Showing posts with label Scott Atchison Is An Old Fart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scott Atchison Is An Old Fart. Show all posts

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Milestones Within Reach For Members of the 2015 Mets

The Mets lost their first eight Opening Day games from 1962 to 1969 before getting off to their first 1-0 start in 1970.  Since then, they have lost back-to-back Opening Day games just once in the last four and a half decades, dropping their season openers in 1999 and 2000.  And of course, New York made the playoffs in both of those campaigns.

The 2015 squad is trying to avoid becoming just the second Mets team to drop consecutive Opening Day affairs since those 1960s clubs.  That's a team mark no one on the current club wants, especially with hopes being so high for this year's club.  However, several players on the current squad can reach individual milestones that are mostly positive.  And of course, since these are the Mets we're talking about, there are some milestones that can potentially be reached that players would rather not discuss.

The time for dilly-dallying is done.  By the power of Scott Atchison's stubble, I give you the list of individual Mets milestones within reach (even if some players would rather I keep some of these milestones to myself).


Attainable Individual Milestones (Position Players)


Juan Lagares doesn't need anything but his Gold Glove.  (Getty Images)


David Wright:

  • Needs 93 runs scored for 1,000 in his career.
  • Needs 61 RBI to reach 1,000 as well.
  • Needs 22 home runs to tie Darryl Strawberry for the franchise lead.
  • Needs nine stolen bases for 200 lifetime steals.
  • Needs 12 SB to be ahead of every Met not named Jose Reyes or Mookie Wilson.
  • Needs a return to his non-injured self to validate his continued use in the No. 3 hole.


Daniel Murphy:

  • Needs 173 hits for 1,000.  (Only nine Mets have reached that figure.)
  • Needs 10 doubles for 200.
  • Needs 36 doubles to become the second-most prolific Doubles Machine in team history.
  • Needs to be careful what he says when asked for his opinion on certain "lifestyles".


Lucas Duda:

  • Needs 26 home runs for 100.  (Just 11 Mets have reached triple digits in homers.)
  • Needs 55 RBI for 300.
  • Needs 136 strikeouts to enter the team's all-time top ten in whiffs.  (Boo.)
  • Needs to string together two complete sentences in a post-game interview.


Curtis Granderson:

  • Needs 13 home runs for 250.
  • Needs seven blasts to pass Jason Bay for 65th place on the Mets' all-time home run list.
  • Needs to make sure hitting coach Kevin Long never leaves his side.
  • Needs to smile more.  (He doesn't do it nearly enough.)


Michael Cuddyer:

  • Needs 13 homers for 200.
  • Needs 76 hits to be halfway to 3,000.
  • Needs to let Juan Lagares catch every fly ball hit in the left-center field gap.
  • Needs to check out of the DL Hotel.  (He's been staying there way too often.)


Ruben Tejada:

  • Needs to accept that Wilmer Flores isn't going to give him back his job at shortstop.


Attainable Individual Milestones (Pitchers)


Matt Harvey needs to pitch so he can make money to buy clothes again.  (Martin Schoeller/ESPN)


Bartolo Colon:

  • Needs to pitch 214 innings for 3,000 in his career.
  • Needs 166 strikeouts to enter baseball's all-time top 50.  (He'd pass Roy Halladay, Vida Blue, Jim Palmer and Lefty Grove along the way.)
  • Needs to allow 20 home runs to become the 27th pitcher in history to allow 350.  (On the bright side, 14 of the other 26 pitchers are in the Hall of Fame.)
  • Needs his batting helmet to continue flying off his head for a good belly laugh.


Jonathon Niese:

  • Needs two strikeouts to pass Bobby Jones for 9th place on the Mets' all-time list.
  • Needs 22 starts to enter the top ten in team history, displacing David Cone from 10th place.
  • Needs 14 wins to tie Steve Trachsel for 10th place in Mets history.
  • Needs to stay off the disabled list so the Mets can always have a lefty starter in the rotation.


Matt Harvey:

  • Needs 27 starts to establish a new single-season career high.
  • Needs 239 strikeouts to become the 22nd Mets pitcher to reach 500 career strikeouts.  (Hey, if Oliver Perez could strike out 239 batters in just 196 innings in 2004, why can't Harvey do the same?)
  • Needs to give upper management the middle finger if they try to make him change his ways.


