“Trains leave without you”
I had a teacher in high school who liked to say that in response to just about any teenage excuse. Turn in an assignment late because the school’s printers started billowing smoke? “Trains leave without you.” Forget the permission slip or the dues for the class trip? “Trains leave without you.” You arrive a half-hour late to school because the train you take actually does leave without you (thanks, Metro-North)? “Trains leave without you.” Yeah, I noticed . . .
I always thought it was a funny saying. Yes, trains do leave without you, and it’s often not even your own fault when you they do -- sometimes they inexplicably leave 10 minutes early, again, thank you Metro-North -- but there is almost always another train that will get you there a half-hour later. Maybe you show up a little bit late, but at the end of the day, no one really remembers who got there when, as long as you got there eventually. I guess it was just his own way of saying time waits for no man. Opportunities slip away, sometimes by no fault of your own.
Occasionally, this teacher would change the saying to become “ships leave without you”, but honestly . . . who still uses ships as an actual mode of transportation? Why are there so many boating metaphors still permeating our speech, anyway? I liked the train version better.
Anyway, that saying makes me think of Chris Carter, who has missed a lot of trains over his career thus far -- and it’s not necessarily his fault that he hasn’t made any of them. Just, you know, things happen, people get in your way on the escalator, and the train leaves without you on it. While it’s generally not a big deal if you miss one train, at a certain point, you miss too many trains and then it does get to be too late. Carter is close.
Chris Carter was drafted in the 17th round of the 2004 draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks, the same year they picked Stephen Drew, Garrett Mock, Ross Ohlendorf, and Mark Reynolds. Ohlendorf, who is more famous for his intelligence than for his pitching, was picked coming out of Princeton, Reynolds out of UVA, and Carter from Stanford, so it appears the Diamondbacks were looking to increase the team’s average SAT score for some reason. Anyway, Carter rose from low A ball, to regular A ball, to high A ball, to AA ball over two seasons before settling in for a full season at AAA ball in 2006, when he hit .301/.395/.483 with 19 home runs for Tuscon in the Pacific Coast League. The next season, Carter was again begging to be called up, batting .324/.383/.521 with 18 home runs. But the Diamondbacks had Conor Jackson entrenched in the first base/left field role at the major league level. So Carter decided he had already missed the train to Arizona and requested a trade.
And traded he was. Twice. On the same day. Carter was sent to the Nationals -- Grand Central Station for players looking to hop on a train to the majors -- only to be immediately flipped to the Red Sox -- Amtrak, or something, in this metaphor -- as a player-to-be-named-later, completing an earlier deal for Willie Mo Pena. So Carter now found himself buried in possibly the deepest organization in baseball, which in 2008 had Kevin Youkilis and Sean Casey at first, Manny Ramirez and Jacoby Ellbury in left, and David Ortiz at DH, and then had Youkilis, Casey Kotchman, Victor Martinez, Mark Kotsay, and Adam LaRoche all playing just first base at some point in 2009. So Carter found himself in an even worse situation in Boston. More trains were leaving without him everyday.
Still, Carter managed to get himself 26 big league plate appearances over two years with the Red Sox before being sent to the Mets in the Billy Wagner deal. The Mets would have played him somewhere over the final month of the season -- except that the Yankees claimed Carter when the Red Sox tried to pass him through waivers, just to irritate the Red Sox, and effectively delayed the trade till after the season. Carter was kept from getting to play with the September 2009 Mets, which maybe is a gift in its own way, but still, another train left without Carter.
And now its spring 2010 and he’s behind Daniel Murphy, Ike Davis, and Mike Jacobs on the Mets first base depth chart. The train is leaving again, and he's probably not going to be on it.
I always wondered how players get to be Mike Hessman - in other words, at what point does a player cease to be a prospect, and instead just becomes minor league depth? Mike Hessman is in camp with the Mets this spring. He is 32-years-old, he plays somewhere on the infield maybe -- it’s really not important where -- and has hit 311 home runs over 14 minor league seasons. He is the Toledo Mud Hens all time leader in home runs, making him “Mr. Mud Hen.” In fact, last year, on September 4th, Hessman began a game as catcher for Toledo, ended it on the mound, and in between spent an inning at every position on the diamond. So, you know, I’m not sure he’s considered that serious of a prospect anymore. For some reason, I can’t see the Mets doing that with Ike Davis. But Hessman is still chugging along as an organizational mercenary.
