It’s amazing the ebbs and flows I go through with baseball season, and it’s pretty consistent nearly every year. For the first month and a half I can’t get enough, I watch every pitch I can even for games that I don’t really care about (like NL games), and then I’ll realize how many games they still have to play, and only check box scores for a month or so. Now that Lebronapalooza is over, and we’ve hit the All-Star break, I’m back to full force on baseball. Now it’s about time to break down who the first half award winners are, well, the award winners in my book that is.
AL MVP – Miguel Cabrera (.346/.423/.651, 22 HR, 77 RBI)
Not a tough choice at the midpoint. Miggy has come out focused from his alcohol rehab program this offseason, and leads in two of the three triple crown categories. If you can make a case for Morneau, Cano, Hamilton, or Youkilis there might be some room for debate, but in my eyes this isn’t really a close vote if there was a vote held now.
NL MVP- Albert Pujols, by default (.308/.416/.576, 21 HR, 64 RBI)
I can’t really say I’m even sold on my selection, but Albert has to win by default. He’s in the running every year, and has finished in the top five 11 times. I’m sure he’s going to go through a stretch where teams will opt to not pitch to him because he’s on fire. I’ve seen a few lists that have David Wright as the next in line under Albert, but I think that’s the New York hype machine pumping up their golden boy even though he’s having a good year, I don’t think it’s an MVP season. Adrian Gonzalez has put up some big numbers despite having nobody around him for protection. Joey Votto and Scott Rolen are also nice choices, and are surprisingly keeping Cincy relevant. I also really like Carlos Gonzalez to make a push for MVP, and I wouldn’t be shocked to see him in the discussions at seasons end.
AL Cy Young – Jon Lester (11-3, 120 IP, 2.78 ERA, 124K, 1.09 WHIP)
David Price had the lead for much of the year, but Lester now leads him in K’s, innings pitched, and has a lower WHIP which I always find more impressive than win totals, so I gave Lester the nod. Cliff Lee’s six complete games is amazing for this point in the season, so he has to be thrown into the top three as well. Pettite is an intreguing candidate, but I like a Cy Young to have lots of K’s…
NL Cy Young – Josh Johnson (9-3, 122 IP, 1.70 ERA, 123K, 0.96 WHIP)
Most people have been picking Ubaldo Jimenez, but I actually have Halladay and Wainwright ahead of Ubaldo at the moment. I’ve never been an advocate of looking at a pitchers record and weighing it like some do with the award. Josh is tops in the league in ERA and WHIP, and opponents BA is a ridiculous .203. This is a WIDE open race, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see someone that I didn’t even mention winning this award.
AL Rookie of the half – Brennan Boesch (12 HR’s, 48 RBI, .345 BA)
Austin Jackson (Brennan’s teammate) and Neftali Feliz have been subperb rookies this year, but Brennan has been that much better than them. I didn’t really even know who he was before the year started, but have a feeling we will be hearing about him a lot in years to come as he’s a 6’6” 25 year old with tons of potential.
NL Rookie of the half – Jaime Garcia (8-4, 2.17 ERA, 99 2/3 IP, 80 K’s, 1.25 WHIP)
It was a tough call between Jaime and Heyward. I was pretty close to picking Heyward, but since he hasn’t played over the last month I DQ’d him for the moment. It’s going to be a tight race at the end of the season, but if Jason puts up the same numbers he did in the first half, I’m sure he’ll get the award. Tyler Colvin, Gaby Sanchez, and Mike Leake are also playing good enough to garner some attention as well.
Comeback player – Alex Rios (.305/.361/.518, 15 HR, 49 RBI, 23 SB)
As recently as last year I ripped Rios and his former teammate Vernon Wells for having two of the worst contracts in all of baseball. They must’ve read my post and gotten pissed because both are having big seasons. Rios has reformed himself into that potential we always knew he always had, and is on the hottest team in the league right now. If he can keep it up, the Sox could be a lot to deal with in the playoffs, and has made the AL Central more interesting than most would’ve thought a couple months into the season.
By
cali4dre
chappy81
dyslecix
mceezy
Doin Work 
July 12th, 2010 at 11:05 am
You’re right. The MVP races are pretty cut and dry but the Cy Young races are wide open.
Can’t help but wonder how the lack of hitters on HGH has affected the game.
