Passing judgment

After tonight, almost every team will have played 150 games. Now seems to be a good time to name my picks for the major awards in baseball. Some are no-brainers to me, other will require more rigorous research. And now, the hardware...

NL MVP: Barry Bonds
Does anyone really think it should be anyone else? Like it or not, he should probably own this award until a) managers and pitchers stop walking him so much, b) his skills decline to the point where the need to walk him will go away, or c) he retires. Whenever one player consistently changes the way the game is played, and far more than anyone else, he has to be the MVP.

AL MVP: Manny Ramirez
They may not win the division, but the Red Sox would not be where they are without Manny. He will be in the top 2 in home runs and OPS, top 10 in OBP, first in SLG. With all due respect, Gary Sheffield has a lot more support on his team, and the Red Sox have a record that is insignificantly different. Credit should be given to Ivan Rodriguez. While not the only addition to the 119 loss Detroit team from 2003, his move from the World Champion Marlins helped the Tigers improve from 43 wins to 68 (and counting) this year, and surpassed last year's win total on July 18th. He should not win, but he may belong in the top 5.

NL Cy Young: Randy Johnson
He has been the best pitcher in baseball this season, and his record does not do him justice. The same could be said for Ben Sheets, who has been the second best pitcher in the National League. Johnson will lead the NL (and majors) in strikeouts and WHIP, near the top in ERA and Quality Starts, and finish with a record near .500. Under the general guidelines voters use (weighing wins or winning percentage heavier), I would vote for Roger Clemens, who has been the most consistent pitcher while having the most wins and least losses among the leaders in ERA and strikeouts.

AL Cy Young: Johan Santana
This is not even a contest anymore. He very well could lead the American League in wins, ERA, strikeouts, and quality starts. Being from Boston, I hear Curt Schilling mentioned as a strong candidate. However, Santana's second half has been near historic, and other than wins, he is well ahead of Schilling in both strikeouts and ERA. In my personal opinion, this is as much a no-brainer as the NL MVP race.

NL Rookie: Jason Bay
Khalil Greene is a strong second place, but Bay has been more productive in less time. Akinori Otsuka has to be considered in the conversation for being one of the best set-up men in baseball. Bay has put together a solid .290/24/75 (through 9/22) while having under 400 official at-bats. His numbers are strong for a full season, which gets him my vote.

AL Rookie: Shingo Takatsu
Without a real strong candidate, my vote for the top rookie would go to Takatsu. With 6 wins, 4 holds, 18 saves, and a sub-3.00 ERA (through 9/22), he beats Bobby Crosby. Crosby was the frontrunner until a late slump brought his average into the .250 range. Takatsu does have Japanese experience, but by definition is a rookie and eligible. In a race with no standout, he comes out of the pack.

Managers of the Year: Buck Showalter and Bobby Cox
Both managers should run away with this award. With apologies to Lou Piniella and Tony LaRussa, both Showalter and Cox defied convention, with Buck leading the Rangers into the AL West race they had not been a part of for many seasons and Bobby winning a 13th straight division crown (excluding 1994) with a team many expected to finally fall in a tough division. Showalter reestablished himself as a builder of strong teams while Cox may have just proven he is the best in the game.

Update (10/8/04):
My decisions on two awards have changed. While I will not elaborate much, there is method to my madness.

AL MVP: Vladimir Guerrero
His September numbers supplement his already strong candidacy.

AL ROY: Bobby Crosby
I still have a problem with the low batting average following a late season slump, but 22 home runs and solid defense at shortstop are hard to ignore.

Two out of three ain't bad, but three would be better

Of the three major milestones Major League Baseball could have seen September, two of them have been reached. Barry Bonds became the third member of the 700 Home Run Club and Randy Johnson passed Steve Carlton to become the all-time record holder for strikeouts by a left-handed pitcher and moved into third place overall. The remaining acheivement is Ichiro Suzuki's quest for the all-time hit record for a season. As a true believer that records are made to be broken, I am looking forward to watching Bonds pursue both Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron. If Roger Clemens opts to continue longer, it will be interesting to see who finishes with the higher strikeout total (as well as whether Clemens will think about possibly staying around until he turns 46 and chasing 400 wins).

Ichiro's pursuit, though not a career accomplishment, deserves nearly as much attention and recognition. Anytime a record has stood for 80 years, it is momentous when it falls. In addition, he is such a contrasting style to most players that approach records now that his skill may not be appreciated unless he breaks the record. In the classic dream situation, 2 outs, bases loaded, down by 3 runs, who would you rather have, Bonds or Ichiro? Bonds is, of course, probably the answer most people would give, for he is, based on this year, as likely to get a hit as Ichiro, but more likely to hit a home run, and far more likely to walk. Ichiro, however, strikes out almost as rarely (per at bat), could very easily plate all 3 baserunners (to tie the game) with a double or triple while easily being able to score on a base hit, and because of the walks Bonds receives, is probably more likely to drive in more than one run than Barry. The majority may still rather have Bonds bat in that situation, but Ichiro may be very nearly as valuable in that scenario. Such value should be recgonized. Many managers know this, as a high percentage of his walks are intentional, but I hope the fans will begin to recgonize this too.

My thoughts...on the internet

Being an avid sports fan, I never cease to have an opinion on various issues or events that occur in the sports world. Now, thanks to some advice and connections to other bloggers, I have decided to put my thoughts out there for everyone to read. This will not be flashy at the start, while I get used to this, but I hope in time to make this far less simple as well as add links to other sports related websites and the like. Feel free to ask opinions on issues and I will gladly touch upon them.

Most of my thoughts will center on baseball and basketball, which are the two sports I follow the most. There will occasionally be a topic on football or perhaps hockey, but I am assuming those will be far less frequent.

Having grown up in Boston, I do have my allegiances. However, I will attempt to stay as unbiased as possible when discussing certain issues (especially the Yankees). It will, at times, be obvious who I am rooting for, but I hope to be able to provided a consistent opinion on all topics.

Thanks for reading. I look forward to the comments.