Jose Reyes: 2011 NL Batting Champion

Jose Reyes came into the day leading Ryan Braun by one point in the National League batting race.  Okay, technically Reyes' .33582 average led Braun (.33453) by .00129, but you get the picture.  After Reyes dropped a beautiful bunt single in the bottom of the first inning (see photo above), he left the game in a blink-and-you-missed-it moment, ending his 2011 season with a .33706 batting average.

Although the move to exit the game was Reyes' decision, that left a possibility that Ryan Braun could still win the batting title, but he would need three hits to do so, and he would have to do it in fewer than five at-bats.  (A 3-for-3 performance by Braun would have given him the batting title with a .33808 average and a 3-for-4 night would see Braun end the season at .33748, but finishing 3-for-5 would leave him short at .33688.  Anything more than three hits, regardless of the number of at-bats, would have given Braun the batting title and would have caused me to hit the delete button on this blog post.)

So what did Braun do in his final regular season game?  He grounded out in each of his first three at-bats, then flied out in his final at-bat.  By finishing at .33215 with his 0-for-4 night, Braun finished in second place in the National League batting race, making Jose Reyes the first Mets player in the 50-year history of the franchise to take home the batting crown.

Fans of Cleon Jones (third in 1969 NL batting race; .008 behind Pete Rose, .005 behind Roberto Clemente), Dave Magadan (third in 1990 NL batting race; .007 behind Willie McGee, .005 behind Eddie Murray) and John Olerud (second in 1998 NL batting race; .009 behind Larry Walker) can now breathe a sigh of relief, as they no longer have a deal with another near-miss for one of their beloved Mets in the batting race.

With his thin margin of victory (.00491), Reyes won the closest National League batting race since 2007, when Matt Holliday (.340) beat out Chipper Jones (.337) for the batting title.  Prior to Braun's oh-fer in the season finale, it looked as if the Reyes-Braun battle would be the closest race since 2003, when St. Louis' Albert Pujols (.35871) edged Colorado's Todd Helton (.35849) by .00022.  Both Pujols and Helton collected two hits in their team's final game of the regular season, with Helton being walked intentionally by the late Rod Beck in his final plate appearance to give Pujols the title.  A hit by Helton in that final at-bat would have given him the batting title at .35959.

Reyes probably wouldn't have taken himself out of Game No. 162 after his first inning bunt single had it not been for Bobby Parnell's "effort" in Game No. 161.  Parnell came into Tuesday night's penultimate game in relief of Manny Acosta needing just one out to protect a 4-3 Mets lead in the ninth inning.  However, Parnell slipped into his "Bobby being Bobby" persona and allowed a game-tying double by Reds' no-name Juan Francisco, who is the proud owner of 48 base hits over parts of three seasons in the big leagues.

The game then went into extra innings, with Reyes going 1-for-2 over the final four innings.  Without that extra hit, Reyes would have finished the season with a .33645 batting average instead of his final .33706 mark.  He also might have continued to play after his first inning hit, and perhaps would have lowered his batting average even more (or not - we'll never know).  Still, Reyes probably owes Parnell a Rolex for giving him the opportunity to collect that extra base hit, a Rolex that Reyes will certainly be able to afford after signing his next contract this offseason.

Jose Reyes came into the 2011 campaign with a .286 career batting average, never hitting above .300 over a full season (minimum 100 games).  No one could have expected him to win a batting title this year, but Reyes got off to a hot start, hitting .354 during the first half of the season.

Despite two trips to the disabled list, Reyes continued to hit in the second half, although not nearly at his blistering first-half pace.  That allowed Ryan Braun to make the NL batting race a two-horse field.  However, Reyes channeled his first-half self during the Mets' final homestand, finishing the season by going 10-for-18 (.556) against the Phillies and Reds, including hits in nine of his final 13 at-bats.

Braun also finished the regular season at home, but "only" went 7-for-17 in the six games, batting .412 during the homestand.

Congratulations to Jose Reyes on becoming the first Met to win a National League batting crown.  The Mets still can't claim an MVP or a no-hitter, but at least one of their 50-year-old monkeys is now off their backs.

Eet's A Race! I Hope Reyes Wins!

Jose Reyes knows it.  Ryan Braun knows it.  Mets fan know it.  Even Rowan Atkinson knows it.

Even with the Mets not involved in a pennant race (although they can have plenty to say about it with this week's series against the Cardinals), there's a race involving a Met that should keep the fans' attention over the final week of the season.

Jose Reyes has led in the National League batting race for most of the season.  However, after Sunday's games, Milwaukee's Ryan Braun took his biggest lead in the race, going 3-for-4 to raise his average to .336, five points ahead of Reyes' .331 average.  But when Braun took an oh-fer last night, his average dipped to .333, opening the door for Reyes to retake the lead.

