SB Nation User Blog: Shomov

Think of this Before Calling the Mets' Closer K-Rod

Shomov — Sat, 23 May 2009 14:30:53 -0000

Think of this Before Calling the Mets' Closer K-Rod

This is an old op-ed article from the Times. I think of it whenever someone utters (or writes) a nickname such as A-Rod, K-Rod or F-Mart.

Manuel on the State of the Mets

Shomov — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 17:36:05 -0000

Manuel on the State of the Mets

I don't imagine too many of you will find this encouraging. Here is the relevant quote: "You get so many statistical people together, they put so many stats on paper, and they say, well, if you do this and you score this many runs, you do that many times, you'll be in the playoffs,"

"That's not really how it works, and that's what we have to get away from. And that's going to have to be a different mind-set of the team in going forward. We must win and we must know how to win rather than win because we have statistical people. We have to win because we have baseball players that know and can understand the game."

Tonight's Game

Shomov — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:57:31 -0000

Although I feel ill and can think of a million more productive/healthy ways to spend my night, I have a ticket for tonight's game and I plan to attend. It has become apparent that I need to find new hobbies. I spend a fair share of my spare time drinking and/or watching baseball; each activity, more often than not, produces within me a sense of impending doom and soul crushing anxiety. No, this is not a cry for help, but rather a reminder of why we follow this team: to suffer and to suffer horribly. As Met fans we develop the courage to stare deep into the abyss, and to wake up the following day to do it all over again.

Anyone else going to tonight's game? I will be in the Upper Deck.

Randolph to Be Steinbrenner’s All-Star Guest

Shomov — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:23:00 -0000

Randolph to Be Steinbrenner’s All-Star Guest

I find it very hard to believe that embarassing the Mets is not a motivating factor behind this.

NL Parity

Shomov — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 02:13:09 -0000

Miraculously, the Mets with a winning percentage of .552 are tied with the San Diego Padres for the best record in the National League. On the other side of the tracks, Washington and Florida are tied for last in the league with .430 winning percentages. Do the math and you will see that only 122 percentage points seperate the best teams in the league from the worst. I have looked at the standings in the NL for every year from 1977 until the present and I have found that this is the smallest range of winning percentages in the past thirty years. The only year that comes close is 1983 when 142 percentage points sperated the Dodgers and the Mets.

In addition to demonstrating the lack of a dominant team in the NL this year, I think that the small difference in winning percentages between the best and the worst highlights the difference between baseball and other American sports. For instance, the difference between the best and worst teams in the AFC last season was 750 percentage points.

PS - Who's idea was it to break the the strike shortened 1981 season into two?

Clemens

Shomov — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 22:09:29 -0000

The New York Times has reported that Clemens will miss his scheduled start on Monday due to a strained groin. He may miss up to two weeks.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/03/sports/baseball/03clemens.html?_r=1&ref=sports&oref=slogin

I usually do not experience schadenfreude when a player is injured, but Clemens, of course, is a special case.

Incidentally, as I write this the Yankees are losing 3-1 to Boston while the Fenway fans serenade them with chants of "Yankees suck."

Second Base

Shomov — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 18:32:24 -0000

Jose Valentin has begun playing rehab games for Class A St. Lucie, and he is projected to return to the Mets next week. Willie Randolph has indicated that as long as Valentin is healthy, he will be the Mets' everyday second baseman. Given Valentin's historical woes against left handed pitching (.588 career OPS and .599 in 2006), I have always questioned the wisdom of starting Valentin against left handed pitching. If you add Easley's dominance against lefties this year in a limited sample (1.082 OPS in 40 plate appearances) to the equation, then, I believe, the decision becomes a no brainer. Even if you write off Easley's performance this year as an aberration, his .764 OPS against lefties from 2004-2006 provides evidence that Easley will hit better against lefties than Valentin.

Julio Lugo

Shomov — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 14:55:01 -0000

The Post reports that the Mets "are further along in trying to secure Julio Lugo to be their every second baseman."

I don't underdstand why either Lugo or the Mets would want to pursue such a deal.

From the Mets' perspective: Lugo is 31, struggled with the Dodgers in 49 games last year, wants a four year deal, and will probably cost a decent amount of money.

I was hoping that the Mets would try to find a less expensive right handed bat to platoon with Valentin. Both Valentin and Lugo performed better against righties last year Lugo: 349/429/778, Valentin 342/538/879. (Lugo's splits from last year, however, may be an anomaly. For his career his numbers are almost identical against righties and lefties).

From Lugo's perspective: I know that he is a Met fan from NY, but why would he choose to play second on only a semiregular basis for the Mets when he can play short every day for Boston.

What am I missing?