October is around the corner, and that means it's once again time for the Baseball Writers Association to hand out individual awards to people who don't deserve them.
There are numerous excellent baseball writers out there; they just do a terrible job of picking people for the awards. It goes all the way back to 1941 when Ted Williams was robbed of the Most Valuable Player Award.
That year it went to Joe DiMaggio for his 56-game hitting streak. The only problem is that Williams hit for a better average over that same 56-game span and finished leading the league by a large margin in every relevant batting category.
In 1999 Boston Red Sox<$> ace Pedro Martinez was robbed of the Most Valuable Player Award because a couple of shmucks from New York didn't even put him on the ballot because they claimed pitchers should not be considered for the MVP. Apparently these writers didn't possess the ability to read because the directions specifically stated pitchers should be considered. It turns out they had actually voted for pitchers in years past. So now you know what we're dealing with here.
Well enough complaining, just rest assured; we at "Inside the American League" will attempt to be as objective as possible. We're not going to give Johnny Damon extra points because of his haircut. On to the awards:
Most Valuable Player: Johan Santana, SP, Minnesota Twins<$>. There is a good argument to be made for many players this season, but Santana's Koufaxian abilities have carried the Twins to a successful season. Consider these numbers. Santana leads the league with a 2.62 ERA, which is .64 better than any other pitcher. He has struck out 260 batters in 223 innings.
Since June 3, Santana hasn't given up more than three runs in any game, and he's only allowed three runs once all season! Over that span he is 18-2. The bottom line is that this guy carried his team to the division title.
A number of hitters have legitimate claims to the award as well. You won't hear his name mentioned, but Baltimore Oriole<$> third baseman Melvin Mora has arguably been the best hitter in the American League this year. His .422 OBP leads the league, and he has some power too (.574 slugging).
Right behind Mora is Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez. Manny's got the big numbers, a nearly .400 OBP and 43 home runs. He leads the league in OPS. He also hasn't made quite as many, "what the hell did Manny just do!?" blunders. Instead, he's made some "Manny actually caught that!?" plays. And enough of the arguments about Manny having designated hitter David Ortiz batting behind him. Ortiz has only batted behind Manny in August and September, and those were his third and first worst months, respectively.
Everyone in New York wants to give the MVP to outfielder Gary Sheffield. The only problem with this is that Manny has been better in every major hitting statistic. Defensive statistics show that Sheffield isn't exactly Ichiro-like in right field either.
Speaking of Ichiro, the Seattle Mariner<$> right fielder should certainly get a look as he closes in on George Sisler's single-season hit record. The problem with Ichiro is that he hardly ever walks, he has almost no power, and he does bush-league stunts like bunting with a guy on second and two outs because he wants the record.
Anaheim Angels<$> right fielder Vladimir Guerrero has had an excellent season as well, but his hitting numbers are dwarfed by Manny's, among others.
Cy Young: Johan Santana<$> This one is a pretty easy. We've already sung the praises of Santana so we'll talk about the only other starting pitcher worth mentioning: Red Sox ace Curt Schilling.
Schilling had a fantastic season. He is second in ERA (3.26), third in strikeouts (206), and he's only allowed 35 walks in 226 innings. Schilling has never won a Cy Young because every year he throws up an excellent season; someone comes up with an obscenely good season. This year it happened to be Santana.
Yankee closer Mariano Rivera should get some consideration for being the anchor at the end of a shaky New York rotation, but Santana and Schilling are more deserving.
Rookie of the Year: Lew Ford, OF, Minnesota Twins. Ford has stayed under the radar screen for the season, but he's a pretty easy choice for ROY honors.
Oakland Athletic<$> shortstop Bobby Crosby was a contender, but his offensive numbers pale in comparison to Ford's. Ford has a .302 BA, a .388 OBP, and a .457 slugging percentage. He's not a world class defender, but he won't hurt you, and he has 19 stolen bases in 21 attempts to boot.
Crosby plays a more difficult position, but he's not exactly Ozzie Smith in the field. He put up some nice numbers at the plate for a rookie, but Ford's were superior.
Manager of the Year: Buck Showalter, Texas Rangers<$>. This one was pretty easy, too! The Rangers fared a lot better than expected this season and it's mostly due to their improved pitching staff. Showalter should probably be nice and share the award with his pitching coach Orel Hershiser.
We'll close the article with a delightful quote from Chicago White Sox<$> manager Ozzie Guillen, regarding Showalter after a confrontation between the two. "There are so many different things [Showalter] might be jealous [of]...I was a better player than him, I've got more money than him and I'm better looking than him." Amen to that Ozzie; maybe the writers will find that funny enough to give you the award.