On the other side, you have the Daniel Murphy’s of the baseball world, the ones who happen to be in the right organization at the right time and get a real chance to show what they can do at the Major League level. The ones who happen to wander onto a train at the right moment. I’m not saying the Murphy is equal in skill to Mike Hessman -- because Mike Hessman just hits a lot of home runs, and that’s really it -- but on another team, Murphy is likely nothing more than organizational depth. Murphy just happens to be in the one with no organizational depth.
Chris Carter seems to be in the realm of neither here nor there -- not quite old enough to be just organizational depth, but not really a prospect anymore either. I wonder how many trains someone like Carter has left to get on. I wonder how many others there have been who probably could have performed in the major leagues, but never got a chance for one reason or another. I wonder when it really is too late for someone. So much of life seems to come down to nothing more than serendipity. Which can be depressing, in a Bruce Springsteen “Glory Days” kind of way.
But you know what? Chris Carter gets to play baseball for a living. Maybe not in the way he dreamed about it, and maybe a lot of trains left without him. But he gets to play baseball, and I’d bet that’s pretty cool. Right?
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
The Kid Forgotten
The best I can tell, Tom Seaver’s name is first mentioned in the New York Times on October 18, 1966, in a short article detailing the Mets’ roster maneuvering to protect players from the Rule 5 draft. Seaver is mentioned only in passing, alongside the names of Jerry Koosman, Ken Boswell, and, uh, Terry Christman, as four of the minor leaguers the Mets placed on the 40-man roster. The article is only 600-or-so words, and most of them are focused on Larry Stahl, whom the Mets acquired from the Kansas City Athletics the same day. Seaver is just one more name on a list, a transactional footnote buried in the middle of the page.
The point of that being, if you were a Met fan back in the 1960's, you were probably only made aware of the existence of George Thomas Seaver when he suddenly appeared on the mound April 13, 1967, or at the earliest, during spring training of that same year. Little hype, little fanfare, anointed with no nicknames before throwing a pitch. He was a mega-prospect with a controversial signing process, only there weren’t mega prospects back then. He wasn’t there one season, then, suddenly, the next, he was dropping and driving his way to Rookie of the Year. Seaver just appeared.
***
The best I can tell, Fernando Martinez’s name is first mentioned by the New York Times on July 23, 2005, the day after Martinez took batting practice at Shea Stadium in front of Mets officials, after he had signed a mega-deal earlier in the month. Martinez receives a handful of paragraphs in a story about game that took place on Merengue Night. And he appears again and again over the next few years.
The point of that being, if you are a Met fan today, you have been made aware of the existence of Jesus Fernando Martinez since July of 2005. The world has been aware of Fernando Martinez for just three months less than it has been aware of Pope Benedict XVI. The last Star Wars movie predates Fernando Martinez by two months, and America was introduced to Martinez three months before it saw the Colbert Report for the first time. Fernando Martinez has existed as a spec on the horizon, growing closer and closer with each passing day, since 2005. That’s a long time in prospect land.
So. Things have changed in between Tom Terrific and Fernando Martinez.
***
When Martinez arrived in New York on May 26, 2009, like a lot of fans, I had been loosely following his rise for years. Before I ever saw him play a game, or just saw him, period, I knew that he was:
(cue the theme from "The Natural")
FERNANDO MARTINEZ - THE TEENAGE HITTING MACHINE, POSSESSOR OF THE QUICKEST HANDS IN THE WEST. LOOK UPON HIM AND DESPAIR, MERE MORTALS.
