If I had a vote that counted for anything, mine would have been for Sabathia. He and Beckett put up very similar numbers this year, but Sabathia pitched about 40 more innings. Here are the top 10 pitching win shares totals in the AL for 2007:

1. Sabathia 23.7
2. Carmona 22.6
3. John Lackey 22.0
4. Javier Vazquez 19.6
5. Dan Haren 19.0
6. Erik Bedard 18.7
7. Beckett 18.6
8. Kelvim Escobar 18.3
9. J.J. Putz 18.2
10. Johan Santana 18.1

Not that win shares are the end-all and be-all, but still. And how sick is it that in a down season, Santana still ranks among the top 10?

Anyway, congratulations to C.C. Sabathia. Nicely done…

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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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Heh. I suppose 11 strikeouts over eight innings qualifies.

Now we have a day off (on a Friday, so I can watch Stargate Atlantis in real time) before the series returns to Boston. That is a place the Indians did not want to go.

The good news is they’ve split in Fenway once before in this series. The bad news is, well, asking them to do that twice in the span of a 10 days might be a bit much.

If the Indians are planning to make a sacrifice to Jobu, now would be a real good time…

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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…

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Kenny Lofton provided the big blow in Game 3 with his two-out, two-run homer off Daisuke Matsuzaka in the second. Lofton apparently didn’t get the memo that it’s no longer 1995.

On the other side, Boston desperately needs someone other than Josh Beckett to pitch a good game. Tim Wakefield will be the latest to try.

The good news is that Wakefield won 17 games during the regular season. The bad news is that he wasn’t needed in the ALDS and hasn’t pitched since September 29. The knuckleball is a “feel pitch,” so it will be interesting to see how three weeks of rest affects Wakefield’s command.

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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.

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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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Like everyone else, Stark has San Diego’s Jake Peavy and Arizona’s Brandon Webb in the top two slots in the National League. Nice to see Stark also recognize what Aaron Harang is accomplishing on a very bad Cincinnati team.

I still think Dodgers closer Takashi Saito belongs in the discussion. Lefties are hitting just .194/.239/.311 against him this year. They are the lucky ones: right-handers are batting — I can hardly write this — .117/.170/.160. Saito has fanned 71 batters and allowed 47 total bases. That’s not quite vintage Eric Gagne, but it’s mighty impressive.

Over in the American League, the situation remains muddy. I’m with Stark on Chien-Ming Wang; I don’t see how that guy is even in the discussion. Then again, he finished second in the voting last season despite mostly pedestrian numbers. Put Harang on the Yankees and he’d win 20, no problem.

I’m also not sure that Cleveland’s C.C. Sabathia has as decided an advantage over Boston’s Josh Beckett as Stark seems to think. Beyond the media hype that will accompany Beckett because of the team he plays for, the guy has had a fantastic season. (So has Kelvim Escobar, with much less fanfare.)

Who do I think should win? Peavy and probably Sabathia (unless something weird happens over the next couple weeks). Who do I think will win? I don’t have a lot of faith in the writers: I’ll say Webb and Beckett.

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American League

• Blue Jays at Red Sox, 4:05 p.m. PT — Blue and red, birds and items of clothing, two really good pitchers. This game has it all. Roy Halladay’s been kicking butt for several years now, ever since he reinvented himself in 2001, but what’s gotten into Josh Beckett? I know he’s always had the stuff; now, gulp, he’s actually using it. Walks down, strikeouts up, keeping the ball in the yard, entering his prime. That’s a little frightening, no?
• Mariners at Yankees, 4:05 p.m. PT — I don’t like watching pitchers who can’t throw the ball past guys, but this one’s got playoff implications. I’ll set the over/under on total number of strikeouts in this game at 11, mainly because I expect Seattle’s bullpen to get a lot of work in support of Horacio Ramirez. Also, Ichiro Suzuki, probably this generation’s best example of how it is possible to be both great and overrated, has now recorded at least 200 hits in each of his first seven big-league seasons.

National League

• Dodgers at Cubs, 5:05 p.m. PT — One of these two teams likely will reach the playoffs. Thanks to divisional alignments, it probably won’t be the better team. Steve Trachsel — he of the historically bad K/BB ratio — gets the start for Chicago, which is almost reason enough not to watch this game.
• Padres at Diamondbacks, 6:40 p.m. PT — Yeah, I’m calling this one again. It’s the tightest race in baseball right now. Was a time when Chris Young was automatic, but he’s 0-2 with a 5.48 ERA over his past four starts after opening the season at 9-3, 1.82. Control has been a problem since he missed a couple starts due to oblique and back injuries. Young is averaging 6.33 walks per 9 innings over those last four starts. Doug “The Most Average Pitcher in Baseball” Davis (74-74 career record, 104 ERA+) goes for Arizona, which seeks to reclaim a share of first place in the NL West.

One game? Toronto at Boston features the best pitching matchup, while San Diego at Arizona has the biggest playoff implications. Hey, why limit yourself to one game — watch ‘em both!

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