Bobby Parnell:

  • Needs one appearance for 300 in his career.
  • Needs 63 appearances to move into 6th place in club history, behind only John Franco, Pedro Feliciano, Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Jesse Orosco.
  • Needs 51 strikeouts to become 7th pitcher in team history to record 300 whiffs as a reliever.
  • Needs to give the team more than the one inning he pitched for them in 2014.


Jenrry Mejia:

  • Needs 29 saves to crack the team's all-time top ten in career saves.
  • Needs to pitch more 1-2-3 innings.  (He allowed at least one base runner in 28 of his last 40 appearances in 2014.  He allowed two or more base runners in half of those 40 outings.)
  • Needs his new haircut to not get in the way of his game-ending stomp after each time the Mets put it in the books.



Attainable Individual Milestones
(People Who Have "Manager" In Their Title)


"You think I'm not going to win more games than I lose this year?  Don't make me laugh!"  (Jeff Roberson/AP)


Terry Collins:

  • Needs 36 wins to pass Gil Hodges to become the third winningest manager in team history, behind only Davey Johnson and Bobby Valentine.  Seriously.
  • Needs 76 losses to tie Joe Torre for second-most defeats for a Mets manager.  (Collins would pass Casey Stengel and Davey Johnson along the way.)
  • Needs 39 games to pass Joe Torre for third place in games managed by a Mets skipper.
  • Needs to wear his pants a little lower.  He looks like a modern day Steve Urkel.


Sandy Alderson:

  • Needs a winning record to tie Frank Cashen by getting his team above .500 in his fifth season as the team's general manager.
  • Needs to borrow a couple million bucks to bring in a top offensive player.
  • Needs to stop posing with Mets teddy bears and start posing as a successful general manager.
  • Needs to prepare for meaningful games in September for the first time as the Mets' GM.


This bear will be very happy if the Mets play meaningful games in September.  (Ed Leyro/Studious Metsimus)

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Sunday, March 29, 2015

A Very Special Scott Atchison Birthday Post

Scott Atchison is ready for his Geritol break.

Last year, the good folks at The Daily Stache produced a plethora of laughs with the site's daily #MetsTwitterRecap posts.  The concept was simple.  Take the best tweets from Mets fans about that day's game and string them together to give the readers a unique recap that didn't try to be politically correct and was occasionally NSFW.

The unoriginal folks at Studious Metsimus (that would be me) have decided to celebrate those posts while celebrating something else.  You see, today is the 39th birthday of one-time Mets pitcher and current Cleveland Indians reliever Scott Atchison, a man who looks old enough to be his own father.

And it's because of the "old man" jokes that Atchison is most remembered by Mets fans, Indians fans, even Mariners fans who remember that Atchison made his major league debut with Seattle.  (That would be the Seattle Mariners, not the Seattle Pilots.)

In honor of Rip Van Winkle's birthday, we've taken the best tweets from fans and put them together to show our favorite birthday boy just how appreciative we are that he's been with us for all these centuries.  Thanks again to the Daily Stache for inspiring this piece and to Scott Atchison for being the Abe Vigoda of the baseball world.  Enjoy!



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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Studious Metsimus Presents The Happy/Crappy Recap For 2013

It's that time of year again, Mets fans.  It's time to say goodbye to another year that didn't feature the Mets parading up the Canyon of Heroes.  But it's also time to say hello to a year that should bring us one step closer to that festive march up Broadway to City Hall.

The 2013 season had its share of memorable moments and not-so-memorable moments.  We got to see the first All-Star Game in Flushing in nearly half a century.  We also witnessed one of our own pitchers start the Midsummer Classic.  But in addition to the good, we also had to put up with Shaun Marcum becoming just the fourth pitcher in Mets history to finish a season with double-digit losses and fewer than two victories.  And of course, we saw opposing hitters get giddy whenever Aaron Laffey took the mound for the Mets.

As far as the hitters went, we saw various everyday players end up in Las Vegas.  We also saw Jordany Valdespin end the year with more selfies than base hits.  But we also got to say "Byrd is the Word" more times than we thought we would.  And if we blinked, we missed a stolen base champion wearing a Mets uniform not named Jose Reyes.

