YFSF

Verlander Voted Most Valuable

Justin Verlander wins the MVP to go with his Cy Young, while Jacoby Ellsbury (gerbil's MFRS) got the runner up. I was on the fence whether it should be Ellsbury or Verlander and can not argue with either choice. Jim Ingraham of The Herald-News in Ohio left Verlander off his MVP ballot entirely (and explains his position in the linked article.

I don't get omitting Verlander altogether. There are 10 other major-league players more valuable than he was? Pete Abraham provides an interesting read as he explains his MVP ballot.

Harmon Killebrew

A quiet, friendly Titan.  '59 to 69, something untold except for the Babe.

Alomar, Blyleven Inducted

Congratulations to Cooperstown's two most recent inductees. No love for Rock, though.

Don't Know Jack

The increasingly acrimonious debate over the Hall of Fame seems to have grown in intensity yet again this year, with Jack Morris once again taking center stage. A good forum for addressing the tenor and scope of the debate this year is Tyler Kepner's recent New York Times column, which attempts to at least be fair to both sides while reaching completely the wrong conclusion.

The Official Paul-SF HOF Ballot

Because it matters oh, so much.

A couple caveats: I'm a large-Hall guy, so I usually fill up all 10 spots, and I value peak more heavily perhaps than the typical voter. It's how I balance the "fame" aspect of the Hall with the more objective career value considerations. But one great season amid a non-excellent career (Maris, for example) doesn't do it for me either.

You can check out the eligibles, ranked by WAR, at Baseball-Reference.

They'll surprise you. Alomar is all but certain to be elected this year, yet he's only tied for ninth, and several of the guys considered borderline outrank him: Walker, Edgar Martinez, Trammell, Raines. Bagwell is second only to Blyleven. He should be inducted. But just having a great WAR doesn't necessarily cut it if a lot of other players at your position also had a great WAR, so let's take a look at some of these guys.

Pete Abraham's HOF Ballot

From Extra Bases on boston.com:

My first Hall of Fame ballot was submitted today. As promised, here is who I voted for:

Roberto Alomar
Bert Blyleven
Barry Larkin
Alan Trammell
Tim Raines

PA says that Alomar is the only sure-fire HOFer. Personally, I'm convinced that Raines should be considered a no-brainer for induction as well. That is not an issue with the article — since Pete voted for him — but for some reason that I can't put my finger on, I think I will be really pissed off if Raines doesn't get voted in. The math backs it up well enough. Heck, he deserves a slot just for his career OBP+SB. But maybe it was the collusion. Maybe its that he did a huge chunk of his best work in a part of another country that doesn't want to speak English. Maybe it is the lack of forgiveness many have for his admitted substance abuse.

All I know is Vote Rock.

Lunch Money, Yes, Let's Have That.

From the "Pen is mightier than the Saber" department...

Did writers bully other writers? Does math+baseball=bandwagon?  I don't know the pressures faced by a writer at a newspaper, but I do know that the great thing about math is that it is an open-door party with no velvet ropes.  Come on in and have a seat, or a pulpit.  No rope.  There is a caveat: you have to accept that a lot of people do a lot of work to bring you those numbers.  It's the same barrier you accept when you start writing analyses of games you aren't playing (or watching) in the first place.  It is physically impossible for any one person to watch every pitch of every game played.  It can't be done.  Instead, we have lots of people that put results together and use math to try to make those numbers relevant.  What are you going to do with this bounty?

Take note of the use of the word "trendy", in Phil Rogers' quote, as if some day this "trend" of open, peer-reviewed statistical analysis and inclusive debate about the evaluation of talent will abate. I pine for those days as a young baseball fan when I eagerly awaited for the Times-Union final edition because the morning paper didn't have the west coast games' box scores.  I assumed that there was a network of trust regarding reporting and that "top people" were delivering this information via the papers. That's the only way that until the invention of cable, games west of Chicago were not considered a complete fabrication.  Gimme some more of that, and less information, and less conversation. And turn off the lights at Wrigley.

And every time someone links to Murray Chass' not-a-blog, a kitten gets eaten by a weasel.

Are You Not Entertained?

King Felix tore up the league this year in spite of the fact that he had no run support from what can only be described as the worst offense in the history of the universe.  Okay, maybe not the WHOLE universe.  Let's just say Felix was awesome; too bad the Mariners couldn't do more with that stellar performance.  Congratulations to Felix Hernandez, Cy Young winner.

Rumour has it that MLB Managers and Executives Kill Puppies...

... because they can't kill Chase Utley.

2010 Senior Circuit GG-ers:

1 Bronson Arroyo, Reds
2 Yadier Molina, Cardinals
3 Albert Pujols, Cardinals
4 Brandon Phillips, Reds
5 Scott Rolen, Cardinals
6 Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies
789 Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies
789 Michael Bourn, Astros
789 Shane Victorino, Phillies


That said, Brandon Phillips is a fine, durable fielder.

Meaningless Accolades: AL GGs

Gulp. This is going to get rough.

Catcher: Joe Mauer, Twins (Matt Wieters was better)
First base: Mark Teixeira, Yankees (Lyle Overbay by a mile)
Second base: Robinson Cano, Yankees (They got this one right, Robi was phenomenal)
Third base: Evan Longoria, Rays (okay, that's not bad, but Brandon Inge was better)
Shortstop: Derek Jeter, Yankees. Wait a sec.. Let me think about it.. (?WTF?) Maybe I got hit in the head recently. Oh yeah, I did. Let me think about it some more (!!!WTFF!!!) I guess he "turned it on" in a contract year, or someone else might have, but I don't get another gg for dj. Don't get fooled by FP as Jeter won it because he made only 6 errors on the balls HE COULD GET TO.. the rest rolled/rocketed by a diving... this *is* a defense evaluation, isn't it?-- anyway, should have been Alexei Ramirez or Cliff Pennington
Outfield: Carl Crawford, Rays (Okay, that's fine, but Juan Pierre played 1330 innings and made only *1* error, and recorded 307 POs)
Outfield: Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners (yep. f****ing amazing baseball player. Truly *BRILLIANT*, and we're just talking defense, AREN'T WE??? but this guy is both offense and defense) Who would be surprised if he wins five more Gloves? Not me.
Outfield: Franklin Gutierrez, Mariners (can't argue with it, but Adam Jones and Upton might have been a better pick
Pitcher: Mark Buehrle, White Sox (who cares I guess, but I'd pick Fausto Carmona or more accurately, *suppressing desire to evacuate gastric tract* Carl Pavano — Ick.. writing that tastes like I just crapped in my own mouth)

I like Losing Playoffs Season more than Winning Meaningless Awards Season.