If you follow the Reds closely, it probably seems like a long time since their last lengthy streak of the winning OR losing variety. That's because they are, in fact, one of the least streaky teams in baseball over the past three seasons.
Only two teams in MLB this year have no streaks of 4+ games: Cincinnati and Oakland
Only three teams in MLB have gone since May 2011 or longer without any streak of 6+ games: Cincinnati, Toronto and the New York Mets.
Only five teams in MLB have gone since August 2010 or longer without any streak of 7+ games: Cincinnati, Toronto, Tampa Bay, and both Los Angeles teams.
Mr. Redlegs is watching you. Always.
Showing posts with label new york mets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new york mets. Show all posts
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
An analysis of MLB mascots
I highly encourage anyone and everyone to look into the history of MLB mascots. Just about every mascot has at least one embarrassing/amusing anecdote or backstory.
One good place to start is the Wikipedia article on the topic. The highlight for me, especially as a Reds fan, was the line: "Gapper is sometimes referred to as Groper due to his inability to keep his hands off the female fans." Whoever added that gem of a sentence is to be commended.
Four teams have no mascots - the Angels, Cubs, Dodgers and Yankees - and as you'll see below, that might be the best decision.
I've grouped the official mascots of MLB into several categories.
BIZARRE, PATHETIC AND WEAKLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE TEAM
(a.k.a. the "Olympic mascots")
DINGER (ROCKIES) - only exists because they found a triceratops skull while constructing Coors
SLIDER (INDIANS) - somehow this monstrosity is one of only three MLB mascots in the Mascot Hall of Fame!
JUNCTION JACK (ASTROS) - supposedly a rabbit railroad engineer, though he doesn't look the part here
LOU SEAL (GIANTS) - bravo for the wordplay
RAYMOND (RAYS) - even his body language is saying a big "WTF???"
SOUTHPAW (WHITE SOX) - the nappy condition of his fur suits this generic, lame excuse for a mascot
SLUGGERRR (ROYALS) - I know all mascots arrre disturrrbing but this picturrre rrreally will give me nightmarrres
WALLY (RED SOX) - much like the Reds' "Gapper" (who thankfully is not the primary mascot), this one is based entirely on a structural feature of the ballpark.
RELATIVELY NORMAL CHARACTERS, WITH POOR EXCUSES FOR EXISTENCE
D. BAXTER THE BOBCAT (DBACKS) - get it? At least the pun made more sense when it was Bank One Ballpark (BOB). Now it's really a stretch.
HOMER (BRAVES) - get it? "Home of the Braves?" LOLOLOLOLOL
RANGERS CAPTAIN (RANGERS) - OK, I guess I've seen Chuck Norris on a horse
T.C. BEAR (TWINS) - the backstory doesn't even try to sound convincing. "Loosely modeled" after the mascot of an early sponsor?
ACE (BLUE JAYS) - in 2004, he lost his co-mascot girlfriend "Diamond." In 2010, he lost his excuse to exist when Roy Halladay went to the Phillies. Unsurprisingly, it looks like he's trying to play the skin flute in the image below.
MARINER MOOSE (MARINERS) - there's so much wrong with the first paragraph of his Wikipedia page, I might as well just paste it all here. In 1990, a contest for children 14 and under was held to select a mascot for the team under then-owner Jeff Smulyan. Out of 2500 entries received, the club chose the "Mariner Moose," originally submitted by Ammon Spiller of Ferndale, Washington.[1] The Moose made his debut on April 13, 1990,[2] dancing on the field at the Kingdome to "The Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades" by Timbuk 3.
COMPLETELY SENSICAL, BUT LAUGHABLE DESIGN
FREDBIRD (CARDINALS) - looks like a middle school-quality costume
THE ORIOLE BIRD (ORIOLES) - see description of Fredbird
PAWS (TIGERS) - paying $214 million to a fat man is Grrrrrrrrrrreat! Tony would be proud.
