What If There Had Been Two Wild Cards Since 1995?

Beginning with this year's postseason, more teams will be getting wild in the fall.  Major League Baseball has approved the addition of two playoff teams, with one extra team in each league crashing the playoff party in October.

There will now be a total of ten teams qualifying for the postseason, with each of the six division winners receiving a first-round bye.  The remaining wild card teams (two in each league) will face each other in a one-game do-or-die playoff for the right to advance to the division series, where they will play a best-of-five series against the team with the league's best record.

Last year, in a scintillating final day of the regular season, the Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox were eliminated from playoff contention after leading their respective leagues' wild card races for most of September.  Under the new postseason format, both teams would have been involved in the new one-game playoff.

The last time baseball expanded its playoff format was in 1994, although the players' strike delayed its implementation until the following season.  So how would the Mets have fared had this year's new playoff format been in place since 1995?  And which team would have made the most playoff appearances since the National League split up into three divisions?

Expansion of the playoffs calls for expansion of our research, and we found some interesting information on what the National League playoffs would have looked like going back to 1995.  We'll begin with the most recent season (2011) and work our way backwards, with the team that won the wild card listed first followed by the team that didn't make the playoffs, but would have made it under the new system.  We'll also list the team or teams that were directly behind the club that would've been the second wild card and how many games back they were to determine if there would have been a tight race for the second wild card spot.  We'll begin now before we end up confusing ourselves.


2011: St. Louis vs. Atlanta.  Runner-up: San Francisco (3 GB)

2010: Atlanta vs. San Diego.  Runner-up: St. Louis (4 GB)

2009: Colorado vs. San Francisco.  Runners-up: Florida (1 GB), Atlanta (2 GB)

2008: Milwaukee vs. New York.  Runners-up: Houston (2½ GB), St. Louis (3 GB)

2007: Colorado vs. San Diego.  Runner-up: New York (1 GB)

2006: Los Angeles vs. Philadelphia.  Runner-up: Houston (3 GB)

2005: Houston vs. Philadelphia.  Runners-up: New York (5 GB), Florida (5 GB)

2004: Houston vs. San Francisco.  Runner-up: Chicago (2 GB)

2003: Florida vs. Houston.  Runners-up: Philadelphia (1 GB), St. Louis (2 GB), Los Angeles (2 GB)

2002: San Francisco vs. Los Angeles.  Runner-up: Houston (8 GB)

2001: St. Louis vs. San Francisco.  Runner-up: Chicago (2 GB)

2000: New York vs. Los Angeles.  Runners-up: Cincinnati (1 GB), Arizona (1 GB)

1999: New York vs. Cincinnati.  Runner-up: San Francisco (10 GB)

1998: Chicago vs. San Francisco.  Runner-up: New York (1 GB)

1997: Florida vs. New York/Los Angeles.  Runner-up: New York/Los Angeles (Even)

1996: Los Angeles vs. Montreal.  Runner-up: Colorado (5 GB)

1995: Colorado vs. Houston.  Runner-up: Chicago (3 GB)

The Mets' run to the playoffs in 1999 would have been much easier under the new format.

Opponents of the extra wild card point to the final day of the 2011 season.  Had the dual wild card format been in place last year, both the Cardinals and Braves would have qualified for the postseason, with the Giants finishing three games behind the Braves for the second wild card spot.  There would have been no drama on the season's final day because both St. Louis and Atlanta would have already clinched a spot in the wild card playoff game.  But looking at what the National League wild card races would have looked like under 2012 playoff rules, there would have a number of instances of Game No. 162 being for all the marbles.

In five seasons (1998, 2000, 2003, 2007, 2009), the second wild card team finished a mere one game ahead of the team directly behind them.  In one instance (2000), two teams finished a game behind the team that would have been the second wild card.

There still would have been a season in which two teams would have tied for the second wild card berth.  In 1997, the Mets and Dodgers would have played a Game No. 163 to determine who would face the Florida Marlins in the wild card playoff game.

In 12 of the last 17 years, the race for the second wild card would have gone down to the season's final weekend, as the second wild card team had no more than a three-game lead over their closest competitors at season's end. 