The Mets have never had a batting champion in their first half-century of existence.  In fact, prior to this year, no Met had ever led the batting race past September 3.  (John Olerud paced the NL in batting on September 3, 1998 before succumbing to Colorado's Larry Walker.  Olerud did become the first Met ever to finish second for the batting title.)

Jose Reyes might be playing his final games in New York.  In 2008, the Mets couldn't give their fans something to celebrate on the final day of the season.  The Shea Goodbye ceremonies were bittersweet once the Mets were eliminated by the Marlins as Brewers fans cheered their team's clinching of the wild card berth.

Three years later, it's the Mets that can close the season celebrating something while a Brewer finishes second.  It's not a playoff spot (Milwaukee pretty much has their second-ever full season division title wrapped up - they made the playoffs during the strike season of 1981, but that was as the division champion of the second half of the season.  Yeah, it was pretty quirky that year.) but it's something the Mets have never had before.

As Rowan Atkinson's character so eloquently stated in the movie Rat Race, "Eet's a race!"  Let's hope Jose Reyes can win.  The Mets and their fans need something to celebrate.

Two Ways For Mets Fans To Remember This September

September has rolled around and the Mets will almost certainly be left out of the postseason party. Going into the final month of the season, the Mets find themselves 22 games behind the first place Phillies and 14½ games behind the wild card-leading Braves.



But although October is only a rumor at Citi Field, there are two events that are still visible on the horizon for the Mets and their fans - a winning season and a batting title for Jose Reyes.



The Mets have a 65-69 record as they begin play in the month of September. Although the climb back to (and hopefully over) .500 could be daunting, it's not an impossible task. In fact, the Mets have twice before entered September with a losing record, only to turn things around and finish of the bright side of .500 at season's end.



In 2001, the Mets began the month of September with a 64-71 record, seemingly out of contention in the NL East after winning the National League pennant the year before. But an 18-9 mark in September and October (the season was pushed back a week due to the tragic events of 9/11) kept Mets fans hopes up and more importantly, gave them a winning record for the season (82-80).



Similarly, the 1973 Mets appeared to be going nowhere fast in the NL East. With a 62-71 record after their final game in August, the Mets were on a one-way ticket to disappointment just one year after finishing ten games above .500. But all it took was a little "ya gotta believe" and a 20-8 mark in September and October, and the Mets found themselves in the playoffs (albeit with an 82-79 record), finishing one win short of their second World Series championship.



Both the 1973 Mets and the 2001 Mets were more games below .500 entering September than this year's model. A 17-11 record this month would make the 2011 Mets the third team in franchise history to achieve this feat.



Now, let's talk about Jose Reyes and his personal quest to become the team's first batting champion.



Entering September, Reyes was leading the National League with a .336 mark, just slightly ahead of Milwaukee's Ryan Braun and his .333 average. However, Braun went 1-for-5 in his first September game (a day game against the Cardinals this afternoon), lowering his batting average to .331.



Prior to this season, only three Mets players had ever finished within ten points of the batting title. Cleon Jones (.340) finished eight points behind Pete Rose (.348) in the 1969 National League batting race, with Roberto Clemente (.345) sandwiched between them. Dave Magadan (.328) finished seven points behind 1990 NL batting champion Willie McGee, with Eddie Murray's .330 average sliding in between the two. Finally, in 1998, John Olerud became the first Met to finish second in the league in batting, with his franchise-record .354 average. (Larry Walker finished nine percentage points ahead of Olerud with his .363 batting average.)



Of the above batting title contenders for the Mets, only John Olerud entered the month of September with the lead in the batting race. Prior to the games of September 1, 1998, Olerud's .344 mark was two points higher than Walker's .342. But an 0-for-3 performance by Olerud coupled with a 2-for-3 game by Walker on the month's first night caused a shift in the race, with Walker taking a two-point lead over Olerud (.344 to .342). Olerud retook the lead the following night, but Walker took it back on September 3 and never gave it up for the rest of the season, hitting .640 (16-for-25) from the 3rd to the 12th of September. Even Olerud's .621 average (18-for-29) over his final ten games wasn't enough to help him claim the franchise's first batting title.



Editor's note: In 1969, Cleon Jones was hitting .351 going into September, eight percentage points ahead of eventual batting champion Pete Rose (.343). But Roberto Clemente was the league leader in batting with a .354 mark on the morning of September 1, 1969.



In 1990, Willie McGee's batting average was frozen when he was traded from the Cardinals to the Oakland A's. Since he did not bat again in the National League following his trade, his .335 mark at the time of the trade remained intact. Dave Magadan's batting average never reached McGee's mark in September, peaking at .333 on September 5.







If Jose Reyes can keep his lead in the batting race past September 3, he will be the first Mets player ever to lead the league in batting that late in the season. Of course, should he manage to hold off Ryan Braun, he would become the team's first batting champion in their 50-year history.