We were happy this year.  We were crappy as well.  Let's take a look at what made us happy in 2013.


The Mets traded away a Cy Young Award winner in R.A. Dickey, leaving what appeared to be a gaping hole in the rotation.  But that hole was filled quickly by Matt Harvey, who turned in a Cy Young-caliber season of his own.  Harvey took three no-hitters into the seventh inning, including a near-perfect game against the Chicago White Sox.  He also became the third Met pitcher to start an All-Star Game, doing it in front of his blue-and-orange-clad fans at Citi Field.

Another reason to be happy was the emergence of Daniel Murphy as a offensive threat.  Prior to 2013, Murphy was just known as a doubles machine.  But by hitting a career-high 13 homers and stealing 23 bases (after pilfering just 19 in his first four seasons), Murphy became a complete player on offense.  (Murphy also set new highs in runs scored and RBI.)  Oh, and he continued to rack up two-baggers, reaching 38 for the third time in his career.  Only David Wright has more seasons with that many doubles in a Mets uniform.

Zack Wheeler proved he could pitch in the major leagues.  Two seasons after coming to the Mets in a trade for Carlos Beltran, Wheeler made his debut on June 18, pitching six shutout innings against the eventual division champion Braves.  Although the Mets finished 14 games under .500, Wheeler posted a winning mark (something Harvey couldn't do in ten starts with the Mets in 2012) in his first go-round in the majors.  After posting a 5.06 ERA in his first three starts, Wheeler rebounded to post a 2.85 ERA in his next 13 starts.  The Mets won nine of those 13 starts.  Wheeler will now seek to have a Harvey-like season in a Harvey-less 2014.

There was very little fanfare when Eric Young, Jr. was acquired by the Mets in June for Collin McHugh.  But Young provided a much-needed spark at the top of the order after his acquisition.  Young displayed his versatility by playing all three outfield positions and second base for the Mets.  No matter where he played, Young ran.  And ran.  And ran some more.  The 28-year-old stole a league-leading 46 bases in 2013, with 38 of those steals coming in just 91 games with the Mets.  Meanwhile, Jose Reyes stole just 15 bases in 93 games with the Blue Jays.

Finally, Bobby Parnell became the first homegrown closer to record more than 20 saves for the Mets since Randy Myers in 1989.  Before a neck injury ended Parnell's season, the fireballer posted a superb 2.16 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and recorded 22 saves.  Opposing hitters posted a Mendozian .211/.260/.294 slash line against Parnell.  Because of Parnell's success, they felt no need to rush their $6 million man, Frank Francisco, back from his injury.

It seems like there were a lot of happy times in 2013.  But like every other year that didn't end with a victory parade, there were also plenty of crappy moments.  Time to break out the orange and blue toilet paper.


Someone in the front office must have used a monkey's paw to wish for success for Matt Harvey.  How else can you explain the Tommy John surgery that will wipe out Harvey's 2014 campaign after his tremendous 2013 season?

Isaac Benjamin Davis had a season that wasn't even worth a single Benjamin.  The Mets gave Davis $3,125,000 in 2013 to have a Jason Bay-like season.  And we're not talking about a Jason Bay in Boston type season.  Heck, the Mets would have taken a Jason Bay in Seattle type season from Davis.  After all, Bay hit two more homers for the Mariners in 2013 than Davis hit for the Mets, even though Davis had 111 more at-bats than Bay did.

Lucas Duda does two things well.  He walks and he strikes out.  Although Duda only played 100 games with the Mets in 2013, his 55 walks were just two off the team lead.  But Duda also struck out 102 times in just 318 at-bats.  David Wright, who is the team's all-time single-season leader in strikeouts, fanned 23 fewer times than Duda even though he had 112 more at-bats than the left fielder/first baseman.