Only twice (1999, 2002) in the 17-year history of the wild card would there have been no race for the second wild card during the final week of the regular season.  In each of the other 15 seasons, the team that finished directly behind the second wild card team finished within five games of that coveted spot.

The San Francisco Giants would have benefited the most had the two wild card format been in place since 1995, as they would made four extra trips to the playoffs (1998, 2001, 2004, 2009).  No other team would have been guaranteed more than two additional trips to the postseason.  (The Dodgers would have won the second wild card in 2000 and 2002, but they would have finished tied with the Mets for the additional wild card berth in 1997, needing to win a play-in game against New York to make the playoffs.)

More teams will be celebrating like this beginning in October.

 
In the mid-'90s, baseball purists denounced the wild card, claiming that if a team wasn't good enough to win their division, then they shouldn't be allowed to play for a World Series title.  A decade and a half later, those same people were overwhelmingly in favor of the format.

This year a second wild card team will be added to the mix.  Yet again, some people are not in favor of the change.  But looking at what this change would have done for pennant races had it been in place since 1995, it shouldn't take long for these new opponents to change their minds.  After all, you can never get too wild in baseball.

Colorado Carlos

In 2011, Carlos Beltran had his finest and healthiest season in three years, combining to hit .300 for New York and San Francisco.  He also added 39 doubles, 22 home runs and 84 RBIs between the two teams.  Despite those impressive numbers, Beltran wasn't attracting much attention in the free agent market.  Until now.

According to Jon Heyman, there is one team that's putting Beltran on top of their wish list this offseason.  Heyman's tweets say it all:

#rockies are making a push for carlos beltran. they also made an offer to cuddyer. want 1 or the other.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) December 13, 2011

#rockies goal is to sign either beltran or cuddyer. they offered cuddyer more than the $25M for 3 the #twins bid
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) December 13, 2011

#rockies a terrific fit for beltran. they are interested in cuddyer too but figure it might be hard to get him out of minny
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) December 13, 2011

If Colorado doesn't get Michael Cuddyer from Minnesota, they will go all out for Beltran.  You may recall that in a game at Coors Field this past May, Beltran swatted three home runs for the Mets against the Rockies.  All three blasts came with a man on base, making Carlos the first Met to ever hit three multi-run homers in the same game.

Although Beltran only has a .276 career batting average at Coors Field, more than half of his hits have gone for extra bases.  As a result, Beltran's lifetime slugging percentage in Denver is .552, which is well above his career mark of .496.

Colorado could be a good fit for Beltran offensively, but Coors Field's spacious outfield could be difficult on his ailing knees.  Carlos has publicly stated that he would not want to be a DH, so staying in the National League would afford him the opportunity to remain an everyday outfielder, although it would be a risk for any team to sign him to a long-term deal.

Stay tuned for more news on Carlos Beltran as it breaks.  Hopefully, Jon Heyman will have his Twitter finger ready to go should Beltran sign with the Rockies soon.

Zack Wheeler: Is He Nolan Ryan Or Oliver Perez?

The trade of Carlos Beltran to the Giants became official earlier today, as the longtime Mets' outfielder agreed to join the NL West leaders. In return, the Mets received top pitching prospect Zack Wheeler, who was the sixth overall pick in the 2009 Amateur Draft.

Wheeler was ranked No. 55 among all prospects prior to the 2011 season, but moved up to No. 35 in the recently released mid-season rankings. Clearly, Wheeler is expected to someday produce at the major league level or else Sandy Alderson wouldn't have asked for him when he traded away his All-Star rightfielder.

Right now, Wheeler has a slight problem controlling his pitches. Okay, slight might be an understatement when you consider his career minor league numbers.

Since playing in his first professional game in 2010, Wheeler has pitched in 37 games (29 starts). In 146.2 innings, he's walked 85 batters, averaging 5.2 walks per nine innings. But that doesn't tell the whole story. Wheeler has also thrown 19 wild pitches and hit 11 batters.

