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.

Media Bias, But What Else is New

Below is from Peter Abraham in the Westchester County Journal News from Sunday October 7th:

...The Next order of business is to remind Jose Reyes and David Wright that they haven't been elected to the Hall of Fame quite yet. Reyes should have been an MVP candidate this season but his biggest contribution to the team was inventing new handshakes. The New Derek Jeter will be the new Royce Clayton if he keeps sliding like he did in September.
Wright, while certainly an earnest young man, would be wise to cut back his personal appearances and focus more on the 75 errors he has made in 541 games or the 381 strikeouts. The Mets ask too much of him.

Well Peter, I grant you that Reyes slumped horribly in September, but to say his biggest contribution was "inventing new handshakes" is to ignore the fact that from April to August he was a huge reason why the team was able to maintain its hold on first. Anyone who watched the Mets knows that for most of the season Jose was getting on base just as much as in 2006, but it was the middle of the lineup that was failing to drive him in. I do agree that something was bothering him, and it needs to be fixed, but before we start killing the kid, let's give him a chance to rebound, shall we? And the last time I checked, the media were the ones who crowned him the New Derek Jeter. But keep on coming with the venom Peter, it suits you.

As for Wright, let's look at the final line:
AVG .325 HR 30 RBI 107 OBP .416 SLG .546 OPS .962 Stolen Bases 34

But you are right Peter, it is quite obvious that the personal appearances are getting in the way of David being a good ballplayer. Considering his awful April, those numbers are pretty damn good.

Now, I grant you that David's fielding could use some work. His strikeouts are a tad high. Then again, he is 24, and not even close to entering his prime.

Let us take a look at what Mr. Wright did in August and September.

August
Avg - .394
OBP - .516
SLG - .657
OPS - 1.173

September
Avg - .352
OBP - .432
SLG - .602
OPS - 1.034

Post All Star Break
Avg - .364
OBP - .465
SLG - .596
OPS - 1.061

Yep Peter, you are right, the personal appearances definitely took a toll as the season went on. Putz.

Odd that no one says a damn thing about Jeter making too many commercials. I wonder if that is the reason The Captain hit .167 in the ALDS.

I am sick and tired of this same old BS being thrown out about Wright doing too much outside the lines. The numbers do not support the theory. This is a guy who works hard, takes extra practice and has improved. He is far from the reason why the team failed to make the playoffs.

As for HoF talk, that is on the media, who likes to start the little debates over the best SS or 3rd baseman in NY. None of the Mets do this. It is guys like Abraham, looking to generate talk or readers, who do this stuff. Since Abraham writes for The Journal News, and he likes to incite stuff each week in his Sunday "Around Baseball" blurb. Every week there was a little slam against the Mets in his power rankings. Every weeks there was slurping of the Yankees. Of course, he is the Yankee beat writer, so I gather he watched all of 6 Mets games this year.

I look forward to next season. I look forward to David continuing to improve, and Jose bouncing back. I do not look forward to more BS from Peter Abraham.

I hope someone prints this out and gives it to David and Jose. I mean, after all, words can fire players up right? That's what the media said after the 2nd game against the Marlins.