The Mets pitching staff finished the year with a respectable 3.77 ERA.  (It has been over 20 years since the Mets finished a season with a team ERA under 3.70.)  But it could have been much lower if Shaun Marcum had never taken the mound.  Marcum, who had an excellent 57-36 record and 3.74 career ERA before joining the Mets, finished the year with a career-worst (and that's the understatement of the year) 1-10 mark and 5.29 ERA.  Marcum, along with Aaron Laffey, Collin McHugh, Jenrry Mejia, Aaron Harang and Jeremy Hefner (who was by far the best pitcher of the six) combined to make 47 starts for the Mets in 2013.  They won six of them, or one less than Zack Wheeler won in 30 fewer starts.

Ruben Tejada.  He had a lower batting average (.202) and on-base percentage (.259) than Jonathon Niese (.205 and .279, respectively).  Enough said.


And that's it for this year.  We hope you enjoyed all the stats and silliness which Studious Metsimus has been happy to provide for almost five years now.  Without you, we'd only have three-and-a-half readers, so your loyalty is very much appreciated.

As always, we'd also like to thank our fellow bloggers/authors for inspiring us and for giving Mets fans other outlets to get news and opinions about their favorite team.  Sites such as Mets Merized Online, Metstradamus, Remembering Shea, The Daily Stache, The Real Dirty Mets, The Apple, Mets360, On The Black, MetsBlog, Rising Apple, Kranepool Society, Metszilla, Mets Police and MetSilverman are among the best in the Mets blogosphere.  There are also two other sites that deserve their own special mention.

Studious Metsimus, and mostly every other site dedicated to the Mets, should all doff their caps to Greg Prince and Jason Fry, who are the co-authors, co-conspirators and co-ol cats behind Faith and Fear in Flushing.  If you've never read FAFIF, then you probably just never learned how to read.

The other site is one that is very special to me, and I'm not just saying that because I'm married to its author.  Taryn Cooper (or "The Coop", if you're into that brevity thing) is the mastermind behind A Gal For All Seasons.  She's not just the best female blogger/podcaster in the Mets bloggerati, but if you rub her the wrong way on anything Mets-related, she won't be afraid to rip you a new ... well ... let's just say it's another word for Cole Hamels, and you get the picture.

From Ed Leyro, Taryn Cooper and the critters of Studious Metsimus (Joey Beartran, Iggy Beartran and Ballapeño), we'd like to wish you all the best for a happy and healthy 2014.  And remember, Mets fans, if you see an elderly man waiting for the light to change to cross the street, help him across.  You may just get an autograph from Scott Atchison as a reward.  See you next year!



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Thursday, October 31, 2013

Are You Ready For Some Hot Stove?

The Boston Red Sox finished off the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 6 Wednesday night to take the 2013 World Series crown.  In doing so, the once-cursed team won their third title in ten seasons, or one more than the Mets have won in 52 seasons.  What will the Mets have to do to win that coveted third championship?  That’s something Sandy Alderson and his Merry Men will have to address during the Hot Stove season, which is now officially underway.  It should be the most important offseason the Mets have had in nearly a decade.

The Mets need help.  Okay, let’s be honest.  They need lots of help.  They need as much help as Jaime Escalante’s students needed to master “cal-cool-us”.

First base?  According to Little Jeffy Wilpon, the Mets have a glut at first base.  Not a glut of talent at first base.  Just a glut.  I guess the next time Webster’s dictionary is updated, the word glut will be defined as “a hybrid of Lucas Duda and Ike Davis” or “the roadblock that prevents a team from pursuing a highly coveted Cuban talent”.

Second base?  Well, that’s Daniel Murphy’s position for the time being.  But now there is talk about moving Gold Glove finalist Eric Young, Jr. to second base.  For the record, Young was considered for a Gold Glove for his defensive excellence in left field, not second base.

Shortstop?  Will Ruben Tejada ever get another shot to be a starter there?  Probably not.  The Mets will have to consider trading for a shortstop that can play the position effectively on a daily basis.  Otherwise, we might see Justin Turner more than we should there.  For all I care, the Mets can trade him to the World Champion Red Sox.  His beard would fit right in.

Sorry, Justin.  Mike Napoli is not impressed.

Third base?  The Captain.  Let’s move on.

Left field?  If Eric Young doesn’t move to second base (he better not), he’ll probably stay in left to entertain the drunken Party City dwellers.  But he might be better served as a fourth outfielder, a la Endy Chavez.  The Mets need to add some pop to the lineup, and left field is one of the positions that could use some.  Lucas Duda need not apply.