So what if the Mets aren't even in the Phillies' and Braves' rear view mirror? There are still two reasons to root for the boys in orange and blue (especially if they wear those sweet "Los Mets" alternate jerseys). The Mets can finish with their first winning mark since the days of Shea Stadium and Jose Reyes can finally provide an answer to the decades-old question, "what will happen first, a Mets' no-hitter or a Mets' batting champion?".



Instead of thinking that there's only one month left to the off-season, think that there's one more exciting month of baseball to be played at Citi Field, a month that could give Mets fans a winning attitude and an unprecedented individual achievement for one of their heroes. You gotta believe, right?

The Batting Title Is Slip Slidin' Away For Reyes

A little over a week ago, I wrote a piece on the Mets' pitching staff needing to be able to keep Ryan Braun at bay when the Brewers visited Citi Field. Jose Reyes' batting average was stuck at .336 since he was placed on the disabled list in early August and Braun was beginning to creep up on the Mets' shortstop.



Of course, since they're the Mets, they failed, allowing Braun to hit .400 in the three-game series (in addition to scoring six runs, driving in three more, cracking a home run and stealing three bases, which I guess contributed more to the three-game sweep than the 4-for-10).



Since that series ended last weekend, Braun has continued to do everything offensively. In five games, he's ripped five extra-base hits (four doubles, one home run), crossed the plate four times, driven in five and stolen an addition four bases. Oh, yeah. He also hit .389 (7-for-18) over the five games, including last night's 2-for-2 performance that raised his average up to .333.

Don't slide, Jose! Just keep running! Ryan Braun is on your tail and he's gaining fast!

When Jose Reyes was placed on the disabled list for the first time in early July, he was hitting a robust .354. That number stayed unchanged until he returned to the Mets on July 19. When Reyes came back from the disabled list, Braun was only hitting .315, nearly forty percentage points behind Reyes.



In the time between his first and most recent DL stint, Reyes played in 18 games, hitting only .256. From July 25 until the day he re-aggravated his hamstring injury (August 7), Reyes hit a Mario Mendoza-like .208. The multi-hit game, which had become a staple for Reyes during the first half of the season had all but vanished, as he collected three multi-hit games (never getting more than two hits in any of those games) in his final 12 games before he checked back in to the DL Hotel. Over the same time period, Reyes was held hitless five times.



Since July 19 (the day Reyes returned from his first DL stint), Braun has taken off, hitting .374 (49-for-131). In addition to challenging Reyes for a batting title that appeared to be his in early July, Braun has transformed himself into the National League's leading MVP candidate. For the season, the Hebrew Hammer has a .333/.404/.592 split. That .592 slugging percentage leads the National League, as does his .996 OPS. He also leads the league in runs scored (91) and is in the top ten in hits (160), total bases (265), doubles (33), home runs (25), RBIs (86), stolen bases (30) and extra-base hits (62). With the Brewers opening up a commanding lead in the NL Central, Braun is clearly forging his way to the top of the MVP consideration list.

Ryan Braun lets David Wright know that he's about to pass Jose Reyes in the NL batting race.

Unfortunately for Jose Reyes and the Mets, that's not the only thing Braun is forging his way to. Reyes' lead in batting race, which was once formidable, is now precarious. By the time Reyes comes back from the disabled list on Monday, he might be looking up at Ryan Braun on the batting race leaderboard rather than looking for him in his rear view mirror.



The Mets have never had a batting champion in their history. If Reyes is going to become the first player to do so, he's going to have to earn it, as Ryan Braun appears to be slump-proof. With the Mets out of postseason contention, a batting title for Reyes is all the fans have to cheer for over the final month of games at Citi Field. It's time for Jose Reyes to come back off the DL, stay off it for the rest of the season and become the multi-hit machine he was in the first half of the season. It might be the only way for him to keep Braun at bay and claim that long overdue first Mets batting title.

Mets Pitchers Can Help Jose Reyes Win A Batting Title

Jose Reyes has been on the disabled list for a week and a half now, his batting average frozen at .336 since injuring his hamstring on August 7. Despite this being his second trip to the DL, he has managed to maintain his lead in the National League batting race, although he is facing fierce competition from Milwaukee's Ryan Braun, who is hitting .329 entering tonight's series opener at Citi Field.



The Mets have never had a batting champion in their first 49 seasons. John Olerud had the highest single season batting average for the Mets, hitting .354 in 1998, but he finished second to Colorado's Larry Walker (.363) in the batting race. Cleon Jones and Dave Magadan also came close, but fell just short of the crown. Jones hit .340 in 1969, finishing third behind Pete Rose (.348) and Roberto Clemente (.345). Magadan hit .328 in 1990, also finishing third in the NL batting race behind Willie McGee (.335) and Eddie Murray (.330).



