213 Miles From Shea

Some teams have slogans, others don't. For a while in the last decade, the Mets were really guilty of some bad slogans, that are laughable now (The New Mets, Next Year is Now, or my personal favorite from 2003 – Catch the Energy). Here's a list of teams that slogans this season: (It's worth noting that some teams have repeated slogans from previous years, forming some identity. The Orioles and Cubs are examples of this).

Baltimore Orioles – This is Bird Land

Boston Red Sox – We Won't Rest

Toronto Blue Jays – Heart + Hustle 2.0

Minnesota Twins – This Is Twins Territory

Chicago White Sox – All In.

Detroit Tigers – Who's Your Tiger?

Kansas City Royals – Major League Moments

Oakland Athletics – Green Collar Baseball

Texas Rangers – My Texas. My Rangers.

Chicago Cubs – It's A Way Of Life

Florida Marlins – Catch Our Moves

Cincinnati Reds – This Is Reds Country

Houston Astros – We Are Your Astros

Pittsburgh Pirates – Pride. Passion. Pittsburgh Pirates

St. Louis Cardinals – We Are Cardinals Nation

San Francisco Giants – Together We're Giant

Los Angels Dodgers – It's Time For Dodger Baseball

First off, congrats to the Mets who at least don't have one posted on the top of the website, which is where I got these from. I like seasons without them. There are three teams talking about location, like territory or nation. So some of these slogans are essentially copies of each other. Some are creative like the Oakland Athletics and then others are just funny like the Marlins and the Royals.

After being largely ignored by the backpages this season (makes sense, we are largely mediocre except of late, plus the Knicks were messing up in the playoffs) the Mets finally landed on the back of the New York Daily News:

That is easily the image I would like to remember for the rest of the season.

It is the first time, maybe since 2006, that I feel I've seen some form of swagger, some form energy, some form of grit from this ball club, and it came from one of the most important players in the clubhouse.

Here's hoping we get to watch more high energy games like this one.

The Mets go for 6 in a row tonight against the Nationals as they try to take series in the Nation's capital. Last night the Mets took the lead early, allowed the Nationals to tie it, then stepped up to put the game away for good. Last night was also the first game in the 5 game streak where the starting pitching wasn't fully on for the game. Luckily, the offense and the bullpen picked up the weight, which is exactly how a winning team performs. The Mets batters will face Tom Gorzelanney tonight while the Nationals draw Dickey.

Robert Allen is 1-3 on the season over the first four games with a 4.10 ERA. In his last outing he allowed four runs in 8 innings, and although the Mets lost that game, it was the game that in a way got this winning streak going. Earlier this season he had a below average start against the Nationals as he allowed 3 ER over 5 innings of work. Last season he had a 1.80 ERA against the Nationals in 20.0 innings of work. The Nationals have these numbers against Dickey:

Werth 4-14, 2B, HR

Pudge 4-13, 2B

Stairs 5-11, 3B, HR

Ankiel 4-10, 2B

Espinosa 0-4

The Mets will get another crack at To Gorzelanny this season tonight. So far this season he is 0-2 over 16.1 innings of work with a 4.96 ERA. Against the Mets this season he logged 5.1 innings of work allowed 6 runs, 5 earned over 4 hits, 2 walks, 2 homers while striking out 8 batters. The Mets have the following numbers on Tom:

Reyes 2-12

Wright 3-12, 3 2B

Beltran 2-5, 2 HR

Davis 3-5, HR

Bay 0-3

Let's Go Mets!

Over the last two days we have looked at what other teams in the league are giving out in the month of May. Now it's time to look at what the Mets are doing special for the upcoming month:

May 6th – Collectors Cup

May 7th – Your Basic All Black Cap

May 8th – Mr. Mets Dash

May 27th – Rally Towel

May 28th – Tote Bag

The only standout in May is the Rally Towel, which is orange with blue writing and will be given out against the Phillies. If the Mets are competitive that night, it should look really cool at the ball park.

