Why the New York Mets Should Morph into the 1980s St. Louis Cardinals

The Mets organization, for the most part, has always valued pitching over hitting. In the Mets’ old home field, Shea Stadium, it was difficult hitting home runs (HRs). In the new Mets home grounds, Citi Field, attempting to hit HRs seems to be a greater challenge.

Citi Field may be termed cavernous. The dimensions are 335′ down the left field line, 379′ in the left field gap, 408′ in dead center, 383′ in the right field gap, and 330′ down the right field line. According to ESPN.com, “the facility was designed as a pitcher’s park with a huge outfield.”

Wikipedia points out that Shea’s dimensions were 338′ down the left field line, 358′ in medium left center, 371′ in left center, 396′ in deep left center, 410′ in center, 386′ in deep right center, 371′ in right center, 358′ in medium right center, and 338′ down the line in right field. So, the fields have comparable dimensions.

In 2011, the Mets were hampered by injuries to their HR hitters, David Wright and Ike Davis. Also, second-year Met Jason Bay didn’t turn up again in 2011, in terms of offense.

If Citi Field is a “pitcher’s park,” why did the Mets rank 13th out of 16 teams in earned run average (ERA) with a 4.19 record? Well, the Mets’ leading starter, Jose Santana was injured the entire season. But how much of a difference would he have made?

The Mets had a worse than average 2011 season. They were in fourth place in the National League (NL) East division with a 77-85 record, 25 games behind the first place Philadelphia Phillies. More importantly, the Mets did better on the road (43-38) then at home (34-47). Even the Washington Nationals, perennial doormats in the NL East almost as soon as they arrived from Montreal, led the Mets in the standings.

How can the Mets turn around next season and seasons to come? My idea is to have the team become a mirror image of the 1980s St. Louis Cardinals, who also played in a HR-stingy stadium.

So what did the Cards do? They developed, and traded for, players who accentuated speed, and line drive hitters who hit singles, doubles, and the occasional triple. The teams all sported good to outstanding starters and a good bullpens. The team did have some power in the lineup. However the Cards lived and died, or rather won or lost, based on their speed and solid pitching.

The Cards of the 1980s won three NL pennants and one World Series.

According to Baseball-Reference.com, the 1982 Cards were first in the league in stolen bases and triples, fourth in the league in doubles, but last in the league in home runs. And they won the World Series. The Cards pitching staff in 1982 was third in the league in ERA, fifth in complete games, sixth in shutouts, and second in saves.

In 1985, the team was first in runs scored, triples, bases-on balls, and stolen bases. They were second in hits, and fourth in doubles. But they were 11th (next to last in a 12 team league), in HRs.

As far as pitching, 1985 saw the Cards first in complete games, second in shutouts and ERA, and third in saves.

1987 had the Cardinals again first in stolen bases, second in triples, seventh in doubles, and second in runs scored. But, once again, they were last in the league in HRs..

The 1987 pitching staff was fifth in the NL in ERA, and third in saves.

The “Wilpon Family”, the Met owners, are mediocre owners, at best. Jason Bay, signed by the Mets for his (former) power statistics, made $18.1 million in 2011. For that, the Mets got a .245 hitter this year, who, in 123 games, hit 19 doubles, one triple, 19 HRs and drove in 57 RBI. He did worse as a Met in 2010. However, with his last team, the Boston Red Sox, Bay clubbed 29 doubles, three triples, 36 HRs and 119 runs batted in. It’s obvious Bay can’t play in New York, or, at least, in Citi Field. Also, the Wilpons seem to sign pitchers and hitters to large contracts that other teams know will ultimately have arm trouble, personal problems, or just don’t live up to their potential.

Now, I’ve heard that the Wilpons are trying to make Citi Field more “home run friendly” by lowering the stadium’s walls. They’ve also considered bringing in the outfield fences, thus producing more home runs.

They are dopes.

Keep Citi Field’s outfield wall heights and dimensions the same. The field is a pitcher’s paradise. The Mets could sign top flight free-agent pitchers, because these pitchers would know they are playing half their games in a “pitchers’ park.”

“Eat”, i.e., pay off Jason Bay’s contract. Trade him, as an old baseball expression goes, for “a bag of bats and balls.” Obviously, he can’t hit in Citi Field.

