Jimmy Rollins, Comedian

I've got a funny story to tell you.  No, really.  It'll crack you up.  It's about Phillies' shortstop Jimmy Rollins.  Giggling yet?  Okay, here goes.

Jimmy Rollins wants a five-year contract.

I'll give you a few moments to collect yourself.

It's true.  The former National League MVP (accent on "former") and soon-to-be free agent is seeking a five-year deal to remain with the Phillies or with whoever doesn't mind giving their money away.

 Jimmy Rollins' decision to ask for a five-year deal is certainly a head-scratcher.

Let's review this together.  This isn't the 2007 Jimmy Rollins we're taking for a spin here.  You remember that model, don't you?  Rollins was 28 years old and entering his prime when he proclaimed the Phillies as the team to beat in the National League East and then went out and delivered an MVP season.  That was four years ago.

Now Rollins is about to turn 33.  He is coming off a season in which he was placed on the disabled list for the fourth time in four seasons.  He has also continued his decline as the Phillies' leadoff hitter and spark plug.  After his magical 2007 season in which he hit .296 with 38 doubles, a league-leading 20 triples, 30 HR, 94 RBI, 41 SB and 139 runs scored (also pacing the NL in that category), his numbers have suffered.

Since 2008, Rollins has missed a total of 126 games for the Phillies.  His batting average over the past four seasons has been an unimpressive .261 and his on-base percentage (.325) has not been what a team should expect from its leadoff hitter.  Furthermore, Rollins' unexpected power surge in 2007 has proven to be a fluke, as the shortstop has averaged only 14 HR per season since his MVP season.

Speaking of flukes, do you remember those 20 triples he hit in 2007?  (You should.  I only mentioned it two paragraphs ago.)  In the four years since the 2007 campaign, Rollins has managed to hit only 19 triples.  That's one less triple in a quartet of seasons than he managed to hit in one playing-over-his-head season.

So we have a player who's clearly on the downside of his career, knows all the employees at the DL Hotel by first name, and this player is asking to be rewarded with a five-year contract?  Is he being serious or does he think we're as dumb as Turd Ferguson?

Turd Ferguson doesn't think Jimmy Rollins is being funny with his contract demands, and Turd Ferguson knows a thing or two about what's funny.

Let's talk about some of Jimmy Rollins' teammates, shall we?  First, there's Cliff Lee.  In 2010, he helped lead the Texas Rangers to their first World Series appearance in franchise history, a year after he pitched in the Fall Classic for the Phillies.  From 2008 to 2010, Lee went 48-25 with a 2.98 ERA and picked up valuable postseason experience.  For his efforts, the Phillies signed the 32-year-old Lee to a $120 million contract.  How long was this contract for?  Five years.

Now, let's discuss Rollins' infield mate, Ryan Howard.  The Phillies' behemoth has been one of the most feared power hitters in all of baseball since making his major league debut in 2004.  Since 2006, Howard has averaged 44 HR and 133 RBI per season, along with a .274 batting average and .369 on-base percentage.  In April 2010, the Phillies gave the then-30-year-old Howard a $125 million contract extension that would begin in 2012.  What was the length of Howard's deal?  Five years.

Finally, let's look at a certain Harry Leroy Halladay.  The Phillies traded for Halladay prior to the 2010 season and gave him a $60 million contract extension that began this season.  At the time of the trade and subsequent extension, Halladay was 32 years old.  Since then, Halladay has given the Phillies a regular season perfect game, a postseason no-hitter, a 40-16 won-loss record and a stellar 2.40 ERA.  So how long was that extension the Phillies gave him?  Three years.

So Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay, two of the best pitchers in the National League who have no health issues and are showing no signs of slowing down, get five years and three years, respectively.  Ryan Howard, the top slugger in the league who had no injury history prior to signing his deal, also gets five years.  None of the three players was older than 32 years old at the time they signed their deals with the Phillies.

Jimmy Rollins is currently older than all three players mentioned above at the time they put their John Hancocks on their contracts.  He also has an injury history and has seen a sharp decline in his numbers, something Lee, Halladay and Howard could not say when they signed on the dotted line.

There is no way Rollins will get a five-year contract from anyone, including the only team he has suited up for.  If the Phillies gave five years to the healthy, productive and younger Cliff Lee and Ryan Howard and only three years to one of the best pitchers of our generation in Roy Halladay, why should they give the brittle Rollins what he's asking for?

Jose Reyes might not get more than five years and that's the 28-year-old reigning National League batting champion we're talking about.  Rollins should consider himself lucky if he gets a Jeter-esque three-year deal. 

