Q and A: – Radar Guns, Matt Cerrone, Brant Rustich, Jay Horowitz, Terry Collins

Conrad Youngren asked:

 
Mack, I have a technical question that’s been bugging me. Maybe you know the answer or can find out. (I’d prefer that to a guess 🙂 ) The Velo number that appears in the upper right of the SNY screen after every pitch–what EXACTLY is that? Is if an instantaneous velocity? If so where (at the mound, at the plate, in between–they will be different) or some average velocity over the 66 feet? A cop I know says his gun is “peak reading,” that is it captures the highest speed and holds it even though still training on a decelerating target. If THAT’s the case, the speed shown would, I think, be the pitcher’s hand, not the ball at all. In any case is the velocity measured the same way year to year and park to park? Thanks.

 
Mack:
Good question…
I thought I’d reach out to some of my Mets friends and see what they thought the correct answer to this is:

 
Matt Cerrone/MetsBlog:  –  “I have no idea. Never even thought to ask… Also, I was always taught (by scouts) not to care about the number, but to care about the relative range and consistency and variance between each type of pitch on that given day by that pitcher… because guns, distances, etc., vary so much.”

 
Brant Rustich/NY Mets: – “The radar guns lock on the peak velocity which is right when the ball (object) leaves the pitchers hand.The stalker guns can be read unlocked like if a police officer wanted to read cars and what not. I’m not entirely sure what the exact drop of velocity is of the ball when it gets to home plate, but its about 9% I believe or so. I suppose I could look up an old physics equation and figure it out. Like 100mph out of the hand turns to 91-92 or something at 60 feet because of resistance.”

 
Jay Horowitz/NY Mets: – Mack: I am not a technical wiz, but it is measured from hand and each park is different.

 

Jose asked:

 
Hey Mack, you seem to go both ways when it comes to the Mets. Do you believe in this team, or not?

 
Mack:

 
You’re not the first one to accuse me of that… and, sometimes it’s about the baseball team too!
First of all, I decided a few years ago that, if I was going to be a good Mets writer, I had to stop being a fan. You have to approach this objectively, though I did decide that the primary theme would be positive things, especially about the kids.

 
I believe in this team, and I especially believe in Mr. Alderson and Co., but I am not a big fan the current ownership. I was the first three Omar years, but not now.
Look, investments have risks and the recession wiped out a lot of us. I write sports because I no longer own radio stations. I lost most of what I had in the 80s and threw away the rest ten years ago in high risk investments. Shit happens. I can live with it because I did it to myself.
The Wilpon family intertwined their personal investments with their ownership of the team, and the fans will now suffer because of it. In the past, they just fielded teams that didn’t have enough to go all the way. Now, they don’t have the money to compete in the division, no less the league.

 
I try to write realistically. I have predicted the Mets to not make the playoffs for the past three seasons. So far, I’m batting 1.000.
Enjoy this year. It’s for grins.

 

Joseph Polini asked:

 
Do you think Terry Collins was the best choice for the Mets job at this time? It does seem to me from what I’ve heard that the players seem real upbeat about him so far….

 
Mack:

 
Hmm…

 
I think Terry Collins is the perfect manager for the 2011 Mets.
In my opinion, he was a better choice than Wally Backman. Collins brings the same personality without the hand grenades.

 
Was he the best choice? No. Joe Torre would have been better, but he wasn’t available.
Many feel that Collins is the perfect “interim” manager during these difficult times when the owners are broke, the team is handcuffed with contracts, and three new VPs have to be paid.
I expect TC to be the manager for 2011 and 2012. Beyond that will be determined on his W-L record.

Q&A – Patrick Flood – patrickfloodblog.com

Mack: Good morning girls and boys. We’re talking this morning to Patrick Flood, national Mets blogger and owner/operator of http://patrickfloodblog.com. Hey Patrick, how’s everything today?

Patrick: Hey Mack, everything’s good. Getting ready to fly home after a week in Port St. Lucie.

Mack: Kewl. Before we get to the team and ST, tell us how you got started doing this and how you hooked up with SNY?

Patrick: Well. Over a year ago, I started writing my blog, all about the Mets. I was having fun, I got some readers, and I kept working at it, trying to figure out the whole writing thing. After a while, SNY was like, “Hey, do you want to write your blog for us?” So I was like, “Hey, yeah, that sounds awesome.” It took a little while to get setup, but it’s been great. They’ve been helpful with everything.

