In a normal year, I would have given my mid-season MLB awards during the All-Star break; this is not a normal year by any stretch of the imagination. So, you’ll need to pardon me for being a few days late with regard to the “normal schedule”:
AL MVP: Magglio Ordonez and Alex Rodriguez are both very worthy. Anyone who says that either of these players is unworthy is not someone to be listened to. I’ll give my interim MVP award to Ordonez here by just a smidgen because his team is doing a whole lot better than A-Rod’s team.
NL MVP: Both Prince Fielder and Ryan Howard deserve serious attention here. The Phillies have been a whole lot better once Howard came back to play regularly this year. But I’ll give the interim award to Fielder simply because he’s been there all season.
AL Cy Young: Dan Haren and CC Sabathia and John Lackey deserve to be in the final discussions as you cut down the short list. I like Haren here but I won’t argue strenuously if you prefer either of the other two.
NL Cy Young: At this point, I think this has to go to Jake Peavy. Maybe you could make a case for Brad Penny but it would take a lot of convincing on your part to make me change my mind.
AL RoY: This has to be “Dice-K”. I don’t think I’d be swayed by any arguments to the contrary.
NL RoY: No one stands out here; this award will probably go to the rookie who has the best second-half of a season. Maybe the interim award should go to Hunter Pence? The fact that I feel obliged to say he is the CF for the Astros makes me believe this is not an obvious selection. And of course, the Astros aren’t doing all that well as a team either…
AL MoY: I would have chosen Mike Hargrove – but he sort of disqualified himself by resigning from the job. So, my other choice would be Eric Wedge.
NL MoY: Toss a coin between Bob Melvyn and Charlie Manuel. How can either of those teams be over .500 given the injuries and other “dramas” associated with those teams?
In other baseball news, Mark Cuban has identified himself as an interested buyer for the Chicago Cubs. David Stern is searching frantically for a rule that says an NBA owner cannot own teams in more than one sporting league – but he won’t find one since Jerry Reinsdorf has owned the Bulls and the White Sox for a long time now. But if David Stern could make a restrictive rule to force Cuban out of the NBA, my guess is that he’d do it in less than 24 seconds.
Cubs’ fans think this will be a great thing that might happen to there loveable losers. Let me say only that MLB baseball owners are a whole lot more “conservative” and “set in their ways” than are the NBA owners. So, I’m not certain that Cuban could win approval in MLB to buy a team and – truth be told – his ownership of the Mavs has taken a moribund franchise and turned it into team that “always seems to find a way to underachieve in the playoffs.” I guess Cubbies’ fans would be thrilled to be playoff regulars even if it meant “one-and-done” more years than not.
I wonder if the MLB Umpires’ Union would want Cuban in MLB. Can you imagine being an umpire assigned to a Cubs game – home or away doesn’t really matter – and knowing that Lou Piniella is in the dugout and Mark Cuban has a front row box seat? Umpires can call that “criticism in stereo” if they are feeling very polite…
I am on record that I want to get rid of All-Star Games in every major sport. I know that’s not going to happen so maybe it is time for MLB to think about getting rid of the Home Run Derby. It has gotten VERY tedious. That won’t happen either so here’s a suggestion about how to make it a lot less burdensome than the extant three-hour event:
Set up brackets – like the NCAA basketball tournament – and hold all of the match-ups through the quarterfinals in the late spring at various parks around the country or in one location where MLB can break up the action into highlight footage.
Then have only the “final four” compete in a home-run derby during the All-Star break and use the last couple of weeks of June and the time in early July to hype that contest.
To deal with the “disaster scenario”, if one of the finalists is injured, so be it. If three of the four are injured, bring in the home run leaders from all the AAA leagues and give them a shot at the title.
Maybe – I said MAYBE – that would make the Home Run Derby worth salvaging.
According to a report, Rev. Jesse Jackson said during the All-Star festivities that Barry Bonds was getting hosed by MLB with regard to all the innuendo about his assault on Hank Aaron’s record. Here is the quote from Rev. Jackson that caught my eye:
“There’s no reason to condemn him [Barry Bonds]. If you can’t prove it [performance enhancing substance use], embrace him and his record. In American justice, evidence matters.”
Memo to Reverend Jackson:
Please shut up.
You condemned publicly, loudly and repeatedly the Duke Lacrosse team for their transgressions. But now that all of those allegations have been shown to be unworthy of prosecution, you have been notably silent in your apology to those players and that institution. Until you admit that you ran your mouth in opposition to American justice where “evidence matters”, please stop assaulting our eardrums and our sensibilities with your inanities.
Thank you very much.
Finally, here’s a note from Charley Walters column in the St. Paul Pioneer-Press:
“Kent Hrbek, 47, on expectations for the August reunion with the teammates of the Twins’ 1987 World Series champions: ‘There will be beer drinking and lots of b.s., kind of like we did when we played.’ “
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports…