Daily Archives: August 13, 2007
On Actober.com, Major League Baseball is asking fans to send in their videos where they recreate memorable moments in postseason history. Several of the moments they’ve asked fans to recreate have been Mets related, including “The Catch” by Endy Chavez, the Bill Buckner error in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, and currently the moment where Roger Clemens flung a piece of a broken bat towards Mike Piazza.
Check out “The Reflex” which is my favorite video for this weeks Actober video contest.
At the website for Time
magazine, Katie Rooney reports on a recent study conducted by the
University of Texas at Austin that shows decisions made by Major League
Baseball umpires may be based on racism.
Rooney writes…
“According to the new study led by Daniel Hamermesh, a professor of
economics at the University of Texas at Austin, Major League Baseball
umpires tend to call more strikes when the pitcher is of their same
race; when they’re not, umps call more balls. It doesn’t happen all the
time — in about 1% of pitches thrown — but that’s still one pitch per
game, and it could be the one that makes the difference.”
As
Rooney notes in the article the data used by the study group is not
surprising considering, “71% of MLB pitchers and 87% of umpires are
white.”
And according to Rooney, the “biased behavior” disappears in ballparks where QuesTec is used and calls made during full counts.
…these types of studies have really gotten out of hand…i really
doubt any umpire is calling balls and strikes based on racism or any
other conspiracy theory you want to think up…and results from studies
can be skewed to fit the researchers point of view…
…umpires make bad calls, it’s the human element of the game…it’s
gonna happen, does it effect outcomes of games, of course, but we as
fans have to live with it, but to insist racism plays a part of the
ball and strikes is pure madness…
By the way, the Braves have put Octavio Dotel on the 15–day disabled list with right shoulder strain, 10 days after acquiring him from the Royals for Kyle Davies.
Meanwhile, in five appearances since being acquired by the Red Sox, Eric Gagne has given up seven runs on 10 hits in four innings and has blown two saves.
…this is just further evidence that building a bullpen is a total crapshoot…whether you are gagne, dotel, Darren Oliver, Chad Bradford, Heath Bell or Pedro Feliciano, relief pitchers have become the biggest gamble in baseball…
…this is worth noting, as it was sent to me by a reader of the site, Derek R…
In 19 at-bats against Tim Hudson, John Smoltz, Aaron Harang, Greg Maddux, David Wells, Jake Peavy and Brad Penny, i.e., playoff-caliber pitchers, Lastings Milledge is batting .157, with most of his plate 
appearances coming against the Brewers, Nationals, Pirates, Marlins, Reds and Cubs.
Meanwhile, Shawn Green is batting .487 in 39 at-bats against the same six pitchers, as well as Carlos Zambrano, Roy Oswalt and Brandon Webb, which includes going 8–for-11 against Smoltz.
…as Derek says…
“I would caution anyone suggesting that Milledge should play every day. Lastings has beat up on bad pitching, but most times looks very over matched against the better pitchers. I could see Milledge having a very rough playoff experience.
“Come playoff time, against big pitchers, I’d rather have Green up at bat than Milledge if we’re talking about winning this year.”
…thanks, Derek…i don’t know that this can viewed so black and white, and i still think i would prefer to see milledge in there over green, now, in october, or whenever, but i appreciate the two cents and for giving me something extra to think about…
Prior to injuring his back, and going on the disabled list, Oliver Perez had a 3.14 ERA and had allowed just under one hit per inning.
However, since returning from the disabled list, he has a 4.33 ERA in six starts – and, though he has struck out more batters per inning since being injured, he has allowed roughly 1.5 hits per inning.
Since returning from the disabled list on June 11, spanning 191 at-bats, Shawn Green has driven in 10 runs and is 
hitting .236 with a .274 OBP. In that time, he’s hit .153 against left-handed pitching.
Meanwhile, in 94 at-bats, since returning from the disabled list on July 12, Lastings Milledge is batting .319 with 18 RBI, he has a .370 average with runners in scoring position, and is batting .414 against left-handed pitching.