Simply stated, Wile E. Coyote, Genius has a better chance to get a five-year deal than Jimmy Rollins, Comedian.  At least with Wile E., you know he'll come back from an injury quickly to do what he does best.

Joey's Soapbox: My Not-As-Biased 2011 LCS Picks

Greetings, everyone!  This is your fav'rit Studious Metsimus correspondent, culinary expert and prognosticator Joey Beartran.  I'm writing this to you from my cubby hole in the Mets dugout since the team isn't really using it much right now.  So have you been enjoying the 2011 baseball playoffs as much as I have?  The hated Yankees and Phillies have been eliminated from championship contention, with both teams losing the fifth and deciding game of their respective division series in front of their spoiled and obnoxious fans.

If any of you missed my division series predictions last week, shame on you!  You missed that I correctly predicted the demise of the Bronx Bummers and the Phightless Phils to the Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals, respectively.  I also correctly predicted the Brewers' series victory over the Diamondbacks, while erring on the Rangers-Rays series.  But hey, as Meat Loaf would have said had he added one extra series to his song, three out of four ain't bad.

So now we are left with the ALCS and the NLCS, featuring no East Coast teams and no West Coast teams.  The Midwest is alive and well in the 2011 baseball playoffs.  It's a round of playoffs John Mellencamp would be proud of.

On that note, let me stop yapping and start giving you what you came for when you chose to read this.  With no Yankees and Phillies to root against anymore, here are my not-as-biased predictions for the 2011 American League and National League Championship Series.


American League Championship Series


Detroit Tigers vs. Texas Rangers

The Detroit Tigers might not have the experience the Texas Rangers have, as this is only the Tigers' second trip to the ALCS since 1987, while most of the Rangers are making their second consecutive trip to the League Championship Series.  However, the Rangers, for all the offense and experience they might have, are missing one key thing from last year's team.

They no longer have Cliff Lee.

As Lee went in the 2011 playoffs, so went the Rangers.  In three appearances against the Rays and Yankees in the ALDS and ALCS, Lee was dominant, winning all three starts while giving up two runs in 24 innings for a 0.75 ERA.  He also allowed only 14 baserunners (13 hits, one walk) for a microscopic 0.58 WHIP, while striking out 34 batters.  Then came the World Series against the Giants, when Lee crash landed back to Earth, losing both of his starts and posting a 6.94 ERA.  Naturally, the Rangers couldn't ride on Lee's shoulders and they lost the World Series.

The Tigers have their own version of Cliff Lee in Justin Verlander. However, they don't need Verlander to win every start to win this series.  Detroit has a very good pitching staff following their Cy Young candidate, a rotation that includes Doug Fister, Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello.  And of course, there's the formidable one-two punch in the bullpen of Joaquin Benoit and Jose Valverde, who has been a perfect 51-for-51 in save situations.

Good pitching defeats good hitting, as the Yankees can attest.  The Rangers have good hitting, but the Tigers have the weapons to stymie their big bats.  As for Texas' starting pitchers, although all five starters won at least 13 games apiece, they were bailed out by their offense more often than not.  C.J. Wilson (16-7, 2.94 ERA) is a legitimate ace, but he's no Justin Verlander (or Cliff Lee, for that matter).  Colby Lewis and Derek Holland went a combined 30-15, but also collectively had an ERA over 4.00 and a WHIP approaching 1.30.  That doesn't bode well when facing a team that can boast a pair of hitters in the middle of their lineup who hit .330 with over 100 RBI (Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez).

The Rangers might have the home field advantage, but the Tigers have the edge in this series.  It'll be close, but Detroit will prevail.

Prediction: Tigers in 6.


National League Championship Series


St. Louis Cardinals vs. Milwaukee Brewers

In early September, if you would have said that a pair of division rivals were going to square off in the NLCS, odds are that it would've been the Braves and Phillies fighting it out for the pennant.  But how quickly things change, courtesy of the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Cardinals erased a 10½-game lead to overtake the Braves for the National League wild card and then took out the Phillies in a hard-fought division series.  They did this without ace Adam Wainwright throwing a pitch for them all year and with Albert Pujols having his first sub-.300, sub-100 RBI campaign.  It's a testament to the managerial skills of Tony La Russa, who has now guided the Cardinals to the NLCS seven times since becoming their skipper in 1996.  Despite the seven trips to the NLCS, St. Louis has been able to win the pennant only two times.

Milwaukee, on the other hand, has only been to the World Series once in over four decades of existence.  That came in 1982, when they faced (you guessed it) the St. Louis Cardinals, losing the title in seven games.  If the Brewers want to play for the championship, they'll have to get by the team who prevented them from winning the championship in 1982.