Mack: Let’s get back to spring training. Tell us your general thoughts on how the camp was this year…

Patrick: That’s a tough one, because this was my first spring training as a media person. I don’t have anything to compare it to, really. That said, it seems to be a fairly relaxed atmosphere. The players are easy to approach, everyone appears positive. It’s just people working on baseball really. For example, I was watching Mookie Wilson work a base stealing drill with some of the outfielders — it really wasn’t all that different from a little league coach working with kids. He was showing some basic things, how to take a lead, not cross over your feet, and then the players worked on it. That was surprising, in how simple it was — it sort of made me realize that the game they’re playing really is the same game I was playing as a kid. Only they’re all way better. Way, way better.

Mack: Did anyone stand out, either on the mound next to the clubhouse, or in the batting cage?

Patrick: Actually, this is going to sound weird, but the only person who stood out to me was Boof Bonser. That guy can get a hold of one. Big dude. He hit some baseballs a long way when the pitchers were taking BP. I would be a terrible scout.

Mack: Ha ha…. curious… how much did the money problems come up in the newsroom?

Patrick: Nothing. Not at all — I actually almost forgot about it down here. A reporter will mention it occasionally, but that’s really it. I don’t think it’s on the mind of the players, the coaches, anyone

Mack: Good. Last question… what’s your thoughts on this team this year. Any chance for a playoff run?

Patrick: Here’s what I’m thinking: As they’re built right now, this is a .500 team. Maybe a little better, maybe a little worse, but if they played an infinite number of baseball games, they would win about half of them.

That said, they don’t play an infinite number of games. They play 162, meaning they could easily win somewhere between 75 game or 92 games as built, just thanks to chance. So if a few things go right, Beltran and Reyes have big years, the pitching staff is healthy, they win some close games, maybe they’re in serious contention around the All Star break. And if that happens, I could see them making some moves to improve the team for the stretch run and playing some serious October baseball.

But if things aren’t going well, then I assume they would consider trading Beltran — who can’t be offered arbitration at the end of the season, it’s in his contract — or Reyes, if they don’t want to resign him, to rebuild for 2012. They’re a high variance team, lots of player who can be up and down. So they easily could make the postseason, if those players are up. But they could also easily lose 90 games if those players are down.

Mack: Patrick, thank you for time and I hope some day we can eat that lunch together in the ST press room.

Patrick: Absolutely! Maybe next year. Take care.

Q&A: – Matthew Silverman – “New York Mets – A Complete Illustrated History”

 

Morning.

 
We’re talking today to Matthew  Silverman, author of “New York Mets – A Complete Illustrated History”, which is hitting the bookstores this week. Silverman is a veteran Mets author, including the books “100 Things Mets Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die” and “Mets Essential: Everything You Need to Know to Be a Real Fan…”

 

 
The new book… New York Mets: The Complete Illustrated History… brings to life a half century of Mets baseball, from the lovable losers of the early years, through the championship teams of 1969 and 1986, up through the stars of today. Chock full of photos, memorabilia, and memories, New York Mets tells the complete story of the franchise, including season-by-season recaps, profiles of the great players and characters, and behind-the-scenes stories through the decades. Longtime Mets fan, author, and expert Matthew Silverman selects the Top 50 Mets players of all time, including current and future Hall of Famers Tom Seaver, Gary Carter, and Mike Piazza; superstar hurlers Jerry Koosman, Jon Matlack, Dwight Gooden, Ron Darling, and Johan Santana; powerful sluggers like Dave Kingman, Darryl Strawberry, and Carlos Beltran; slick-fielding glove-men Bud Harrelson, Keith Hernandez, and Jose Reyes; and fan favorites Ed Kranepool, Tug McGraw, Rusty Staub, Mookie Wilson, David Wright, and many more.

 
I had a chance to throw some questions his way after reading the book:

 
Mack: I love the way you designed the book and the photos are just great. Were there any specific photographers that worked with you directly?

