While the ROY, MVP, Cy Young, Gold Gloves, Silver Sluggers and Manager of the Year are the major awards to which people actually somewhat pay attention, there actually are a few other awards in the postseason that aren't really worth mentioning, but I thought I would anyway.
AL Comeback Player of the Year: Francisco Liriano
NL Comeback Player of the Year: Tim Hudson
Also known as the Imagine What We Could Have Done Last Season If So-and-so Didn't Get Hurt (IWWCHDLSIS&sDGH), a pair of pitchers who helped lead their team to the postseason this year walked off with the hardware... or plastic... I'm not really sure what this stuff is made of.
Delivery of the Year: Heath Bell
Can you imagine if his last name was Bar? That would be so awesome.
Clemente Award: Tim Wakefield
Also known as the Most Likely to Die a Premature Death in a Plane Crash Award (What? Too soon?).
AL Hank Aaron Award: Jose Bautista
NL Hank Aaron Award: Joey Votto
So... let me get this straight. Votto wins the Hank Aaron Award (given to the top offensive player in each league), and he doesn't win the Silver Slugger? Interesting...
Showing posts with label Awards Season. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Awards Season. Show all posts
You Down With M-V-P? Yeah, You Know Me!
The National League and American League MVPs were announced earlier this week. Quite frankly, neither one was much of a surprise.
Joey Votto won the NL Award over Albert Pujols and Carlos Gonzales. Legitimately, any of those three could have won the award this season, but Votto still managed to garner all but one first place vote. For my Reds friends who now want to talk smack about Votto getting it over Pujols - once Votto has finished in the Top 4 nine times in ten seasons (and 9th in the other season), we'll talk.
In a rags to riches story that could only be written in Arlington, Josh Hamilton won the AL MVP, just a few short years after everybody thought he wasted his talent on booze and drugs. I'm not sure what the moral of the story is, but I have a feeling that if you are a recovering drug abuser, then I'm pretty sure that Arlington, TX is your place of fairy tale endings.
Joey Votto won the NL Award over Albert Pujols and Carlos Gonzales. Legitimately, any of those three could have won the award this season, but Votto still managed to garner all but one first place vote. For my Reds friends who now want to talk smack about Votto getting it over Pujols - once Votto has finished in the Top 4 nine times in ten seasons (and 9th in the other season), we'll talk.
In a rags to riches story that could only be written in Arlington, Josh Hamilton won the AL MVP, just a few short years after everybody thought he wasted his talent on booze and drugs. I'm not sure what the moral of the story is, but I have a feeling that if you are a recovering drug abuser, then I'm pretty sure that Arlington, TX is your place of fairy tale endings.
Cy Youngs Announced
The National League Cy Young Award was handed out a couple of days ago, so hopefully, you don't come here for breaking news. Meanwhile, breaking news, the American League Cy Young Award was handed out about an hour ago... well, as of writing this, it was an hour ago. How am I supposed to know when you are reading it?
Roy Halladay, traded from the Blue Jays to the Phillies in the offseason, won the NL Award. Everybody assumed that he would totally dominate the National League simply because he was a good pitcher in the American League. Let's face it, everybody pretty much gave him the award once he was traded to Philadelphia, all he had to do was show that he earned it... and he did.... unanimously.
Continuing their trend of bestowing the hardware to pitchers with poor records, the AL Cy Young winner was Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners. He posted a 13-12 record on the year, but more impressive was the fact that his bullpen/offense didn't manage to blow every game that he pitched for them. The only other player to win a Cy Young with 13 wins was Fernando Valenzuela, who did it in the strike-shortened 1981 campaign.
Managing for the Hardware
There have been a lot of captains throughout the years.
Captain Planet
Captain Jack Sparrow
Of course, who could forget...
Captain Caveman
And... Captain.... whoever the heck this guy is.
But the main guys at the helm for National League and American League teams, the ones who bravely led their team to defy all expectations, the ones who were named Manager of the Year:
It's hard to really argue with the selection of either candidate. After being the runner-up for five of the last eight seasons, Gardenhire wins his first Manager of the Year. He led the Twins to the AL Central division title, in spite of the fact that one of his top players had an awful year at the plate (not so well played, Mauer), and another missed basically the last half of the season trying to come back from a concussion. Honestly, I think Ron Washington is more deserving, but mostly because I wanted another reason to put up a picture of him eating an imaginary apple.
Yup, that picture.
I imagine that some people really wanted Dusty Baker to win the NL award because of how the Reds finished and made the playoffs, but quite honestly, Black was a better decision. He took the Padres from the cellar of the 2009 season into contention until the last day of the 2010 season... all without any major overhauls on the roster. In the 2009-2010 offseason, the talk was all about where the Padres were going to ship first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and closer Heath Bar.... errrr... Bell.