SCREECH (NATIONALS) - patriotic theme makes sense, but the bird itself was the only living thing excited about its birth
BILLY THE MARLIN (MARLINS) - I honestly didn't mind this one that much until the re-branding...the new color scheme somehow makes him ten times more Sandusky
SWINGING FRIAR (PADRES) - speaking of Sandusky, don't let your kids near this guy's frock.
OLD AND OFFENSIVELY NAMED
CHIEF NOC-A-HOMA (BRAVES) - the shoes really complete the authentic ensemble
BJ BIRDY (BLUE JAYS) - with a name like that, it's no surprise he was ejected from a game for offensive gestures toward an umpire
DEFUNCT AND BIZARRE
DANDY (YANKEES) - at my hot dog stand, things like this would have to pay triple
ROOTIN' TOOTIN' RANGER (RANGERS) - the Yosemite Sam who stole Christmas
YOUPPI (EXPOS) - shown here in Canadiens gear. While I hate that hockey team, at least Youppi survived.
We are left with only six survivors...
THE ELITE
MR. MET - he's been around (continuously) longer than any other mascot on this list
STOMPER (ATHLETICS) - while the name is only 15 years old, the elephant dates back to Connie Mack
PHILLIE PHANATIC (PHILLIES) - the prototype for "WTF?" mascots
PIRATE PARROT (PIRATES) - At age 6, he went on trial for introducing cocaine to Pittsburgh players (not joking) yet somehow the mascot lives on to this day. Impressive!
BERNIE BREWER (BREWERS) - I support mustaches, I support drunks, and I support the fact that he's based on a real dude who camped out on top of a scoreboard as an attendance gimmick.
MR. REDLEGS - is watching you. Always. (scroll to the top of the page if you need reminding)
One good place to start is the Wikipedia article on the topic. The highlight for me, especially as a Reds fan, was the line: "Gapper is sometimes referred to as Groper due to his inability to keep his hands off the female fans." Whoever added that gem of a sentence is to be commended.
Four teams have no mascots - the Angels, Cubs, Dodgers and Yankees - and as you'll see below, that might be the best decision.
I've grouped the official mascots of MLB into several categories.
BIZARRE, PATHETIC AND WEAKLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE TEAM
(a.k.a. the "Olympic mascots")
DINGER (ROCKIES) - only exists because they found a triceratops skull while constructing Coors
SLIDER (INDIANS) - somehow this monstrosity is one of only three MLB mascots in the Mascot Hall of Fame!
JUNCTION JACK (ASTROS) - supposedly a rabbit railroad engineer, though he doesn't look the part here
LOU SEAL (GIANTS) - bravo for the wordplay
RAYMOND (RAYS) - even his body language is saying a big "WTF???"
SOUTHPAW (WHITE SOX) - the nappy condition of his fur suits this generic, lame excuse for a mascot
SLUGGERRR (ROYALS) - I know all mascots arrre disturrrbing but this picturrre rrreally will give me nightmarrres
WALLY (RED SOX) - much like the Reds' "Gapper" (who thankfully is not the primary mascot), this one is based entirely on a structural feature of the ballpark.
RELATIVELY NORMAL CHARACTERS, WITH POOR EXCUSES FOR EXISTENCE
D. BAXTER THE BOBCAT (DBACKS) - get it? At least the pun made more sense when it was Bank One Ballpark (BOB). Now it's really a stretch.
HOMER (BRAVES) - get it? "Home of the Braves?" LOLOLOLOLOL
RANGERS CAPTAIN (RANGERS) - OK, I guess I've seen Chuck Norris on a horse
T.C. BEAR (TWINS) - the backstory doesn't even try to sound convincing. "Loosely modeled" after the mascot of an early sponsor?
ACE (BLUE JAYS) - in 2004, he lost his co-mascot girlfriend "Diamond." In 2010, he lost his excuse to exist when Roy Halladay went to the Phillies. Unsurprisingly, it looks like he's trying to play the skin flute in the image below.
