror the next day.  Having read a few days of posts on the subject on various blogs, let's sum up the arguments.

(1)  New York vs. Everyone Else

One school of thought says that you should root for New York, even if it's not the team you would prefer to see in the series.  Advantage: Yankees

but:

This theory ignores all of the visceral reasons many New Yorkers hate the Yankees.

(2) If the Mets were in the World Series, many Yankees fans would root for them, especially, say, vs. the Red Sox.

Advantage: Yankees

but:

This is probably true, but many Yankees fans don't hate the Mets quite the same way that many Mets fans hate the Yankees.  It's more like Yankees fans think of Mets fans the same way as they think of their uncool, somewhat annoying little brother.

(3)  Most Mets fans find Yankees fans highly annoying.

Advantage: Phillies

but:

A number of posters claim that Phillies fans are, pound for pound, even worse...and are really just retrofitted Eagles fans who jumped on the Phillies bandwagon once they started winning.  Advantage: Yankees

however:

Even if Phillies fans are more annoying per se, if you live in NYC you probably know two Phillies fans,  while you work with, live next to, and get stuck on the D train with swarms of Yankees fans.  Therefore, the Yankees fans will be more annoying to you.  Advantage: Phillies

(4) Damn, the Phillies have some annoying players.

Shane Victorino, Jimmy "Criswell Predicts" Rollins, Cole Hamels, etc.  With the exception of A-Rod, I don't think many Mets fans feel this way about individual Yankees players.  Advantage: Yankees

(5) The Phillies have replaced Atlanta as the Eternal Enemy of the Mets

Advantage: Yankees

but...

It's only been that way for two years.  Who cared about the Phillies one way or the other before then? Will you care about the Phillies once they start to suck again (and you know they will, even if it takes a few years)?  The Yankees are the true Eternal Enemy of the Mets, and have been since the 1920's (since Mets fans were probably Brooklyn Dodgers or NY Giants fans back in the day).  Advantage: Phillies

(6) You may think the only Real Baseball is played in the National League

Advantage: Phillies

(7) The Yankees pretty much bought their talent, while like them or not, the Phillies players are mostly "home-grown" or came from judicious trades and signings.  Advantage: Phillies

but:

It's not like the Mets are a low-salary, small market team.  Sometimes when talking about improving the Mets, the argument ends up amounting to "the Mets need to become more like the Yankees."

(8)  George Steinbrenner is Satan

Steinbrenner started the "buy up everything that moves" theory of team formation, and while it doesn't always work, is largely responsible for the inflated salaries in baseball and the fact that the average person can't afford to go to the games anymore.   Steinbrenner, an actual Republican, has turned the Yankees into the Republicans of baseball (as a friend of a friend on Facebook described them).  Advantage: Phillies

Conclusion:  Watch football!  Jets or Giants? Um, let's not go there.

I know its a rivalry. However, it is hardly Yankees/Sox, Giants/Eagles, etc. The Phillies have built their team the correct way. Howard, Rollins, Utley, Victorino, Hamels and Happ are all system built players. Jayson Werth was a garbage pickup from LA, and reached his potential in Philly. Ibanez was a solid pickup for cheap.

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I was thinking about the Mets' woes recently.  Well, I've been thinking about the Mets' woes constantly, to be more exact.  It's what I do.

There are the usual jokes:  what gypsy did they piss off?  Is CitiField built on a Mohawk burial ground?  Has the Satanic deal for '86 finally come due?  Then I realized:  it all started with the phantom Yorvit Torrealba signing.  That's when we should have known there would be something very, very wrong with 2009.  It was the first chip in the facade that covered the dysfunction.

Call 2009 Yorvit's Revenge.

Interesting.  The Mets play 17 of their last 22 games at home.  That doesn't mean much right now, but in a fight for a playoff spot it may be a huge factor.  As a comparison the Phillies play 9 of their last 22 at home, the Braves 12 of 22, and the Marlins 12 of 22.  I won't even bother with the Nats.  The Mets have a +8 advantage over the Phillies during this period, and +5 over the Braves and Marlins.  It may not come down to final part of the schedule, but I thought it was worth pointing out.

There's Only One October Wish

So now it is here, the Series we dreaded
Our season long gone, our hopes and dreams shredded
And we have a Choice more Susan Smith than Sophie
Just who is our preference for this Fall Classic trophy?
Some say "Let's Go Yankees!"; the words make me choke
I'd sooner root on those who made Wall Street broke
Still others see Philly as where we'd best fit in
Which makes sense, but only if you'd punch a kitten
So what's left to hope for? An injury or two,
Or an H1N1 outbreak from Bull's BBQ
But I hope for neither, I want both teams back again
So the healed Mets can beat them in 2010
My Fall dream is simple,  my fantasy ode
Starts and ends with the winning team clinching on the road
So home fans, be they Yankee or Phillie
Shed their tears as they head into weather so chilly
Let me see fans torn apart from falling short of their goal,
Phillies fans oh-so portly, Yankees fans sans a soul
Others may wish for some A-Rod clutch-hitting horror
Or comeuppance for Victorino, that baserunning schnorrer
My October wish isn't nearly so wild
Just give me a close-up of one crying child