The 1982 Brew Crew was nicknamed Harvey's Wallbangers.  Let's just say it wasn't because of their pitching staff.  That Brewers team featured two future Hall of Famers (Robin Yount and Paul Molitor) in their everyday lineup, as well as sluggers Ben Oglivie, Cecil Cooper and Gorman Thomas.  Their pitching staff was serviceable, but they mostly rode on the shoulders of their high-octane offense. (Kind of Texas Ranger-like, don't you think?)

The 2011 Brewers have two great hitters in Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, but they also have an outstanding threesome at the top of their rotation.  Yovani Gallardo, Zack Greinke and Shawn Marcum combined to go 46-23 for Milwaukee this season.  In nearly 600 innings pitched, the three hurlers had a collective 3.62 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and nearly a strikeout per inning (566 Ks in 579.2 innings).

The Cardinals have a good staff, but it is not very deep.  A rotation that has Kyle Lohse leading it in ERA can't be that good.  In the division series, it was just good enough to get past the Phillies, who were ninth in the National League in batting average (.253) and eighth in home runs (153).  Being "just good enough" will not suffice against Milwaukee, who finished third in the league in batting average (.261) and led the NL in homers (185).

St. Louis might have more playoff experience and the better manager, but Milwaukee is too good right now.  They can beat you with their bats and their arms (I didn't even mention John Axford, who saved 46 games for Milwaukee and was the proud owner of a 1.95 ERA) and will be playing four out of a potential seven games at Miller Park, where their 57-24 home record was the best in the majors.

The Cardinals make for a fine Cinderella story, but the glass slipper won't fit against Milwaukee.


Prediction: Brewers in 6.


And that'll do it for my League Championship Series predictions.  If my prophetic skills are as good as I think they are, it'll be a Tigers-Brewers World Series.  It's not the World Series America might want, but it's one small town America might embrace.  Isn't that right, Mr. Mellencamp?

Phoreshadowing The Phillies' Phuture

In making the final out of the Phillies' season for the second straight year, Ryan Howard suffered an apparent Achilles injury, falling to the ground and writhing in pain as the Cardinals celebrated their unlikely division series victory.  In a worst-case scenario (torn ACL), Howard would miss nine months or more while recovering from surgery to repair the tear.  In other words, Howard's 2012 season would be kaput.

Although Ryan Howard batted only .253 for the Phillies in 2011, he was their main power source, providing 33 HR and 116 RBI in 152 games.  For a team that plays half of its games in a hitter-friendly ballpark, Howard was the only player to hit over 20 HR.  Free-agent-to-be Raul Ibañez was second on the team with exactly 20 HR and 84 RBI.  Take out Howard and the soon-to-be 40-year-old Ibañez, and no Phillie hit more than 17 HR (Shane Victorino, of all people, hit 17 bombs) or picked up more than 63 RBI (accomplished by Jimmy Rollins, another free-agent-to-be who has already gone on the record as saying he won't accept a hometown discount to re-sign with the Phillies).

So if Howard doesn't play in 2012 and Ibañez leaves via free agency, the Phillies' lineup will look an awful lot like the Mets.  Even with those two players in the everyday lineup for Philadelphia in 2011, the Mets still scored more runs (718) than the Phillies (713), produced more doubles (309 to 258), triples (39 to 38), hits (1,477 to 1,409), stolen bases (130 to 96) and even led them in walks (571 to 539).  That's right.  The Mets, who used Daniel Murphy as their cleanup hitter for 33 games, were walked 32 more times than the Phillies, who supposedly have a more fearsome lineup.

Now take Howard and Ibañez out of that lineup and what do you have left?  A declining and oft-injured second baseman in Chase Utley, an as-yet unsigned shortstop who will be 33 in November and who has a career OBP of .329 primarily out of the leadoff spot in the batting order, and a 36-year-old third baseman who produced a .277, 5 HR, 50 RBI season in 122 games played (numbers eerily similar to Justin Turner's 2011 season). Basically, the Phillies offense will be led by Shane Victorino and Hunter Pence.  I mean, catcher Carlos Ruiz led all Phillies' starters (minimum 100 games played as a Phillie) in batting average with a .283 mark.  When your most consistent hitter over a full season is Carlos Ruiz, that says a lot about your offense.

Does anyone really think Chase Utley is going to return to his All-Star caliber form?  Utley played in 103 games in 2011 and hit .259 with 11 HR and 44 RBI.  Think about that.  Batting in the middle of that lineup and playing in that bandbox of a ballpark, Utley managed only 44 RBI in 454 plate appearances.  To put that into perspective, Daniel Murphy drove in five more runs (49) than Utley did in 31 fewer plate appearances (423).  Even Josh Thole (40 RBI) drove in more runs per plate appearance (386 PA) than Utley did in 2011.  Since 2007, when Utley hit .332, his batting average has gone down every year.  He hit .292 in 2008, .282 in 2009, .275 in 2010 and bottomed out at .259 in 2011.  The Phillies will have to deal with his declining production for the remaining two years and $30 million of his contract.

