Undeserved
Baseball doesn’t deserve the fantastic season that just ended. The owners have done just about everything they could think of to screw up the national pastime, and yet this amazing game has been not only resilient, but undaunted in its ability to provide thrilling moments at every turn.
With one game left to play, four teams were still battling for two playoff spots—yes the wild card, I realize. But had there bee no wild card, Atlanta and Houston would still have been slugging it out for the Western Division championship in the last week, and the Yankees, Red Sox, and Indians would have been battling for one spot instead of two in a crowded American League East.
In the end, we got six of the same eight teams that were in the playoffs last year, and San Diego doesn’t really count anyway. But Chicago is still an exciting story, and despite their swoon in mid-September, they finished wit 99 victories. Ozzie Guillen gets my vote for manager of the year. Bobby Cox is a shoo-in in the NL, even if the Braves don’t win a single playoff game.
Yankee lovers and haters will get to root for their respective sides in the playoffs, and the Red Sox still have an opportunity to prove that 2004 was not an aberration. Baltimore and Washington thrilled for half a season (and people actually saw them play this year), while Milwaukee finished at .500 for the first time in memory. The Mets proved they were an above average team, but no more. The Cubs played in a beautiful ballpark, as did the Giants.
My choices for postseason awards:
AL MVP Alex Rodriguez (can we stop calling him A-Rod). His numbers are parallel to David Ortiz’s. Ortiz has more RBIs, Rodriguez had a higher average. To settle the tie, you have to look at position. Ortiz saved a total of zero runs by snaring a grounder, stabbing a line drive, or making an incredible throw to cut down a runner at first, second, or the plate. Rodriguez did all of those things 150 times a season, and for that reason, he gets the nod.
NL MVP Albert Pujols Yes, Andruw Jones carried the Braves, but you can’t deny Pujols’ numbers. Take him off the Cardinals lineup and maybe they don’t have trouble making the playoffs, but they certainly aren’t the dominant team that they proved to be this year. Despite injuries and poor performances from Rolen, Walker, and Edmonds, Pujols was still a stud in the middle of the St. Louis lineup.
AL and NL Hank Aaron awards: same as above.
AL Cy Young: Mariano Rivera. Mo is the mvp every year. Take him off the Yankees and they go 85-77. His ERA blows away anybody, and he was responsible for bringing the Yankees back into the race. Bartolo Colon had a nice year, but he had far fewer strikeouts than Johan Santana, who is the most deserving starter of the bunch, but won’t get the award because nobody noticed.
NL Cy Young: I can’t stand to give Roger Clemens another award, so I’ll give it to Chris Carpenter. His numbers are better than Dontrelle Willis’s or Roy Oswalt’s, and he carried the Cardinals in the first half to such a big lead that everybody stopped chasing them. Roger’s ERA is astounding, and he deserved victories in each of the 8 times the Astros were shutout with him on the mound. But he has benefited from extra generous run support in the past. This is just things evening out.
With one game left to play, four teams were still battling for two playoff spots—yes the wild card, I realize. But had there bee no wild card, Atlanta and Houston would still have been slugging it out for the Western Division championship in the last week, and the Yankees, Red Sox, and Indians would have been battling for one spot instead of two in a crowded American League East.
In the end, we got six of the same eight teams that were in the playoffs last year, and San Diego doesn’t really count anyway. But Chicago is still an exciting story, and despite their swoon in mid-September, they finished wit 99 victories. Ozzie Guillen gets my vote for manager of the year. Bobby Cox is a shoo-in in the NL, even if the Braves don’t win a single playoff game.
Yankee lovers and haters will get to root for their respective sides in the playoffs, and the Red Sox still have an opportunity to prove that 2004 was not an aberration. Baltimore and Washington thrilled for half a season (and people actually saw them play this year), while Milwaukee finished at .500 for the first time in memory. The Mets proved they were an above average team, but no more. The Cubs played in a beautiful ballpark, as did the Giants.
My choices for postseason awards:
AL MVP Alex Rodriguez (can we stop calling him A-Rod). His numbers are parallel to David Ortiz’s. Ortiz has more RBIs, Rodriguez had a higher average. To settle the tie, you have to look at position. Ortiz saved a total of zero runs by snaring a grounder, stabbing a line drive, or making an incredible throw to cut down a runner at first, second, or the plate. Rodriguez did all of those things 150 times a season, and for that reason, he gets the nod.
NL MVP Albert Pujols Yes, Andruw Jones carried the Braves, but you can’t deny Pujols’ numbers. Take him off the Cardinals lineup and maybe they don’t have trouble making the playoffs, but they certainly aren’t the dominant team that they proved to be this year. Despite injuries and poor performances from Rolen, Walker, and Edmonds, Pujols was still a stud in the middle of the St. Louis lineup.
AL and NL Hank Aaron awards: same as above.
AL Cy Young: Mariano Rivera. Mo is the mvp every year. Take him off the Yankees and they go 85-77. His ERA blows away anybody, and he was responsible for bringing the Yankees back into the race. Bartolo Colon had a nice year, but he had far fewer strikeouts than Johan Santana, who is the most deserving starter of the bunch, but won’t get the award because nobody noticed.
NL Cy Young: I can’t stand to give Roger Clemens another award, so I’ll give it to Chris Carpenter. His numbers are better than Dontrelle Willis’s or Roy Oswalt’s, and he carried the Cardinals in the first half to such a big lead that everybody stopped chasing them. Roger’s ERA is astounding, and he deserved victories in each of the 8 times the Astros were shutout with him on the mound. But he has benefited from extra generous run support in the past. This is just things evening out.
posted by John Rosenthal @ 2:53 PM
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