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Edgy DC Aug 21 2007 07:54 AM

Amazin' Avenue is another blog taking up the job of ranking the top Mets. They're doing it mid-season, so I have no problem seeing Tom Glavine and David Wright ranked a little higher by them than by us, as we're scheduled to bump them up at the end of the year. They have the typical distinction from us, giving high-profile playoff-era players more credit, while we give longtimers more. Are we really under-selling Kevin Elster that much? They Say Player We Say Abs. Diff. 50 Rey Ordonez 87 37 49 Bernard Gilkey 72 23 48 Kevin Elster 136 88 47 Steve Henderson 51 4 46 Ron Hunt 63 17 45 Craig Swan 41 4 44 Robin Ventura 54 10 43 Joel Youngblood 44 1 42 Skip Lockwood 61 19 41 Bobby Jones 32 9 40 David Wright 50 10 39 John Milner 27 12 38 Steve Trachsel 47 9 37 Wally Backman 55 18 36 Tom Glavine 40 4

metirish Aug 21 2007 08:08 AM

They look way off to me,Backman at # 37,placed here at # 55 which is a big difference.Bobby Jones placed higher here but not there,just two of the names that jumped out at me.

Edgy DC Aug 21 2007 08:22 AM

They have a pretty good summary of Backman's career here, rich with period quotes: http://www.amazinavenue.com/story/2007/7/25/0345/89991 They miss some key points, including most of the facts about his platooning: 1) He played mostly third base for the Tides in 1983. 2) Backman's breakthrough season in 1984, he was platooning with another breakthrough minor-leaguer in Kelvin Chapman. 3) His statistical dip in 1985 can, at least in part, be attributed to Chapman's failures that year putting him against more lefthanders. 4) Tim Teufel was acquired specifically to take up the slack Chapman (and Larry Bowa) left against lefties, not to compete directly with Backman. 5) Teufel was all-world in 1987, while Backman had his worst year, but Johnson didn't give up on him. It's a little too heavy on OPS+ and light on the historical facts, but I like to see thw quotes. it's his platoon status that keeps us from ranking him higher.