 Like the rest of his teammates, Chase Utley is literally down and out.

If Jimmy Rollins doesn't return, who will be their starting shortstop?  (It better not be Jose Reyes.)  Surely, they can't entrust the position to Wilson Valdez, he of the .294 OBP in 2011?  But maybe his defense is better than Rollins.  Uh, actually it's not.  Rollins played in 142 games and made only seven errors, while Valdez played in 99 games and committed nine errors.

Ever since Scott Rolen showed his brotherly love for Philadelphia by leaving the city in a trade in 2002, the Phillies have been searching for his replacement.  They tried David Bell from 2003-2006 and got nothing.  They employed a trio of third sackers in 2007 (Greg Dobbs, Wes Helms, Abraham Nuñez), all of whom started at least 50 games at the hot corner.  They tried Pete Happy (Pedro Feliz) for two seasons in 2008 and 2009, before finally settling on Placido Polanco in 2010.  This is the same Placido Polanco who was acquired in the Scott Rolen trade in 2002 and replaced him at third base for the remainder of that season before moving over to second base in 2003 and 2004 to accommodate David Bell.  Once Chase Utley was called up to the team, Polanco was out of a job and was traded to Detroit in 2005, where he blossomed, hitting .311 in four seasons with the Tigers.  So of course, the Phillies re-signed him prior to the 2010 season and have seen his numbers wilt.

As of right now, Hunter Pence is the only regular position player on the Phillies who isn't north of age 30.  The pitching staff of Halladay, Lee, Hamels and Oswalt might be truncated by one in 2012, as Roy Oswalt has a $16 mutual option for the 2012 season.  However, Oswalt went 9-10 for a team that won 102 games, finished the year with his second-highest ERA over a full season in his 11-year career, and spent almost two months on the disabled list.  If the Phillies think that's worth $16 million, who am I to stop them?

Vance Worley might be able to replace Oswalt in the rotation, but is he for real?  In parts of two seasons with the Phillies, Worley is 12-4 with a 2.86 ERA in 23 starts.  But this great start wasn't something that could have been predicted after looking at his numbers in the minor leagues.  Worley started 76 games over parts of four seasons in the minors.  In those starts, he was barely above .500, going 25-23.  His ERA was unimpressive (3.80) and his WHIP (1.25) wasn't exactly among the league leaders.  He also wasn't a strikeout pitcher in the minors, averaging 6.9 strikeouts per nine innings.  Then he comes to the major leagues, where hitters aren't familiar with him and he lowers his ERA by a full run, while upping his strikeout rate to 8.1 K/9 IP.  At least Cole Hamels' major league success followed an impressive minor league career, one in which he went 14-4 with a 1.43 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and registered 12.4 strikeouts per nine innings.

You didn't think I'd mention Cole Hamels and not show his photo, did you?

There are too many question marks surrounding the Phillies in 2012.  Their position players are getting older and piling up more injuries.  Their main source for power might miss the entire 2012 season, a season in which his new five-year, $125 million contract kicks in.  Their left side of the infield might consist of Placido Polanco and Wilson Valdez, two players in their mid-30s, who combined for six home runs and 80 RBI in 2011.  If John Mayberry (15 HR, 49 RBI in 104 games) becomes the Phillies' main power source in 2012, their lineup won't look very scary at all.

Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee might continue to be All-Star-caliber pitchers for years to come.  Or maybe they'll both realize that they're entering their mid-30s and will suffer the same setbacks the other thirty-somethings on the Phillies are.  The Phillies are in more trouble than people think.  Their seasons are ending earlier year after year (World Series losers in 2009, NLCS losers in 2010, NLDS losers in 2011), and that may be a sign of things to come.

For a team like the Mets, the gap between them and the Phillies might be as wide as it's going to get.  The Mets might not have to shorten that gap on their own.  The Phillies might be helping them do it with their multiple albatross contracts and their inevitable meeting with Father Time.  And it all began last night, when Ryan Howard's Achilles decided to go kaplooey.  Because of it, the Phillies' dominance in the National League might soon be going kaplooey as well.

So How Great Was Jose Reyes' Season Anyway?

Come closer to the screen.  I want to let you in on a little secret.  Are you with me?  Okay, here goes.

Jose Reyes won the National League batting title this year.

