Blue and Orange dot net

Manuel responded on television, saying,  “We allowed the fewest baserunners and then threw out the most base runners. So there you go, Ozzie. But what you got to do Ozzie, you got to teach me how to tweet so I can get back to you. You don’t have to put me on blast.’’

David Lennon, Newsday

Leave it to Jerry Manuel to pull this website out of retirement.

Let’s start with the obvious: if the New York Mets had allowed the fewest baserunners in baseball AND threw out the most base runners, I don’t think Jerry Manuel would currently be an analyst for MLB Network. It’s also safe to assume that Sandy Alderson would still be working in the MLB front offices, the Mets would be the defending World Series champions, and would be generating so much money, Fred Wilpon wouldn’t have to explore selling the team because he’d be making a mint off of ticket sales and merchandise right now. Right off the bat, this one doesn’t come close to passing the smell test.

And of course, Jerry Manuel is wrong. The Mets did not, in fact, allow the fewest baserunners in baseball last year, or any year in which he was the manager. Take a look at the tables below. First, we’ll start with the 2008 Mets.

2008	Tm	H	BB	HBP	Base
1	TOR	1330	467	67	1864
2	LAD	1381	480	48	1909
3	TBR	1349	526	46	1921
4	ARI	1403	451	68	1922
5	CHC	1329	548	65	1942
6	LAA	1455	457	63	1975
7	CHW	1471	460	48	1979
8	BOS	1369	548	68	1985
9	MIL	1415	528	42	1985
10	OAK	1364	576	54	1994
11	HOU	1453	492	50	1995
12	MIN	1568	406	31	2005
13	NYY	1478	489	51	2018
14	CLE	1530	444	51	2025
15	KCR	1473	515	41	2029
16	PHI	1444	533	57	2034
17	STL	1517	496	51	2064
18	FLA	1421	586	58	2065
19	SDP	1466	561	38	2065
20	ATL	1439	586	42	2067
21	NYM	1415	590	70	2075
22	WSN	1496	588	51	2135
23	SFG	1416	652	70	2138
24	COL	1547	562	53	2162
25	CIN	1542	557	67	2166
26	SEA	1544	626	53	2223
27	DET	1541	644	68	2253
28	BAL	1538	687	80	2305
29	PIT	1631	657	49	2337
30	TEX	1647	625	72	2344

 This was the only Mets team that benefitted from a fully-healthy Johan Santana, and decent years out of Mike Pelfrey and Oliver Perez (and about 2/3 of a good season from John Maine) and still finished 21st in baserunners allowed thanks to an epic shithole of a bullpen. Of course, Jerry doesn’t deserve full blame for this one, as Willie Randolph managed for the first two months of the season before being fired at 7 AM Greenwich Mean Time. Then again (spoiler alert) this is the highest Mets pitchers will rank in baserunners allowed, so maybe Jerry will want to take full credit.

2009	Tm	H	BB	HBP	Base
1	SFG	1268	584	41	1893
2	LAD	1265	584	57	1906
3	STL	1407	460	53	1920
4	SEA	1359	534	43	1936
5	CHC	1329	586	59	1974
6	ATL	1399	530	49	1978
7	TBR	1421	515	46	1982
8	CHW	1438	507	41	1986
9	COL	1427	528	46	2001
10	NYY	1386	574	71	2031
11	TEX	1432	531	70	2033
12	PHI	1479	489	75	2043
13	OAK	1486	523	36	2045
14	ARI	1470	525	53	2048
15	CIN	1420	577	65	2062
16	MIN	1542	466	58	2066
17	SDP	1422	603	45	2070
18	FLA	1425	601	45	2071
19	DET	1449	594	41	2084
20	BOS	1494	530	68	2092
21	LAA	1513	523	58	2094
22	PIT	1491	563	47	2101
23	HOU	1521	546	50	2117
24	TOR	1509	551	58	2118
25	NYM	1452	616	55	2123
26	KCR	1486	600	51	2137
27	MIL	1498	607	65	2170
28	WSN	1533	629	48	2210
29	CLE	1570	598	45	2213
30	BAL	1633	546	51	2230

For all the talk of Citi Field being a pitcher’s park, it sure didn’t help the Mets finish very high in baserunners allowed – only 25th in 2009.

