This Year in Baseball Awards

[LorfTVP]

I was having this argument with Plow, how fair do you think these outcomes are. I admit all these players performed admirably but I believe that the size of the Yankee fanbase led to biased totals and that these results in no way reflect the deserving winners or baseball fans as a whole, just those who are proactive enough to vote.

 

Closer

Winner - Mariano Rivera 26.7% - 34 saves, 1.80 ERA, 55 Ks, 0.96 WHIP

Jonathon Papelbon 21.1% - 35 saves, 0.92 ERA, 75 Ks, 0.78 WHIP

Francisco Rodriguez 11.3% - 47 saves, 1.73 ERA, 98 Ks, 1.10 WHIP

Trevor Hoffman 10.6% - 46 saves, 2.14 ERA, 50 Ks, 0.97 WHIP

Joe Nathan 10.3% - 36 saves, 1.58 ERA, 95 Ks, 0.79 WHIP

 

All these guys are deserving but for Rivera to win with those statistics when he didn't even pitch a full season? I'm not exactly screaming for Papelbon to win but I do think that the statistics there show that Rivera won either because of Yankee fans or name recognition because the rest of those guys surpassed him in at least two of the four categories there. Of course this isn't even mentioning Ryan, Saito, or Putz.

 

Starting Pitcher

Winner - Chien-Ming Wang 47% - 19-6, 3.63 ERA, 76 Ks, 1.31 WHIP

Johan Santana 17.6% - 19-6, 2.77 ERA, 245 Ks, 1.00 WHIP

Chris Carpenter 12.2% - 15-8, 3.09 ERA, 184 Ks, 1.07 WHIP

Justin Verlander 5.1% - 17-9, 3.63 ERA, 124 Ks, 1.33 WHIP

Roy Oswalt 3.6% - 15-8, 2.98 ERA, 166 Ks, 1.17 WHIP

Brandon Webb 1.3% - 16-8, 3.10 ERA, 178 Ks, 1.13 WHIP

 

Now this one is just a joke...how does Wang, despite a good season, get almost half of the votes over the phenomenal season of Johan Santana? Then again, how does the NL Cy Young winner only get 1.3% of the vote? Despite a good ERA and a great win total, Wang's WHIP is nothing special. I guess he got the wins which is what counts, but ability to keep the runs off the board, for instance Santana's era almost one full run beneath Wang's, should be considered too. This is the best piece of evidence I have for how biased these are.

 

Postseason Moment

Well, there's no doubt about this going to Xavier Nady's catch of Rolen's HR.

 

Defensive Player

With a .987 fielding percentage at third base, Mike Lowell won this award with 21% of the vote to Beltran's 18.8%. Now while there's obvious bias in the fact that the top two are a Red Sox and Met, Lowell may deserve this more than you think. He committed 6 errors as part of a record breaking Sox defensive infield, had a 70 game errorless streak, and his .977 fielding percentage is the best among third basemen who have played at least a 1,000 games. I know you can argue for Chavez but he wasn't on the ballot despite winning the gold glove at the position.

 

Setup Pitcher

Joel Zumaya at 32.3%. I can't argue with that.

 

Hitter

Winner - Derek Jeter 21.7% - .343 AVG, 14 HR, 97 RBI, 34 SB

Albert Pujols 17.4% - .331 AVG, 49 HR, 137 RBI (Spent time on the DL)

Ryan Howard 14.7% - .313 AVG, 58 HR, 149 RBI

David Ortiz 14% - .287, 54 HR, 137 RBI (Spent time off with heart palpitations)

Travis Hafner 4% - .308 AVG, 42 HR, 117 RBI (left season with injury)

Lance Berkman 4% - .315 AVG, 45 HR, 136 RBI

 

Granted Jeter did win the Hank Aaron award, but his stats pale in comparison to some of these typical power hitters. Just the three guys immediately beneath him would anchor any heart of the order. I just think that the fact that some of these players with phenomenally dominant seasons should get the credit more than Jeter. I know it's not all HRs, and I may have Ortiz bias, but even Howard and Pujols, I think, deserve it more than Jeter. Damn Yankee fans.