What was that?  You knew that already?  You want me to tell you something you don't know?  Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you.  In fact, I have a number of things to tell you that you probably didn't know.  And once I tell you, you'll see that Jose Reyes' 2011 season was even greater than you originally thought.

 You had to look up to see Jose Reyes' name all over the National League leaderboard in 2011.

Jose Reyes batted .337 in 2011, the third-highest single season batting average in franchise history for a player who played the entire season as a Met.  (Mike Piazza batted .348 in 109 games for the Mets in 1998, but he also spent time with the Dodgers and Marlins that year.)  Naturally, Reyes' batting average represented a career high.  But he also set career highs in on-base percentage (.384), slugging percentage (.493) and OPS (.877).

Reyes also finished among the league leaders in hits (181), multi-hit games (57), runs scored (101), triples (16) and stolen bases (39).  He accomplished all this while playing in only 126 games due to his dual trips to the disabled list.

Fine.  You can find that information anywhere.  Now let's delve deeper into his final numbers.

On May 19, Jose Reyes went 0-for-3 with a walk.  The following day, he went 0-for-4.  That was the only time during the 2011 season in which Reyes went hitless in consecutive starts.  (On September 17 and 18, Reyes also failed to collect a hit.  However, he did not start the game on September 18, going 0-for-1 in a pinch-hitting appearance.)  Furthermore, since Reyes drew a base on balls in the May 17th game, that means he was never kept off base in consecutive games all year.  Let me repeat that in caps and bold it for greater effect.

NEVER DID JOSE REYES FAIL TO REACH BASE IN CONSECUTIVE GAMES ALL YEAR.

If you didn't see Reyes standing (or sliding) safely on/into a base in a game this year, all you had to do was wait until the next game.  There was a 100% chance you'd see him on base then.

Although Jose Reyes has always been a bit of a free swinger, he has never been one to strike out very much.  (Reyes' career high in strikeouts is 82, which he accomplished in 2008.)  But he had never made such consistent contact until this year.

In 2011, Reyes struck out 41 times in 537 official at-bats, an average of one strikeout every 13.1 at-bats.  Reyes was the toughest man to strike out in the National League, with every other player striking out at least once every 11 at-bats.  Yadier Molina finished second in this category, striking out once every 10.8 at-bats (44 Ks in 475 AB).

Let's put Reyes' numbers into perspective.  For Yadier Molina to have finished with a better K/AB rate than Reyes, he would have had to register 40 more at-bats in 2011 without striking out in any of them.  Also, if Reyes had picked up 10 more at-bats and had struck out all ten times, Molina would have surpassed him.  But Reyes only struck out more than ten times in a calendar month once, when he whiffed 11 times in April, so it would have been very unlikely for him to strike out in ten consecutive at-bats.  In fact, Reyes never struck out more than twice in any game this year and he fanned more than once in a game only six times, never doing so after July 24.

 Reyes the slugger?  Absolutely, as you'll read in the next paragraph.

Finally, let's take a look at the National League leaders in slugging percentage.  (You can find that info by clicking here.)  Jose Reyes finished 17th in the National League in slugging percentage.  He did so while hitting only seven home runs.  Why is that worth mentioning?  Because the other 16 players who finished ahead of Reyes hit at least 22 HR.

What makes this more amazing is that Reyes was the only player in the top 34 to hit fewer than 14 HR.  Therefore, Reyes finished the season as one of the best "sluggers" in the league even though the other 33 players in the top 34 all hit at least twice as many home runs as he did.  Of course, Reyes collected 47 extra-base hits that WEREN'T home runs (31 doubles, 16 triples).  The only player in the National League who topped Reyes in that category was the Rockies' Dexter Fowler, who hit 35 doubles and 15 triples.

Those are just a few examples of how great Jose Reyes' 2011 season was.  Reyes was more than just a high average hitter.  He was as consistent a hitter as the Mets have ever had in a single season.  He put the ball in play with more regularity than any Met in their 50-year existence and once he put the ball in play, he wasn't just satisfied with dinking and dunking singles here and there.

Jose Reyes had one of the most amazing seasons in Mets history in 2011.  Let's hope the Mets re-sign him so we can enjoy more seasons such as this one.

Sweet 16: Mets Set RBI Record You Didn't Know About

The New York Mets did something this year that they had never accomplished during their first 49 years of existence.  No, it wasn't a fourth place finish in the NL East (they're getting quite used to that spot in the division by now).  Let's peruse the team's final RBI totals for 2011 to see if you can figure out what I'm talking about.

Despite being traded in late July to the San Francisco Giants, Carlos Beltran led the Mets in RBIs with 66.  He was followed by David Wright (61), Jason Bay (57), Angel Pagan (56) and Justin Turner (51).  But let's take a look a few other Mets and their RBI totals.

