I Know It’s Early But…

I know it’s early and ten games is hardly a season, but I would like to point out that everyone in NY, the media, the analysts, the doom and gloom fans (you know who you are) had the Mets being the worst team since 1962. Well, I was reading a post on Metsblog today and saw the following tidbit:

“They are off to the fourth best start in club history at 7-3. They started 8-2 in 1972, 1985, and 2006.”

That’s a pretty darn good start. Hopefully, they keep inspiring, keep proving the naysayers wrong, humble the so-called “experts” and prove to the fans that they are worth watching. Ray Kinsella said it best in the movie Field of Dreams, “If you build it, he will come.” Every time the young guys do something it reminds me of why I love my team. Keep building Sandy, keep building and I’ll keep believing.

A True Professional, Thank You Gary Carter!

I was only eight years old when I became a Mets fan; I just want to thank you Mr. Carter, I owe it to guys like you, Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden and Keith Hernandez for loving the Mets as much as I have for the last twenty seven years. Thank you Gary for providing me with so much joy in my life, you were the epitome of class and every young player in baseball would do well to follow in your footsteps. It truly is a sad day in baseball, I just hope that my son will be blessed enough to grow up loving and learning from a true professional baseball player and man like you. You will be missed but never forgotten, that smile will forever be firmly entrenched in my mind. That hit with two outs in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series has provided me with hope that will last a lifetime. I pray that your family gets through this ordeal with the peace that surpasses all understanding. Mr. Carter, you lived your life believing that all things were possible and you truly were a living example of Jesus’ words in Mark 9 verse 23 when he declared, “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” (NLT) Thank you Mr. Carter.

Let's Give Murphy A Chance

I am so tired of hearing Mike Francesa on WFAN sports radio in New York, and everyone else for that matter, arguing that you need a power-hitting first baseman, a gold glove first baseman or a combination of both in order to win. Sure, it would be nice to have but it’s not always a prerequisite for success. I would like to provide you with a perspective that makes this clear. The following is a list of first baseman over the last 19 years, who have been on a World Series winning team, had similar production offensively or had numbers which are not far-fetched for Murphy:

Daniel Murphy, 2009, 1B, Mets:
Totals: .266BA, 12HR, 63RBI, 60R

Todd Benzinger/Hal Morris, 1990, 1B, Reds:

Benzinger: .253BA, 5HR, 46RBI, 35R
Morris: .340BA, 7HR, 36RBI, 50R
Totals: .292BA, 12HR, 82RBI, 85R

Kent Hrbeck 1991, 1B, Twins
Totals: .284BA, 20HR, 89RBI, 72R

Jeff Conine 1997, 1B, Marlins
Totals: .242BA, 17HR, 61RBI, 46R

Tino Martinez, 2000, 1B, Yankees
Totals: .258BA, 16HR, 91RBI, 69R

Mark Grace, 2001, 1B, Diamondbacks
Totals: .298BA, 15HR, 78RBI, 66R

Scott Spiezio, 2002, 1B, Angels
Totals: .285BA, 12HR, 82RBI, 80R

Kevin Millar, 2004, 1B Red Sox
Totals: .297BA, 18HR, 74RBI, 74R

The fact is that teams with a Murphy-type offensive player at 1B have won a World Series 7 times over the last 19 years. For all you mathematicians out there that is 37% of the time.

Granted some were slick fielders, like Grace but others weren’t exactly Keith Hernandez either, e.g. Kent Hrbeck, Spiezio. Why is it unrealistic to say that Murphy can develop into a good defensive first baseman? He wouldn’t be the first in history! In fact, he would be one of a long list of converted first baseman that made a good transition defensively, e.g. Albert Pujols, Todd Zeile, Jeff Bagwell to name a few. In fact, I argue, that he really evolved defensively as the 2009 season went along.

To my knowledge, all but two of the first baseman on the above list is either borderline or average defensively. Grace and Martinez were the only ones on this list who were great fielders and only Grace has won the gold gloves. Grace, however, was already past his prime at this point in his career with the Diamondbacks and his offensive output in 2001 didn’t exactly blow Murphy away. You are probably wondering why I included Tino Martinez considering that he was a good power hitting first baseman for most of his career, but for the first two full years of his career he hit 16HR with 66RBI, and 17HR with 60RBI, respectively. In 2000 he hit a robust .258 with 16HR.

Bottom line? Over the last 19 years a team has won a World Series title with a Murphy-type first baseman almost 40 percent of the time. It's a fallacious argument to say that the Mets can't win with Murphy at first base when other teams have power hitting at this position. I can always counter with the following rebuttal: how many teams in the NL have a Wright at 3B, a Reyes at SS, a Bay in LF, Beltran when healthy in CF or even Johan as their Ace in the hole? Not too many. Finally, it sounds like Murphy has worked hard during the off season, which is good news. Let’s not overlook that Murphy made some adjustments at the plate last year and actually had a decent 2nd half with no protection in the lineup. His final 72 games yielded the following line: .282BA, 7HR, 35RBI and 30R.

Hey, I may be all wrong and he may turn out to be a bust this year. But it’s a bit premature to start labeling this guy a bust or to start saying the Mets have no shot with him at first base. It’s a new season so let’s give “The Irish Hammer” a chance to start driving some nails in that Phillies coffin!

A Bitter Pill

My alarm clock goes off every morning at 6:30 to the tune of WFAN, a local sports talk radio station. Normally, you get sports updates, sprinkled with Boomer & Carton’s crass attempts at garnering more ratings. This morning, however, as I’m struggling to get out of bed in preparation for another day at work, Carton delivers a bombshell. You are probably going to say that I’m blowing this way out of proportion, but I don’t care! As the blow was being dealt, hitting me harder than last years Mets collapse, I just couldn’t believe my ears: Len Berman of NBC Sports had been fired!


This is an absolute atrocity, this man is a sports reporting legend that has been in the business for over 25 years! A local TV sports news icon that I religiously tuned in to watch, in either hopeful expectation, or regretful despondence, contingent upon whether the Mets had won or lost that particular day. Mr. Berman was a pioneer for his trade creating his monthly highlight reel tabbed ‘Spanning The World’. Len Berman played an integral role in lighting my fire for sports during my adolescent years and now he is the victim of what NBC execs are calling ‘budgetary concerns’! What a bitter pill to swallow and how difficult it was for me to hear Mr. Berman on this mornings radio show saying things like, “I guess all good things must come to an end”. All good things must come to an end, this is indeed true, but they should come to an end in a noble way. Look, I’m not downplaying our recent economic downturn, and I understand the sour economy has also forced stations everywhere to retrench, but at a certain point you say, ENOUGH! At what point do you recognize that certain people’s contributions to society are so rich, that respect is warranted? I’m a sucker for nostalgia, and Mr. Berman for me represents a part of my past that I never want to forget and never will! The only negative thing I can say about Mr. Berman’s whole character is that he is an insufferable Yankees fan, but hey, nobody’s perfect! Once again, one of the nice guys gets hosed by a bunch of pimply-faced, back-stabbing, hedonistic, self-seeking, money-grubbing execs. No need to worry though Mr. Berman, because in our eyes, you are the true winner!