 

Defensive Play

Here some of you might actually agree with me. The winner of the play of the year is Melky Cabrera robbing Manny Ramirez of a homerun in one of the first games of the season. C'mon! In a season with Gary Matthews Jr. making the web gem of the year in center field, Cabrera's play doesn't hold a candle to it. I'd throw in Coco Crisp's Mays like catch in center field but stupid Boston voters chose Lowell's dive into the stands as a better play which I disagree with. Still, Cabrera's HR robbing paled in comparison to some of those by Gary Matthews Jr., Andruw Jones, the Twins triple play, and Aaron Rowand running into the fence.

 

I have no complaints with blooper (Sean Casey), rookie (Francisco Liriano), Individual Performance (Albert Pujols), and Manager (Jim Leyland).

 

My simple point to this long piece is that I think that Yankee bias tainted the voting and that the Yankees have no clear cut winner, and while you can argue for Rivera and Jeter, Cabrera and Wang are just an insult to the game.

[Blue Jeans]

Wow, can you say rigged!

 

Closer- K-Rod

Starter- Santana

Postseason moment- Endy Chavez' homerun robbing catch in game 7

Hitter- toss up between Pujols and Howard.

Defensive play- Endy again given the situation... if not Aaron Rowand's face plant.

[LorfTVP]

Wow, can you say rigged!

 

Closer- K-Rod

Starter- Santana

Postseason moment- Endy Chavez' homerun robbing catch in game 7

Hitter- toss up between Pujols and Howard.

Defensive play- Endy again given the situation... if not Aaron Rowand's face plant.

 

Granted people have to take these with a grain of salt...but it's sad seeing these sort of results.

[Herc]

i have to agree with bluejeans picks, endy's play would've been legendary if the mets won game 7--especially if they went on to win the whole thing

[njsmalls]

Really don't care about these awards...they don't matter. If you have fans voting of course Yankee fans are going to "taint" it. There are so many Yankee fans who are from nowhere even near the tristate area it makes me sick. I suprised we still have so much bandwagoners even after being embarassed three years in a row.

[Virginia Giant]

Really don't care about these awards...they don't matter. If you have fans voting of course Yankee fans are going to "taint" it. There are so many Yankee fans who are from nowhere even near the tristate area it makes me sick. I suprised we still have so much bandwagoners even after being embarassed three years in a row.

So fans have to root for the home town teams now? Damn.

 

 

 

Time to buy a redskins and Orioles hat.

[so-cal dub]

Wow, can you say rigged!

 

Closer- K-Rod

Starter- Santana

Postseason moment- Endy Chavez' homerun robbing catch in game 7

Hitter- toss up between Pujols and Howard.

Defensive play- Endy again given the situation... if not Aaron Rowand's face plant.

Krod You're kidding right?

[Plow]

lorf dont say it's all biased towards the yanks and then try to justify mike lowell winning defensive player of the year.

 

Lowell didn't even win a gold glove at his position. He's not even a top 15 defensive player in the majors.

[Herc]

Krod You're kidding right?

 

k-rod was great this year though

[LorfTVP]

lorf dont say it's all biased towards the yanks and then try to justify mike lowell winning defensive player of the year.

 

Lowell didn't even win a gold glove at his position. He's not even a top 15 defensive player in the majors.

 

**twitch** I was writing this long defense of Lowell but the optical mouse on this computer isn't on a mousepad and it just jumped to the upper right corner and closed the window...arrgh. But okay, just to reiterate, I defended Lowell winning up top. The players that were on the ballot were, in order of votes: Mike Lowell, Carlos Beltran, Ivan Rodriguez, Joe Crede, Omar Vizquel, Adam Everett, Mark Ellis, Brandon Inge, Mike Cameron, and Orlando Hudson. I will once again point out that Chavez wasn't on the ballot and go further on to point out that despite equal .987 FPCT, Lowell played 150 more innings in the field, amassing only one more error. I'd have to think that playing equal defense for a prolonged period of time is worth respect. In terms of range factor and zone rating, Lowell ranked 3rd and 4th while Chavez ranked 6th and 16th.

