And the Award Goes To
It's time for the annual DITr regular season baseball awards to be announced.
But first, a few thoughts on the recently completed World Series.
In my opinion, despite the historical significance of Boston's victory, it was one of the least entertaining World Series in recent memory. There was very little drama or tension. There were no lead changes, St. Louis NEVER had a lead in the entire series.
Some may say that the Cardinal hitters didn't show up, but Boston's pitching dominance was the real story. At no point in the regular season or playoffs up to the series had St. Louis been held to three runs over three games.
Manny Ramirez did not deserve the MVP. I think it should have gone to Curt Schilling. I felt his performance in game 2 set the tone for the rest of the series. The fact that he was even able to pitch, and then pitch lights out, was impressive. I rank that right up there with Kirk Gibson's bottom of the ninth, two-out, two-run, walk-off home run in game 1 of the 1988 World Series for Los Angeles when he could barely walk to the plate. Just plain gutsy.
Now for the awards.
NL MVP
Adrian Beltre, 3B, Los Angeles .334 48 HR 121 RBI - Other candidates for consideration: Barry Bonds and Albert Pujols. This was probably the toughest one for me to decide. Bonds may have had one of the most impressive seasons ever, given the fact that no one pitches to him and he still managed to hit 45 hr. His OPS(on-base pct. plus slugging pct.) was a ridiculous 1.422. Pujols was nearly identical to Beltre in all categories but doubles, where he hit 51 compared to Beltre's 32. However, I honestly felt that Beltre had the greatest impact on his team. The Dodgers increased their runs scored per game by over one run compared to 2003 and hit 79 more home runs than 2003. They finally had an offense that could support their fine pitching, and it showed, as the Dodgers won the NL West. Now, I dislike, maybe even hate the Dodgers, so I'm not predetermined to give an award to them, but Beltre was the MVP in my book.
AL MVP
Vladimir Guerrero, OF, Anaheim .337 39 HR 126 RBI - Other candidates for consideration: Manny Ramirez and Miguel Tejada. Ramirez had another impressive season at the plate. Maybe, like Bonds, we've come to expect it so it's not that big of a deal. Tejada led mlb in rbi. However, any player that finishes in the top five in all triple crown categories gets my vote. Guerrero was 3rd in average, 4th in home runs and 4th in rbi.
NL Cy Young
Randy Johnson, Arizona 16-14 2.60 ERA 290 K 44 BB - In my opinion, neither Cy Young race had any candidates that truly measured up to the winners. This selection will most likely surprise many, but I think the statistics will prove my point. Hitters batted only .197 against Johnson. This was second in mlb only to the AL winner. A widely used pitching statistic is WHIP(walks plus hits/innings pitched). Johnson had a WHIP of .90, first in mlb. Johnson's 16 victories were 31.4% of his team's total. This is the highest percentage since Phil Niekro won 31.8% for Atlanta in 1979. I could go on and on, but I won't.
AL Cy Young
Johann Santana, Minnesota 20-6 2.61 ERA 265 K 54 BB - For starters (pun intended), Santana was 13-0 with a 1.18 ERA after the all-star break. He was truly dominating the second half of the season, no matter how you look at it. For the entire season, hitters batted .192 against him, first in mlb. Santana's WHIP was .92, second in mlb only to Johnson.
NL Manager of the Year
Bobby Cox, Atlanta - Other candidates under consideration: Tony La Russa and Phil Garner. Cox continues to produce a winner in Atlanta when very few expect it. Some of the credit would have to also go to General Manager John Schuerholz. Cox and Schuerholz are the longest running GM/Manager duo, having been together since 1990.
AL Manager of the Year
Buck Showalter, Texas - Other candidates for consideration: Alan Trammell and Terry Francona. Showalter took a team that had recently been the bottom feeders of the AL West and made them a contender in the division, finishing only 3 games back of Anaheim. Texas had not won more than 73 games since 1999 and won 89 in 2004.
NL Rookie of the Year
Jason Bay, OF, Pittsburgh .282 26 HR 82 RBI - Other candidates for consideration: Khalil Greene and Aaron Miles. Bay was part of the trade that sent Brian Giles to SD and proved he belonged in the majors. Anytime a rookie hits 20+ home runs he gets serious consideration here at DITr. Greene was also a serious candidate, but had the second lowest fielding percentage in the NL for shortstops.
AL Rookie of the Year
Justin Morneau, 1B, Minnesota .271 19 HR 58 RBI - Other candidate for consideration: Bubba Crosby. Morneau was third in home runs (19) among MLB rookies, behind Bay (26) and Crosby (22). Here's the kicker: he had 280 at bats compared to 545 for Crosby. If you were to pro rate Morneau's statistics for an entire season they would be 41 HR and 126 RBI.
NL Surprise Player of the Year
Jaret Wright, SP, Atlanta 15-8 3.28 ERA 159 K - Wright emerged as a potential star with Cleveland in 1998. The last reasonably good season he had was in 1999. Since then, Wright had totaled 11 wins and 166 strikeouts. Wright's era of 3.28 in 2004 was the best of his career. Leave it to Leo Mazzone to turn a pitcher's career around.
AL Surprise Player of the Year
Michael Young, SS, Texas .313 22 HR 99 RBI - Young moved to shortstop from second base with the trade of Alex Rodriguez and the acquisition of Alphonso Soriano. His 2004 statistics weren't a vast improvement over 2003, but I chose him for who he replaced. A-Rod's statistics were .286, 36 home runs and 106 rbi, all for $21 million dollars. Texas got similar production out of Young for $450,000.
Approximately 105 days until Spring Training.
