Of Walling and Hitting Coaches
The firing of hitting coach Denny Walling yesterday was quite unfortunate. It’s sad when good people get fired but at the same time the numbers don’t lie. The Mets hitters are toward the bottom of almost every statistical category as a team most glaringly their .102 average with the bases loaded.
I’m not much of a fan of firing coaches in the middle of a season(unless it’s a reshaping of a staff in the wake of firing a manager). However I do believe that this is a good move. For one thing, it shows the players that management will not stand idly by while things go to pot. (“It’s your coach now but next time it’ll be one of you.”)For another, it shows the coaches and players that there is accountability within the organization. (“That’s right, Art. You are accountable too.”)
But why Walling? As mentioned above the Mets hitting (as a team) has been mostly lousy. That in and of itself would be enough to make Walling the scapegoat. But also working against Walling is that the Mets already have one of the best (if not the best) hitting coaches in the game already sitting on their bench in the form of bench coach Don Baylor. I always figured Baylor was there to become the next manager for when Art Howe is fired (and that still may happen) but this is not a bad idea either.
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Nothing To Write
I have absolutely nothing to write today. Other Mets blogs are running pieces on David Wright’s first game at AAA Norfolk, Jose Reyes & Scott Erickson rehabs and trade rumors. I’ve got nothing to say about any of that stuff today. Enjoy your day.
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I’m A Bad Fan
- Call me a bad fan but I did not see or hear anything about this weekends games until this morning. Truth is that outside of some more solid pitching from Tom Glavine yesterday I didn’t miss anything.
- David Wright has been promoted to AAA Norfolk. I’d say that translates into a late July or early August call up to play third base at Shea if the Mets continue their struggles and fall out of the race again.
- According to CBS Sportsline the Mets number of the day is 6.
BY THE NUMBERS
6 — Number of hits the Mets had in 59 at-bats with the bases loaded through Sunday (June 13). Their .102 average was the worst in the majors. - This also from CBS Sportsline:
OF Mike Cameron is fighting to keep his batting average over .200. “It’s not for lack of work ethic,” manager Art Howe said. “I see him watching video and working on his swing all the time. We just have to hope he comes out of it.”
Hey, Art, maybe the torn ligaments in his hand has something to do with the hitting. Think about it.
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Peter Vescey on Larry Bird’s Comments
In today’s New York Post Peter Vescey discusses Larry Bird’s comments about the need for more white stars in the NBA. Vescey calls Bird’s thoughts racist. He goes on to talk about how the color of a teams star(s) doesn’t affect ticket sales but the quality of the team does. While I agree with that I also think that the color of the leagues stars is very important.
As children we look at professional athletes as role models. We can argue about if they should or shouldn’t be role models from now until doomsday and it won’t change the fact that kids look at them that way. When choosing role models kids often look for people they think they can identify with. As a young white boy growing up in New York it was natural for me to idolize guys like Don Mattingly and Ray Knight. It doesn’t mean I was a racist kid or that I didn’t like Reggie Jackson or Willie Randolph or even Darryl Strawberry. (George Foster is a whole other story.) It just means that Mattingly and Knight were people I thought I could be.
Does the NBA need more white stars? I don’t know. But certainly it helps the league to have stars from all walks of life and ethnicities to help touch the young fan base and thus ‘breed’ (for lack of better term) their future ticket holders.
As for Bird, the comments made him look like a total wack job. Check this out (from Reuters):
In an interview with ESPN to be aired Thursday ahead of the Game Three of the NBA finals, the former Boston Celtic, widely considered one of the greatest players ever to hit the hardwood, was asked if the league lacked white superstars.
“Well, I think so,” Bird said. “You know when I played you had me and Kevin (McHale) and some others throughout the league.
So far he’s OK. But then he goes south.
“I think it’s good for a fan base because, as we all know, the majority of the fans are white America. And if you just had a couple of white guys in there, you might get them a little excited.
“But it is a black man’s game and it will be forever. I mean the greatest athletes in the world are African-American.”
Sounds like he’s been talking to Jimmy the Greek. But seriously, I think Bird meant well and didn’t mean his comments to sound as bad as they did. I think he was asked a tough question by Jim Grey, a reporter with a history of asking inappropriate questions (remember him hounding Pete Rose at the All-Star game a few years ago?), and felt that a no comment would sound worse than a comment. So he began to talk and next thing you know BANG! We’ll have to wait and see what the repercussions of this are.
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Quick Hits
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Taking Heat For Yesterday’s Post
I’m taking a bit of heat (via email and blog comments) for my critique of Ty Wigginton yesterday. At least one person thought I was criticizing Jason Phillips for his throw to the plate too but I was not. I also was not making excuses for Kaz Matsui whose defense has been abysmal to say the least.
Bottom line is this:
- If Matsui makes the play then the inning is over and the game continues.
- If Wigginton holds the ball instead of throwing to first base then he’s got a shot at making the out at the plate. (It’s not a guarantee. Just a shot.)
- Phillips had virtually no chance at a play at the home due to how close the runner was to the plate when Phillips got the ball. Even a gold glove first baseman would have had a rough time making that play. (That’s not a knock on Phillips who has done a great job learning the position.)
