First off, congrats to Dustin Pedroia for winning the 2008 MLB AL MVP. I have no qualms with his winning the award, though I thought Kevin Youkilis was probably more valuable to the Red Sox, but whatever.
Despite it not being a controversial decision, there still are matters of concern found within the voting results.
First off, Pedroia received 16 of 28 first place votes. However, he only had a total of 27 votes. One voter left him off his ballot of 10 completely. 16 first place, 6 second place, 4 third place, and 1 forth place. 27 writers had him in their top 4; the 28th writer left him out of his top ten. Stupidity or balls, you decide. Anyways, kudos to you, Evan Grant, for being a maverick.
Perhaps the next biggest issue I have is with Fransisco Rodriguez. Sure, he had a great season for a closer, and yes, he broke the all-time saves record for a season. But in order for a closer to be 6th in MVP voting, you had damn well not have blown 7 save opportunities. Not only that, but one voter put him #1. One of 28 selected voters felt K-Rod was more valuable to the Angels than any other AL player was to his team. Take that, more deserving players!
I'm a Twins fan. A BIG Twins fan (not fat, just a high level of enthusiasm for the team). Therefore, I love following former Twins in their careers post Twins, though I wouldn't have minded if David Ortiz had managed to put up the numbers with the Twins that he has with the Red Sox. Anyways...
I love most former Twins, but c'mon, Jason Bartlett does not deserve a 5th place vote in the AL MVP race. Sure he's decent and all, but really? One of the voters felt there were only four more valuable players in the AL than Jason Bartlett? I'm not even sure he is the 5th best on that team, let alone the entire league. And yes, I am well aware that the Rays voted him their team MVP. Why they did this, I am unsure. Maybe he was feeling down after leaving Minnesota, and the team wanted to boost his spirits.
Another big thing jumped out at me this year. It wasn't who got a vote that was deserving, it was the shock of seeing that not a single voter put Derek Jeter anywhere in their top ten. This is significant as it is only the second time since his rookie season that he received 0 votes for MVP. I'm not saying that Jeter deserved any votes, because he didn't, it's just different to not see him getting any votes. Kind of relieving really.
Oddly enough, each division had one team that had no players receiving any votes. The A's, Royals, and Blue Jays collectively received 0 votes. Mike Mussina received an 8th place vote and yet Roy Halladay zero? Actually, now that I'm checking out their respective stats, that vote may piss me off more than any of them. Who voted for Mussina? Can they explain why they felt Mussina was more worthy of a vote than Roy Halladay?
Halladay is the steak to most pitchers' hamburger. (Food metaphor tribute to FJM...RIP)
Oh yeah, and the NL had an MVP too. Well deserved Pujols! Looking over the voting results there, that shit is fucked.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
Saddest day in the history of baseball (blogging)
Just a quick shout out to Fire Joe Morgan. They have decided to hang 'em up for good.
This is truly a sad day in the blogosphere, as FJM was one of the first sports blogs I began reading when introduced to teh interwebs. Also one of the first blogs that helped me become better attuned to what sportscasters are really saying (which is generally nothing) and helped me question every sports columnist's opinion.
In seasons past I eagerly anticipated the weekly Joe Chat, and grew to not just laugh at, but actually kind of hate most baseball (if not all sports) announcers.
So in closing, thank you for your time FJM. I've become a much bigger hater through you, and am a far better person for it.
P.S. I've only ever caught the Office a couple times. Is it actually a better use of your time than FJM Ken?
This is truly a sad day in the blogosphere, as FJM was one of the first sports blogs I began reading when introduced to teh interwebs. Also one of the first blogs that helped me become better attuned to what sportscasters are really saying (which is generally nothing) and helped me question every sports columnist's opinion.
In seasons past I eagerly anticipated the weekly Joe Chat, and grew to not just laugh at, but actually kind of hate most baseball (if not all sports) announcers.
So in closing, thank you for your time FJM. I've become a much bigger hater through you, and am a far better person for it.
P.S. I've only ever caught the Office a couple times. Is it actually a better use of your time than FJM Ken?
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Awards woohoo!
Quick shoutout congrats to Lil' Timmy Lincecum for winning the NL Cy Young in only his second year in the bigs.
