The Reasons Behind David Wright’s 2012 Success
NEW YORK– By Mo Miller
Let’s go back to 2006, shall we? David Wright was one of the best third basemen, and one the best players in the MLB. In 2007, more of the same. Same thing for 2008. In those three years, Wright hit for a combined .312 average with 89 HRs, and 347 RBIs. Averaging it out, Wright played 158 games per season, with just under 30 home runs, and 116 RBIs. Citi Field came along in 2009 and Wright’s numbers dipped.
Until 2011, Wright had three forgetful seasons. He averaged 134 games played, with a .284 average, with 18 HRs and 79 RBIs per season. Wright was not just off at the plate, but also off in the field. His throws were off line, he lost his cat-like quickness that won him Gold Gloves in 2007 and 2008. Enter 2012, Wright has been nothing short of sensational both at bat and in the field.
It’s 38 games into the 2012 season and Wright’s Mets are exceeding expectations with a 21-17 record, and it’s mainly thanks to the unofficial captain, Wright. Wright has missed sat three games all season (due to a fractured pinky), and is now batting .411/.513/.621 with four home runs and 22 RBIs after Thursday’s 9-4 Mets win over Cincinnati. Wright’s .411 average and .513 OBP lead the major leagues. So what’s going (W)right this season for David?
First and foremost, his strikeouts are down. Over the last three seasons, Wright averaged a strikeout once every 3.8 at bats, with a 2.04 strikeout to walk ratio. Going into Thursday’s game, Wright has struck out once every 5.8 at bats with a 0.88 strikeout to walk ratio. In 2006-2008, Wright averaged 5.8 at bats between strikeouts, with a 1.36 strikeout to walk ratio. Wright is seeing the ball better, and is on target when he makes contact.
Over the past few years, Wright was late on fastballs or couldn’t reach those fastballs on the outside corner. So far in 2012, as the numbers indicate, Wright has been less prone to the strikeout, leading to more hits. The most telling number is Wright’s balls in play percentage. From 2006-2008 Wright put the ball in play 68% of the time. Between 2009 and 2011, Wright hit the ball in play 62% of the time. This season? 67% of the time. It’s made a tremendous difference.
Secondly, there’s been a difference in how Wright’s been hitting the ball. So far in 2012, 10.2 percent of Wright’s hits have been extra base hits, right around at his 2006-2008 average of 10.5 percent. Wright has hit line drives for a quarter of all balls he’s put into play. That percentage tells us Wright has kept an even swing. In recent years, it had looked like Wright’s swing had evolved into a little bit of an upper cut, especially since the creation of the formerly cavernous Citi Field. The fact that Wright has hit line drives for one quarter of all balls in play, tells us if Wright had more of an upper cut in his swing and he has since leveled it. Wright is no longer trying to hit 500 foot bombs, but rather just get good wood on the ball.
Last but not least, Wright’s leadership has also set him apart. It won’t show up in any box score, but ask any Mets player, coach or fan, and they will tell you Wright is the leader of the Mets, their unofficial “captain.”
Monday night, following D.J. Carrassco’s beaning of Ryan Braun, when the Mets came up to bat, Terry Collins quickly removed Wright from the lineup, not wanting his star player to get hurt. Wright was upset at his manager since he wanted to be the guy to take the hit for the team. This is finally Wright’s team. Carlos Beltran is gone. Carlos Delgado? Gone. Jose Reyes is in Miami. Wright goes out on the field knowing that it’s his team now, and he has to set an example for all the young players on the team. He goes out everyday and plays his heart out, even playing with a broken finger!
In recent years, there was worry that the burden of the Mets was getting to Wright, and that’s why he was struggling. Wright has come out in 2012 and is trying to prove all his critics wrong, even team owner Fred Wilpon, who this week went back on his statement from last year of calling Wright “not a superstar”, and is ready to be the leader of the Mets in all aspects. Wright has stepped his game up to a new level, and the Mets are competitive because of it.
Celtics Star Kevin Garnett Leads The Big Three’s Final Charge
The worst kept secret of the 2011-2012 NBA season is that this is likely the Boston Celtics’ last run with the trio of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. After Derrick Rose’s injury, the Philadelphia 76ers upset the Chicago Bulls and the Celtics had a much easier path to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Not many players in recent memory compete with the intensity and focus Kevin Garnett has. Knowing that this would likely be his last best shot at a second ring, Garnett has been one of the three best players this postseason along with Kevin Durant and LeBron James, Tuesday night’s late game performance aside.
With home court lost at the TD Garden, Boston needed to win a game at the Wells Fargo Arena to get a better shot at that Eastern Finals slot. With fire and his belly and determination in every one of his steps, Garnett shot 12-17 from the field for 27 points to go with 13 rebounds and four assists. The Celtics cruised to a 107-91 triumph to regain control of this second round series.
The greatest players are at their best when more is on the line, and Garnett has certainly played that way this season. After averaging 16 points and 8.4 rebounds per game in the regular season while shooting 44.8 percent from the field, Garnett averaged 18.7 points on 50.6 percent shooting and 10.5 boards per contest in Boston’s first round series win over Atlanta. The three games so far against the Sixers? Garnett has deep-sixed Philadelphia with 23.7 points and 12 rebounds on an unbelievable 63.3 percent shooting from the field.
Garnett is undoubtedly playing his most inspired basketball in his last legitimate shot at another championship ring. With Miami short-handed against a formidable Indiana Pacers team, perhaps another trip to the NBA Finals is in store as the final stanza in the Big Three’s swan song.
Do Baseball Fans Hate Ryan Braun?