Let's put these numbers in perspective. There are six pitchers in the National League who have already surpassed 146.2 innings this season. Therefore, it's fair to say that Wheeler has pitched the equivalent of what some National League pitchers have pitched this year.

Currently, J.A. Happ is leading the National League in walks, handing out 60 free passes this season. That's 25 fewer than Wheeler.

Those 19 wild pitches thrown by Wheeler? That's almost twice as many as the National League leader, Hiroki Kuroda, who's uncorked 11 wild ones. No one else in the NL has more than nine.

Wheeler's 11 hit batsmen would also be pacing the National League, as that total surpasses NL leader Randy Wolf by one.

Of course, Wheeler still has plenty of time to work on his control, as he is only 21 years old and will be pitching for the St. Lucie Mets. Still, one can't help but wonder if Wheeler is going to someday challenge for the Triple Crown of Pitching (leading the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts, as Dwight Gooden did for the Mets in 1985) or the Triple Crown of Wildness (leading the league in walks, wild pitches and hit batsmen).

Nolan Ryan was also wild in the minors, walking 200 batters in his first 291 minor league innings. Then again, so was Oliver Perez, (you thought you'd never see his name in a Studious Metsimus post again, didn't you?) who issued 150 walks in his first 322 professional innings.

Of course, Nolan Ryan learned how to harness his talent and translated it into a Hall of Fame career. Oliver Perez has used his talent to teach his minor league teammates which fast food restaurants are the best in and around Harrisburg, PA, which is where he has toiled as a member of the Washington Nationals Triple-A squad.

Hopefully, the Mets won't promote Wheeler through their minor league system until he has shown improvement with his control. Yes, he's managed to strike out his share of batters (168 Ks in 146.2 innings), but so did Ollie (554 Ks in 517.1 career minor league innings).

It is imperative that the Mets take their time with Zach Wheeler. In a few years, Wheeler might be part of a young pitching staff that includes fellow prospect Matt Harvey, along with 10-game winner Jonathon Niese and nine-game winner Dillon Gee. That staff could rival the 1986 staff, or it could be the second coming of Generation K.

Zack Wheeler is expected to be a big part of the Mets' future. For that to happen, he'll have to put his wild past behind him and focus on improving his control in the present. Nolan Ryan was able to do it. Oliver Perez was not. It's up to Zack Wheeler to figure out if he wants to take a limo to Cooperstown or a bus to Harrisburg.

Gary, Keith & Ron To Be Replaced (For Two Innings)

The beloved team of Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling will be replaced in the SNY booth tonight. Before you start calling for Fred Wilpon's head (save it for the day he fails to open his wallet to re-sign Jose Reyes), let me specify that the SNY crew will only be replaced for two innings. And who will be in the booth for those two innings?

None other than Bob Costas and Al Michaels.

Legendary broadcasters Costas and Michaels will be covering the Mets-Giants game for the MLB Network. Then during the fourth and fifth innings, they will switch with Gary Cohen and Ron Darling (Keith doesn't do games from his hometown) and will provide SNY viewers with the play-by-play and analysis. They will then move over to the San Francisco TV booth and call the game for their local channel in the sixth and seventh innings.

It will be the first time Al Michaels broadcasts a major league baseball game since 1995, as well as the his first pairing with Bob Costas in the booth.

However, some movie enthusiasts might disagree with that last statement. After all, the two did team up in the broadcast booth for several scenes in the movie "BASEketball" (see clip below), where they got, how shall we say this, a little too excited to be working together.



Don't forget to tune in tonight at 10:15PM (8:15PM Mountain Time, in case you live somewhere near South Park, Colorado), as the Mets play the first of three games against the defending World Champion San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park.

With Gary Cohen and Ron Darling passing the SNY baton to Bob Costas and Al Michaels for two innings, you never know what could happen. But you do know that you're going to be fully entertained and informed by two of the greatest sports broadcasters of our generation. That's reason enough to get excited. Right, Mr. Costas?

New Homestand, New Hope

After defeating the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday night in an emotional extra-inning affair, the Mets return to Citi Field to begin a week-long homestand against the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Although the Mets are still in last place with a 12-16 record, they're not as far out of contention as their record and division standing would suggest. In fact, parity in baseball has made fans in every major league city hold on to hopes of meaningful baseball games in the summer.