F-mart. The Fernanchise. Fartinez - okay, that’s probably a bad nickname. I knew he was from the Dominican Republic, that he had signed for a monster bonus, and that he hit left handed. I knew he was injured a lot, but also that he was mashing the ball in AAA Buffalo when the Mets called him up. I’m not entirely sure I knew what he looked like, but I knew he was just 20-years-old, and I knew he was late because he was supposed to already be manning a corner spot when Citi Field had opened. Most of all, I knew that he was Fernando Martinez, and he was the future.
But then the future hit .176, failed to run out a pop-up in his first week, and fell down in the outfield. The future literally fell on his face.
I was under the impression metaphorical moments like that only happened in movies.
After having his every at-bat followed for years, Fernando Martinez has disappeared this spring under the shadow of Marino Rivera and Adrian Gonzalez - oh sorry, I got mixed up. They’re just all so similar - under the shadow of Jenrry Mejia and Ike Davis. Martinez goes 4-4 with two home runs on Saturday. Flushing shrugs. The teenage hitting machine no more - now the adolescent disappointment. All because Martinez hit .176/.242/.275 in 100 PA as a 20-year-old.
Which got me wondering: just how many 20-year-old position players have there been in the major leagues over the past five seasons? And how did they do?
The answer to part one is ten.* Fernando Martinez and Elvis Andrus in 2009; Conor Gillaspie, Justin Upton, and Travis Synder in 2008; Justin Upton (again, and just 19 this time) and Camron Maybin in 2007; Adam Jones and Delmon Young in 2006; and Melky Cabrera and Ryan Zimmerman in 2005.
*I’m going by baseball-reference age here - in other words 20-or-younger on June 30 the year they played - and it’s actually eleven seasons by ten players, because Justin Upton played as both a 19-year-old and 20-year-old.
Of those ten players, just four came to the plate 100 or more times: Martinez, Elvis Andrus, Justin Upton (twice), and Delmon Young. Of those four, Upton in 2008 and Andrus in 2009 are the only two who exceeded 152 plate appearances.
If we take those two out of the group - so we remove Justin Upton’s 2008 because he had already played in the majors for a year, and Elvis Andrus’ 2009 because he is ahound dog freak and ruins this exercise by making up a third of the sample otherwise - the nine remaining 20-or-younger players combined to do this:
680 PA, .252/.295/.384, .679 OPS, 46 doubles, but just 10 home runs, and they struck out in 22.8% of their plate appearances.
To put that in words instead of numbers, 20-year-olds are not generally ready to contribute as position players in the major leagues. Out of all the 20-year-olds in professional baseball over the past five years - all of them - only two have been able to contribute to their major league teams in meaningful ways. Two. And they’re both freaks because they were able to do that, because only freak talents can do that. Alex Rodriguez could handle the major leagues as a teenager. Ken Griffey Jr. handled the majors as a teenager. Mickey Mantle, Ty Cobb, Jimmie Foxx, Mel Ott, Willie Mays could all do it. But most other great players either couldn’t or didn’t.
So to put it one more way, Fernando Martinez’ 2009 performance should not be considered disappointing - it would have been great for him to hit well, it would have made him a freak talent, and everyone could have bought #26 F-Mart jerseys. But he was quite young and probably had no business being in the major leagues. In fact, it’s an impressive feat in itself that Martinez was even invited as a 20-year-old. Only nine others have done it over the past five seasons - in this case, Patroclus wasn’t ready and found himself overwhelmed by Hector. It would have happened to most players. That Martinez even got so far should be a testament to his underlying skill. That he failed should only indicate that he needs more time.
Fernando Martinez has had to overcome a lot of things to get to where he is today. He has had to overcome a House-like number of injuries, he has had to overcome the organization’s promotional philosophy that seems to be “let’s see if our prospects can survive the bends when we bring them up too fast”, and he has had to overcome being two or three years younger than everyone as he moved through the minor league levels. Now he has to overcome a 2009, and a career in general, that some consider disappointing. He’s not a big league starter at age 21? What a failure. The Fernanchise no more. The hype and aura have been stripped away, leaving just Fernando Martinez, falling on his face in center field.
And he’s only 21.
