Spector: Blogger Nine Innings: Steve Keane

Spector continues his fine blogger series with Speedy Keane of The Eddie Kranepool Society..."The last time my name was in the Daily News was more than 30-years ago and it involved broken beer bottles, Johnny Thunders, and Max’s Kansas City. WHAT A NIGHT THAT WAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  but this time I used my real name.”

2. Where do you put the blame for this Mets season — and, for that matter, the two before? And what would you do to fix things in Flushing?

SK: The problems with the Mets are deep. It goes all the way down to the minor league system where the fundamentals of baseball are not being taught or worked on. When Fernando Martinez spends four years in your minor league system and doesn’t know to run hard out of the box, that’s an organizational problem and it goes right to ownership. Fred Wilpon and his son Jeff are so clueless when it comes to running this organization. Jeff Wilpon has no business near the baseball operation and until he stays out of the baseball end of team the Mets will continue their misfortune. Most people affiliated (with) baseball will tell you the same thing. Also, the Wilpons are real estate people and have no skill when it comes to public relations, they really need to have hire some consultants to work with the organization on treating there fans, the ones spending all that money at Citi Field, with more respect. Hiring someone from the Disney organization would be a start. They need to make the expirence of going to a Mets game at Citi Field such that you can’t wait to come back.

3. RBI, VORP or OPS? In other words, as stats go, do you lean toward the traditional, the computer-generated or the somewhat in-between?

SK: I’m somewhat in-between. I subscribe to Bill James’ website, Baseball Prospectus and I am a member of SABR but I sometimes go into a trance reading about the formulas they use to come with these stats. Just tell me what time it is, I don’t care how the watch was made. I think when you have a mix of sabermetics and good old-fashioned on the field scouting, you have success. I am a big fan if intangibles and makeup of a player as well.