Begin to recruit base stealers and line drive hitters who can hit 30 to 50 doubles a season. Recruit high on base percentage players. Play “station to station” baseball. In other words, have players who can get on first base, steal second, and be in scoring position for the doubles hitters, who will drive the speedsters home. Get players who can drive baseballs into the gap for long singles or doubles.

In other words, build a team like the St. Louis Cardinals built their team in the 1980s. Outfielder Vince Coleman (who was a tremendous flop when he came to the Mets) stole 549 bases during his time with the Cards, which lasted from 1985 to 1990. During that six-year period, the Cards were in two World Series, losing to the Kansas City Royals in 1985 and the Minnesota Twins in 1987. The Cards won the Series in 1982, beating the Milwaukee Brewers in seven games. During the Cards pennant winning years, Coleman stole 110 bases in 1985 (his rookie year), and 109 bases in 1987. Another Card outfielder who had some speed, and a good bat, was Willie McGee, who was on all three Card World Series teams, stole 24 bases in 1982, 56 in 1985, but only 19 in 1987. McGee batted .296 in 1982, an outstanding .353 in 1985, and .285 in 1987.

Cardinal second baseman Tom Herr, is one of the only modern-era players to hit less than 10 home runs in a season (eight) and have more than 100 RBI (110). He accomplished this feat in 1985, one of the years the Cardinals went to the World Series. How could Herr miss driving runs in, with players like Coleman and McGee running?

How about 1985 Cardinals pitching? John Tudor won 21 games, and was second in the league to the Mets’ Dwight Gooden with a 1.93 earned run average. He was also tied for third in complete games (14) and led the league in shutouts with 10. In 1987, even though Tudor was hurt and started only 16 games, he had an enviable 10-2 record.

In 1985, pitcher Danny Cox’s record was 18-9, with a 2.88 ERA. Joaquin Andjuar, another starter, was 21-12, with a 3.40 ERA. By 1987, Andjuar was pitching for the Oakland A’s and on the downside of his career.

Still, this goes to show that a better than average pitcher in a pitcher’s park can have great success.

No, the Mets signed Jason Bay to a large contract. Not a front-line pitcher. .

Of course, keep a power hitter, like David Wright, and a speedster, like Jose Reyes (though Reyes is injury prone) on the team. Met first baseman Ike Davis, another power potential, may also still be on the roster.

And, of course, there is talk that the Mets won’t sign Reyes, who is a free agent. The Wilpons get a player who is tailor-made for their stadium, and there are rumors he may leave the team.

Wilpons, don’t lower the walls. Don’t bring in the fences. Bring in and draft solid pitchers, speedsters, and line drive hitters.

Do fans come to baseball games to see HRs? No, they come to see their team win.

Morphing the New York Mets into the St. Louis Cardinals of the 1980s may be the long awaited relief to Mets fans’ frustrations.

Sources:

2011 Major League Baseball final standings:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/standings

Citi Field background:

http://espn.go.com/travel/stadium/_/s/mlb/id/21/citi-field

Shea Stadium dimensions:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shea_Stadium

Jason Bay 2011 statistics:

http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=424726

Jason Bay’s 2011 salary:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/team/roster/_/name/nym/new-york-mets

2011 National League pitching statistics:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/pitching/seasontype/2/league/nl

St.Louis Cardinals MLB post season history:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/history/teams/_/team/stl

Vince Coleman Statistics:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/stats/_/id/1699/vince-coleman

Willie McGee Statistics:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/stats/_/id/1163/willie-mcgee

Tom Herr Statistics:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/stats/_/id/561/tom-herr

John Tudor Statistics:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/stats/_/id/1015/john-tudor

Joaquin Andjuar’s Statistics:

http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=110278

1982 St. Louis Cardinals Roster and Batting Statistics:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/STL/1982.shtml

1982 St. Louis Cardinals Pitching Statistics:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/STL/1982-pitching.shtml

1985 St. Louis Cardinals Batting Statistics:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/STL/1985.shtml

1985 St. Louis Cardinals Pitching Statistics:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/STL/1985.shtml

1987 St. Louis Cardinals Batting Statistics:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/STL/1987.shtml

1987 St. Louis Cardinal Pitching Statistics:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/STL/1987-pitching.shtml


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