This Year in Baseball

Let us see what respectable players in my mind deserve tha awrds...

Hitter: As much as I would like to vote for Delgado (D-God) I can't. The true winner should be Outfielder Manny Ramirez. He went from the Red Sox where he was beginning to slump to the Dodgers where he exploded! He was the sole piece to their almost World Series push.

Starter: Sure call me biased, but I could care less. The winner of this is Johan Santana. He went from the Minnesota Twins, a team that wasn't known for their playoff appearances, to the New York Mets who have recently begun to show their faces in the Postseason. He went 16-7 last season with the Mets, but could have easily won at least 20-22 if it were not for the bullpen (I know who you are and I will find you!!!). He led the majors with ERA for a reason, finishing up with a 2.53 ERA.

Rookie: The definite winner is Evan Longoria. He could have very well been the sole piece that pushed the Rays into the Series. He hit 6 homers with 13 RBI's in his first postseason EVER!!! That is an absolute choice to win this category.

Manager: Although I am very disappointed that Jerry Manuel was not added to this list with all the work he did for the team with the cards he was dealt. But since I am forced to choose with a limited amount of managers, I will have to go with Joe Madden. I wanted to go for Charlie Manuel but the Rays were dealt less cards and did more with it. Although a good argument could be that the Phillies went to the Series AND won...but big deal. Look at the age and the lack of experience the Rays had only to push their way to the Series in the stronger American League.

Closer: This is almost as easy as Rookie. What defines a closer? A player who comes in and closes games. Well, my pick is K-Rod. He broke the single season record for saves by accumulating 62 saves out of 69 tries. Hopefully he will bring this to the plate for the Mets.

Setup: The winner is the player who setup up wins for the team that went the furthest. Grant Balfour finished off with a 1.54 ERA and 14 holds along with 82 K's in 58.1 innings. There can't a long enough explanation since the Rays went to the Series.

Defense: The winner in my mind is Dustin Pedroia. His defense was amazing at second base and in only his third season in the MLB he (at the moment) has a .313 AVG. In his third season, he managed to hit above 200 hits. That is something Ichiro does. Who knows, maybe we could be seeing the next big thing at second base piling 200 hits every season for the rest of his career.

Performance: In his third season, this player managed to pitch a no-hitter. Let us put it this way, Tom Glavine in his many seasons has yet to pitch a no-hitter (although he was cursed throughout his career with the MEts). Jon Lester. He pitched the 18th no-hitter for the Red SOx on May 19 vs. the Royals.

Play: On July 27, it was a sure homer as I watched a pitch fly outwards toward oblivion. But Mets Center Fielder jumped up to steal a homer. Let us put it this way...He is as of now the closest to resembling the Catch by Endy Chavez in the 2006 playoffs. And that is saying something. Of course, the first player to congratulate him was.....drumroll in your head?...Endy Chavez.

Moment: When I think of this winner, I think of how I would feel if I were a fan of thier team. Well, the biggest moment was when Ryan Braun hit a homer on Sept 28, the final day of the season, to grab the wild card berth and finally defeat the Mets for the wild card.

Oddity: Now as a MEts fans I have seen plenty of oddities this season. One of them, which is not on the ballot, is when a cat was at SHea this season. I'm not sure if it was a cat, but it was running around and jumped into the Mets' dugout. Now they won that game unlike the infamous black cat cubs incident at Shea. But this season, I would have to go with another oddity I witnessed. It is to this day the best game I have ever been in attendance for. Johan Santana was up to bat and I knew that he was going to get a hit. Ironically enough it was against the Cubs. But Johan broke his bat and then the ball hit the bat by second base to push the ball away from the second baseman. Johan was safe and awarded with a hit.

Executive: The winner is of course, Andrew Friedman. He has stayed young and it is now beginning to pay off for him. All the while the Rays (known before this season as the Devil Rays) were in last place every season. They were a horrible team. But this season everything changed when they got rid of the DEVIL and understood that staying young is staying talented. Every team should live by his rules.

Postseason Moment: When David Price pitched against the Red Sox in Game 7 to pitch the final two innings, it was the greatest moment in Postseason history that I was alive for. He was a rookie, and a VERY unexperienced pitcher who was asked, nicely, to close out Game 7 for the Rays. He pushed the Rays into the Series.