Because baseball doesn't have a salary cap, it's difficult to achieve parity. Usually the teams with the highest payrolls have the best chance to extend their seasons past 162 games. More often than not, these teams usually finish well above .500 and have a relatively simple time making their way to the postseason. However, in the early going this season, an overwhelming number of teams are right around the .500 mark.

As of today, only five teams in baseball are more than three games above .500. Those teams are the Indians (19-8), Marlins (18-9), Phillies (18-9), Rockies (17-9) and Yankees (17-9). With identical 16-13 records, the Angels, Rangers and Cardinals can all lay claim to having the sixth-best record in baseball.

Want more proof that there's parity in baseball? Of the 30 teams in the major leagues, a whopping 20 franchises (or two-thirds of all clubs) are between three games over .500 and four games under .500. At 12-16, the Mets are one of those 20 teams that are separated by a mere 3½ games.

Let's now focus strictly on the National League. As of now, only four NL teams have winning records (Marlins, Phillies, Rockies, Cardinals). The Mets have played three of these four teams (they don't play St. Louis until after the All-Star Break) and are a combined 4-9 against them. Against all other opponents, the Mets have a winning record (8-7). After 28 games, the Mets have played nearly half of their schedule against teams that have winning percentages above .650. What about those three .650+ teams? How have the Marlins, Phillies and Rockies racked up so many wins early on? A quick look at their early season schedules reveal quite a tale.

The Marlins have played 27 games, but only six of them have come against teams with winning records. The Phillies have also played 27 games, with only two of those games being played against above-.500 teams (they split those two games against the Marlins). Meanwhile, the Rockies have played three of their 26 games against a winning team, losing two of three to the Marlins.

That means the Mets have played more games against the "elite" teams in the National League (13) than the Marlins, Phillies and Rockies have played combined (11). Of course the Marlins, Phillies and Rockies have good records. They've feasted on the dregs of the National League!

In addition, neither one of those three teams has played more games on the road than at home. The Mets, on the other hand, have played 15 of their 28 games away from Citi Field.

Now the Mets come back home, where they won their last four ballgames before going 3-3 on their recent Washington/Philadelphia trip. They will be facing the Giants and the Dodgers, teams with a combined 28-30 record. Meanwhile, the Marlins will playing six of their next nine games against teams with winning records (Cardinals, Phillies), while the Phillies will be facing their first real test of the season, with series against the Marlins and three of the other five division leaders (Cardinals, Rangers, Rockies) over the next three weeks.

The Mets are in last place now, but they have the opportunity to make a statement this week at home against the Giants and Dodgers. Parity is the name of the game in the major leagues this season, and the teams that have risen above it have done so by taking advantage of their weak early season schedules. But all that is about to change in the next few weeks. Will the Mets be able to rise if the other teams fall? If they do, this week's homestand could give new hope for the team and its fans.

You Call This A Rivalry?

New York and Philadelphia are separated by less than 100 miles, making the Phillies the closest geographical rivals to the Mets in the National League. However, upon further inspection of the NL East standings over the past half-century, "rivals" might not be the correct word to use.

Since the Mets came into existence in 1962, both the Phillies and the Mets have finished with a winning record in the same season a mere eight times.

• 1975: Phillies (86-76, 2nd place); Mets (82-80, 3rd place)
• 1976: Phillies (101-61, 1st place); Mets (86-76, 3rd place)
• 1986: Mets (108-54, 1st place); Phillies (86-75, 2nd place)
• 2001: Phillies (86-76, 2nd place); Mets (82-80, 3rd place)
• 2005: Phillies (88-74, 2nd place); Mets (83-79, 3rd place)
• 2006: Mets (97-65, 1st place); Phillies (85-77, 2nd place)
• 2007: Phillies (89-73, 1st place); Mets (88-74, 2nd place)
• 2008: Phillies (92-70, 1st place); Mets (89-73, 2nd place)

Meanwhile, over the same time period, other well-known traditional rivals have had much more of a rivalry. Since 1962, the Red Sox and Yankees have both finished with winning records in the same season 30 times, including each of the last 13 seasons. The Dodgers and Giants have both been above .500 in the same season 22 times since 1962. Even the Cubs and Cardinals have both finished with winning records in the same season 14 times in the past half-century, which is remarkable considering that the Cubs have only had 18 winning seasons overall since 1962.

