An Open Letter to Mike Francesca

Dear Mike,

On your radio show on WFAN on October 15, 2008, you made two claims:
1. That there are 20 players comparable to David Wright.
2. That David gets a pass from the press.

I would like to ask you to provide the listing of the 20 players, as well as prove that he gets a pass from the press. What’s that you say, you can’t? That’s what I thought.

David took a lot of heat towards the end of the season, both in the local media and the national media. Many blamed him for the losses to the Marlins and Cubs, and said he was not “clutch”. Some fans even bought into this line of thought. Of course, when you look at a single game, you are likely to find fault and be able to point out a failure. This is what you have done. However, when you look at the numbers on an overall basis, the theory holds no water. For instance, here are David’s numbers for the month of September:
.340 Avg
.416 OBP
.577 SLG
.993 OPS

Here are his numbers for the entire season:
.302 Avg
.390 OBP
.534 SLG
.934 OPS

So September was better than his total numbers. In fact, it was better on an OPS basis than any other month save for July when he put up the following stats:
.317 Avg
.431 OBP
.574 SLG
1.005 OPS

Mind you July was when the Mets went 18 – 8, moving back into contention.

As for the 20 players comparable to David, I can only imagine what that list looks like. Let me guess, two of the members on your list are Jeter and A-Rod. Let's look at the stats for 2008 shall we:
Jeter - .300/.363/.408/.771
A-Rod - .302/.392/.573/.965
I'd say David stacks up pretty favorably there wouldn't you?

Now, I do grant that there are some players who are better than David. The name Pujols comes to mind, as do Manny Ramirez and a few others. I’m sure there are some players older than the 25 year old David Wright who have put up better stats over the past few years. But the number is not 20. You may be interested in this little stat - Only 5 players have put up a OPS over .900 in the past 4 seasons. Including David.

Now, I do grant that David had a poor year with RISP. Of course, you would think based on listening to your show that this is his history. You would be wrong of course. His RISP the last 3 seasons: .310 (2007), .365 (2006), .298 (2005). The history shows 2008 to be an outlier.

I know things are tough for you right now. Your beloved Yankees failed to make the post-season. Your partner left you all alone, and your ratings have probably suffered, so you need to stir the pot. Here’s the thing, try to at least get your facts straight. Now, knowing your history and how you have treated people who did not appear on your show, there is the thought that you are singling out David because he refused to go on your show after you claimed he told Carlos Delgado to not take a curtain call earlier this year. Of course, David denies this, yet you refuse to acknowledge your error. Instead, it appears to be a case of “How dare David refuse to appear on my show!” If David did indeed refuse to go on your show because you LIED about him, I commend him. If he refused just becuase he thinks you are a pompous windbag, I commend him again.

You use this team as a punching bag all the time, from attacking how Willie was fired, to lying about David to claiming Ryan Church does not like NY (another lie). I wish the team would change stations, but they won’t do that. I do hope the players tell you to stuff it though.

And I hope Mets fans stop listening to you. I did years ago.