When looking at the Mets recent losing streak, and now win streak, I personally see it as three separate streaks. The losing steak started off due to ineffective pitching, but the bats were still there. It then morphed into effective pitching, but the bats went absent. Finally, the Mets are on a winning streak where both the bats and the pitching are evident (imagine that, winning when pitching and hitting), so I wondered where the Mets stood with respect to the league in hits, OBP, and runs (the league average is in parenthesis):

Hits: Mets – 196 (200), Rank: 8

OBP: Mets – .322 (.321), Rank: 9

Runs: Mets – 105 (100), Rank: 6

So the stat that surprised me was that the Mets are 6th in the league in Runs, when 9th in OBP. It always feels at least, to me, that the Mets were leaving a lot of runners on base. Since I'm human, I know that there is a difference between truth and perception. I could perceive something to be bad because of high expectations and that I tend to pay closer attention to the Mets when they are in scoring position. So like any good scientist, I decided to calculate a statistic that compares runs to hits, walks and HBP, after the rankings I'll discuss meaning:

1) Cincinnati .407

2) Arizona .402

3) Colorado .398

4) New York Mets .375

5) Houston .370

5) St. Louis .370

7) Philadelphia .362

8) Atlanta .358

9) San Francisco .357

10) Washington .355

11) Milwaukee .353

12) Florida .351

13) Los Angeles .329

14) Chicago .323

15) Pittsburgh .312

16) San Diego .259

Average .355

Median .357

Standard Deviation .037

First, what does this stat even mean? It is a reflection of the ratio of runs to runners. It is hard to derive a strong statement about the rankings other than the question the stat was designed to answer. For example, we would consider a team that gets a lot of runners on every game, and scores enough runs, as a good team, however teams like that could be burned in this stat if they leave runners on. Leaving runners on base drops this stat significantly. Also, if a team is just a slugging team, but has a low OBP, this stat makes the team look better than what they actually are. For example, if we make up a team that would only hit homers, then they would have a 1.000 ratio here, obviously be the best, but it doesn't really speak at all to the offense of the team.

However this stat answers the question. It is a perception that the Mets leave a proportionally high amount of runners on base, when compared runs scored. According to the ratios, they are forth in the league of runs to runners scored. So out of 16 teams, when we get runners on base, we are also bringing them home. The question is then how often are we getting runners on base, and then getting them home. (I admit there are some issues with this statistical calculation, which is why I am not using it to make any strong statements about the team).

The Mets look to continue their hitting and pitching ways tonight as they start a six game road trip in DC. The last time these two teams met in New York, the Nationals were able to squeak out 2 of 3, and then things started to fall apart for the Amazins. The Mets look to get some revenge behind the first start Young will have off of the disabled list, as he goes against Jordan Zimmerman.

Young was one of the better starters in the Mets rotation before he went down. He has pitched 12.1 innings this season with a 1.46 ERA. One of those gems came against the Nationals as Young pitched 7 innings of one run ball with 5 strikeouts. In his career against the Nationals he is 3-1 over 5 starts with a 2.18 ERA in 33 innings of work. The Nationals have the following numbers against Young:

LaRoche 3-20, 2B, HR

Pudge 0-8

Werth 0-7

Ankiel 0-6

Desmond 0-3

Espinosa 0-2

The Mets will get another crack at Zimmermann tonight, who is 1-3 on the season despite his nice 3.70 ERA. His one win this season was against the Mets as he pitched 5.1 innings allowing 6 hits and 2 earned runs. Last season he was great against the Mets as he posted a 1.80 ERA in 10 innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers against Jordan:

Wright 2-10, 2B

Reyes 2-8

Beltran 2-6, 2B

Davis 1-3, HR

Murphy 2-6, HR

Thole 3-5

Bay 1-3

Let's Go Mets!

Yesterday we took a look at the American League Promotions coming up in May, now it's the National League's turn (except for the Mets who get an entire article for themselves tomorrow).

Chicago Cubs – A Cereal Bowl. No photo though.

Cincinnati Reds – A really nice Bronze Statue of Sparky Anderson.

Houston Astros – It seems a lot of teams are adding creative touches to bobbleheads this month. On Mothers Day, the Astros will be giving out Chris Johnson bobbles, where his the bat is pink! (It's also a day when they play the Mets)

Milwaukee Brewers – I'm only including this bobblehead because of the base. It's sponsored by a cheese company, so the base is a cheese wheel. Fun Fact about myself: the only place I love corporate logos is on bobblehead bases, when given the opportunity to inspect them through post modernism.