Lucas Duda had a strong second half to finish with 50 RBIs.  Finishing one RBI behind Duda was Daniel Murphy (49), who missed the last seven weeks of the season with an injury.  After Murphy, we had National League batting champion Jose Reyes (44), Josh Thole (40), Ruben Tejada (36), Nick Evans (25), Ike Davis (25), Scott Hairston (24), Willie Harris (23), Jason Pridie (20) and Ronny Paulino (19).

That gave the Mets a total of 16 players with at least 19 RBIs in this just completed season.  (Dang you, Ronny Paulino for not getting an extra RBI to make this a list of the sweet sixteen players who reached the round number of 20 RBIs in a single season.)

So why is 16 players with 19 RBIs or more worth writing a blog about?  Because it's never happened before in Mets history.

In 2007, the Mets had 13 players with 19 or more RBI, led by Carlos Beltran (112) and David Wright (107) and rounded out by Ruben Gotay (24) and Luis Castillo (20).  The 2005 Mets also had 13 players reach that RBI figure, as did the 2004 team.  To find a Mets team with at least 14 players reaching that not-so-round RBI total (seriously, Ronny Paulino, it was just one stinkin' RBI.  Was that too much to ask for?) you have to go all the way back to 1972.

In the first season after the untimely passing of manager Gil Hodges, the Mets had a roster that included 14 players who drove in a minimum of 19 runs.  That 1972 team, which finished 83-73 in the NL East (six games were wiped out due to a players' strike), were led by Cleon Jones and his 52 RBIs, which represent the lowest RBI total for a team leader in that category in franchise history.  The other 13 players following Jones in the RBI department were Tommie Agee (47), John Milner (38), Rusty Staub (38), Duffy Dyer (36), Ed Kranepool (34), Ken Boswell (33), Jim Fregosi (32), Wayne Garrett (29), Bud Harrelson (24), Jerry Grote (21), Ted Martinez (19), Jim Beauchamp (19) and some guy named Willie Mays (19).

Prior to the 2011 season, no Mets team had ever had at least 15 players with at least 19 RBI.  This year's team wasn't satisfied with having just 15 players reach that figure.  They went out and made it a sweet sixteen.  (Do you see the photo below, Mr. Paulino?  Wouldn't that have looked better with a "20" where the "19" is?)

It's very rare for a team to have that many players accumulate enough at-bats to drive in as many as 19 runs in a season.  After all, most teams carry 11 or 12 pitchers at any one time, leaving 13 or 14 spots on the roster available for the starting eight and the bench players.  Many bench players only drive in 10 or 12 runs because they only pick up 100-200 at-bats per season, mostly through pinch-hitting appearances and spot starts whenever a regular player needs a day off.  That wasn't the case for the 2011 Mets.

Because of injuries that kept a number of regular players out of the lineup for months at a time (see Davis, Ike and Wright, David) and one particular trade (Carlos Beltran), the Mets had a number of their players accumulate more at-bats than expected.  Ten players had 300+ at-bats and three others had over 200.  The more at-bats a player gets, the more likely he is to drive in a few extra runs.  That was certainly the case for the 2011 Mets.

However, the Mets didn't set this team RBI record just because they had so many players getting an inordinate number of at-bats.  Players such as Nick Evans (25 RBI in 176 at-bats) and Scott Hairston (24 RBI in 132 at-bats) were both excellent with men on base, with Evans hitting .308 in those situations and Hairston clubbing nearly half of his extra-base hits with runners on (7 XBH of 16 came with men on base).  Putting Hairston's performance into perspective, Ike Davis (who was on his way to a fabulous sophomore season before his day-to-day injury kept him out for the remainder of the season) had four more plate appearances (149) than Hairston did (145), but only had one more RBI than the utility player.

The 2011 Mets might have had an unusually high number of players getting more at-bats than expected, but those players who would have normally spent the majority of the season on the bench or in the minors came through when given the opportunity.  This record is not a fluke or a statistical aberration.  It is a testament to the team put on the field by Terry Collins.  The Mets' manager might not have had the best players to work with, but he did have players who contributed when called upon to do so.  A team like that deserves to have a record such as this one, don't you think?

Joey's Soapbox: My Biased 2011 Division Series Picks

And so it goes.  Another season ends for the Mets, and for the 43rd time in 50 seasons, there will be no postseason baseball for the boys in orange and blue.  Despite all the injuries and shoddy play surrounding the Mets in the post-Shea Stadium era, the Mets have been consistent, finishing in 4th place in the NL East for the third consecutive season.  But hey, it could be worse.  At least they're not the Pittsburgh Pirates, who finished below .500 for the 19th consecutive season.