The attendance at Citi Field claimed by the Mets on this gloomy Tuesday evening was 22,268. Being at the game, I can assure you that there were far fewer fans who actually ventured out to Flushing after such a gloomy day.
The home team’s performance matched the day’s dismal weather, with the Milwaukee Brewers cruising to an 8-0 win behind Zack Greinke’s dominant pitching and a pair of Travis Ishikawa home runs. But what struck me was the boos that rained down on Milwaukee slugger Ryan Braun each time he stepped up to the plate. Despite having his 50 game steroid suspension removed on a technicality– because of an error in how his sample was handled– it seems like Braun is still guilty in the court of public opinion.
Was his NL MVP award last season “tainted” in a way by his positive test that was ultimately overturned? Do fans still view Braun as the clean player who led the Brewers to another NL Central title last year and a trip to the NLCS? Is he currently looked at suspiciously because of his hot start?
With the game clearly out of reach and just after Rickie Weeks smacked a homer to left, Mets reliever D.J. Carrasco plunked Braun on the elbow. The remaining fans who remained at Citi, most of them intoxicated, applauded Acosta for not only standing up for his poorly performing comrades but for beaning Braun a player once loved but perhaps is now despised in a way for possibly tarnishing baseball’s seemingly rehabilitated image.
Is there damage to Ryan Braun’s reputation? Is he now reviled in parks across the country? What will be his lasting legacy? Those are questions only fans and the sands of time can ultimately answer.
NHL Eastern Conference Finals Keys To Victory- Rangers-Devils
NEW YORK– By Daniel Friedman
The New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils kicked off their best-of-seven last night at Madison Square Garden and, on this night, the former came away with a 3-0 victory.
The rivalry between these two teams needs no buildup or explanation. It wasn’t long after the franchise was moved from Colorado to the Meadowlands that the Devils and Blueshirts developed a hatred for each other and, in the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals, they took things to a whole new level.
Just in case you’re in need of a memory refresher, Ranger captain Mark Messier guaranteed a game six win with his team on the brink of elimination. Not only did he deliver, he scored a hat trick in the process. Then, in the decisive game seven, (Stephane) Matteau! Matteau! Matteau! scored the game-winner in double overtime, sending New York to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Fast-forward the clock to 2012, where the Rangers and Devils find themselves back in the Conference Finals. As was the case in 1994, the Blueshirts have home ice advantage and Martin Brodeur, who recently turned 40, is still between the pipes for New Jersey, just like he was 18 years ago.
If last night’s contest taught us anything, it’s that Marty hasn’t lost much, if any, of the stride in his step. He was phenomenal, but the Rangers’ defensive efforts and shot-blocking prowess, along with superb goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist, kept the Devils off the scoresheet. The Blueshirts were able to cash in with two goals (from Dan Girardi and Chris Kreider) and an empty-netter (Artem Anisimov) in the third period.
The Rangers’ performance in this game was straight out of the textbook. If you want to beat New Jersey, you’ve got to keep Ilya Kovalchuk, Patrik Elias and Zach Parise in check and score timely
goals of your own. New York wins by playing defense-first, gritty, grind-it-out hockey. Lundqvist has to be the Vezina-caliber goaltender he’s been all year long, because if he’s not, the Devils have more than enough firepower to blow right through him.
Likewise, New Jersey can win if they can open up holes in their opponent’s defensive coverage. That starts with passing; you need to make strong, crisp passes to pull a defending team out of position. Brodeur needs to continue matching Lundqvist save-for-save. He has to be on his game at all times, because the defense in front of him usually isn’t. The Devils have blown quite a few leads in these playoffs and you can’t do that against the Rangers and expect to win.
Special teams is going to be crucial in this series. I give the Devils the advantage in that department, especially because the Rangers don’t execute with the man-advantage and New Jersey is one of the best penalty-killing teams in the league. They’ve also sported the fourth-best power play in the playoffs; the Rangers, on the other hand, are 10-for-61, good enough for eighth-best.
I’m going with the New York Rangers in six games. I think, overall, they’re capable of both shutting down Jersey’s arsenal and finding the back of the net themselves. As long as they play their game, they have an excellent chance of reaching the Stanley Cup Finals…just like 1994.
Oakland’s Josh Reddick Has Been A Boon For Billy Beane
When Oakland sent closer Andrew Bailey and outfielder Ryan Sweeney to the Red Sox, not much thought was given to what the Athletics were getting in return. It turns out that Billy Beane received the best player in the trade so far in outfielder Josh Reddick.
Reddick was decently hyped as a prospect, but the Red Sox signed Carl Crawford to pair with Jacoby Ellsbury in a speedy outfield, so it didn’t seem like Reddick would fit in. Instead of installing him as the rightfielder to replace the departing J.D. Drew, Boston GM Ben Cherington went with a platoon of Sweeney and 2010 World Series hero Cody Ross. Sweeney is batting over .300, but it’s Reddick that has been one of the most pleasant surprises around baseball this season.
The 25-year-old lefty leads the team in batting average, home runs, runs scored and OPS. He hit his 9th dinger of the season in the A’s 5-0 win in Anaheim on Monday, pulling into a tie for sixth place in the AL in round-trippers. Reddick is batting .289 with a decent .340 OPB and an other-wordly .549 slugging percentage that ranks him ninth in the junior circuit. Reddick is one of the reasons Oakland is a surprising 19-17, competing for a playoff spot at this early juncture in the season.
As for that trade for Boston? Bailey needed surgery on his thumb to begin the season and will be out until at least the All-Star break. The Red Sox have had trouble closing out games and no Boston hitter has more homers than Reddick. Seems like Billy Beane knows what he’s doing after all.
