Baseball Awards

NL MVP: Pujols. Anyone with any other person counted on their ballot must be immediately drug tested. I can't even fathom an honorable mention, but if you twisted my arm, maybe Howard or Fielder. (I'm not kidding about the drug testing)
AL MVP: Mauer. However, Teixeira will likely win since he's a Yankee. What would Mauer have done with a full season?

NL CY Young: Lincecum should win, but he if continues his rough patch, I'd mention Haren as an honorable mention. Not a likely candidate since he's on a bad team.
AL Cy Young: Roy Halladay had this thing sewn up. Now, he's opened the door for Greinke & Hernandez. I barely give the nod to Halladay, but Hernandez and Greinke are so close it's not even funny. You can make a great argument for any of them.

AL ROY: Elvis Andrus, with Wieters 2nd
NL ROY: Dexter Fowler; Hanson is 2nd; Andrew McClutchen would get consideration were he not on the Pirates.

AL Mgr of Year: Ron Washington. If this guy had a team to work with....and it's not out of the realm that they catch BoSox. But you and I both know Girardi will get it, and you can't call it a Charles Woodson job if he does.
NL Mgr of Year: Jim Tracy. No way Col should be in the race, let alone leading the WC. LaRussa has his boys peaking at the right time (23 of the last 30 sound about right?), so he's right there. You also have to give a mention to the Bobby Coxasuaras. This pathetic team isn't playing...well, pathetic. That they even have a prayer at the playoffs is a minor miracle.

 

Huh????

By the way, if you read a lot of the comments at the Dallas Morning News website on the Rangers blog a lot of my fellow Rangers "fans" don't think that Ron Washington can make any correct managerial decision.

 

My tongue-in-cheek comment wasn't apparent, I guess. Of course, the Paris Hilton media does think that.

Again, just a mention for him. I'm not saying he's better than Carpenter. I think Haren's done more with less. I'd have Carpenter behind Lincey with Haren 3rd.

You may be right, but it doesn't matter. You want to dispute for one second that the Paris Hilton types didn't have Roy's name penciled in back in July?

Coghlan deserves a look, but Fowler has appeared on tops throughout the year (still there on Triples and one more that escapes me) and Fowler has more doubles, triples, better FP, etc. But that's irrelevant unfortunately. Stats don't seem to matter much of the time for ROY voting. Take last year. in the NL RoY, Votto bested Soto in almost every single category. Yet Soto got 31 of 32 1p votes. But a Cubbie C made a compelling story. In '08, Alexi had comparable stats to Longoria, but Evan got all 1p votes. Why? You know why - the Rays surge. They like a good story to go with it, and I think the Rockies' surge gives the voters the story they want. I agree that the award should probably go to McCutchen, but no way it goes to a Bucko. In '03, Dontrelle was comparable to Webb, but stories all year long were about D-Train, his luck at the plate, his charisma, etc. The stats had them close, but the voting was Willis easy. In '05, Taveras led the league in SB, outhit Howard, and bested him in a few other categories, yet Howard was the Paris Hilton choice and give me a choice today, I'd take Howard. But again, stats are not necessarily primary (and I'm being kind here).

 

Well, I wasn't clear. Which is not uncommon for me. Ask anyone who's heard me preach, lecture, etc. :laugh:

You did, and at times I got schizo and went back and forth. Whether this, too is commonplace for me I'll leave for my wife to answer. Or maybe not :laugh:

Right on all counts. They've been waiting to give Jeter the HoF extras they can. One of the fatal flaws of the HoF voting when I hear a voter say "Player X was never MVP....why should I vote him for the Hall?" If that isn't the textbook definition of circular reasoning (and crap) I don't know what is. I want to be fair - Jeter should never be punished because he plays on teams with great players. But Mauer is a better player this year IMHO and that's why he deserves the award.

 

No love for the Tigers, AL Central Champs. Justin Verlander will get the Cy Young when he finishes with 19 or 20 wins and leads the league in K's. Rob Porcello will also get close to the ROY. Cabrera could get close to the MVP but he doesn't have the sexy numbers like RBI.

 

You misstated JV's ERA - it's 3.24. He lost last night (not his fault), so his chances are diminishing. He needs to get to 19 or 20 wins to have a shot. Now I'm not sure about Cabrera - the guy hits more meaningless singles than I can remember. Tigers are starting to choke - I don't think I can take another September collapse. And there's no Wild Card to fall back on this year. I hate the Twins. Can't wait until they have to play real baseball in a real stadium next year; they'll be lucky to win 60.

 

I don't fear the Twins as much as I fear the Tigers choking. And I also fear the stupid Metrodome and how it hands the Twins 10-15 wins a year.

 

Andy, promise me you'll find a new ballpark to have a fetish-type hatred for. I, too, can't fathom a baseball season without them :laugh:

 

And they're doing it pretty much without Morneau. Today is D-day. Stretch it back to three and I think the Tigers are okay. A 1 game lead? Then it could go to the last day of the season.

Speaking of ballparks, won't it be nice to see Snow outs at Target Field...in May? :laugh: Will the outfield snowbanks in Apr give the Twins an advantage, Andy? Take heart...you can still hate a Minnesota home field.

 

Too late - already jumped. I knew they were doomed when they lost 5 of 6 to the Royals. It will be down to 1 game after the Twins complete the sweep today. Another September, another Tigers collapse under Leyland. The only time Leyland hasn't choked was in '97 with the Marlins, and that's because he was facing a franchise that chokes in its sleep.

The Tigers really aren't that good, and I have known it all season. They have been outscored by their opponents, indicating that they aren't even a .500 team statistically. They've done it with smoke and mirrors all season, and now they have been exposed for the mediocre, gutless team that they are.

 

That's because they have heart and know how to play the game fundamentally. Gardenhire is a great manager. The whole Twins organization is superb considering their limited resources. The Tigers organization is pathetic from top to bottom.

 

I have no idea what this means. Remember, I'm a Reds fan.