…at minimum milledge must start over green against lefties…at minimum…however, if i had the wheel, he’d be playing every day…no, i have no idea what to do with green…frankly, i think he’d be useless from the bench…no, i do not have 100 percent confidence in milledge, especially if this team is destine to make the world series…but, right now, it’s hard to deny the kid any sort of playing time…he’s a totally different player than he was last season, and he clearly provides an emotional and offensive spark when in the lineup, whether batting second or eighth…green, on the hand, is a liability in the outfield and has killed more rallys than i count…
…i suspect willie will continue to mix and match his lineup with green, milledge, Moises Alou and Carlos Beltran for as long as green is considered a veteran…however, in a couple of weeks or so, when Endy Chavez begins to peak around the corner, and a roster move must be made, at the very least, green’s job has got to come in to question…
…i am scheduled to talk with SNY’s Ron Darling 
today, for an interview that will appear on The MetsBlog Podcast for tomorrow…
…my goal is to learn a little about how a pitcher deals with fatigue this time of year, why some people do not succeed in new york, but succeed elsewhere, and basically talk about pitching…if you have a question or idea, let me know in the comment’s section of this post and i will try to work it in…
By the way, tomorrow night, SNY will be hosting a Viewing Party, complete with Darling, ticket give-always, raffles and drink specials, starting at 6:30 pm at the Hawaiian Tropic Zone in Times Square.
…i will be going to the event, along with a few other Mets bloggers, so i hope to see you there…
For more, watch the You Tube clip below…
According to multiple reports, A’s C-DH Mike Piazza has cleared waivers and can be traded to any team.
Max sent in an e-mail asking…
“With Paul LoDuca hurt and Ramon Castro‘s exit…do you think the Mets could trade for Mike Piazza.”
…i considered this for a brief moment, as well, since i will always be a big piazza fan…however, let’s assume that castro is out for a while, which it does not sound like he will be, but if he was, i still don’t think you’ll ever see piazza in a Mets uniform…that ship has sailed…if for no other reason than this is no longer piazza’s team…it’s willie’s team…it’s the David Wright-Jose Reyes era…it’s Carlos Delgado, it’s Carlos Beltran, it’s even Pedro Martinez…it’s not piazza, Robin Ventura, Todd Ziele, etc…you know what i mean…
…the organization has moved on, and so have most fans, and we’ve all worked hard to create a new style, a new idea of what this team is about, and i don’t believe the Mets will want to go backwards, especially since if they do need a back-up catcher there will be plenty of others to choose from who will perform just as well as mike…that being said, as a fan, i’d love to see him back, especially if this club is destine to win a world series, but i totally understand why it shouldn’t happen, as well…
According to Jon Heyman at SI.com, White Sox RHP Jose Contreras has cleared waivers and is now eligible to 
be traded to any interested team.
…the Mets interest in contreras was a bit overblown back at the trade deadline, from what i could tell…i mean, if the Mets wanted to acquire contreras, they could have easily done so at a variety of points over the last year or so…and they didn’t…so, that should give you an idea of how bad they actually want him…
Meanwhile, the Padres have cut LHP David Wells.
Wells’s agent, Gregg Clifton, recently told the Boston Globe that if his client clears waivers, and becomes a free-agent, he will look to sign with a contender, like the Mets, D’Backs or Dodgers.
By the way, at MLB Trade Rumors, Tim Dierkes is keeping a running post of players who have cleared waivers, like Contreras, who can be traded to any team at any time.
At his blog for the Journal News, John Delcos asks you to vote and comment on Omar Minaya’s worst off-season move, be it bringing back Guillermo Mota to trading away Brian Bannister and so on.
…i didn’t check my watch, but i guess it’s scapegoat time again…i 
feel like we go through this every three or four weeks…
…personally i find this exercise to be pointless, because a) the Braves and Phillies are just better, which is not omar’s fault necessarily, b) there were not many impactful off-season moves to be made, and c) while i agree that there were some poor moves made, i have a hard time thinking about ‘what could have been’ when ‘what could be’ is not performing to the best of its ability…
…Brian Bannister is not the reason why this team played so sloppy yesterday, you know what i mean…