Thankfully, there exists a simplest of solutions for what ails Fernando Martinez, which I have uncovered after hours of laborious research and deep philosophizing:
Just hit.
And he can. It just might take him a little longer then the teenage years he’s had.
The point of that being, if you were a Met fan back in the 1960's, you were probably only made aware of the existence of George Thomas Seaver when he suddenly appeared on the mound April 13, 1967, or at the earliest, during spring training of that same year. Little hype, little fanfare, anointed with no nicknames before throwing a pitch. He was a mega-prospect with a controversial signing process, only there weren’t mega prospects back then. He wasn’t there one season, then, suddenly, the next, he was dropping and driving his way to Rookie of the Year. Seaver just appeared.
***
The best I can tell, Fernando Martinez’s name is first mentioned by the New York Times on July 23, 2005, the day after Martinez took batting practice at Shea Stadium in front of Mets officials, after he had signed a mega-deal earlier in the month. Martinez receives a handful of paragraphs in a story about game that took place on Merengue Night. And he appears again and again over the next few years.
The point of that being, if you are a Met fan today, you have been made aware of the existence of Jesus Fernando Martinez since July of 2005. The world has been aware of Fernando Martinez for just three months less than it has been aware of Pope Benedict XVI. The last Star Wars movie predates Fernando Martinez by two months, and America was introduced to Martinez three months before it saw the Colbert Report for the first time. Fernando Martinez has existed as a spec on the horizon, growing closer and closer with each passing day, since 2005. That’s a long time in prospect land.
So. Things have changed in between Tom Terrific and Fernando Martinez.
***
When Martinez arrived in New York on May 26, 2009, like a lot of fans, I had been loosely following his rise for years. Before I ever saw him play a game, or just saw him, period, I knew that he was:
(cue the theme from "The Natural")
FERNANDO MARTINEZ - THE TEENAGE HITTING MACHINE, POSSESSOR OF THE QUICKEST HANDS IN THE WEST. LOOK UPON HIM AND DESPAIR, MERE MORTALS.
F-mart. The Fernanchise. Fartinez - okay, that’s probably a bad nickname. I knew he was from the Dominican Republic, that he had signed for a monster bonus, and that he hit left handed. I knew he was injured a lot, but also that he was mashing the ball in AAA Buffalo when the Mets called him up. I’m not entirely sure I knew what he looked like, but I knew he was just 20-years-old, and I knew he was late because he was supposed to already be manning a corner spot when Citi Field had opened. Most of all, I knew that he was Fernando Martinez, and he was the future.
But then the future hit .176, failed to run out a pop-up in his first week, and fell down in the outfield. The future literally fell on his face.
I was under the impression metaphorical moments like that only happened in movies.
After having his every at-bat followed for years, Fernando Martinez has disappeared this spring under the shadow of Marino Rivera and Adrian Gonzalez - oh sorry, I got mixed up. They’re just all so similar - under the shadow of Jenrry Mejia and Ike Davis. Martinez goes 4-4 with two home runs on Saturday. Flushing shrugs. The teenage hitting machine no more - now the adolescent disappointment. All because Martinez hit .176/.242/.275 in 100 PA as a 20-year-old.
Which got me wondering: just how many 20-year-old position players have there been in the major leagues over the past five seasons? And how did they do?
The answer to part one is ten.* Fernando Martinez and Elvis Andrus in 2009; Conor Gillaspie, Justin Upton, and Travis Synder in 2008; Justin Upton (again, and just 19 this time) and Camron Maybin in 2007; Adam Jones and Delmon Young in 2006; and Melky Cabrera and Ryan Zimmerman in 2005.
*I’m going by baseball-reference age here - in other words 20-or-younger on June 30 the year they played - and it’s actually eleven seasons by ten players, because Justin Upton played as both a 19-year-old and 20-year-old.
Of those ten players, just four came to the plate 100 or more times: Martinez, Elvis Andrus, Justin Upton (twice), and Delmon Young. Of those four, Upton in 2008 and Andrus in 2009 are the only two who exceeded 152 plate appearances.