MARINER MOOSE (MARINERS) - there's so much wrong with the first paragraph of his Wikipedia page, I might as well just paste it all here. In 1990, a contest for children 14 and under was held to select a mascot for the team under then-owner Jeff Smulyan. Out of 2500 entries received, the club chose the "Mariner Moose," originally submitted by Ammon Spiller of Ferndale, Washington.[1] The Moose made his debut on April 13, 1990,[2] dancing on the field at the Kingdome to "The Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades" by Timbuk 3.
COMPLETELY SENSICAL, BUT LAUGHABLE DESIGN
FREDBIRD (CARDINALS) - looks like a middle school-quality costume
THE ORIOLE BIRD (ORIOLES) - see description of Fredbird
PAWS (TIGERS) - paying $214 million to a fat man is Grrrrrrrrrrreat! Tony would be proud.
SCREECH (NATIONALS) - patriotic theme makes sense, but the bird itself was the only living thing excited about its birth
BILLY THE MARLIN (MARLINS) - I honestly didn't mind this one that much until the re-branding...the new color scheme somehow makes him ten times more Sandusky
SWINGING FRIAR (PADRES) - speaking of Sandusky, don't let your kids near this guy's frock.
OLD AND OFFENSIVELY NAMED
CHIEF NOC-A-HOMA (BRAVES) - the shoes really complete the authentic ensemble
BJ BIRDY (BLUE JAYS) - with a name like that, it's no surprise he was ejected from a game for offensive gestures toward an umpire
DEFUNCT AND BIZARRE
DANDY (YANKEES) - at my hot dog stand, things like this would have to pay triple
ROOTIN' TOOTIN' RANGER (RANGERS) - the Yosemite Sam who stole Christmas
YOUPPI (EXPOS) - shown here in Canadiens gear. While I hate that hockey team, at least Youppi survived.
We are left with only six survivors...
THE ELITE
MR. MET - he's been around (continuously) longer than any other mascot on this list
STOMPER (ATHLETICS) - while the name is only 15 years old, the elephant dates back to Connie Mack
PHILLIE PHANATIC (PHILLIES) - the prototype for "WTF?" mascots
PIRATE PARROT (PIRATES) - At age 6, he went on trial for introducing cocaine to Pittsburgh players (not joking) yet somehow the mascot lives on to this day. Impressive!
BERNIE BREWER (BREWERS) - I support mustaches, I support drunks, and I support the fact that he's based on a real dude who camped out on top of a scoreboard as an attendance gimmick.
MR. REDLEGS - is watching you. Always. (scroll to the top of the page if you need reminding)
Saturday, October 1, 2011
The best- and worst-run MLB franchises
I've been looking at payroll vs. results from a variety of angles. Some argue, based on the Rays' ability to make the playoffs and the Marlins' two World Series titles, that the class disparity in MLB is overblown. While it's true that high-payroll teams can struggle if poorly managed and low-payroll teams can succeed with good management, scouting and a little luck, it's still much easier to win big if you pay big. I'll show a couple graphs to support my viewpoint in some upcoming posts. For now I wanted to focus on the teams that have been managed well and managed poorly.
I examined the period from 1998-2011. The dramatic payroll class disparity started forming in the mid-90s, but since 1998 was the most recent expansion and I wanted to average evenly across years for all teams, I started with that timepoint. I then broke the teams down into four tiers based on the average number of millions spent in payroll for each regular season win achieved.