2010	Tm	H	BB	HBP	Base
1	SDP	1305	517	28	1850
2	OAK	1315	512	38	1865
3	TBR	1347	478	46	1871
4	PHI	1402	416	57	1875
5	ATL	1326	505	49	1880
6	SEA	1402	452	40	1894
7	SFG	1279	578	51	1908
8	LAD	1323	539	58	1920
9	MIN	1493	383	47	1923
10	STL	1412	477	48	1937
11	NYY	1349	540	62	1951
12	TEX	1355	551	63	1969
13	CIN	1404	524	50	1978
14	COL	1405	525	56	1986
15	CHW	1471	490	34	1995
16	TOR	1407	539	60	2006
17	WSN	1469	512	46	2027
18	FLA	1433	549	51	2033
19	LAA	1422	565	46	2033
20	HOU	1446	548	40	2034
21	BOS	1402	580	53	2035
22	NYM	1438	545	52	2035
23	DET	1445	537	65	2047
24	CHC	1409	605	65	2079
25	BAL	1508	520	59	2087
26	ARI	1503	548	58	2109
27	CLE	1477	572	66	2115
28	MIL	1487	582	48	2117
29	KCR	1553	551	47	2151
30	PIT	1567	538	66	2171

And last year, where the Mets “rebounded” to finish 22nd, the year Manuel claims they were first in the league. Here are the overall totals for the three seasons:

Total	Tm	H	BB	HBP	Base
1	LAD	3969	1603	163	5735
2	TBR	4117	1519	138	5774
3	OAK	4165	1611	128	5904
4	STL	4336	1433	152	5921
5	ATL	4164	1621	140	5925
6	SFG	3963	1814	162	5939
7	PHI	4325	1438	189	5952
8	CHW	4380	1457	123	5960
9	SDP	4193	1681	111	5985
10	TOR	4246	1557	185	5988
11	MIN	4603	1255	136	5994
12	CHC	4067	1739	189	5995
13	NYY	4213	1603	184	6000
14	SEA	4305	1612	136	6053
15	ARI	4376	1524	179	6079
16	LAA	4390	1545	167	6102
17	BOS	4265	1658	189	6112
18	HOU	4420	1586	140	6146
19	COL	4379	1615	155	6149
20	FLA	4279	1736	154	6169
21	CIN	4366	1658	182	6206
22	NYM	4305	1751	177	6233
23	MIL	4400	1717	155	6272
24	KCR	4512	1666	139	6317
25	TEX	4434	1707	205	6346
26	CLE	4577	1614	162	6353
27	WSN	4498	1729	145	6372
28	DET	4435	1775	174	6384
29	PIT	4689	1758	162	6609
30	BAL	4679	1753	190	6622

So if by “allowed the fewest baserunners,” Jerry meant “13th in the National League and 22nd in baseball,” then yes, Jerry was correct, the Mets allowed the fewest baserunners.

But then I got to doing some thinking. Maybe Jerry just got his numbers mixed up:

2008	Tm	H	BB	HBP	Base
1	HOU	1432	449	52	1933
2	OAK	1318	574	48	1940
3	KCR	1507	392	50	1949
4	SFG	1452	452	48	1952
5	SEA	1498	417	38	1953
6	CIN	1351	560	50	1961
7	SDP	1390	518	53	1961
8	WSN	1376	534	67	1977
9	PIT	1454	474	59	1987
10	ARI	1355	587	49	1991
11	FLA	1397	543	69	2009
12	MIL	1398	550	69	2017
13	LAA	1486	481	52	2019
14	TOR	1453	521	59	2033
15	LAD	1455	543	43	2041
16	PHI	1407	586	67	2060
17	BAL	1486	533	42	2061
18	CHW	1458	540	63	2061
19	COL	1462	570	57	2089
20	CLE	1455	560	103	2118
21	NYY	1512	535	80	2127
22	MIN	1572	529	36	2137
23	TBR	1443	626	68	2137
24	DET	1529	572	44	2145
25	NYM	1491	619	39	2149
26	ATL	1514	618	42	2174
27	STL	1585	577	42	2204
28	CHC	1552	636	50	2238
29	TEX	1619	595	63	2277
30	BOS	1565	646	70	2281

A fine 2008 season from Mets hitters. They were 6th in times on base in 2008. No snarky comment from me about that. Sadly, it will not last.