If we take those two out of the group - so we remove Justin Upton’s 2008 because he had already played in the majors for a year, and Elvis Andrus’ 2009 because he is a
680 PA, .252/.295/.384, .679 OPS, 46 doubles, but just 10 home runs, and they struck out in 22.8% of their plate appearances.
To put that in words instead of numbers, 20-year-olds are not generally ready to contribute as position players in the major leagues. Out of all the 20-year-olds in professional baseball over the past five years - all of them - only two have been able to contribute to their major league teams in meaningful ways. Two. And they’re both freaks because they were able to do that, because only freak talents can do that. Alex Rodriguez could handle the major leagues as a teenager. Ken Griffey Jr. handled the majors as a teenager. Mickey Mantle, Ty Cobb, Jimmie Foxx, Mel Ott, Willie Mays could all do it. But most other great players either couldn’t or didn’t.
So to put it one more way, Fernando Martinez’ 2009 performance should not be considered disappointing - it would have been great for him to hit well, it would have made him a freak talent, and everyone could have bought #26 F-Mart jerseys. But he was quite young and probably had no business being in the major leagues. In fact, it’s an impressive feat in itself that Martinez was even invited as a 20-year-old. Only nine others have done it over the past five seasons - in this case, Patroclus wasn’t ready and found himself overwhelmed by Hector. It would have happened to most players. That Martinez even got so far should be a testament to his underlying skill. That he failed should only indicate that he needs more time.
Fernando Martinez has had to overcome a lot of things to get to where he is today. He has had to overcome a House-like number of injuries, he has had to overcome the organization’s promotional philosophy that seems to be “let’s see if our prospects can survive the bends when we bring them up too fast”, and he has had to overcome being two or three years younger than everyone as he moved through the minor league levels. Now he has to overcome a 2009, and a career in general, that some consider disappointing. He’s not a big league starter at age 21? What a failure. The Fernanchise no more. The hype and aura have been stripped away, leaving just Fernando Martinez, falling on his face in center field.
And he’s only 21.
Thankfully, there exists a simplest of solutions for what ails Fernando Martinez, which I have uncovered after hours of laborious research and deep philosophizing:
Just hit.
And he can. It just might take him a little longer then the teenage years he’s had.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Sunday Stuff You Should Read
Ollie is pitching today. Everyone cross their fingers, but remember - it's just spring training. On to the linkage.
First up, Joe Janish shows once again why he is the Met blogosphere's resident "person-that-actually-knows-how-to-play-baseball" as he breaks down Josh Thole's catching stance over at Mets Today.
Ted Berg explains why comparing anyone to Mariano Rivera is stupid, especially 20-year-olds who are yet to throw a big league pitch.
Alex Eisenberg put an informative fan post up on Amazin' Avenue, breaking down the mechanics of Ike Davis's swing.
Jeff Francoeur thinks plate discipline is a joke!
Ike Davis Q&A in the NJ Star-ledger. Davis mentions he was a pitcher in college. If Murphy struggles, Davis probably takes over at some point this season, but if (when) Francoeur struggles, is there a chance Ike plays right field?
Mike Pelfrey pitched yesterday. 3 innings, no walks, no strikeouts. Things stay the same. Adam Rubin talks with Pelf about his start.
Stephen Strasburg was on the CBS evening news. Lots of walking around baseball fields pretending to laugh with reporters.
Sammy Drake, member of the 1962 Mets and one-half of the first pair of black siblings to play major league baseball, passed away.
Bob Kaplish talks to Dar-ryl. Dar-ryl. Dar-ryl.
Toby Hyde's minor league countdown continues with the Mets 22nd best prospect, Dillon Gee.
***
Enjoy the Mets-Nationals spring training game today. But remember: it doesn't really matter.
First up, Joe Janish shows once again why he is the Met blogosphere's resident "person-that-actually-knows-how-to-play-baseball" as he breaks down Josh Thole's catching stance over at Mets Today.
Ted Berg explains why comparing anyone to Mariano Rivera is stupid, especially 20-year-olds who are yet to throw a big league pitch.