Also congrats to Evan Longoria and Geovany Soto for well deserved Rookie of the Year awards in their respective leagues.
And congrats to Joe Mauer for winning his first Gold Glove, not to mention his second batting title.
Also congrats to Evan Longoria and Geovany Soto for well deserved Rookie of the Year awards in their respective leagues.
And congrats to Joe Mauer for winning his first Gold Glove, not to mention his second batting title.
Sure, Edinson Volquez was great this year, but c'mon
Baseball, always on top of making smart decisions (see: steroids, looking the other way; World Series homefield advantage; coin flip playoff deciders), once again comes across as being on top of their game.
When the NL Rookie of the Year award was recently announced, they included the complete voting tally. Finishing 4th in voting was Edinson Volquez. Only problem is that Volquez is not a rookie.
Sure, 2008 was his first full season in the bigs, but after having pitched 80 innings over the previous three seasons, he no longer had rookie status.
Just saying that maybe the people entrusted to vote on shit like this should actually, I don't know, know what the fuck they're talking about. Granted it was only 3 out of 32 writers that voted for him, but still.
When the NL Rookie of the Year award was recently announced, they included the complete voting tally. Finishing 4th in voting was Edinson Volquez. Only problem is that Volquez is not a rookie.
Sure, 2008 was his first full season in the bigs, but after having pitched 80 innings over the previous three seasons, he no longer had rookie status.
Just saying that maybe the people entrusted to vote on shit like this should actually, I don't know, know what the fuck they're talking about. Granted it was only 3 out of 32 writers that voted for him, but still.
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!!!
Goddamnit. Goddammit. Goddamit. No matter how you spell it, it all means the same:
Pat Neshek will miss the entire 2009 season after undergoing Tommy John Surgery next week, as was learned on www.sethspeaks.net.
This should add to what was already looking to be an interesting offseason for the Twins.
Pat Neshek will miss the entire 2009 season after undergoing Tommy John Surgery next week, as was learned on www.sethspeaks.net.
This should add to what was already looking to be an interesting offseason for the Twins.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
So it's the offseason...where have I been?
Ahhh my baseball blog pet project, how quickly I can come to neglect you, like a child's lost interest in his pet hermit crab. Is it time to break out the defibrillator in an attempt to resurrect you from death's near grasp? I'll give it a shot, which means this is gonna be another catching up to speed on what the hell's been going on with baseball since I last posted.
What's that? Baseball is over? Surely you jest! For any true baseball fan knows, baseball is NEVER over. It is a 12-month season, we just happen to be in the segment referred to as the "off" season, which contains as much, if not more, excitement than certain parts of the "regular" season. But anyways...
Congrats to the Phillies on winning their second World Series title ever. Two titles, 126 seasons. Six pennants, 126 seasons. As has been well reported, now that Philadelphia has ended its 25-year championship drought, the distinction of a four sport city going the longest without a title now belongs to...Minneapolis. Yep, that's me! Our last title came from the Twins in 1991. Asides from the Twins in 1991 and 1987, you gotta go back to the days of the George Mikan and the Lakers to find a title that Minnesota has got to celebrate.
Sure, we've now gone the longest, but we've only got D.C. beat by a few months, as the Redskins won the Super Bowl shortly after the Twins won the World Series. Could be worse though, Cleveland has got a pretty shitty championship history. Indians have gone 60 years without a title and only have two in their 106 seasons. Browns have no Super Bowls, though they were pretty good before the Super Bowl era. The Cavs may have no titles, but having Lebron is pretty awesome. Although the Timberwolves did have Garnett all those years, but no Finals appearances to show for it. Thank you, Kevin McHale.
Ah who am I kidding, I don't genuinely give a shit about the NBA.
There was an interesting (at least to me) article linked off of Deadspin from the New York Daily News. Apparently it's been 50 years since the Yankees won a World Series while a republican was the sitting president. Any other team this may not seem that big a deal, but when you think about how many damn titles those fuckers have (I try not to), it is actually pretty bizarre that they've gone 50 years without one while a republican was president. Of course, now that I'm looking over the Yankees' history on Baseball Reference, that doesn't seem nearly impressive as it first sounded. Over the past 50 years they've had 8 titles, the last four of which were during the Clinton administration (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000).
