Things are better now. And I like this.

Yesterday afternoon I was able to hang out with a good friend of mine down on Elliston Place, windows open, watching the Braves play the Dodgers. A guy trying to make the roster hits a three-run homerun in the bottom of the 9th to win the game. Perfect.

Something is just better and the world is somehow more right when baseball is being played.

Though Mark Rose makes a good point on run production, it’s not as if Francoeur cheated himself of chances to produce (and unfortunately, the slump at the end of the year probably had something to do with the rookie of the year vote as well). Run production has other uncontrollable factors, and is not the sum total of a player’s worth to his team and overall ability. In this case, Howard’s superiority is not terribly overwhelming.

A key difference between the two is their respective batting averages versus left and right hand pitchers. Jeff Francoeur hits .379 against lefties and .272 against righties, both of which are very respectable, and against lefties is extraordinarily impressive even for a veteran. Ryan Howard had a much larger discrepancy facing righties and southpaws - .148 versus lefties and .323 versus righties. For any game with a left handed starter, it’s debatable whether Howard is even worth starting.

Defense is another factor, but much harder to measure with Howard at first base. Francoeur’s fielding percentage of .966 isn’t quite Andruw Jones caliber (he had a .995 fielding average), but the number of assists and runs saved by Francoeur’s arm is impressive. He had 13 assists in 67 games - Jones had 11 over the entire season, and the National League leader Cliff Floyd had 15 over 150 games.

Howard’s fielding percentage at first base was .993 - right in the middle of first baseman and neither horrible nor spectacular.

As far as run production, Francoeur spent most of the season in the six or seven spot of the order, just as Howard did. The difference being that there were less runs to pick up, even though he had a higher average. The truth of the matter is that the beef of the Atlanta lineup in 2005 was superior to the Philly lineup - a lot of runs were driven in before Francoeur got to them, or innings ended before he got a chance to contribute. His 12 point advantage in batting average makes this clear, as well as his projected hit totals over 162 games - 178 hits to Howard’s 165. Francoeur’s double production, the heart of run manufacturing, outpaced Howard as well.

Howard would have scored 96 runs in a 162 game season - Francoeur would have scored 95 runs. In short, even with Mark’s well-detailed post regarding run production, the difference in batting average and Francoeur’s contributions from the outfield should not go unnoticed.

It was a close race - both are going to be good and effective in the league for some time. I do agree - let the readers decide.

Isn’t baseball a refreshing change of pace?

Mark Rose celebrates a travesty. Ryan Howard has been named the National League Rookie of the Year.

How about Jeff Francoeur? His team actually went to the playoffs. And down the stretch was one of the best hitters in the National League.

Leo Mazzone is gone. I think Matt White and I are going to have to go get a beer and cry in it together.

ESPN.com has a fantastic article on the best pitching coach of all time, Leo Mazzone

There are those who suggest Mazzone’s success is based more on good fortune than anything else. Who wouldn’t look good coaching Maddux, Smoltz, Glavine, Steve Avery, Neagle, Mark Wohlers and the other great pitchers acquired by general manager John Schuerholz or developed in the Braves’ farm system? But the fact is this: Most pitchers get better when they join the Braves, and many get worse after they depart.

There is clear evidence. Economist J.C. Bradbury’s concludes from his extensive statistical analysis at the Sabernomics Blog, that “working with Leo shaves off between .55 and .85 points of a pitcher’s ERA.”

I think Jorge Sosa would be the latest success story of the Mazzone model.

UPDATE And don’t forget Bobby Cox.

FURTHER UPDATE The QandO Blog (usually centered around free trade and markets) is going to enjoy the chop well into October as well.

Andruw does it again. Twice.

The Braves certainly have this knack for becoming nearly unbeatable from late June on - this year appears to be no different. The difference is how they’ve done it. Bobby Cox has played rookies in veteran roles and they have performed, Jeff Francouer being the most notable, batting .397 in twenty-one games with nineteen RBI’s. A decimated pitching staff has been held together by the likes of Jorge Sosa and the rebirth of John Smoltz as a starter. Twelve wins and a 2.83 ERA. Take out two disasterous games, and Smoltz is competing with Clemens for the league lead. Tim Hudson, John Thompson and Mike Hampton have not been reliable starters. Dan Kolb has been less than impressive.

And somehow, the Braves are 64-47 and could end up with the best record in baseball. It never ceases to be impressive, and remembering stretches of years like this,

W L Per. GB
1990 65 97 .401 26.0
1989 63 97 .394 28.0
1988 54 106 .338 39.5
1987 69 92 .429 20.5
1986 72 89 .447 23.5
1985 66 96 .407 29.0

it never gets old.

It appears the Reds’ bullpen is in the process of complete collapse. I’m starting to lose count…how many division titles is this going to be again? Who are these annoying Nat’s?

In all fairness, that was a great play at second.