Alex Eisenberg put an informative fan post up on Amazin' Avenue, breaking down the mechanics of Ike Davis's swing.
Jeff Francoeur thinks plate discipline is a joke!
Ike Davis Q&A in the NJ Star-ledger. Davis mentions he was a pitcher in college. If Murphy struggles, Davis probably takes over at some point this season, but if (when) Francoeur struggles, is there a chance Ike plays right field?
Mike Pelfrey pitched yesterday. 3 innings, no walks, no strikeouts. Things stay the same. Adam Rubin talks with Pelf about his start.
Stephen Strasburg was on the CBS evening news. Lots of walking around baseball fields pretending to laugh with reporters.
Sammy Drake, member of the 1962 Mets and one-half of the first pair of black siblings to play major league baseball, passed away.
Bob Kaplish talks to Dar-ryl. Dar-ryl. Dar-ryl.
Toby Hyde's minor league countdown continues with the Mets 22nd best prospect, Dillon Gee.
***
Enjoy the Mets-Nationals spring training game today. But remember: it doesn't really matter.
Friday, March 5, 2010
The Amazin' Avenue Annual is here. Go get it.
"If this Annual were a 41-year-old pinch hitter, I would bid against myself to sign it to a three year deal. With a vesting option, of course." - Omar Minaya, Mets General Manager
"Devastatingly good" - Tom Glavine, former Mets pitcher
" . . . how I learned to play baseball" - David Wright, Met third baseman
"Oh! Now it all makes sense." - Joe Morgan, Hall of Famer
"If the AAA were my girlfriend's cat, I probably wouldn't decapitate it with a kitchen knife." - Kevin Mitchell, former Met.
"I've tried a lot of things in my life - a lot - but the Amazin' Avenue Annual is one of the best." - Doc Gooden, 1985 Cy Young award winner.
"So that's who Chris Carter is, huh? Shocker. Nice work, Amazin' Avenue" - Billy Wagner, Atlanta Braves relief pitcher.
Okay, maybe none of those things were actually said, but if you like the New York Mets in any capacity, you need to download this book. And, yeah, it's really a book. There's a lot in there.
Two reasons you should head over and get it:
a.) It's good. It really is. There's great Mets writing by great Mets writers and Mets bloggers and Mets writer/bloggers. You get an in-depth preview of the each team NL East, a wonderful player section the mixes statistics and poetry for each player on the Mets, prospect lists, and there are somehow almost no typos - which is quite a feat on its own. Plus a whole bunch of other stuff. And . . . there's a Mets drinking game - you know, if you actually needed a reason while watching the Mets.
b.) It's free. So, no-brainer, right? It's like you're Omar Minaya and this book is a former Montreal Expo. You need to have it. You have no choice in the matter. It calls to you.
So, if it's good, and it's free . . . why are you still here? I'm not posting anything else today. Go download, read it, enjoy it, pass it on to your friends. Look out crappy baseball previews on supermarket shelves. The internet is coming.
To download the Amazin' Avenue Annual 2010, head over here.
"Devastatingly good" - Tom Glavine, former Mets pitcher
" . . . how I learned to play baseball" - David Wright, Met third baseman
"Oh! Now it all makes sense." - Joe Morgan, Hall of Famer
"If the AAA were my girlfriend's cat, I probably wouldn't decapitate it with a kitchen knife." - Kevin Mitchell, former Met.
"I've tried a lot of things in my life - a lot - but the Amazin' Avenue Annual is one of the best." - Doc Gooden, 1985 Cy Young award winner.
"So that's who Chris Carter is, huh? Shocker. Nice work, Amazin' Avenue" - Billy Wagner, Atlanta Braves relief pitcher.
Okay, maybe none of those things were actually said, but if you like the New York Mets in any capacity, you need to download this book. And, yeah, it's really a book. There's a lot in there.