The Pirates, who were in first place in July, obviously did not make the playoffs.  But eight teams did, some of which had to overcome large deficits to crash the postseason party.  Fans of my annual postseason picks already know that there are two teams I always pick for early elimination (Yankees and Phillies).  Just like the Pirates always finish below .500, I will continue to do pick those two teams to be bumped in the opening round of the playoffs.  But what about the other teams?  And how many victories am I giving the Yankees and Phillies in the first round?  Let's begin with my biased division series picks!


American League Division Series


Detroit Tigers vs. New York Yankees

The Yankees come stumbling into the playoffs, having been swept by the Tampa Bay Rays in the season's final regular season series.  It was the first time in 11 years that the Bronx Bummers were given the broom treatment by the Rays (who were still the Devil Rays back then).  The Tigers, on the other paw, were practically unstoppable over the season's final seven weeks.

On the morning of August 19, the Tigers were only seven games above .500 (65-58) and in danger of giving up their lead in the AL Central.  But after defeating the Cleveland Indians that night, Detroit went on a roll, winning 30 of their final 39 games.  From mid-August until the end of the season, the one-two punch of Cy Young Award favorite Justin Verlander and trade deadline acquisition Doug Fister went a combined 14-0 for Detroit.  That combination will more than likely start the first two games of the series against the Yankees, a team that only had two regulars hit above .276 (Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter).

If CC Sabathia can't win Game 1 for the Yankees, the playoff untested Ivan Nova will have to shut down the Tigers offense in Game 2.  This is an offense that features the American League batting champion (Miguel Cabrera), the best hitting catcher in the AL (Alex Avila) and a former catcher turned DH that quietly produced an outstanding year (Victor Martinez, who hit .330 and drove in 103 runs).

The Yankees lost the season series to the Tigers, four games to three, and Joba Chamberlain was the winning pitcher in two of the three games.  They'll be lucky to force a deciding game in this series.

Prediction: Tigers in 4.


Tampa Bay Rays vs. Texas Rangers

No one expected the Rays to make the playoffs prior to the 2008 season.  Now the Rays are playing in October for the third time in four seasons, despite having a payroll that's less than the combined salaries of Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter.  How did they do it, despite losing hitting stars Carl Crawford and Carlos Peña, and pitchers Matt Garza and Rafael Soriano?  No, it didn't happen with smoke and mirrors.  It was all pitching and speed (and a little help with OBP).

The Rays had the league's second lowest ERA (3.58) and gave up the fewest hits and home runs of any American League team.  They also led the league in complete games (15), with James Shields finishing what he started 11 times.  The ability of the starters to go deep into games placed less stress on the bullpen, keeping them fresh for their unexpected run to the wild card.

Texas won their second straight division title and hopes to return to the World Series after their magical run in 2010.  However, this year's team has no Cliff Lee and looks more like the late-'90s Rangers, who slugged their regular season opponents to death before falling in the ALDS three times to the Yankees.  They might not be able to reproduce their pennant-winning success with that recipe.

Prediction: Rays in 5.


National League Championship Series

Cardinals vs. Phillies

Let's make this simple.  The Phillies have great pitching, perhaps the best in the major leagues.  The Cardinals have Albert Pujols and his merry men.  The Cincinnati Reds were swept by the Phillies in the NLDS last year, but that Phillies team had great hitters as well.  This year's Phillies can't hit nearly as well.  Of the nine players who played in 100 games for the Phillies, catcher Carlos Ruiz had the highest batting average (.283).  Also, Ryan Howard was the only Phillie to hit over 20 HR.  That being said, I don't like the Phillies, I never will and I'll never pick them to win any postseason series, even if they were playing the Bad News Bears.

Prediction: Cardinals in 4.


Diamondbacks vs. Brewers

Arizona came out of nowhere to win the National League West, making Kirk Gibson the odds-on favorite to win the National League Manager of the Year Award.  Ian Kennedy won 21 games for Arizona and former Met J.J. Putz led the team in saves with 45.  Justin Upton continued to blossom, hitting .289 with 31 HR, 88 RBI, 105 runs scored and 21 stolen bases.  But that's pretty much everything Arizona has to offer.

Milwaukee is more than just Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder and the Sausage Race.  They boast a fearsome threesome in the rotation, with Yovani Gallardo, Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum combining to go 46-23 for the Brewers, and the Killer G's striking out over 200 batters apiece.  Also, they boast a fantastic bullpen, with K-Rod taking the eighth inning duties and John Axford (1.95 ERA, 46 saves) coming out for the ninth.