Prior to 2007, the Mets and Phillies never had a bonafide rivalry. Although the two teams finished in first and second place in the NL East in both 1986 and 2006, the Mets won the division handily each time. Not until the back-to-back collapses suffered by the Mets in 2007 and 2008 did the teams play for a division title. Unfortunately, those two seasons were the only two in which the Mets and Phillies had a legitimate rivalry in the standings, as the Phillies continued winning in 2009 and 2010, while the Mets forgot how to do so.

Therefore, although it is very early in the season, when the 3-1 Mets take on the 3-1 Phillies tonight at Citizens Bank Park, it will mark one of the few times over the past half-century that both teams have been in the top two positions in the NL East as they played each other.

It may be silly to say that tonight's game is a battle for first place, but why not say it? After all, battles for division supremacy between the Mets and the Phillies have been about as rare as the Cubs winning the World Series. But at least the Cubs have more of a rivalry with another divisional foe.

Enjoy seeing tonight's first place showdown between the Mets and the Phillies while you can. It might be the only time we can say that this season.

Broken News: While We Were Away In San Francisco

As some of you may or may not have known, the Studious Metsimus staff (minus roving reporter/culinary expert Joey Beartran) spent the past five days in San Francisco, visiting the plethora of tourist attractions (see photo, left) and hoping to bring back some of that championship attitude that has permeated the Bay Area now that the Giants have finally won their first championship since leaving the Polo Grounds over half a century ago.

However, we were unsuccessful in our attempts to take that winning attitude aboard the plane. You see, the baggage check people at the airport noticed that we were dressed in our Mets gear. Since we're only allowed one piece of carry-on luggage, they claimed that as Mets fans, we have too much baggage as it is.

On that note, let's see what we might have missed while we were trying to find a place on Alcatraz for Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo to play their next game of catch.

The Mets dropped the ball on one of these guys. The other guy dropped the ball for the Mets.

Carlos Beltran suffered a setback on the road to becoming the 198th rightfielder in franchise history. Beltran will not play until next week, after it was announced that he is suffering from tendinitis in his left knee. With the prognostication of time missed due to injuries not high on the Mets' accuracy list, it would not be a surprise if Beltran was not ready for Opening Day.

For years, Carlos Beltran has been 85% healthy any time he has been afflicted with aches and pains. For now, it appears as if he's 85% sure that he's 85% healthy.

Yes, we still like Carlos Beltran...85% of the time.

There is still no clear-cut favorite for the opening at second base, leaving room for plenty of competition over the final three weeks of Spring Training. As sad as the situation may seem, it might be true that the best second basemen currently employed by the Mets are AA-Binghamton manager Wally Backman and AAA-Buffalo manager Tim Teufel.

If only former first round draft pick Reese Havens were not so injury-prone, perhaps this could have been the year for the second base prospect to make the jump to the major leagues. However, perhaps Ike Davis said it best when he spoke of the man who was drafted four spots ahead of him in the 2008 draft:

"All I know is that he plays 10 games a year, and hits 10 home runs."

Havens' power potential at a position where long balls are scarce (except for division rivals Philadelphia and Atlanta, who can boast Chase Utley and Dan Uggla as their second sackers, respectively) would have provided a big boost for the Mets in 2011.

Last season, the Mets used Luis Castillo, Ruben Tejada and Luis Hernandez at second base. The trio combined for three home runs in 507 at-bats in 2010, including the September blast hit by Luis Hernandez soon after an unnamed teammate wished him luck by telling him to "break a leg", which of course, was taken literally by the 26-year-old Hernandez.