- Vance Wilson could have made a better play on the throw home but IMHO would not have gotten the runner unless the throw was 100% perfect.
A few people mentioned that I should not knock guys who are learning new positions such as Wigginton and Phillips. Like I said above, I was not knocking on Phillips who did a better job adjusting to the position last year than Mike Piazza is doing this year. (Speaking from a strictly defensive standpoint here. Not putting down Piazza.) As for Wigginton, he is not learning a new position. He came through the minors playing second base and learned third base when the Mets decided to shift him over there last year. Obviously he’s a bit rusty and should be given a bit of slack for that. But the argument that he is learning a new position is erroneous.
Then what exactly was I saying? Everything that I had read before I wrote my post (including newspapers and blogs) was blaming Matsui for the loss. My point was to present a different angle to the loss than that which I had read and show that while Matsui’s error was a pivotal point in the inning there were also other mistakes in the Mets play which cost them the game. If you’re going to analyze that particular inning you cannot stop at blaming Matsui. You need to look at what else happened. Especially the things that happened after the error. If you don’t look at those things then you’re only doing half an analysis.
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Howie Rose on Interleague Play
Howie Rose has an article on MSG’s website where he discusses, among other thing, interleague play. Howie says the following:
I think interleague play is the biggest waste of time that baseball has ever come up with. It’s great for the six days that we see the Mets play the Yankees. But the games against the Twins, Royals, Indians and Tigers are nothing more than annoying intrusions into the rigors into the National League schedule.
They are meaningless. They are dispassionate. They are largely dismissed by fans as exhibitions, and despite what a lot of those people who continue to be intrigued by this generation’s three-division, Wild Card-infested interleague era insist, I still think it is a colossal waste of time.
As a more traditional fan I agree with Howie. It is a waste of time. It’s also unfair as far as standings go since teams in the same division do not play all of the same opponents. As exciting as it may be to watch regular season games between the Mets and Yankees you must remember that at the same time the Marlins will play against the Devil Rays in a similar ‘geographical rivalry’. That’s hardly a fair and balanced way to set up the schedule as far as fair competition goes. Fair would be that if the Mets have to play the Yankees so does every other team in the NL East.
As far as I’m concerned interleague play is about nothing more than money. Yet another reason for congress to remove the MLB’s antitrust exemption.
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Kaz Errors But Wiggy Blows The Game
The Mets lost a 2-1 interleague game to the Minnesota Twins last night with a heartbreaking 9th inning. With Jacque Jones on first and 1 out Mike Stanton induced a double play ball from Twins catcher Joe Mauer. Kaz Matsui made the grab but lost the handle when trying to exchange the ball to his throwing hand and get the ball to Ty Wigginton at second base. Jones was safe at second and Mauer safe at first. Next up was pinch hitter Michael Cuddyer. Cuddyer hit a 3-2 pitch up the middle. Wigginton paused and then threw the ball to Jason Phillips at first base. Unbeknownst to Wigginton, Jones was heading home. Upon receiving the ball Phillips fired home but it would have taken a perfect throw to get Jones. Jones was safe and the ballgame was over.
In reading newspapers and blogs today I have seen many people putting blame on Matsui for this game. But if you’re blaming Matsui then you’re taking the easy way out. Sure he made the error but it was Wigginton’s mental error that really cost the game. Wigginton would say after the game that he threw to first because he thought Jones was going to go back to third base. Jones had, after all, run through a stop sign at third. That explains why Wigginton didn’t throw home but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the throw to first.
Cuddyer was safe at first and even a perfect throw may not have gotten him. But even so, Cuddyer was irrelevant. What was relevant was the winning run rounding third base (Jones). Even if Jones hadn’t run through a stop sign Wigginton’s throw to first would have given him time to break for home. Unless Wigginton was throwing to first to complete an inning ending double play (which is what Jones may have thought was going on) there was no reason to throw to first and every reason to hold on to the ball and watch Jones in case he went home.
Instead, Wigginton’s throw to first cost the Mets another excellent outing by Tom Glavine. Glavine allowed 5 hits and 1 run in an 8 inning no-decision. Another good start wasted.
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Today’s Random Notes
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Ordonez On Ice?
It may be time to kill the Magglio Ordonez rumors. This just in from fanball.com:
It’s beginning to appear that arthroscopic surgery for right fielder Magglio Ordonez (strained knee/calf) is only a matter of time. According to the Chicago Tribune, Ordonez will undergo a second MRI today and will be examined by team surgeon Dr. Charles Bush-Joseph, who would be called upon to perform the procedure. Ordonez, a free-agent at the end of this season, must decide whether to have surgery that will keep him out four to seven weeks or to play through an injury that will not worsen but could prove very painful and limiting. “He’s not getting better with rest; he’s actually getting worse with rest,” team trainer Herm Schneider told the Tribune. “His running is actually regressing versus getting better.” After weeks of calling the injury a strained calf, further evaluation has revealed that the injury is closer to the back of his knee, though the team insists it is not an anterior cruciate ligament problem.
Update: About 10 minutes after I originally posted this item I read a news flash that said Ordonez has been put on the disabled list. Interesting development.
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