Speaking of people that really wanted Baker to win it. I'm assuming that Captain Jean Luc Picard, clearly a Reds fan (look at what he's wearing), is one of those people. Here is he expressing his feelings to the AP.
Sorry, kids. That is an action unbecoming of a Starfleet officer. Unbelievable.
Captain Planet
Captain Jack Sparrow
Of course, who could forget...
Captain Caveman
And... Captain.... whoever the heck this guy is.
But the main guys at the helm for National League and American League teams, the ones who bravely led their team to defy all expectations, the ones who were named Manager of the Year:
American League
Ron Gardenhire of the Minnesota Twins
National League
Bud Black of the San Diego Padres
It's hard to really argue with the selection of either candidate. After being the runner-up for five of the last eight seasons, Gardenhire wins his first Manager of the Year. He led the Twins to the AL Central division title, in spite of the fact that one of his top players had an awful year at the plate (not so well played, Mauer), and another missed basically the last half of the season trying to come back from a concussion. Honestly, I think Ron Washington is more deserving, but mostly because I wanted another reason to put up a picture of him eating an imaginary apple.
Yup, that picture.
I imagine that some people really wanted Dusty Baker to win the NL award because of how the Reds finished and made the playoffs, but quite honestly, Black was a better decision. He took the Padres from the cellar of the 2009 season into contention until the last day of the 2010 season... all without any major overhauls on the roster. In the 2009-2010 offseason, the talk was all about where the Padres were going to ship first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and closer Heath Bar.... errrr... Bell.
Speaking of people that really wanted Baker to win it. I'm assuming that Captain Jean Luc Picard, clearly a Reds fan (look at what he's wearing), is one of those people. Here is he expressing his feelings to the AP.
Sorry, kids. That is an action unbecoming of a Starfleet officer. Unbelievable.
Silver Slugs
Quite possibly the coolest creepy-looking thing I've ever seen: a dragon slug
As the awards season presses onward to its inevitable conclusion, the Silver Slugger Awards were handed out to the top offensive player at each position. Here are your winners:
American League
C: Joe Mauer (well played... again...)
1B: Miguel Cabrera
2B: Robinson Cano
3B: Adrian Beltre (wait a tick, is it 2004 again?)
SS: Alexei Ramirez
OF: Jose Bautista (raise your hand if you had Bautista as the MLB HR leader. Anybody? Anybody?)
OF: Carl Crawford
OF: Josh Hamilton
DH: Vladimir Guerrero (yeah, that totally makes up for those errors in San Fran)
National League
C: Brian McCann
1B: Albert Pujols (plus the Gold Glove & somehow Votto is favored for MVP)
2B: Dan Uggla (soon to be a former Marlins player from the looks of things)
3B: Ryan Zimmerman
SS: Troy Tulowitzki (So, a mullet's just a bunch of hair?)
OF: Ryan Braun
OF: Carlos Gonzalez
OF: Matt Holliday (so much for people ragging on his inability to hit in the clutch)
DH: Yovani Gallardo (he's a pitcher... why is he listed as DH?)
Can I Paint His Glove Gooooooolllldd?
Much to the delight of a certain villain from Austin Powers, the Gold Gloves were awarded to (allegedly) the best defensive players at each position. Here are your winners:
American League
C: Joe Mauer (well played indeed)
1B: Mark Teixeira (Remember, I before E except in Teixeira)
2B: Robinson Cano
3B: Evan Longoria (no, Evan, that's not your hat!)
SS: Derek Jeter
OF: Carl Crawford
OF: Ichiro Suzuki (10th consecutive GG)
OF: Franklin Gutierrez
P: Mark Buehrle (who sealed his up in April with this play)
National League
C: Yadier Molina (at least he didn't hit .262 in vain)
1B: Albert Pujols (once again showing why he is the best player in the game)
2B: Brandon Phillips
3B: Scott Rolen (Remember when he used to play on the Cardinals... that was awesome)
SS: Troy Tulowitzki (I thought a mullet was a fish!)
OF: Michael Bourn (Michael Bourn... not Jason Bourne)
OF: Carlos Gonzalez
OF: Shane Victorino (the only guy on the NL list whose team actually won a playoff game)
P: Bronson Arroyo
I have only heard of mild controversy about these choices. Most don't seem to think that Jeter deserved to win, and I've heard a few rumblings about Zimmerman getting overlooked at NL 3B. All in all, this is an award that often ends up being based more on reputation instead of the actual defensive numbers. Of course, you know how I feel about advanced statistics.
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