A quick look back and forward at the Mets

From Ken Davidoff at the New York Post on October 3, 2012, with mention of SABR President Vince Gennaro:

The Mets reached a high-water mark of seven games over .500 three times, the final instance on July 7, the next-to-last day of the first half, when a victory over the Cubs vaulted them to 46-39. Since then, they are 27-49.

For Mets fans, the campaign proved depressingly similar to the 2009, 2010 and 2011 seasons _ an encouraging start, then a crash. Yet the die-hards should probably appreciate this sequence as being the lesser of two evils.

“It’s very difficult to monetize a strong second half,” said Vince Gennaro, the president of SABR (Society for American Baseball Research), who specializes in baseball’s finances. “Had (the Mets) inverted their season, they would’ve been in much worse shape.

“When a team comes out of the blocks strong, by the time the fan base is ready to say, ‘Hey, this could be real,’ people can’t just pull the trigger and say ‘Let’s go to tomorrow’s game.’ They buy tickets for later in the season. The winning motivates ticket purchases which many not show up in the immediate attendance. I’m sure their first half actually helped their second-half attendance.”

Read the full article here: http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/baseballinsider/quick_look_back_and_forward_at_the_bs98DSWniglrfzPwjeU92K



Originally published: October 4, 2012. Last Updated: October 4, 2012.