Larry on baseball writers:

I commend you for your restraint, Geoff. Baseball writers have been so wretched they shouldn’t have a say in ANY post-season awards OR the HOF.

Go to the HOF site and see what the writers have done since 1936. The first ballot was tough, with Cobb, Ruth, Honus Wagner, Hornsby and Walter Johnson on the ballot.

400-game winner Johnson got in, but 500-game winner Cy Young didn’t. He got in the next year, in 1937 – with 76%. Imagine, 24% of writers didn’t think Cy Young belonged in the Hall.

Honus Wagner and his 8 batting titles and .327 lifetime average got in, but Hornsby’s 7 NL titles and .358 average got less than half the vote. I guess they forgot about his three .400 seasons or his two triple crowns.

Hornsby not only didn’t get in, he was dropped from the ballot in ‘37. He got back on in ‘38 and got 19% of the vote. He was finally voted into the Hall in 1942, with 78% of the vote.

The writers have been stiffs since day one. You were much too kind, Geoff.

Rain Delay on Seattle’s managerial situation:

The Mariners are under .500 with John Mclaren at the helm. You’d think all of the time as he spent as Lou’s bench coach he would’ve learned, something… heck anything…

I pray that he’s not hired on for 2008.

Sorry, bud; next time pray harder.

Vegas Watch on the Arizona Diamondbacks:

In looking back at various preseason predictions, I think it’s interesting that everybody was so wrong about the Diamondbacks, but ended up being right (if that makes sense).

As you said, the young hitters didn’t come through, as they’re third to last in the NL in R/G. The pitching ended up carrying them – third in the NL in ERA.

That adds up to about an average team, but of course they completely outperformed their Pythag record. I doubt there has ever been a team that has ended up being this different from people’s expectations, yet finishes (potentially) right where everybody expected.

Joe Ruiz on classic rock:

If I hear Foghat during the next commercial, I’m switching to Gameday Audio.

Derrick on Jimmy Rollins for MVP:

J-Roll has put up historical numbers from the lead off spot. He also should win the Gold Glove. Holliday is not a leader the way that Jimmy Rollins is. Nor is he the defensive player that Rollins is. The MVP is the single player that helps their own team to win and to hold that team together. J-Roll backs up what he says. Have you guys heard of Super Bowl III? Great players back it up on the field. No player in baseball has held a team together like Jimmy has this year.

BV on the AL Cy Young race:

Other than the fact that Josh Beckett has one more win than CC How can anyone build a legit case that Beckett deserves the CY… CC should win in a landslide…

And there you have it…

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A nation yawns. Or it would, if it could summon the enthusiasm.

Thursday’s contest at Jacobs Field (first pitch, 5 p.m. PT) features a rematch of Game 1 starters and leading Cy Young candidates C.C. Sabathia and Josh Beckett. For Boston, the equation is simple: win or go home for the winter.

For the Indians, it’s more like win or go to Boston’s home for two more games. I’m thinking they’d prefer Door #1.

The Red Sox pounded Sabathia in the series opener. Could that happen again? Sure, but they’d best not count on it. Time for Beckett to pitch the game of his life…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Either way, Arizona lost the game Brandon Webb started, which creates serious problems for the rest of the series. Friday night’s game (first pitch 7 p.m. PT) features slop-balling left-hander Doug Davis and young flamethrower Ubaldo Jimenez. If Jimenez is on his game (anyone’s guess given his lack of experience), he should have little trouble with Arizona’s hitters. Davis, as is his custom, will be perfectly average in all respects.

Over in the American League, we have a great pitching matchup. The Indians are in Boston for Game 1 of the ALCS. First pitch is at 4 p.m. PT. The two leading candidates for AL Cy Young hook up in this one — C. C. Sabathia and Josh Beckett. Holy smokes, I was just looking at Sabathia’s numbers against left-handers this year: .203/.229/.317, with 75 strikeouts against 4 walks.

Looking for a weakness in either guy’s game? Check out — scratch that, there are none. If you love great pitching (as do I), you’re in for a treat.

Happy Friday, folks, and happy watching!

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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.

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Happy Monday, and welcome to our latest poll. Manager of the Year is always a tricky one for me. What criteria should we use to determine the winner? If we look only at total victories, we ignore factors such as improvement from one season to the next. If we consider improvement from one season to the next, but overlook the fact that management spent an obscene amount of money to put itself in that position, we still miss a big part of the picture.

I usually try to balance overall performance with what our expectations were of a given team coming into the season. For example, in the National League, even though the Cubs improved greatly from 2006 to 2007, it was hardly surprising given all the high-profile moves they made over the winter to help enhance their chances of reaching the postseason.

In the American League, I like Cleveland’s Eric Wedge. This is mostly due to the fact that I badly misjudged the Indians’ chances in ‘07. Many others expected them to do well, and perhaps I should have been one of them. Instead, I had them finishing fourth in the AL Central and they made the playoffs.

The rest of the pack is tough, because no-one really surprised me in a good way. As I’ve said before, if Mike Hargrove hadn’t left the Mariners, I think he’d deserve strong consideration. Beyond that, I’m not sure.

But enough about me. Who gets your vote, and why?