Center field?  That belongs to the smooth-as-silk Juan Lagares.  Lagares proved he can handle the position, making superb catch after super catch and showing off his strong, accurate arm every time an opposing player was foolish enough to test him.  You know who else was foolish?  The people who made Andrew McCutchen and Denard Span finalists for the Gold Glove in center field over Lagares.

Right field?  Give me Choo or give me someone who’s better than whomever the Mets trotted out there last year after Byrd became the word in Pittsburgh.  Obviously, acquiring Shin-soo Choo would prove the Mets are indeed down with OBP, as his .423 on-base percentage was second in the league to teammate Joey Votto.  Choo also posted his third career 20/20 season, hitting 21 homers and stealing 20 bases.  If Eric Young, Jr. loses playing time, the Mets will have to find steals from someone other than the National League stolen base king.  Byrd was the word in 2013.  Choo should do in 2014.

Catcher?  Like it or not, the position belongs to Travis d’Arnaud.  He’ll have to perform better if he wants to be known for something other than being the Met with a large P on his back.  To back up d’Arnaud, the Mets should probably bring in a veteran player.  But if they don’t, Anthony Recker isn’t a terrible option.

Starting pitchers?  Zack Wheeler, Jonathon Niese and Dillon Gee form the top three.  The bottom two is where the Mets will have to be creative.  Although Rafael Montero has already made 16 starts at the Triple-A level, he will probably not get called up until June at the earliest.  And Noah Syndergaard has yet to face Triple-A hitters, so don’t expect to see him at Citi Field before the All-Star Break.  With Jenrry Mejia coming off an injury, as well as Jeremy Hefner and that Harvey guy recovering from major surgery, the Mets will need at least one and perhaps two veteran stopgaps in the rotation.  Aaron Harang did okay in his late-season tryout and so did Daisuke Matsuzaka.  If I had Wilpon blood running through my veins, I’d bring back Dice-K.  After all, how would the Mets ever sell their glut (there’s that word again) of Matsuzaka T-shirts that are left in the team store?

Dice-K's shirt is almost outselling the Sandy Koufax Brooklyn Dodgers jersey in the Mets Team Store.

Relief pitchers?  Bobby Parnell, LaTroy Hawkins and Scott Rice should stay.  Scott Atchison could also stay unless the Senior League reforms and takes him as their No. 1 overall pick.  Everyone else can fade away or join the Phillies, like every other former Met eventually does, except for Frank Francisco.  He’ll be taking advantage of his soon-to-be unemployment by petitioning the Olympic committee to add chair tossing as a medal event.

Bench?  The Mets need a well-balanced bench.  It can’t be full of .260 hitters with little power and no speed.  (The fact that Justin Turner has hit exactly .260 in his career with little power and no speed should be viewed as a coincidence.  It does not reflect my personal distaste for the pie-chucker.  Supposedly.)  The non-starters should be split evenly between left-handed and right-handed hitters, with at least one speedster that can be brought in to pinch-run, one power bat, one contact bat, one utility player and one late-inning defensive replacement.  If a player can combine two of those talents, the Mets will have a better chance to compete when they eventually play another 20-inning game.

With Matt Harvey out for the 2014 campaign and many positions still up for grabs, the Mets enter the hot stove season with many pieces needed to complete what should be an interesting puzzle.  If Papa Smirk and Little Jeffy aren’t willing to keep their promise of spending money this offseason, the only thing Mets fans will have to look forward to in 2014 is not having to subject themselves to Tim McCarver’s analysis (he put the “anal” in analysis) during Saturday FOX telecasts.  As much as a Timmy-less Saturday pleases a plethora of Mets fans, we’d like a little more than that to make us not want to jump off the Shea Bridge in a Lime-A-Rita-fueled stupor.  Besides, we won’t have Frank Francisco to break our fall this year.

Let’s get cracking, Sandy!  Put some logs in the hot stove and see if you can fire up the fan base.  End this five-year fizzle by making Citi Field sizzle.  The Red Sox shouldn’t have to have all the fun in October. 
 
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