 

And to defend the fact that Mike Lowell is a top 15 defensive player, I will go over the top 10 fielding percentages at each position to show how striking the difference between the top defensive players and the secondary ones are.

 

C - .998, .998, .997, .996, .995, .995, .993, .993, .993, .991

1b- .998, .997, .997, .997, .996, .996, .996, .996, .995, .995

2b- .997, .995, .994, .994, .991, .989, .988, .987, .987, .985

SS- .993, .990, .989, .984, .981, .980, .978, .977, .977, .975

3b- .987, .987, .978, .968, .965, .965, .965, .963, .963, .963

LF- 1.000, .996, .996, .994, .991, .991, .990, .989, .988, .986

CF- 1.000, .997, .997, .996, .996, .995, .995, .994, .993, .993

RF- .996, .996, .992, .990, .987, .983, .982, .981, .981, .981

P- .1000 ---->

 

Nowhere is the dropoff as evident than at third base which is a testament to the amazing defensive play of both Lowell and Chavez. Top 15, no doubt in my mind.

[Plow]

You have a good point with the fielding percentages, but it's a stupid stat.

 

3b has morphed into a position now where a home run guy is more important than a guy who can field his position. Just look at the jokes who play 3b. As long as you can put up 30 homers, no one cares about your defense.

 

There are so many more skilled SS's CF's 2b's and C's to even consider before you start talking about Lowell's defense.

 

I dont know how Torri Hunter isn't even on the list. Ichiro too.

[LorfTVP]

You have a good point with the fielding percentages, but it's a stupid stat.

 

3b has morphed into a position now where a home run guy is more important than a guy who can field his position. Just look at the jokes who play 3b. As long as you can put up 30 homers, no one cares about your defense.

 

There are so many more skilled SS's CF's 2b's and C's to even consider before you start talking about Lowell's defense.

 

I dont know how Torri Hunter isn't even on the list. Ichiro too.

 

True, true. I guess it's all favoritism...note how the top three players are from the Red Sox, Mets, and Tigers. Maybe Lowell isn't the best player as the poll says but he's definitely tops at his position and I think that you can't take that away from him. Once again, the US needs to learn a lesson from their WBC defeat and the victory of the Japanese...fundamentals can do a world of good.

 

Hey, at least I have an argument for Lowell.

[Plow]

True, true. I guess it's all favoritism...note how the top three players are from the Red Sox, Mets, and Tigers. Maybe Lowell isn't the best player as the poll says but he's definitely tops at his position and I think that you can't take that away from him. Once again, the US needs to learn a lesson from their WBC defeat and the victory of the Japanese...fundamentals can do a world of good.

 

Hey, at least I have an argument for Lowell.

 

yes lowell is tops at his position.

the same position that seats 16 guys with 20 home runs. (Thats without Melvin Mora and Hank Blalock getting 20 homers, both had 16 this year)

Meanwhile, there are 17 1st baseman with 20 home runs.

 

It's not the same "fielding position" it used to be.

[RandolphScott]

3b has morphed into a position now where a home run guy is more important than a guy who can field his position. Just look at the jokes who play 3b. As long as you can put up 30 homers, no one cares about your defense.

 

Right, see Rodriguez, Alex.

[Blue Jeans]

Krod You're kidding right?

 

Yes, K-rod.

 

REC 2-3 | SV 47 | ERA 1.73 | WHIP 1.10

 

Those are some pretty fantastic numbers. Sure, the walks are high but you can't ignore the strikeouts he has, and some of those were in very key situations.