The Brewers won two more games than the D-Backs did during the regular season.  They'll do the same in the division series.

Prediction: Brewers in 4.

So there you have it, my friends.  If my biased predictions are right, we'll have a Tigers-Rays matchup in the ALCS and a Cardinals-Brewers battle in the NLCS.

Of course, I could be wrong with one or more of my predictions, but I'm feeling confident.  As confident as I was when I said Dillon Gee would lead the Mets in wins this year and Carlos Beltran would be traded with two months left in the season and still lead the team in home runs and RBI.  You remember that, don't you?

Enjoy the playoffs, everyone!

Jose Reyes: 2011 NL Batting Champion

Jose Reyes came into the day leading Ryan Braun by one point in the National League batting race.  Okay, technically Reyes' .33582 average led Braun (.33453) by .00129, but you get the picture.  After Reyes dropped a beautiful bunt single in the bottom of the first inning (see photo above), he left the game in a blink-and-you-missed-it moment, ending his 2011 season with a .33706 batting average.

Although the move to exit the game was Reyes' decision, that left a possibility that Ryan Braun could still win the batting title, but he would need three hits to do so, and he would have to do it in fewer than five at-bats.  (A 3-for-3 performance by Braun would have given him the batting title with a .33808 average and a 3-for-4 night would see Braun end the season at .33748, but finishing 3-for-5 would leave him short at .33688.  Anything more than three hits, regardless of the number of at-bats, would have given Braun the batting title and would have caused me to hit the delete button on this blog post.)

So what did Braun do in his final regular season game?  He grounded out in each of his first three at-bats, then flied out in his final at-bat.  By finishing at .33215 with his 0-for-4 night, Braun finished in second place in the National League batting race, making Jose Reyes the first Mets player in the 50-year history of the franchise to take home the batting crown.

Fans of Cleon Jones (third in 1969 NL batting race; .008 behind Pete Rose, .005 behind Roberto Clemente), Dave Magadan (third in 1990 NL batting race; .007 behind Willie McGee, .005 behind Eddie Murray) and John Olerud (second in 1998 NL batting race; .009 behind Larry Walker) can now breathe a sigh of relief, as they no longer have a deal with another near-miss for one of their beloved Mets in the batting race.

With his thin margin of victory (.00491), Reyes won the closest National League batting race since 2007, when Matt Holliday (.340) beat out Chipper Jones (.337) for the batting title.  Prior to Braun's oh-fer in the season finale, it looked as if the Reyes-Braun battle would be the closest race since 2003, when St. Louis' Albert Pujols (.35871) edged Colorado's Todd Helton (.35849) by .00022.  Both Pujols and Helton collected two hits in their team's final game of the regular season, with Helton being walked intentionally by the late Rod Beck in his final plate appearance to give Pujols the title.  A hit by Helton in that final at-bat would have given him the batting title at .35959.

Reyes probably wouldn't have taken himself out of Game No. 162 after his first inning bunt single had it not been for Bobby Parnell's "effort" in Game No. 161.  Parnell came into Tuesday night's penultimate game in relief of Manny Acosta needing just one out to protect a 4-3 Mets lead in the ninth inning.  However, Parnell slipped into his "Bobby being Bobby" persona and allowed a game-tying double by Reds' no-name Juan Francisco, who is the proud owner of 48 base hits over parts of three seasons in the big leagues.

The game then went into extra innings, with Reyes going 1-for-2 over the final four innings.  Without that extra hit, Reyes would have finished the season with a .33645 batting average instead of his final .33706 mark.  He also might have continued to play after his first inning hit, and perhaps would have lowered his batting average even more (or not - we'll never know).  Still, Reyes probably owes Parnell a Rolex for giving him the opportunity to collect that extra base hit, a Rolex that Reyes will certainly be able to afford after signing his next contract this offseason.

Jose Reyes came into the 2011 campaign with a .286 career batting average, never hitting above .300 over a full season (minimum 100 games).  No one could have expected him to win a batting title this year, but Reyes got off to a hot start, hitting .354 during the first half of the season.

Despite two trips to the disabled list, Reyes continued to hit in the second half, although not nearly at his blistering first-half pace.  That allowed Ryan Braun to make the NL batting race a two-horse field.  However, Reyes channeled his first-half self during the Mets' final homestand, finishing the season by going 10-for-18 (.556) against the Phillies and Reds, including hits in nine of his final 13 at-bats.

Braun also finished the regular season at home, but "only" went 7-for-17 in the six games, batting .412 during the homestand.

Congratulations to Jose Reyes on becoming the first Met to win a National League batting crown.  The Mets still can't claim an MVP or a no-hitter, but at least one of their 50-year-old monkeys is now off their backs.