 

 
Matt: There weren’t any photographers we specifically worked with, though there are a few photogs with several images in the book. I spent about two weeks going through several online archives, jotting down image numbers for the ones I though appropriate. The list was about 500 photos and maybe a quarter of that number got in. MVP Publishing came up with images I didn’t even know existed. And the final design blew me away. I didn’t know about the “pull-tab” Home Run Apple on the cover until I opened the box this afternoon. (I had been wondering how they could not have Seaver on the cover.) I just finished looking through it with my son five minutes ago. They put as much work into creating its look as I did in putting together its contents.
 

 

Mack: I see that you listed your top 50 Mets of all time. Do you see any of the current kids being added to this list over the next three to four years.
 

 

Matt: I have to be careful which names I say because I have a bad track record of going on and on about players who don’t pan out in New York (Carlos Baerga and Roberto Alomar come to mind among acquisitions; Mackey Sasser and Jerrod Riggan among farm products). But throwing caution to the wind, I have to say I really like Ike–and not just because the phrase sounds so retro. I also like Josh Thole as a contact-hitting catcher who bats lefty and has really come along with the glove and the pitch calling. I think of Jon Niese and Mike Pelfrey as being on permanent start-by-start basis: you never know if they’re going to go on a tear or have six straight starts that the team doesn’t win because they dig too deep a hole–but they’re young and may yet become more consistent. I also like Daniel Murphy. I like that even though Murph’s been supplanted at first base and is no longer a flavor of the week he’s still in their plans. I’ve always seen him as a–if I can turn back time–Dave Magadan kind of hitter, who goes gap to gap and knows how to play the game. Murph’s career may be starting 80 games a year and being ready off the bench the rest of the time–those guys are valuable, especially on good teams. Ed Kranepool and Wayne Garrett, guys on my top 50 from another era, were like that.

 
Mack: Mathew, this isn’t your first Mets book and I’m sure, it won’t be your last. Do you have a new project in mind for your next one?
 

 

Matt: I’m working on a book with another publisher that’s not a thorough history like this, but it has more rating of teams and players and such. I think it’ll be fun book that fans will enjoy. I’m calling it Best Mets, but the title isn’t set in stone yet. Thanks for asking.

 
Mack: I wanted to thank you for your acknowledgement to Mets bloggers that worked with you. Do you see a day when the Mets management will fully recognize the blogging community?
 

 

Matt: I think the day is almost here. It may eventually become like newspapers, where the team is selective with which bloggers get credentials. The bloggers have sort of broken the concept of the too typical baseball newspaper story: lead/observation/quote/observation/quote/observation/quote/quote/conclusion. Sandy Alderson has gone out of his way to make a select few bloggers feel accepted and part of the extended Mets community. (Disclosure: I’m not one of them.) Maybe the day will come when there will be more bloggers than newspaper guys in the locker room, though some bloggers are better for the distance they keep from the subject. Faith and Fear in Flushing’s Greg Prince, for one, writes better than anyone I’ve read, blog or print. He puts the package together of fact, history, and making you care. Even Matthew Cerrone at MetsBlog, who has more access than most, seems to want to take that step back and not become jaded and taking the experience for granted like a lot of newspaper guys have over the years. My goal was once to be a beat guy, but after reading The Worst Team Money Could Buy when I was a reporter at the lower levels of the trade, I started wondering if being a beat guy would really make me happy. Sorry to get philosophical and ramble on, but I’ve thought about this subject often.

Mack: OK, last question. Off the top of head, name the top all-time Mets by position.

Matt: 1B. Keith Hernandez, 2B. Edgardo Alfonzo, SS. Jose Reyes, 3B. David Wright, LF. Cleon Jones, CF. Mookie Wilson/Carlos Beltran, RF. Darryl Strawberry, C. Mike Piazza, RHP. Tom Seaver, RHP. Dwight Gooden, LHP. Jerry Koosman, LHP. Al Leiter, RHP. David Cone, RHRP. Roger McDowell, LHRP: Jesse Orosco, Long Man: Sid Fernandez, CL. Tug McGraw

Yes, there are two guys for center field. I used to list the position as Wilson and Dykstra. Now I guess it’s Wilson and Beltran. Beltran’s a better player than Mookie, but I can’t say he’s been a better Met. It killed me to leave off Jon Matlack. Darling’s pretty close as well. Really good questions, Mack. Thanks for your interest.

Observation: Buy this book. It’s a good one.