July 12th, 2010 at 11:14 am
I’d have to say it has. I was more for letting the HGH guys into the HOF, until this season when we are seeing what the effects of not having it in the game means! It’s also pretty crazy how many more injuries seem to be popping up. Maybe doing a couple HGH cycles really did make some of these guys indestructable…
July 12th, 2010 at 11:38 am
chappy
Cabrera in the AL for sure because without him the Tigers would be hanging in the wind.
And if not Pujols in the NL the who , as there’s not really that many even marginal candidates to begin with !
Home Run Derby tonight … hopefully it’ll be a great event !
Where should the hierarchy of baseball stand with regard to next season’s All Star Game ? Move it elsewhere or let it remain Arizona to be played
Just another case of the two sides in this matter choosing not to use common sense . And now the state of Arizona and the US government are at loggerheads and it’ll be taxpayers’ monies being unnecessarily wasted to prove what ? Who can p_ss the farthest ?
NB: Link via Wikipedia and Arizona SB 1070 click here to view ………
On the face of it seems draconian in so many elements.
Alan ………………..
July 12th, 2010 at 2:42 pm
Yeah, I’m excited for the derby, leaving work in a half hour to head out there! As for the NL MVP, I almost put Adrian Gonzalez in there. I think he’s been the most valuable player to his team for a division leading team…
I will laugh if they move the All-star game next year, I think that would only bring more attention to what is going on in AZ. There were warnings down here for the BART cop verdict of possible riots, but the riots stayed in Oakland thankfully….
July 12th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
chappy
One way or another whatever decision is made about next year’s game it’ll pi_s off a slew of people on both sides of the argument,
Darkness Once Again Falls Over The Game …………..
Alan ………… 🙂
July 12th, 2010 at 8:54 pm
chappy
I for one just hope it’s an enjoyable event for everyone in attendance.
Now it appears everyone who’s an unsigned free agent wants to make their way down to Miami . I wonder why ? LOL,LOL,LOL !!!
🙂
Alan ……….
July 13th, 2010 at 7:40 am
Haha, take less money, and don’t get stats. Sounds like a win win for any free agent!
July 13th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
chappy
it’s a win win for any guy as they get to party like a rock star …….. . and you know the rest including the saying about the porn stars . Hopefully though they’ll play ball like an NBA player !
I’m going back to the plantation now as I’ve got to take Jesse Jackson on a tour of the living quarters and then the massa is going to make me works hard oh so hard !
Is There A Nigger Around With Some Common Sense Please ?
Enjoyed the Home Run Derby though I felt it could’ve gone either way !
🙂
Alan ………….
July 13th, 2010 at 12:33 pm
Haha, too bad they are recuiting old men like Fischer and Illgauskis who are past their party days…
The derby was great. I couldn’t believe how fast Haley’s homers were leaving the park! The crack of the bat almost lasted longer that the ball being in the air!
July 13th, 2010 at 12:48 pm
chappy
He’s got phenomenal bat speed.
Well if Fisher is remaining with the Lakers then I can understand his friendship and loyalty to Kobe . As for Ilgauskas he ought call it quits as his legs and back have been giving him problems for the last few years .
I wonder what odds are being offered in Vegas as to who’ll win an NBA title first between the Cavs and Heat ?
Dan Gilbert ought to just keep his friggin’ mouth shut at present given the fact that he’s already 100 g’s lighter in the pocket courtesy of David Stern. And now he’s taking pot shots at LeBron ? What next ………… he’ll be claiming that he wanted to have sex with LeBron’s momma but he couldn’t find any condoms and the $50 it’d cost him to tap that ass ?
🙂
Alan ……………..
July 13th, 2010 at 7:14 pm
This just in, Ilgauskas threw out his back lifting the pen to sign his contract hahaha!
I think the Heat are already the favorites for next year as ridiculous as that sounds with six guys on the roster… I actually kind of liked Gilbert’s reaction. It definitely didn’t lose him any Cleveland fans! Maybe lost him a free agent or two, but it’s not like they really cared about anyone but Lebron…
July 13th, 2010 at 9:22 pm
chappy
llgauskas must’ve upped his dosage of Viagra for that to have happened ? LOL,LOL,LOL !!!
::)
Alan ……………
July 28th, 2010 at 10:08 am
[…] real. I’m still saying that Josh Johnson is the choice over Ubaldo for Cy Young, as I said in my mid season awards. Lower ERA and WHIP > […]