Which reminds me, Barack Obama won the presidency. I'm sure you've heard and read enough about that so I'm gonna skip that for now. There's talk of him throwing out the first pitch for the White Sox in the 2009 season. Let's hope that doesn't interfere with his duty to throw out the first pitch at the Nationals home opener, as it is his presidential responsibility...i think.
Anyways, it's the start of the offseason. That means months and months of false speculation about who is going where and for how much! Already I've heard numerous theories about what the Twins should/could/are going to do to strengthen their team. Obviously solid starters at 3B and SS are desired, and names abound! Adrian Beltre! Casey Blake! Hank Blalock! Garrett Atkins! Orlando Cabrera! Etc. Etc! With some money to spend and a year away from a new ballpark, I do have high hopes that the Twins will actually make a solid offseason signing for a change. I've had enough of signings like Livan Hernandez, Craig Monroe, Tony Batista, Rondell White, Ramon Ortiz, Ruben Sierra, Mike Lamb, Adam Everett, Jeff Cirillo, Sidney Ponson and Phil Nevin.
My preference would be to swindle the Brewers into trading J.J. Hardy to the Twins, but I have no idea why they would do that.
Ok bye for now.
What's that? Baseball is over? Surely you jest! For any true baseball fan knows, baseball is NEVER over. It is a 12-month season, we just happen to be in the segment referred to as the "off" season, which contains as much, if not more, excitement than certain parts of the "regular" season. But anyways...
Congrats to the Phillies on winning their second World Series title ever. Two titles, 126 seasons. Six pennants, 126 seasons. As has been well reported, now that Philadelphia has ended its 25-year championship drought, the distinction of a four sport city going the longest without a title now belongs to...Minneapolis. Yep, that's me! Our last title came from the Twins in 1991. Asides from the Twins in 1991 and 1987, you gotta go back to the days of the George Mikan and the Lakers to find a title that Minnesota has got to celebrate.
Sure, we've now gone the longest, but we've only got D.C. beat by a few months, as the Redskins won the Super Bowl shortly after the Twins won the World Series. Could be worse though, Cleveland has got a pretty shitty championship history. Indians have gone 60 years without a title and only have two in their 106 seasons. Browns have no Super Bowls, though they were pretty good before the Super Bowl era. The Cavs may have no titles, but having Lebron is pretty awesome. Although the Timberwolves did have Garnett all those years, but no Finals appearances to show for it. Thank you, Kevin McHale.
Ah who am I kidding, I don't genuinely give a shit about the NBA.
There was an interesting (at least to me) article linked off of Deadspin from the New York Daily News. Apparently it's been 50 years since the Yankees won a World Series while a republican was the sitting president. Any other team this may not seem that big a deal, but when you think about how many damn titles those fuckers have (I try not to), it is actually pretty bizarre that they've gone 50 years without one while a republican was president. Of course, now that I'm looking over the Yankees' history on Baseball Reference, that doesn't seem nearly impressive as it first sounded. Over the past 50 years they've had 8 titles, the last four of which were during the Clinton administration (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000).
Anyways, it's the start of the offseason. That means months and months of false speculation about who is going where and for how much! Already I've heard numerous theories about what the Twins should/could/are going to do to strengthen their team. Obviously solid starters at 3B and SS are desired, and names abound! Adrian Beltre! Casey Blake! Hank Blalock! Garrett Atkins! Orlando Cabrera! Etc. Etc! With some money to spend and a year away from a new ballpark, I do have high hopes that the Twins will actually make a solid offseason signing for a change. I've had enough of signings like Livan Hernandez, Craig Monroe, Tony Batista, Rondell White, Ramon Ortiz, Ruben Sierra, Mike Lamb, Adam Everett, Jeff Cirillo, Sidney Ponson and Phil Nevin.
My preference would be to swindle the Brewers into trading J.J. Hardy to the Twins, but I have no idea why they would do that.
Ok bye for now.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
[Headline that does not use 'Amazin' Rays' or 'Hoo-ray']
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)