Two reasons you should head over and get it:
a.) It's good. It really is. There's great Mets writing by great Mets writers and Mets bloggers and Mets writer/bloggers. You get an in-depth preview of the each team NL East, a wonderful player section the mixes statistics and poetry for each player on the Mets, prospect lists, and there are somehow almost no typos - which is quite a feat on its own. Plus a whole bunch of other stuff. And . . . there's a Mets drinking game - you know, if you actually needed a reason while watching the Mets.
b.) It's free. So, no-brainer, right? It's like you're Omar Minaya and this book is a former Montreal Expo. You need to have it. You have no choice in the matter. It calls to you.
So, if it's good, and it's free . . . why are you still here? I'm not posting anything else today. Go download, read it, enjoy it, pass it on to your friends. Look out crappy baseball previews on supermarket shelves. The internet is coming.
To download the Amazin' Avenue Annual 2010, head over here.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Ten Things You Didn't Know About Shawn Riggans
The Mets currently have five catchers on their forty man roster - Rod Barajas, Henry Blanco, Omir Santos, Chris Coste, and Omir Santos. Yeah, that's one-eighth of their roster space. But notice that the sixth catcher in camp, Shawn Riggans, is not in the group, because Riggans was a minor league signing. He's got no guarantees, and he's probably not going to make the team, barring injuries to four of the other five receivers. He has about the same chance of making the Mets as you or I do. You will probably never see Shawn Riggans play as a New York Met in Citi Field.
But baseball is a game full of opportunities and second chances. So who knows. Riggans is a Met for now, and I'm pulling for him this spring training. He's likely going to disappear into the obscurity of age-30-and-over minor leaguers before too long, and one day no one will ever think of Shawn Riggans again. But not yet.
So before that happens, let's think about him for a minute. He's got a good story. Here are ten things you didn't know about Shawn Riggans. Well, maybe you already knew some of them. Here are 10 things you may not have already known about Shawn Riggans:
1. Shawn Riggans graduated St. Thomas Aquinas high school in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, having never started a game. Riggans claims in various reports that he weighed between 130-150 pounds and was five feet, five-to-seven inches tall when he graduated high school. He is listed at 6'2", 200 lbs today. So I guess he was a late bloomer.
2. He walked onto Florida International University's baseball team, initially as a bullpen catcher, but then made the real team as a red-shirted freshman. FIU has also produced Mike Lowell, former who-the-heck-is-that-Met Willie Collazo, and Ryan Mollica, the Mets' 47th round pick in the 2009 draft.
3. Shawn Riggans sat on the bench at FIU - you know, because he was a walk-on red-shirt freshman. So he transfered to Indian River Community College, also in Florida, where he blossomed. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays drafted him in the 20th round of the 2000 draft.
4. Riggan's mother passed away March 5, 2001. He has her date of death tattooed on his shoulder, and says a prayer to her during the National Anthem of every game.
5. Riggans made his professional debut later in 2001, batting .345 with 8 home runs in 15 games for the Devil Rays' rookie ball affiliate, the Princeton Devil Rays. That's Princeton, West Virginia, by the way, not New Jersey.
6. Riggans was named the Rays' minor league defensive catcher of the year four times, spending six seasons in their system before finally reaching the majors.
7. Since 2005, which is as far back as Minor League Splits dot com data goes, Riggans has posted up a minor league OPS of .948 against left-handed pitching. The major-league equivalent of that OPS is .806. In case you were wondering, Chris Coste has a career .821 OPS against left-handed pitching, but outside of him, no other Met catcher has an OPS against lefties higher than .765.
8. Riggans made his major league debut September 5, 2006, pinch hitting in the ninth inning of a blow out against Minnesota. Shawn singled to center in his first major league at-bat. The Devil Rays lost 8-0 to the Twins and one Johan Santana, who pitched 8 shutout innings and struck out 12.
9. Riggans has only 464 professional plate appearances - that's majors and minors combined - since 2006, due to various knee, shoulder, and elbow injuries. For every Omir Santos, there are probably ninety-nine Shawn Riggans working just as hard, waiting just as patiently, who never gets the break. It happens.