Had Luis Hernandez chosen Wheaties instead of Rice Krispies for his pre-game meal, perhaps his leg wouldn't have gone "snap, crackle, pop" as he fouled a ball off it prior to hitting this home run.

Terry Collins, Dan Warthen and Sandy Alderson have decided to move Oliver Perez to the bullpen, thereby not allowing Ollie the opportunity to invade the Top 20 on the club's all-time list for games started. (Currently, the lefty ranks 23rd all-time with 91 starts over his 4½ seasons with the Mets.)

Perhaps a better idea would be to banish him from ever appearing in a Mets uniform again. That would give Ollie the opportunity to appear in Major League 3 (although it would actually be the fourth film in the Major League franchise of films, as Major League: Back To The Minors was released in 1998 to the delight of all five people who watched it).

Since Charlie Sheen is busy promoting his "Winning Is Everything" World Tour, he would have difficulty reprising his role as Rick Vaughn. What better role for Oliver Perez to make his film debut than in the role of "Wild Thing"? His performance on the mound since 2009 (100 walks, eight hit batsmen and six wild pitches in 112⅓ innings) should save the film production company plenty of money in casting costs. He'd be a natural for the role, and he could reunite with the unemployed Carlos Delgado, who'd be a natural to fill Dennis Haysbert's shoes in the role of Pedro Cerrano. Of course, Delgado would have to pry away Jobu from the hands of Carlos Beltran, who allegedly bought the icon as a means to improve his curveball hitting skills.

Pedro Cerrano and Carlos Delgado, or is that Carlos Delgado and Pedro Cerrano? Dang doppelgangers!

That's all for this edition of Broken News, where someone else breaks the story before us, then we break it some more. Remember, if you catch wind of a Mets-related story, send that wind over to us. We have no problem breaking that as well.

Enjoy the rest of Spring Training!

Joey's Soapbox: Predictions For A Yankee-less, Phillie-less World Series

Greetings, Mets fans! Welcome to the latest edition of Joey's Soapbox, where today I will give you my predictions for this year's World Series to be played between the Texas Rangers and the San Francisco Giants.

If you recall, last week I correctly predicted that both the Rangers and the Giants would be representing their respective leagues in the Fall Classic. (Click here if you don't believe me.)

Now I have the difficult task of picking a winner for this year's World Series. It was tough last year because I wanted both the Yankees and Phillies to lose. I hoped for Armageddon to arrive before the Series began so that we would be spared having to watch one of our hated rivals win a championship. Needless to say, the Yankees won their millionth World Series title and the Phillies were number two, which is the most appropriate number I can think of for them.

This year, I was rooting for both the Texas Rangers and the San Francisco Giants to knock off those two teams from the previous paragraph, (I can't even make myself say their dreaded names again for fear that I'll lose my appetite.) so now that they have, how can I root against either one of them?

Regardless, I am a professional. I must perform the task at hand. You came to this blog because you either wanted my World Series predictions or you Googled "gluteus maximus" and after the first dozen or so matches, Studious Metsimus showed up and you clicked on it out of morbid curiosity. (What I'm curious about is why you would be searching for "gluteus maximus" to begin with...)

Therefore, without further ado, here are my predictions for the 2010 World Series.


World Series

Texas Rangers vs. San Francisco Giants

Because the National League won their first All-Star Game since before Al Gore invented the Internet, the World Series will begin in San Francisco.

The Giants were 49-32 at AT&T Park, while the Rangers were 39-42 on the road. However, Texas' road difficulties did not carry into the postseason, as the Rangers have played brilliantly away from home, winning five out of six road games against the Rays and Yankees in the ALDS and ALCS.

Both teams parlayed hot months into a division title. Texas was 21-6 in June, but was barely above .500 (69-66) in the other five months. Similarly, San Francisco took apart the league in July (20-8) and September (18-8), but split their other 108 games, going 54-54 in the other four months.

Texas has great hitters. If Josh Hamilton doesn't hurt you, Vladimir Guerrero will. If Guerrero doesn't come through, Nelson Cruz will. The list goes on and on. The Giants don't have that kind of offensive firepower, but they might not need it if their pitching staff shows up for duty.

