On-Base Perception
Newsday's new all-encompassing baseball blog on the Yankees, Mets, MLB and more from around the sport.
Ike Davis to sit vs. Phillies lefty Cliff Lee
Photo credit: Jim McIsaac
PHILADELPHIA -- Struggling Mets first baseman Ike Davis won't be in the starting lineup on Tuesday against lefthander Cliff Lee and the Phillies.
However, the omission of Davis from the starting lineup isn't altogether surprising.
Davis is hitting just .136 with a homer and two RBIs through the Mets' first seven games. In his career against the lefty Lee, Davis is hitting just .091 (1-for-11).
By...
Read more »How the Mets have fared against the Phillies' Cliff Lee
Photo credit: Alejandra Villa
PHILADELPHIA -- Mets catcher John Buck leads the team in homers (3) and RBIs (12). Part of the reason is his ridiculous .556 batting average with runners in scoring position. And on Tuesday night, with the Mets set to face the Phillies, Buck finds himself with a favorable matchup.
Here's a look at how each of the Mets have fared against Phillies lefty Cliff Lee (1-0, 0.00), who will be opposed...
Read more »The worst baseball movies of all-time
Photo credit: AP, 2008
Baseball always has been the best sport for generating arguments, and that extends to movies about the sport.
In honor of Friday's release of "42," the biopic about Jackie Robinson, here are Neil Best's worst baseball movies of all time. Feel free to disagree.
1. The Babe Ruth Story (1948)
2. The Babe - starring John Goodman (pictured) (1992)
3. Headin' Home (1920)
4....
Read more »Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon: 'That cannot happen in a major league baseball game'
Photo credit: AP
The Rangers beat the Rays, 5-4, in Arlington last night, Stony Brook alum Joe Nathan closing the game to earn his 300th career save.
But Nathan got a controversial assist on the milestone from home plate umpire Marty Foster.
With two outs in the ninth, a runner on first, Evan Longoria (3-for-3) on deck, the Rays down by a run and a full count on batter Ben Zobrist, Nathan fired a breaking...
Read more »Yankees prospects stock watch
Photo credit: AP
The 2013 Minor League Baseball Analyst arrived in the mail the other day, which can only mean one thing: time to check out how last season’s top prospects advanced (or declined) over the course of the 2012 season.
Instead of simply giving scouting quotes about a particular player, the Analyst gives them a letter and number grade as a projection. For instance, an “E” gives them a ten percent...
Read more »Mets-Phillies pitching matchups
Photo credit: Getty
PHILADELPHIA -- The Mets had plenty of flaws a year ago.
However, playing decent baseball in Philly wasn't one of them. The Mets won all three series played in Philadelphia in 2012. The only other time that's happened was back in 1989. All told, the Mets won the season series, 10-8, while going 7-2 at Citizens Bank Park.
The pitching matchups as the Mets (4-2, t2nd NL East) begin a three-game...
Read more »Magic numbers: 793, 42, 36, 16, 0
Photo credit: Getty
793: Consecutive sellouts for the Red Sox, a record the team expects will end after Monday’s Fenway opener pushes it to 794. “We’re proud of it, but we move on,” team president Larry Lucchino said. Surprised the Sox didn’t try to pin this one on Bobby V., too.
42: Players, including Alex Ramirez on Saturday, who have reached the 2,000-hit milestone in Japan, which is considered a similar honor...
Read more »Three outfield free agents for Mets fans to watch
Photo credit: AP
In both words and deeds, the Mets’ current regime has made their plans about 2014. Not counting arbitration raises and minimum salary for pre-arbitration players, the front office has committed just $33.55 million to next season’s squad. That’s over $50 million less than the 2013 squad. An impressive position player core should be in place by next April, headlined by David Wright, Ike Davis and...
Read more »Mets get first look at Marlins prospect
The amount of information available about players is staggering. Scouting reports are more sophisticated than ever. But when the Mets faces 20-year-old Marlins phenom Jose Fernandez on Sunday afternoon, they may have to resort to the most basic level of scouting: word of mouth.
While the Mets have seen tape of Fernandez, the highly touted prospect who is making his big league debut, nobody...
Read more »Brett Gardner: The next $100 million man?
Photo credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams, Jr.
Robinson Cano isn’t the only Yankee the team should worry about locking up to a long term extension. Brett Gardner might be the best value in the Major Leagues. For now.
Gardner, a .266 lifetime hitter with just 15 career home runs, has sneaky – but enormous – worth. From an offensive perspective, his .355 career on-base percentage and 81 percent success rate when stealing bases (127-for-167)...
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