2009	Tm	H	BB	HBP	Base
1	SFG	1411	392	50	1853
2	SEA	1430	421	49	1900
3	HOU	1415	448	43	1906
4	PIT	1364	499	46	1909
5	KCR	1432	457	42	1931
6	CIN	1349	531	53	1933
7	TEX	1436	472	37	1945
8	SDP	1315	586	57	1958
9	CHW	1410	534	62	2006
10	ARI	1408	571	37	2016
11	STL	1436	528	61	2025
12	NYM	1472	526	36	2034
13	OAK	1464	527	50	2041
14	DET	1443	540	61	2044
15	CHC	1398	592	59	2049
16	BAL	1508	517	39	2064
17	WSN	1416	617	56	2089
18	PHI	1439	589	71	2099
19	TOR	1516	548	45	2109
20	ATL	1459	602	52	2113
21	COL	1408	660	47	2115
22	FLA	1493	568	63	2124
23	TBR	1434	642	49	2125
24	MIL	1447	610	71	2128
25	CLE	1468	582	81	2131
26	MIN	1539	585	45	2169
27	LAD	1511	607	63	2181
28	LAA	1604	547	41	2192
29	BOS	1495	659	70	2224
30	NYY	1604	663	54	2321

The Mets go from having the sixth-most runners on base in 2008 to having the 12th-fewest runners on base in 2009. This is not what you would call a positive trend.

2010	Tm	H	BB	HBP	Base
1	SEA	1274	459	39	1772
2	HOU	1348	415	33	1796
3	PIT	1303	463	33	1799
4	LAA	1363	466	52	1881
5	TOR	1364	471	55	1890
6	NYM	1361	502	46	1909
7	BAL	1440	424	54	1918
8	WSN	1355	503	60	1918
9	SDP	1338	538	50	1926
10	CHC	1414	479	50	1943
11	LAD	1368	533	46	1947
12	SFG	1411	487	50	1948
13	OAK	1396	527	47	1970
14	CLE	1362	545	64	1971
15	FLA	1403	514	55	1972
16	ARI	1366	589	39	1994
17	CHW	1467	467	79	2013
18	KCR	1534	471	35	2040
19	STL	1456	541	50	2047
20	TBR	1343	672	57	2072
21	PHI	1451	560	63	2074
22	COL	1452	585	47	2084
23	ATL	1411	634	51	2096
24	MIL	1471	546	81	2098
25	DET	1515	546	41	2102
26	CIN	1515	522	68	2105
27	TEX	1556	511	45	2112
28	MIN	1521	559	39	2119
29	BOS	1511	587	47	2145
30	NYY	1485	662	73	2220

Thanks to on-base sinkholes like Jeff Francoeur and Rod Barajas, the Mets had the sixth-fewest baserunners in the majors last season, and the third-fewest in the National League. Sounds like Jerry had his numbers mixed up.

I don’t want to beat a dead horse. Jerry Manuel is gone, Omar Minaya is gone, the Mets have a new, smarter front office that doesn’t believe in giving away outs, or in giving the other team more opportunities to score. We are now in a time of healing, of moving forward, of looking towards a brighter day in the future (though some of that optimism may be tempered a bit by ownership uncertainty).

But when I see Jerry Manuel making comments like this on MLB Network, it brings me right back to these past two awful years. It brings me right back to Manuel throwing everybody in the organization under the bus and taking little to no blame for the problems with the team. It brings me back to Jerry’s passive-aggressive communication style that players clearly never liked. It just fills me with such negative thoughts during a time where optimism and positivity should reign, and reminds me why I should never watch MLB Network.

So, moral of the story: Don’t watch the MLB Network studio show unless you wish to become dumber.

As for the future of this website: it’s no secret that we haven’t exactly been banging out the content lately. The last thing I wrote was a troll post regarding Chris Carter being non-tendered by the Mets, and before that, I had started an objective takedown of the Omar Minaya years before losing interest, because I simply did not care to relive all of that nonsense.

After that, I just haven’t had anything interesting to say about Sandy Alderson. Obviously, I’m happy he is the GM, and that Omar Minaya is not. But I’m not sure I have a fresh take on things that hasn’t been said elsewhere, and this offseason’s transactions didn’t exactly provide bloggers with a ton to write about. As far as the Wilpon’s financial woes, I don’t claim to be any sort of financial expert or lawyer so I couldn’t even begin to offer a clear opinion what’s going on with that whole situation.

I do have an idea for a piece on Alderson that I will try to write next week, as it would be the first thing written about Sandy since he was hired and it seems long overdue to get something up about him. I want to get more items up here, but at this point, I don’t have the time or the inspiration for daily posts. I will continue to write things on a “when I get around to it” basis, and would like to “get around” to more things more frequently than “once every six months.” Hopefully, actual baseball will give me more writing inspiration. 

Failing that, I could always just watch MLB Network and wait for Jerry Manuel to say something dumb. We’ll see what happens, but don’t remove this site from your bookmarks/RSS reader just yet.

This entry was posted by Chris Wilcox on Friday, February 18th, 2011 at 2:59 pm and is filed under Jerry Manuel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.