The starting rotation of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner is among the best in the league. Yes, Texas has Cliff Lee, who is already searching for a bank large enough to stash away his hunka-hunka burnin' cash that he is sure to receive once he becomes a free agent. But although C.J. Wilson, Colby Lewis and Tommy Hunter have all blossomed this season, they're still not in the class of the awesome foursome from San Francisco.

Another thing to consider is the bullpens. Neftali Feliz had an incredible rookie season, but he has not been tested in October. Because every Ranger victory in the postseason has been by at least four runs, Feliz has not pitched in a save situation yet.

Meanwhile, Brian Wilson has racked up five saves in nine scoreless innings of work. If the teams are deadlocked in the late innings, Wilson's pressure-packed successes in this postseason will prove invaluable to the Giants, whereas we're still unsure if Feliz's butterflies will get the best of him if he's thrust into a tight ballgame.

As I said before, this series is tough to predict, but since I'm contractually obligated to do so (although my colleague still hasn't shown me this contract...I might have to talk to my agent about that), I will say that the World Series will go six games. Unfortunately, both teams will have won three of those games.

Who will win Game 7? It will be the...Oops! Apparently, it's Bedtime for Beartran. Too bad. Guess I won't be able to tell you that tonight. Besides, does it really matter who wins this World Series?

As Mets fans, we're all winners because we don't have to watch Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and C(onstantly) C(hewing) Sabathia playing this year. We also don't have to hear Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Shane "The Cryin' Hawaiian" Victorino whine about every call that doesn't go their way. That, my friends, is why this will be a true Fall Classic. Enjoy the World Series!

San Francisco Owes A Giant Thank You To The Mets

Leapin' lizards! For the first time since Barry Bonds left his syringe in San Francisco, the Giants are champions of the National League West. They won their first division title since 2003 (and only their sixth NL West title overall) by defeating the San Diego Padres on the final day of the regular season, capping a tremendous second half that saw them rise from mediocrity to the top of the division.

At the midway point of the season, the Giants were 41-40 and were a season high 7½ games behind the Padres. They were also 4½ games out of the wild card lead, with five teams ahead of them.

The final week before the All-Star Break saw the Giants playing the lowly Brewers and Nationals. They took both series to inch closer in the wild card race, but were still in fourth place in the NL West, with the Padres, Dodgers and Rockies ahead of them. Enter the New York Mets.

The Mets played better than expected in the first half of the season. At the All-Star Break, they were 48-40, which put them a game ahead of the San Francisco Giants in the wild card race. The two teams then played each other in the first series after the break. Everything changed after that series was completed.

The Giants took the first three games of the four-game series at AT&T Park, shutting out the Mets in the first two contests. In fact, the Mets were held scoreless by Giants pitchers for the first 24 innings of the series. The Mets did manage to salvage the final game of the series, but even then, they needed a blown call by home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi to win it.

Cuzzi called Giants' pinch-hitter Travis Ishikawa out at home when replays showed that the tag by Henry Blanco was late. The gaffe prevented what would have been the winning run from scoring in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Mets went on to win the game in ten innings.

The series with the Mets was the beginning of a stretch where the Giants won 15 out of 19 games to move into the wild card lead. The hot streak also moved them to within one game of the Padres for the division lead.

As Mets fans all know, the trip to San Francisco was the beginning of a 2-9 road trip that saw the Mets get swept in Arizona, followed by three losses in four games in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, the Giants won two out of three in Los Angeles and followed that up with a four-game sweep in Arizona. The Mets never got close to the Giants again.

The series with the Mets seemed to awaken the Giants' pitchers, who were already among the best in the National League prior to the All-Star Break. Consider these first half versus second half numbers for the Giants' starting rotation and bullpen.

• Starting Pitchers (before break): 34-30, 3.65 ERA, 1.29 WHIP
• Starting Pitchers (after break): 27-25, 3.39 ERA, 1.21 WHIP

• Relief Pitchers (before break): 13-11, 3.17 ERA, 1.47 WHIP
• Relief Pitchers (after break): 18-4, 2.78 ERA, 1.12 WHIP

The starters showed a nice improvement in the ERA and WHIP department, but the bullpen took things to another level. They were nearly unhittable in the second half, led by closer Brian Wilson, who led the National League in saves and finished with a career-best 1.81 ERA and 1.18 WHIP.

