Midseason Baseball Awards

I meant to post this like two weeks ago. Oops. do not take into account anything that has happened since the All-Star Break.

We all know that Major League Baseball writers will not pass out their awards until October when they do it over the course of a two week period, but that does not mean I cannot hand out my first-half awards.

American League Rookie of the Year

If Carlos Santana was called up by Cleveland sooner than June, he might be a more serious contender to win the award. For now, I will go with Detroit Tigers Outfielder Brennan Boesch. He was named the AL Rookie of the month for the first two months of the season and is hitting a sparkling .342 with 12 home runs and 49 RBI’s. He trails the AL batting title by only .004 heading into the break and is sure to be a contender for the title if he holds up down the stretch.

National League Rookie of the Year

This is actually a very tough call and it has come down to two guys for me that have not even been in the Major Leagues the entire season: Buster Posey and Stephen Strasburg. In just 38 games, Posey has hit .350 with 7 home runs and 25 RBI’s. Strasburg has been for the most part dominant. In his first start, he struck out 14 Pirates (yeah, I know it’s the Pirates but still, he also walk zero batters!). Overall he is 3-2, with a 2.32 ERA with a ridiculous 61 strikeouts and 11 walks in just 42.2 innings. Don’t forget about that 1.01 WHIP. For now, I’ll go with Strasburg. Apologies to Jaime Garcia and Stephen Strasburg

American League Manager of the Year

Over the last 30 games, The Chicago White Sox are 25-5 and have vaulted into first place in the AL Central; however, the AL Central is always a division up for grabs. What nobody really expected this year was for The Texas Rangers to be leading the AL West at the All-Star Break; therefore, Ron Washington gets my vote at Texas (for now).

National League Manager of the Year

There are a lot of fresh faces at the top of divisions in the National League, but none more phenomenal to me than The San Diego Padres. Bud Black has done a tremendous job getting the Padres to a 51-37 record and two game lead in the NL West despite their shortcomings. Exactly what shortcomings? Well, for one, The Padres hit .250 as a team which is 25th out of 30 Major League Teams. How do you overcome that? Well, a league-leading 3.25 ERA does not hurt, as the Padres pitching staff has been the backbone of this team since Opening Day. For the Padres to contend down the stretch, I still think they need to get another bat in their lineup, especially to provide protection to Adrian Gonzalez (I mean seriously, why does anyone pitch to this guy? His protection is Scott Hairston who hits an incredible .241!)

American League Cy Young Award

Lot of good candidates out there, but right now Tampa Bay’s David Price is tied for the league lead in wins (12) and is the leading ERA man (2.45 ERA). Combine that with a 1.20 WHIP and 100 strikeouts in 115.1 IP and you have yourself a Cy Young Award winner.






National League Cy Young Award winner

You tell me.

Ubaldo Jimenez 15-1, 2.20 ERA, 1.05 WHIP
Josh Johnson 9-3, 1.70 ERA, 0.96 WHIP
Adam Wainwright 13-5, 2.11 ERA, 1.00 WHIP
Roy Halladay 10-7, 2.19 ERA, 1.05 WHIP

I do not even know where to begin. It is very hard to overlook the 15-1 record though. It’s Jimenez for now, but this race is on.

American League MVP

The Detroit Tigers trail the AL Central by ½ game heading into the break. A big reason why is Miguel Cabrera. He leads the AL in hitting (.346), RBI’s (77) and is only 2 jacks off the home run lead. Can you say Triple Crown? That’s more than enough to override the credentials of the other contenders in this category.

National League MVP

Adrian Gonzalez (Please see above under NL Manager of the Year category)

I know the Padres backbone is their star studded pitching staff, but there is no way in hell they are in first place or even contending with Adrian Gonzalez, who somehow is hitting .301 with 18 home runs and 56 RBI’s with no legitimate hitters in front of him, or behind him.

Open Championship Preview

Saint Andrews takes it turn in hosting The 150th or whatever they are on Open Championship (British Open to us U.S. Americans) on Thursday. Many classify Saint Andrews as “The Home of Golf.” I did not think growing up that the home of golf would be a place that is full of 40 mph cross-winds, dramatic temperature changes, and storms that develop without warning, but that is what golf historians tell me, so I will go with it. To me, golf is supposed to be played in nice, warm weather, with courses that do not look like they have been subject to 25 atomic bombs, but once a year, golf’s best gather overseas to decide who will win the third major golf championship of the year. So, here is a preview of things will transpire in this Open Championship.

-Some Euro will contend for The Open Championship on Sunday, not win, and we will never hear from him again.

Now, this happens at many majors, but it always seems like it happens at The Open Championship. Heck, even Europeans that win the Open (Paul Lawrie) are forgotten. Remember Lawrie? The guy who won the Open because Jean Van De Velde decided he did not want to? Considering most people who follow golf have probably already forgot the name of Gregory Havret (remember him? If not Google him), I do not have a doubt we will hear one name for the first and last time this weekend.

-Phil Mickelson will not win

OK, yeah, I know I said Phil Mickelson would not win The Masters, but at least now I have statistics to back this up. Mickelson has never done that well at The Open Championship. His best finish was 3rd in 2004 when he finished one shot back of Todd Hamilton and Ernie Els (Hamilton won in a playoff). His next best finish was a tie for 11th in 2000 and a tie for 19th in 2008. Last year Mickelson skipped the event to care for his wife, who was battling breast cancer (and still is); however, even if his wife Amy was healthy, I doubt he would have contended.

-Tiger Woods will contend

Tiger has done pretty well in majors this year and not so much else. However, he loves Saint Andrews and dominates the course. I cannot imagine not being in contention on Sunday. The one thing to watch out for is Tiger introducing a new putter for the first time. Most hardcore golf fans know that Tiger’s putting has slipped in recent years, which has prevented him from catching further up to Jack Nicklaus for most career majors.

-I (and a lot of people) will watch The Open Championship on Saturday or Sunday morning or both with a massive hangover.

I cannot really decide how I feel about morning sports events, but they suck if you are recovering for a hangover. I may have to end up DVR and starting from the beginning based on how blasted I get on Friday or Saturday night. Especially now since the city of Omaha has extended the bar time until 2a.m. and that goes into effect tomorrow. This is the one time of the year I wish I lived on the East Coast so I could get that extra hour of sleep.

-TV Cameras will have trouble picking up where the ball is.

Unless something changed from last year, ESPN will broadcast the event but they will not run the cameras. The BBC traditionally has done a poor job with their cameras and I do not expect to change this year. However, one thing you will be able to do is get up at 3a.m. to watch First-Round action. Now if only Augusta National would give us full TV coverage like that.