Is it really that tough to play in New York?

Jim B. from metsmerized thinks so. I was looking through their side chat and saw this insightful comment from the aforementioned commenter. "Joey Votto had a break down last yr after the death of his father, idk if he could handle NY" Apparently playing in New York is as hard on a player mentally as losing a person who loved and raised you from when you were born. Do these people actually understand some of the stuff they say?

A (maybe really dumb) proposal made in boredom

After seeing Wright's negative UZR projection earlier, would it make any sense to move him to 1B and sign Chone Figgins to play 3B? Wright's arm has always seemed shaky, so this might make a little bit of sense (what is the metric that would tell me about his arm, by the way?). I know that defensive metrics and projections are imperfect, but it's just a thought that came to me since I'm super bored at a meeting right now, so I figured I'd throw it out there. Thanks for indulging me.

WAR and BAB

Beer Money

So I happened to hear that Beer Money was filming at a bar near my apartment last night, so I stopped by. Amidst the Yankee bro-fest I managed to get them to ask me some Mets questions, got all three for the 130 bucks! They were relatively easy, so if any of you get the chance and want some quick money (and live in the city) you should try to catch them somewhere. Here are the questions if anyone is interested. The episode will air in Feb '10 according to super hot Alexi Panos. 1) Which Met won his 300th game in 2007? (obvious) 2) Which Met batted .354 (i think) in 1998 finishing second in the league in hitting. (I almost blurted out Alfonzo out of nervousness , took a second, and realized it was Olerud.) 3) In 2006 NLCS Game 7 which Cardinal hit a 2 run homer to give them a 3-1 lead. (how could anyone forget this gutpunch? i blurted out the answer before she even finished the question.) In my drunkeness I also shouted I Hate Shane Victorino on camera, but I assume they'll edit that out.

Non-Mets Questions for the community

Since it's not yet the offseason and we're about to get the absolute worst case scenario World Series matchup, I figured I'd try to learn a little more about the people who post here with two questions: 1) How did you get to be interested in more advanced statistical analysis of baseball? 2) If you're a fan of other sports, do you take a statistical analysis approach to those as well, or do you follow them from a more traditional just watching the games type of standpoint?

Reyes Surgery ( on Thursday )

According to WFAN, Reyes had successful surgery to remove the tendon and scar tissue and "will begin rehabbing immediately".

Help with Pitcher War

I was seeing what Figgy's FIP would've been if he was up for the whole year (and used his MILB stats, translated, thanks to BP), and needed help with figuring out his wins above replacement. I used the glossary on fangraphs. I get a 3.07 FIP (the constant was around 3.1). To scale it to RA, I divide by .92. That gets me to 3.33. Then, to adjust by park factor, I divide (I think thats what I'm supposed to do) by .94. (ESPN's Park factors) That gets me to 3.55. That's fine to me, but when I did Maine, and divided by .92, and then .94, and then used the formula to get to WAR, I got .4, when it's .6. Did I go wrong in any way?

Mets moments of 2009

" In a season of decline, the Mets lost: • More games than they had in any season since 2003 • A player to an ankle injury suffered on the dugout steps • A run when a player didn't touch third base • Twice on walk-off grand slams • Three straight games to the Nationals • Fly balls in the twilight • Five of six games against the Yankees • The middle of their batting order • Fly balls in the lights • A game when a former Gold Glove winner dropped a 27th-out popup • Runs and baserunners when players didn't slide • 41 times in their last 62 games (PLEASE update to reflect the final 3 games) • Fly balls in the sun • Most of their starting rotation to injury • A game when they hit into a ninth-inning triple play • Three straight to the Pirates "

Francoeur

" Since joining the Mets in July, Francoeur has hit .313 with 10 home runs and 41 RBI in 74 games. " So....had he played the other 88 games as a Met, he would have 20 HRs and 85 RBIs ?. Or, would he have had surgery ?. Thoughts ?.

Bring Back Rey Ordonez

Ordonez never wasted his time with selfish things like getting on base and stealing, and he certainly never hurt himself trying to do something stupid like coming back from an injury. And he never smiled. And he wasn't a good dancer. Plus, Rey-Rey always raised his game in September, when he multiplied his homerun totals by inifinity 4 years in a row. Thus begins my campaign for the Mets to cut Jose Reyes and bring back Rey Ordonez.