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• Yankees at Indians, 2:00 p.m. PT — Andy Pettitte has the postseason experience (18-6, 4.08 ERA over 34 starts), but Fausto Carmona has been a monster in ‘07. One relative weakness of Carmona is his record against left-handed batters. Granted, most pitchers would kill for a .275/.333/.377 line against anyone, but if you’re looking for something that the Yankees might be able to exploit, this is as good a bet as any. Pettitte, meanwhile, stumbled down the stretch, posting a 5.86 ERA over 35 1/3 innings in September.
• Angels at Red Sox, 5:30 p.m. PT — Kelvim Escobar faces Daisuke Matsuzaka in this one. Escobar was a serious Cy Young contender headed into the season’s final month before bonking hard. Matsuzaka didn’t fare much better toward the end. Both of these guys posted ERAs well north of 6.00 over their final seven starts. It’s a testament to their offense that the Red Sox can afford to run a complete non-entity at shortstop every day. The big question for the Angels is which Escobar shows up today. If it’s the guy who dominated AL batters for the first five months of the season, they should be in good shape. If not…

Happy watching!

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Let’s see what in store for Thursday, shall we?

• Rockies at Phillies, 12 noon PT — Dropping Game 1 at home with Cole Hamels puts Philadelphia in a very uncomfortable position. Rookie Kyle Kendrick put up a nice ERA and win totals, but his complete inability to throw the ball past hitters could present a serious problem against the Rockies, who tend to hit the ball hard when they make contact. Another rookie, the even younger and less battle tested Franklin Morales, goes for Colorado. (When is the last time two guys age 22 or younger faced off in a playoff game?) Morales held left-handed batters to a .129/.206/.226 line this year. It’s a tiny sample, so who knows how telling this will be, but — well, I was going to note that the Phillies’ lineup is stacked with lefties, but despite that fact, they actually hit southpaws a little better. Eh, rookie pitchers. Who knows.
• Yankees at Indians, 3:30 p.m. PT — Two pitchers with identical 19-7 records square off in Cleveland. One of them is a leading candidate for Cy Young, while the other benefits from 7.04 runs per game behind him. The Yankees scored 968 runs this year, which is obscene. They’ve gotten well above average production from every position except center field, where they’ve been merely okay. To say that C.C. Sabathia will have his hands full would be to grossly understate the situation. Cleveland’s offense is pretty solid as well, but it has holes — notably at second base and in the corner outfield spots. Guess we’ll find out whether good pitching really does beat good hitting…
• Cubs at Diamondbacks, 7 p.m. PT — Arizona won a battle of the bullpens in the opener. Two left-handers hook up in Game 2: Ted Lilly and the eminently average (75-75 career record, 104 ERA+) Doug Davis. The latter tends to put guys on base via the walk (90+ each of the past three seasons), but the Cubs tend not to draw walks. Only Derrek Lee (71) and Mark DeRosa (58) had as many as 50 in 2007. Among National League teams, only the Pirates drew fewer bases on balls. Irresistible force, immovable object…

Happy watching!

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• Rockies at Phillies, 12 noon PT — I’ve rambled at length about this series over at Hardball Times. Cole Hamels starts the opener against Jeff Francis. It’s hard to call Game 1 of any series a must-win, but the Phillies need to win behind Hamels to have any shot; the rest of their pitching staff is very suspect, and even their high-octane offense might not be able to overcome a loss today.
• Angels at Red Sox, 3:30 p.m. PT — John Lackey goes up against Josh Beckett in this one. Two legitimate Cy Young contenders. Lackey is 4-1 with a 1.92 ERA over his last seven starts. Small sample, but I love that he’s averaging 7 1/3 innings per start over that stretch. David Ortiz had a monster second half (.352/.458/.695) for Boston. Geez, the Red Sox as a team outscored opponents by 121 runs after the All-Star break. That’s sort of disgusting.
• Cubs at Diamondbacks, 7 p.m. PT — Chicago and its $300 million winter shopping spree squeak into the playoffs, while Arizona looks to become the second team ever (’87 Twins) to win the World Series despite having a negative run differential during the regular season. Carlos Zambrano and perennial Cy Young candidate Brandon Webb hook up in the opener. Both of these teams have better pitching staffs than you might realize. The question is whether any of the Diamondbacks bats come to life in October. These are certainly not the best two teams in the postseason, but they are well matched and in some respects, this might be the most fascinating series.

There you go. Happy watching…

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We’re getting crazy with the postseason awards polls (NL MVP, AL MVP, AL Cy Young so far). Did I say crazy? Okay, would you believe mildly enthusiastic?

My preseason pick was Houston’s Roy Oswalt. He had a nice season, but by my estimation he’s a borderline top 5 guy and has no chance whatsoever at winning the award. Still, I think he’s a good guess most years, even if San Diego’s Jake Peavy gets my vote for ‘07.

But enough about me. Who would you choose, and why?

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We’ve talked about the AL Cy Young here and here, but I’m thinking maybe it’s time for a poll? After all, we are having so much fun with the NL (write-in candidate Jimmy Rollins has overtaken Matt Holliday and David Wright) and AL MVP award polls.

My preseason pick? I went with the pack and chose Johan Santana. Right now, I’d say that if one of the guys from Cleveland (C.C. Sabathia, Fausto Carmona) doesn’t win it, there’s a problem. But I could be wrong.

What do you think? Feel free to leave comments supporting your choice if you’re so inclined…

Post from: Knuckle Curve