So with Reyes clinging tenaciously to his slim NL batting lead, his teammates might be able to help him out this weekend. Ryan Braun, who has hit .375 (48-for-128) over his last 34 games, dating back to June 29, will be facing Mets pitching this weekend. If Mike Pelfrey, Chris Capuano and the Tweeter-rific R.A. Dickey can shut Braun down over the next three games, Reyes will increase his chances of becoming the first Met to win a batting title.



Braun is probably licking his lips with the knowledge that he's facing Mike Pelfrey tonight. Over his five year career, he is hitting .500 (3-for-6) against Pelfrey. (Then again, who isn't hitting .500 against Big Pelf?). However, he has yet to collect a hit against Capuano (0-for-3, 2 strikeouts) and Dickey (0-for-7). Against all Mets pitchers currently on the roster, Braun is hitting .245 over his career with only one home run in 56 plate appearances. The Mets will need to continue this trend against Braun if Reyes is to maintain his lead in the batting race before he comes off the DL.



Note: For a player to qualify for the batting title, he needs to accumulate 3.1 plate appearances for every game played by his team. Therefore, if the Mets play all 162 games this year (barring any rainouts not made up), Reyes would need 502 plate appearances to qualify for the batting title. At the time of his injury, Reyes had accumulated 462 plate appearances, leaving him 40 short of the magic number for batting title qualification, a number he should easily reach within the first week to ten days following his return from the disabled list.



Over their first half-century of existence, no Mets pitcher has ever been able to throw a no-hitter. At least if they can't pitch a no-no, they can help a fellow Met achieve something that no other Met has ever done. Holding Ryan Braun off the bases this weekend will go a long way towards making that a reality.

It's Deja Brew All Over Again

Last night, after struggling to find their offensive groove at Miller Park in Milwaukee, the Mets scored five runs in the eighth inning against Brewers' reliever Kameron Loe to turn a 2-1 deficit into a seemingly comfortable 6-2 lead. The key words are "seemingly" and "comfortable". Because if you've been following the Mets recently, the late innings have been anything but comfortable.

Let's look at the the Mets' last six losses. Methinks you'll be able to notice a pattern in these half-dozen defeats:

• May 27: Mets lead 3-2 in the eighth inning; lose to Phillies, 6-4.
• May 28: Mets lead 2-1 in the eighth inning; lose to Phillies, 5-2.
• May 31: Mets lead 1-0 in the eighth inning; lose to Pirates, 5-1.
• June 1: Mets lead 2-0 in the seventh inning; lose to Pirates, 9-3.
• June 3: Mets lead 3-1 in the eighth inning; lose to Braves, 6-3.
• June 8: Mets lead 6-2 in the eighth inning; lose to Brewers, 7-6.

The Mets haven't exactly been writing the book on how to hold late-inning leads, have they? In fact, the Mets haven't been able to hold on to leads, regardless of the inning, all season. In 18 of their 32 losses, the Mets were in front at some point. However, it's those late-inning losses that everyone seems to remember. Ready for more?

• April 10: Mets lead 3-1 in the eighth inning; lose to Nationals in 11 innings, 7-3.
• April 30: Mets lead 1-0 in the seventh inning; lose to Phillies, 2-1.
• May 16: Mets lead 1-0 in the seventh inning; lose to Marlins in 11 innings, 2-1.
• May 22: Mets lead 3-1 in the seventh inning; lose to Yankees, 9-3.

That's ten losses this season in which the Mets held the lead going into the seventh inning or later, or nearly one-third of their 32 losses. Had they held on to those ten late-inning leads, the Mets would be proud owners of a 39-22 record, which would give them the best record in all of baseball. Even if they had split those ten games, which would still allow for five blown late-inning leads, the Mets would have a 34-27 record and would find themselves in the thick of the National League playoff race. (The Milwaukee Brewers are currently leading the Wild Card race with a 35-27 record.)

But no, the Mets have not won any of those ten games and are now in a position that has become all too familiar to them, fourth place in the NL East with a 29-32 record.

Last night, two swings of the bat from Milwaukee's most famous duo since Laverne & Shirley (Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder) turned a four-run eighth-inning lead into their latest "what if?" loss. It's getting to the point where Lenny and Squiggy could probably lead a late-inning charge against the Mets.

Heck, Nyjer Morgan claimed he didn't even know that his ninth-inning double off Goose Gossage's less successful clone, Dale Thayer, was a walk-off hit. I guess Morgan has been spending too much time as his alter ego on Twitter, Tony Plush. Otherwise, he would have known that blowing late-inning leads has become commonplace for the Mets.

A certain pennant-winning manager for the Mets once said that it's never over 'til it's over. Perhaps the current Mets should heed the philosophical words of that wise man. If they don't do something soon, the 2011 season might be over before it's over.