Tier 1 ($1.1 million or more per win) - Yankees, Red Sox, Mets and Cubs
Average playoff appearances per team out of 14 seasons - 7
Best-managed - Yankees (13 playoffs/4 titles), Red Sox (8/2)
Worst-managed - Mets (3/0), Cubs (4/0)
Tier 2 ($900,000 to 1.099 million per win) - Cardinals, Braves, Angels, Phillies, Giants, White Sox, Astros, Rangers, Orioles, Tigers, Mariners
Average playoff appearances per team out of 14 seasons - 4.36
Best-managed - Cardinals (8 playoffs/1 title), Braves (9/0), Angels (6/1)
Worst-managed - Orioles (0/0), Tigers (2/0), Mariners (2/0)
Tier 3 ($700,000 to 899,000 per win) - Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Indians, Blue Jays, Reds, Rockies, Brewers
Average playoff appearances per team out of 14 seasons - 2.57
Best-managed - Diamondbacks (5 playoffs/1 title)
Worst-managed - Blue Jays (0/0), Reds (1/0)
Tier 4 (less than $700,000 per win) - Twins, Athletics, Rays, Padres, Marlins, Nationals/Expos, Pirates, Royals
Average playoff appearances per team out of 14 seasons - 2.25
Best-managed - Twins (6 playoffs/0 titles), Athletics (5/0)
Worst-managed - Nationals (0/0), Pirates (0/0), Royals (0/0)
So during this 14-year period, if I had to rank the teams based on overall results achieved for money spent, I'd list them as follows.
The best:
1) Yankees
2) Cardinals
3) Twins
4) Braves
5) Red Sox
6) Diamondbacks
7) Athletics
8) Angels
The worst:
1) Orioles
2) Mets
3) Blue Jays
4) Cubs
5) Mariners
6) Tigers
7) Reds
8-10) Nationals/Pirates/Royals
Teams that don't appear on either list but are trending upward: Phillies and Rays (especially if either wins a title this season)
Teams that don't appear on either list but are trending downward: Dodgers, White Sox, Astros
I examined the period from 1998-2011. The dramatic payroll class disparity started forming in the mid-90s, but since 1998 was the most recent expansion and I wanted to average evenly across years for all teams, I started with that timepoint. I then broke the teams down into four tiers based on the average number of millions spent in payroll for each regular season win achieved.
Tier 1 ($1.1 million or more per win) - Yankees, Red Sox, Mets and Cubs
Average playoff appearances per team out of 14 seasons - 7
Best-managed - Yankees (13 playoffs/4 titles), Red Sox (8/2)
Worst-managed - Mets (3/0), Cubs (4/0)
Tier 2 ($900,000 to 1.099 million per win) - Cardinals, Braves, Angels, Phillies, Giants, White Sox, Astros, Rangers, Orioles, Tigers, Mariners
Average playoff appearances per team out of 14 seasons - 4.36
Best-managed - Cardinals (8 playoffs/1 title), Braves (9/0), Angels (6/1)
Worst-managed - Orioles (0/0), Tigers (2/0), Mariners (2/0)
Tier 3 ($700,000 to 899,000 per win) - Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Indians, Blue Jays, Reds, Rockies, Brewers
Average playoff appearances per team out of 14 seasons - 2.57
Best-managed - Diamondbacks (5 playoffs/1 title)
Worst-managed - Blue Jays (0/0), Reds (1/0)
Tier 4 (less than $700,000 per win) - Twins, Athletics, Rays, Padres, Marlins, Nationals/Expos, Pirates, Royals
Average playoff appearances per team out of 14 seasons - 2.25
Best-managed - Twins (6 playoffs/0 titles), Athletics (5/0)
Worst-managed - Nationals (0/0), Pirates (0/0), Royals (0/0)
So during this 14-year period, if I had to rank the teams based on overall results achieved for money spent, I'd list them as follows.
The best:
1) Yankees
2) Cardinals
3) Twins
4) Braves
5) Red Sox
6) Diamondbacks
7) Athletics
8) Angels
The worst:
1) Orioles
2) Mets
3) Blue Jays
4) Cubs
5) Mariners
6) Tigers
7) Reds
8-10) Nationals/Pirates/Royals
Teams that don't appear on either list but are trending upward: Phillies and Rays (especially if either wins a title this season)
Teams that don't appear on either list but are trending downward: Dodgers, White Sox, Astros
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