Enough about me, how about the Manager of the Year awards? The good news is, the voters got one of ‘em right. The other one? Eh, it’s defensible.

You liked Colorado’s Clint Hurdle and Cleveland’s Eric Wedge (as did I). Neither of those teams was expected to do as well as they did this season.

The Indians you could kind of see coming, but they play in MLB’s toughest division. Wedge was the clear choice here.

In the National League, things were a little trickier. Bob Melvin benefited from the fact that, for whatever reason, most folks didn’t see them as a threat coming into the 2007 season. I guess if you’re willing to accept that faulty premise, then his selection makes sense.

I think Hurdle is more deserving, but I don’t have a huge problem with Melvin. It’s not like they gave it to Willie Randolph or something.

I also think it’s kind of funny that a guy named Melvin won the award in the same year that a guy named Wedge did. Maybe Fruit of the Loom can do a commercial with them.

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I’m not going to tell you which ones I think are wrong, but I will say that their names rhyme with Mimmy Mollins Ratt Rolliday and Posh Peckett. If you haven’t voted yet, please feel free to do the right thing.

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You thought I forgot. Go ahead, admit it. You noticed that we didn’t run a poll yesterday, and you thought that I’d forgotten about NL Manager of the Year.

Now, why would I do that?

Right, I wouldn’t. I also wouldn’t vote for anyone other than Clint Hurdle or Bob Melvin for this award. I suppose you could make a case for Charlie Manuel or Ned Yost, maybe Bud Black.

I kinda liked Willie Randolph before The Collapse (TM). Lou Piniella? Not so much for me. His bosses went out and bought the best team money could buy, and he barely managed to win a very weak division. Color me unimpressed.

Am I missing anyone? Manny Acta? I’m actually not being facetious; I could see him getting votes. The Nationals were supposed to be historically bad, but they lost only 89 games. And I guess Bobby Cox always has to be part of the equation.

But really, it comes down to Hurdle or Melvin. In my mind, Hurdle gets the nod because of preseason expectations. I had the Diamondbacks winning the NL West and the Rockies finishing fourth. Hurdle’s club outperformed my wildest expectations. The only other National League teams I can say that about are Milwaukee and Washington, neither of which reached the playoffs.

I’m going Hurdle, Melvin, Yost. How about you? Who do you like and why?

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The story so far:

• AL West
• AL Central
• AL East

First off, I’d like to thank all the spammers for their excellent suggestions. Some pretty imaginative stuff, although much of it I fear is not physically possible. But really, what are we without ambition?

To the topic at hand. Here are my preseason predictions for the NL West, annotated for your amusement:

1. Diamondbacks – I expected them to be on top, but I figured it would be on the strength of their talented young hitters. Instead, pitching has carried the day in Phoenix. What a bullpen…
2. Padres – Not a bad showing from a team whose skipper had never managed at any level before this season.
3. Dodgers – I overestimated them, although not as badly as some folks did. Injuries to Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Schmidt, and Randy Wolf really hamstrung this club. How could anyone have foreseen those guys getting hurt? Still, there isn’t much holding back the Dodgers — mainly just the front office.
4. Rockies – Wow, what a season. If they’re in the NL Central, they run away with the division. If I had a say, I’d be very tempted to cast my NL Manager of the Year vote for Clint Hurdle. This is a club that had averaged 71.8 wins a year over the previous six seasons, with a high-water mark of 76 in 2006.
5. Giants – At least they found a taker for Matt Morris.

I almost nailed this division. The Dodgers gave up at the end and Colorado went on a tear. Neither of those events could have been anticipated.

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In the National League, the divisions aren’t quite wrapped up, but they’re moving in that direction. The one race there that has gotten real muddy, thanks to a Colorado sweep of the Padres in San Diego, is the wild card. The Padres are clinging to a 1/2 game advantage over Philadelphia, while the Rockies have crept to within 1 1/2 games. If Colorado somehow reaches the post-season, how does Clint Hurdle not win Manager of the Year?

Get ready for another crazy week of baseball. I love the smell of fastballs in the morning…

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