10. Riggans did not play in the 2008 playoffs, but was on the roster for the Rays' entire run. Dioner Navarro caught every inning for Tampa Bay. Riggans did, however, break down the Rays entire team with Yahoo Sports, including which ones play shuffle board. Really. If you're sick of hearing Jeff Francoeur quoted in every Mets article, you want Riggans on the team. He seems just as accessible to reporters (read: doesn't stop talking), and even appears willing to reveal which ones are XBOX live dorks. David Wright, I'm looking at you.
So there you go. That's Shawn Riggans in ten bullet points. For more, this is a good, but old, article.
But baseball is a game full of opportunities and second chances. So who knows. Riggans is a Met for now, and I'm pulling for him this spring training. He's likely going to disappear into the obscurity of age-30-and-over minor leaguers before too long, and one day no one will ever think of Shawn Riggans again. But not yet.
So before that happens, let's think about him for a minute. He's got a good story. Here are ten things you didn't know about Shawn Riggans. Well, maybe you already knew some of them. Here are 10 things you may not have already known about Shawn Riggans:
1. Shawn Riggans graduated St. Thomas Aquinas high school in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, having never started a game. Riggans claims in various reports that he weighed between 130-150 pounds and was five feet, five-to-seven inches tall when he graduated high school. He is listed at 6'2", 200 lbs today. So I guess he was a late bloomer.
2. He walked onto Florida International University's baseball team, initially as a bullpen catcher, but then made the real team as a red-shirted freshman. FIU has also produced Mike Lowell, former who-the-heck-is-that-Met Willie Collazo, and Ryan Mollica, the Mets' 47th round pick in the 2009 draft.
3. Shawn Riggans sat on the bench at FIU - you know, because he was a walk-on red-shirt freshman. So he transfered to Indian River Community College, also in Florida, where he blossomed. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays drafted him in the 20th round of the 2000 draft.
4. Riggan's mother passed away March 5, 2001. He has her date of death tattooed on his shoulder, and says a prayer to her during the National Anthem of every game.
5. Riggans made his professional debut later in 2001, batting .345 with 8 home runs in 15 games for the Devil Rays' rookie ball affiliate, the Princeton Devil Rays. That's Princeton, West Virginia, by the way, not New Jersey.
6. Riggans was named the Rays' minor league defensive catcher of the year four times, spending six seasons in their system before finally reaching the majors.
7. Since 2005, which is as far back as Minor League Splits dot com data goes, Riggans has posted up a minor league OPS of .948 against left-handed pitching. The major-league equivalent of that OPS is .806. In case you were wondering, Chris Coste has a career .821 OPS against left-handed pitching, but outside of him, no other Met catcher has an OPS against lefties higher than .765.
8. Riggans made his major league debut September 5, 2006, pinch hitting in the ninth inning of a blow out against Minnesota. Shawn singled to center in his first major league at-bat. The Devil Rays lost 8-0 to the Twins and one Johan Santana, who pitched 8 shutout innings and struck out 12.
9. Riggans has only 464 professional plate appearances - that's majors and minors combined - since 2006, due to various knee, shoulder, and elbow injuries. For every Omir Santos, there are probably ninety-nine Shawn Riggans working just as hard, waiting just as patiently, who never gets the break. It happens.
10. Riggans did not play in the 2008 playoffs, but was on the roster for the Rays' entire run. Dioner Navarro caught every inning for Tampa Bay. Riggans did, however, break down the Rays entire team with Yahoo Sports, including which ones play shuffle board. Really. If you're sick of hearing Jeff Francoeur quoted in every Mets article, you want Riggans on the team. He seems just as accessible to reporters (read: doesn't stop talking), and even appears willing to reveal which ones are XBOX live dorks. David Wright, I'm looking at you.
So there you go. That's Shawn Riggans in ten bullet points. For more, this is a good, but old, article.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
About:
- Patrick Flood
- Patrick writes this blog that is about the Mets. He is an unemployed actor and former psychiatrist. You may remember him from such roles as the voice of Dog #3 in "Oliver and Company" as well as William Wallace in "Braveheart." That is a picture of Carlos Beltran, and not Patrick Flood, in case anyone was wondering. Also, none of the above is true.
Contact
Posts