San Francisco Giants – Mays is turning 80! So here's a giveaway. Oh they are also still giving away World Champs stuff including a print, tote bag, cap and pennant.

Arizona Diamondbacks – All Star Game Garden Gnomes

Los Angels Dodgers – Get an automatic shout out for a James Loney Jersey.

May is here with winter becoming a distant memory and Summer coming up fast. May is traditionally a month where we start to see more Summer themed giveaways and a lot of Mother Day items. In this article we will take a tour of the best the American League has to offer this month in terms of promotions:

New York Yankees – This is an odd one. The Yankees will be giving a way a Grass Seed Planter. I just have never merged planters with baseball. I mean grass makes sense, but still.

Tampa Bay Rays – You can almost always count on the Rays to come up with some odd, strange promotions. This month they will be giving out a rather creepy bank, a pillow case and a cape. Wow.

Cleveland Indians – “Weather Education Day with Weather Curriculum Book” I fully support education at the ballpark.

Kansas City Royals – This hat is awesome.

Los Angeles Angels – LA is doing it big this month. Instead of just having a normal bobblehead day, they are giving out two different Morales bobbleheads (one per entry) because he's a switch hitter. So there's a left handed one, and a right handed one, both wearing different jerseys. They also are giving out troll and a wrestling mask.

Seattle Mariners – Great Idea! Instead of just a normal Ichiro bobblehead, this one has a hit counter on its base. They always seem to do something great.

(Side Note: Yes, I am aware I could have titled this article with a cheesy pun)

When things go right, good things happen and it tends to be contagious. The old saying in baseball, rightfully so, is that it all depends on your starting pitching. Everything else can be built off of that. During this last homestand where the Mets went 4-2, the starters averaged 7 innings a start with and opponents batting average of .243 and an ERA of 2.63.

After the first two games, the rest of the Mets responded to the new found success of the starting pitching with hitting and bullpen pitching. Specifically, the Mets batters on Thursday night went on a home run tear and a hitting tear. In the past four games we have seen Davis go deep three times, Wright do the same, Bay hit is first homer of the season and Pridie and Nickeas both hit their first major league homers. In total the Mets have had over 50 hits in their last five games.

With good starting pitching, we finally saw a consistent basis the back end of the bullpen in their well defined roles. There is Beato as the amazing surprise, Izzy with the veteran set-up and Krod, back to his normal chaotically in control.

I guess the point of this is, that this is all a cause/effect with the starting pitching. Their success paves the way for everyone else. When they pick up the load, the pressure is off everyone else, which then circles back to the starters getting the pressure off of them. When it rains it pours, and the opposite is true as well. Probably the most important observation is the feeling of winning now. It looks like the players are going out expecting to win, and that started on Friday when Ike hit the go ahead two run homer.

Let's keep this going, and Let's Go Mets!

The Mets go for the sweep this afternoon in Citi Field against the Diamondbacks. Yesterday, we saw the continuation of the power surge the Mets are in right now as both Bay and Davis powered long balls out of the park. For Bay it was the first of this year (already 17% of the way there to last year's total!) and for Davis it was his third in as many days. It was also the second time in as many days the Mets showed fight. Yesterday they took an early 4-1 lead, let it slip back to 4-4, then immediately responded with a run, and than insurance run later to go up for good. Jon Niese will get the start for the Mets today as he faces Galarraga.

Niese is still looking for win number 1 this year with his 0-3 record over 4 starts, 23 innings of work and a 5.87 ERA. Last season he struggled against the Diamondbacks logging in 9.1 innings of work over two games allowing 8 ER during that stretch. Arizona has the following numbers on Jon Niese:

Johnson 3-6, 2B

Nady 1-6

Upton 4-6, 2B

Young 1-5, HR

Montero 0-3

Drew 0-2

The Mets will get a shot at Galarraga, who on the season has pitched three games over 18 innings of work with a 3-0 record and a 6.00 ERA. Armando actually faced the Mets last year where he picked up the win in 6 innings of work while allowing 4 earned runs. The Mets have the following numbers on him:

Bay 1-4

Wright 2-3, 2B

Davis 0-3

Reyes 0-1, 2 BB

Let's Go Mets!