1953 Brooklyn Dodgers beat 2006 New York Mets

Using Strat-O-Matic's baseball game, I played the 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers against the 2006 Mets at Shea Stadium and, to my surprise, the Bums were significantly better, beating the Queens’ men behind Carl Erskine’s quality start.

In the first inning, only three batters came to the plate for each team, no batters reaching first. 

In the second, against Steve Trachsel, Jackie Robinson’s walk was followed by Reese’s single, Hodge’s double, and Furillo’s single, giving the visitors a two-run lead. But in the bottom half of the inning, only three Dodger batters stood in the batter’s box, two flying out to center, the third grounding out to second.

Erskine, who in 1953 won 20 games and, in 1956, pitched the first nationally-televised no-hitter, was in run-prevention mode.

A lone Mets’ single was the only noise either team made in the third.

The Dodgers scored twice in their half of the fourth, Robinson doubling and Campanella homering. The Mets fought back in the bottom of the fourth, drawing three walks, but a double play and a strikeout negated their scoring opportunities. To my surprise, on April 14, 1953, Erskine walked three batters in the top of the second, the only time he did that in ‘53. No runners scored.

The fifth and sixth were 1-2-3 innings for both teams, a Dodger single the main attention-getter.

The seventh’s highlights were Erskine’s double-play grounder to end the inning before either Dodger baserunner could score and Shawn Green’s double for the Mets. The third Mets’ groundout of the inning continued Erskine’s shutout.

Gilliam’s leadoff homer in the eighth drew the Dodger fans in Shea to their feet. Two batters later, Snider doubled, but neither Robinson nor Campanella could plate Snider. The Met’s leadoff hitter, Eric Chavez, walked, but he never made it to second base.

Hodges singled, his second hit of the game, to open the ninth, but the bottom third of the Dodger order couldn’t advance him. Then, Jim Hughes replaced Erskine on the mound. Two Mets’ singles and a walk preceded David Wright’s sacrifice fly to left field. It put a run in the Mets’ slot on the scoreboard. But their attempt to threaten the Dodgers’ lead fizzled when Green grounded into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play.

Final score: Dodgers 6, Mets 1

1953 Dodgers were a great team

Before the Mets made their major league debut in 1962, New York City had two National League teams, and if you lived in Brooklyn, that team was the Dodgers, one of the two teams the Mets “replaced,” a word I placed within quotation marks because the Mets have never been able to replace the Dodgers, especially the 1953 team, in the minds of Brooklyn Dodger fans.

On it were four players now in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Gil Hodges, Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, and Duke Snider. Plus others who, though not in the Hall, remain as steadfastly in the minds of Bums’ fans. Two “Carls” are among them. One is Carl Furillo, an outfielder with a cannon for an arm and Carl Erskine, a stellar starter.

During his 12-year career, Erskine only played for the Dodgers, his first 10 years in Brooklyn and his last two in Los Angeles, but then he was no longer the same pitcher. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was not Ebbets Field. There, he pitched more than 200 innings three times, came close to striking out 200 batters (in 1953 he struck out 187), and beat the Bronx Bombers twice in World Series’ games.

He appeared in one All-Star game (1954), the last pitcher in the game for the National League. He faced three batters, giving up one hit and striking out one while not allowing any runs.

His 14 strikeouts in a 1953 World Series game against the Yankees set a new record.

Pete Alonso

One of the categories Pete Alonso led the Mets in last season and, hopefully, won't this season, is hitting into double plays. He did that 20 times in 2023, one of four Mets to do it at least 10 times. The other three: Francisco Alvarez (14), Francisco Linder (11), and Brett Bay (10).

Tylor Megill

Anthony DiComo predicts that Tylor Megill will be one of the Mets' starters in 2024. My crystal ball doesn't show that happening, at least not at the start of the season. He finished last season with a 4.70 ERA, and his career ERA is 4.72. High. Plus, last season he tied with Carrasco for giving up the second-most homers on the team — 18. Only Scherzer gave up more, 23. I prefer my starters to keep the ball in the ballpark.

  

Strat-O-Matic Baseball

It's been awhile since I've played a baseball board game, but I recently decided to do so again using the 2006 version of Strat-O-Matic baseball. It is a dice-toss game where you toss three dice to start each at-bat. One die is white; the other two are red. 

The white die's result informs whether you check the batter's or the pitcher's card and which column on that card. The two red dice direct you to a row on the chosen card.

The New York Mets were facing the Washington Nationals; the Mets were the home team. Tom Glavine started for the Mets; Ramón Ortiz was on the mound for the Nats. 

The game did not go as I expected. Glavine was 40 years old and in his 20th MLB season, his fourth as a Met. Despite his age, he completed it with a 15-7 record and a 3.82 ERA. But in my game, he struggled to keep Nats' runners from crossing the plate. 

In the second inning, eight batters challenged Glavine. Though the only hits were three singles, the four runs they helped to score were two more than the Mets got the whole game.

It was a disappointing way to start my 2024 Strat-O-Matic season.

Latest Blog Entries are in Bats and Stats blog

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Introduction to Sources of Baseball Statistics

If you like to view baseball statistics, a variety of sources exist. Among them are Baseball Reference, FanGraphs, Baseball Prospectus, Baseball Savant, and Statcast. Baseball Savant and Statcast are products of Major League Baseball.

Baseball Savant can be accessed here and Statcast through its search page though Statcast info is also available from the main Baseball Savant page.

On Baseball Savant’s homepage is a menu bar containing this:

• Gamefeed 
• Probable Pitchers 
• Daily Matchups 
• Leaderboards
• Search

Each of the above menu items will be discussed later. Be aware that the last item, “Search,” takes you to the same page as you reach by clicking the link to the Statcast search page, which is several paragraphs up.

Savant’s homepage contains two sections: a horizontal listing of the day’s games and “Trending Players.” Among the “trending players” on April 21 are Christian Yelich, J. D. Davis, and Yandy Diaz. When I clicked on Davis’ name, a page full of his 2019 stats appears. (More about those stats later.

Savant also contains excellent visuals. Below are two examples. The first one shows the trajectory of a single by Mets first baseman Pete Alonso. The second shows the exit velocity and launch angle of a homer by Alonso. (More about those visuals later too.)

This introduction gives you an overview of what will be in the “baseball statistics” posts. The focus will on enabling you to both access and interpret statistics in various forms with an initial emphasis on those in Baseball Savant.

Jacob deGrom's pitching problem identified, addressed, hopefully fixed

On theathletic.com, Tim Britton wrote that this season "the Mets’ perceived strength has been their biggest weakness."

He's talking about their starting pitching.

The article focuses on Jacob deGrom's last start against the Braves, "his first non-quality start in nearly a year," according to Britton.

Last year, Mets ace Jacob deGrom won the Cy Young Award, finishing the season with a 1.70 ERA. This season, after four starts, his ERA is 3.68 and, in his last start against the Braves, in just five innings he threw 114 pitches: Only 62.2% were strikes.

Robinson Cano Not Hitting Balls Hard

1️⃣ Hard hit balls have an exit velocity of at least 95 mph. Balls with a lower exit velocity are weakly-hit, according to Major League Baseball.
2️⃣ In 2019, only one Met with at least one at-bat has a Hard Hit % of zero: Dominic Smith — in 9 Batted Ball Events (hit, out, or error). 
3️⃣ Close to zero is Robinson Cano: His Hard Hit % is 12.5% — in 24 BBE. 

❗️Thus, 87.5% of Cano's batted balls have been weakly hit. 

❓Why? Explanations?  Maybe he has an undisclosed injury.