• Chris at Capitol Punishment examines the Nationals’ least clutch plays of the 2007 season.
• Speaking of the Nats, Harper at Oleander and Morning Glories explains why Manny Acta didn’t get serious consideration for NL Manager of the Year.
• Erik at Philliesflow wonders why Jimmy Rollins won the NL Silver Slugger at shortstop over Florida’s Hanley Ramirez. Remember, this is a Phillies blogger asking the question.
• Will at Chop-n-Change looks at the best ever to play left field for the Braves.
• Alex at Mets Geek marvels at the success Tom Glavine has enjoyed over the years despite never having great stuff.

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Post from: Knuckle Curve

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.

Post from: Knuckle Curve

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?

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?

Post from: Knuckle Curve

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.

Post from: Knuckle Curve

First off, the American League West:

1. Angels – They’ve won the division, as expected. The team from Anaheim still has a chance to finish with the best record in all of baseball; that’s good because I also picked the Angels to win the World Series.
2. Rangers – What was I thinking? Probably that their offense couldn’t be too bad in that park. Sammy Sosa is a feel-good story. Well, sort of… I guess. The rotation is terrible; I expected better out of Kevin Millwood and Brandon McCarthy, which probably was a mistake.
3. A’s – How bad would they be if they hadn’t traded Mark Mulder for Danny Haren? Re-acquiring Jack Cust was a shrewd move, as was finally dumping Jason Kendall. This is a smart organization; it shouldn’t take long for them to get back on top.
4. Mariners – They’ll finish with a winning record, which is amazing. Steady production throughout the lineup, mediocre rotation, stellar bullpen. If Mike Hargrove hadn’t unexpectedly stepped down mid-season, I’d give him strong consideration for Manager of the Year.

I feel pretty good about the Angels and A’s picks, but totally bombed on the other two. Ah well, maybe the AL Central will be better…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

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…

Post from: Knuckle Curve