Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Nov 4

My computer and I have something in common...we both have some kind of virus...

-Sometimes people look too deep into stats to justify giving a big-name star an award...MVPs, Silver Sluggers, Rookie of the Years and alike are offensive awards...you've never heard of an MVP that won the award because of his defense.  The only award for defense is the Gold Glove.  And offense should have NOTHING to do with it.

-Case and point - American League Catcher...Gerald Laird is the Gold Glove Award winner for catchers in the AL.  This season, he had a .997 fielding percentage (1st in the AL), played 135 games (1st in the AL), BY FAR caught the most runners trying to steal (42...next highest - Posada 31...PS - Mauer 19), made only 3 errors (tied for 1st with Mauer...but played 26 more games) and had 78 assists (1st in AL - Mauer 31).  Mauer will win the AL Gold Glove for catchers - because of the love-in he gets from sports writers across the country, bigger star power and the fact that he will win the AL MVP as well.  But with the glove, the award is not Joe's...it's Gerald's...and it's obvious when you look at these numbers.

Here's the way the list of winners SHOULD read out - from stats alone:

AL

C - Gerald Laird, Detroit
1B - Paul Konerko, White Sox
2B - Placido Polanco, Detroit
3B - Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay
SS - Derek Jeter, New York
OF - Jason Bay, Boston...David DeJesus, Kansas City...Torii Hunter, Anaheim
P - Brett Anderson, Oakland

NL

C - Yadier Molina, St. Louis
1B - Adam LaRoche, Atlanta
2B - David Eckstein, San Diego
3B - Kevin Kouzmanoff, San Diego
SS - Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia
OF - Jeff Francoeur, New York Mets...Shane Victorino, Philadelphia...Matt Kemp, Los Angeles
P - Matt Cain, San Francisco

Keepin Vitamin C in business!

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