People ask me what I do in the winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring. - Rogers Hornsby
But first, a few thoughts on the recently completed World Series.
In my opinion, despite the historical significance of Boston's victory, it was one of the least entertaining World Series in recent memory. There was very little drama or tension. There were no lead changes, St. Louis NEVER had a lead in the entire series.
Some may say that the Cardinal hitters didn't show up, but Boston's pitching dominance was the real story. At no point in the regular season or playoffs up to the series had St. Louis been held to three runs over three games.
Manny Ramirez did not deserve the MVP. I think it should have gone to Curt Schilling. I felt his performance in game 2 set the tone for the rest of the series. The fact that he was even able to pitch, and then pitch lights out, was impressive. I rank that right up there with Kirk Gibson's bottom of the ninth, two-out, two-run, walk-off home run in game 1 of the 1988 World Series for Los Angeles when he could barely walk to the plate. Just plain gutsy.
Now for the awards.
NL MVP
Adrian Beltre, 3B, Los Angeles .334 48 HR 121 RBI - Other candidates for consideration: Barry Bonds and Albert Pujols. This was probably the toughest one for me to decide. Bonds may have had one of the most impressive seasons ever, given the fact that no one pitches to him and he still managed to hit 45 hr. His OPS(on-base pct. plus slugging pct.) was a ridiculous 1.422. Pujols was nearly identical to Beltre in all categories but doubles, where he hit 51 compared to Beltre's 32. However, I honestly felt that Beltre had the greatest impact on his team. The Dodgers increased their runs scored per game by over one run compared to 2003 and hit 79 more home runs than 2003. They finally had an offense that could support their fine pitching, and it showed, as the Dodgers won the NL West. Now, I dislike, maybe even hate the Dodgers, so I'm not predetermined to give an award to them, but Beltre was the MVP in my book.
AL MVP
Vladimir Guerrero, OF, Anaheim .337 39 HR 126 RBI - Other candidates for consideration: Manny Ramirez and Miguel Tejada. Ramirez had another impressive season at the plate. Maybe, like Bonds, we've come to expect it so it's not that big of a deal. Tejada led mlb in rbi. However, any player that finishes in the top five in all triple crown categories gets my vote. Guerrero was 3rd in average, 4th in home runs and 4th in rbi.
NL Cy Young
Randy Johnson, Arizona 16-14 2.60 ERA 290 K 44 BB - In my opinion, neither Cy Young race had any candidates that truly measured up to the winners. This selection will most likely surprise many, but I think the statistics will prove my point. Hitters batted only .197 against Johnson. This was second in mlb only to the AL winner. A widely used pitching statistic is WHIP(walks plus hits/innings pitched). Johnson had a WHIP of .90, first in mlb. Johnson's 16 victories were 31.4% of his team's total. This is the highest percentage since Phil Niekro won 31.8% for Atlanta in 1979. I could go on and on, but I won't.
AL Cy Young
Johann Santana, Minnesota 20-6 2.61 ERA 265 K 54 BB - For starters (pun intended), Santana was 13-0 with a 1.18 ERA after the all-star break. He was truly dominating the second half of the season, no matter how you look at it. For the entire season, hitters batted .192 against him, first in mlb. Santana's WHIP was .92, second in mlb only to Johnson.
NL Manager of the Year
Bobby Cox, Atlanta - Other candidates under consideration: Tony La Russa and Phil Garner. Cox continues to produce a winner in Atlanta when very few expect it. Some of the credit would have to also go to General Manager John Schuerholz. Cox and Schuerholz are the longest running GM/Manager duo, having been together since 1990.
AL Manager of the Year
Buck Showalter, Texas - Other candidates for consideration: Alan Trammell and Terry Francona. Showalter took a team that had recently been the bottom feeders of the AL West and made them a contender in the division, finishing only 3 games back of Anaheim. Texas had not won more than 73 games since 1999 and won 89 in 2004.
NL Rookie of the Year
Jason Bay, OF, Pittsburgh .282 26 HR 82 RBI - Other candidates for consideration: Khalil Greene and Aaron Miles. Bay was part of the trade that sent Brian Giles to SD and proved he belonged in the majors. Anytime a rookie hits 20+ home runs he gets serious consideration here at DITr. Greene was also a serious candidate, but had the second lowest fielding percentage in the NL for shortstops.
AL Rookie of the Year
Justin Morneau, 1B, Minnesota .271 19 HR 58 RBI - Other candidate for consideration: Bubba Crosby. Morneau was third in home runs (19) among MLB rookies, behind Bay (26) and Crosby (22). Here's the kicker: he had 280 at bats compared to 545 for Crosby. If you were to pro rate Morneau's statistics for an entire season they would be 41 HR and 126 RBI.
NL Surprise Player of the Year
Jaret Wright, SP, Atlanta 15-8 3.28 ERA 159 K - Wright emerged as a potential star with Cleveland in 1998. The last reasonably good season he had was in 1999. Since then, Wright had totaled 11 wins and 166 strikeouts. Wright's era of 3.28 in 2004 was the best of his career. Leave it to Leo Mazzone to turn a pitcher's career around.
AL Surprise Player of the Year
Michael Young, SS, Texas .313 22 HR 99 RBI - Young moved to shortstop from second base with the trade of Alex Rodriguez and the acquisition of Alphonso Soriano. His 2004 statistics weren't a vast improvement over 2003, but I chose him for who he replaced. A-Rod's statistics were .286, 36 home runs and 106 rbi, all for $21 million dollars. Texas got similar production out of Young for $450,000.
Approximately 105 days until Spring Training.
People ask me what I do in the winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring. - Rogers Hornsby
posted by Todd Nikkel | 1:05 PM
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