Pitching wins championships and the Giants have plenty of pitching. The top four pitchers in the Giants' rotation (Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, Madison Bumgarner) all had ERAs of 3.40 or less. No other staff in baseball can lay claim to four starters with ERAs as low as the Giants' quartet. In fact, Lincecum, who is the staff ace and the winner of the last two National League Cy Young Awards, is the starter with the 3.40 ERA. (However, he is the only one of the foursome who can claim to being the love child of Jennifer Aniston and Mitch from "Dazed and Confused".)


The Phillies might look like the team to beat in the National League, especially after today's no-hitter by Roy Halladay, but Halladay can't pitch every game. The Giants have four quality starters, all of whom are capable of keeping their opponents to a low hit total. (Like Halladay, Jonathan Sanchez can also claim a no-hitter on his résumé.)

Watch out, Atlanta. Don't start selling World Series tickets yet, Phillies. The Giants are red hot and their pitchers are leading the way. They took off once the Mets came into town and have never looked back. Therefore, on behalf of the Mets, I have two words to say to the Giants.

You're welcome.

A Tale of Two Franciscos

The cast and crew of Studious Metsimus (along with the genius behind My Summer Family) made a trip to San Francisco this past weekend in the hopes of seeing the Mets win a few ballgames against one their rivals in the National League Wild Card race.

Another Francisco (not a San, but a Frankie) did his best to give the Giants a chance to sweep, but some bad umpiring and a timely hit by Ike Davis allowed the Studious Metsimus/My Summer Family World Tour to leave the Bay Area with one victory in four games.

As seen in the photo above, whenever F-Rod comes into a game, Mets fans feel like their team needs an insurance policy in the bullpen. (State Farm? Nationwide? Chico's Bail Bonds?) But seriously, what insurance provider would be foolish enough to cover the team that gave $37 million to Mr. BS (Blown Save) for three years?

In case you hadn't noticed in the paragraph above, Studious Metsimus will no longer refer to our closer as K-Rod. Instead, we will call him F-Rod, pronounced like the word "fraud". Feel free to call him BB-Rod as well, since he has a better chance of issuing a base on balls than registering a "K".

With F-Rod giving up leads left and right, especially when members of Studious Metsimus and My Summer Family are in attendance (as detailed here), I'd rather take my chances on Fernando Nieve, with or without his dentures, in the ninth inning.

That being said, our trip to San Francisco was still quite pleasant, despite the three losses in four games. From visiting the Golden Gate Bridge to dining at fine restaurants (La Cumbre Taqueria and Uncle's Cafe in Chinatown top the list), San Francisco gave us a warm welcome wrapped in a 68-degree breeze.

Of course, some Giants fans were rude to us, especially after their third victory of the series, but once the My Summer Family portion of our World Tour reminded those fans of the number of World Series championships their beloved San Francisco Giants had claimed since moving to California (think Jason Bay's home run total minus six), they were quickly put in their place.

No leg of the World Tour would be complete without photos, so please enjoy the selected shots from the Westernmost stop of the Tour:








Although Carlos Beltran returned to the lineup in San Francisco, the offense didn't follow him out west. The Mets have scored four runs or less in every game for the past two weeks and must right their ship quickly or else any move they make at the trade deadline won't be enough to save their season.

Also, F-Rod must find a way to become the closer Omar Minaya expected him to be when he signed him to the three-year, $37 million contract in December 2008. Meltdowns against San Diego, Washington and San Francisco (three teams not known for having an intimidating offense) must not become the norm if the Mets want to have meaningful games in September.

As for the Studious Metsimus staff, our season of touring major league ballparks is still going strong. We will be visiting the Keystone State on two occasions in August, first in Philadelphia and then Pittsburgh. Let's hope the Mets' bats and Francisco Rodriguez's mojo join us on the trip.