Saturday, March 1, 2008

Halfway Point-AL Midseason Awards

Now that I have made enemies in many NL cities, onto the AL!

MVP (Most Valuable Player): Gregg Black, Nashville
- Pretty easy choice, as Black leads the AL in the following categories: average(.412), runs(79), triples(8), RBIs(99), walks(79), on-base percentage(.533), slugging average(.832) and OPS (1.365). He's 3rd in the league in hits (113) and doubles (24) and has also hit 25 home runs and stolen 23 bases. He happens to also be a solid defensive 2B and wins the best mustache in the league award.

Also receving consideration: King Winn (New York), Paxton Forrest (Nashville), Davey Barrios (Durham), Bob Koplove(Huntington), and Alex Vasquez (Los Angeles)

LVP (Least Valuable Player): Clark Johnstone, Ottawa
- The Naughty Kitties have been pretty tame following a hot start. Johnstone has helped to lead the charge(?) with a .244 average, which isn't terrible, but not great either. The problem is his .329 on base percentage and his (this is not a misprint) .306 slugging percentage. There aren't too many first basemen who have a slugging percentage this low, and it doesn't help that the average glacier could outrun him to first base. He's played in 80 games and managed to drive in only 17 runs.

Also receiving consideration: Randy Ferguson (Huntington), Harvey Wiltsie(Colorado Springs), Sammy DaSilva (Vancouver)

Cy Young: Steven Tucker, Las Vegas
- This was similar to the NL, with 6 or 7 guys with legitimate claims at this point, but I'll take Tucker. He has an amazing 11-1 record with a 2.93 ERA (7th in the AL). The key stats are his league-leading WHIP (0.93) and his SO-BB ratio of almost 5-1, which leads to the low WHIP. He is a big reason why Gamblers fans are dreaming of big things in the playoffs.

Also receiving consideration: Philip Ainsworth, Albert Gonzalez (Monterrey), Ham Bruske (Nashville), Ajax Drabek (Los Angeles), Tom Beltran (Louisville)

Cy Yuck: Tie, Clarence Forsch and Torey Fernandez, Baltimore

- Baltimore's 24-57 record has truly been a team effort, so why shouldn't this award go to two members of the staff? It was just too tough to decide between Forsch (26 starts, 2-17, 12.34 ERA, 41 HRs, 2.31 WHIP, 106 BB, 63 SO) and Fernandez (13 games, 6 starts, 0-7, 18.04 ERA, 31 HRs, 3.21 WHIP, 87 BB, 2 SO). Fernandez's numbers are worse, but Forsch gets extra points for being consistently awful every 5 days. In the non-Baltimore division, Ottawa's Brad Clapp beats out recently dealt from Pawtucket Pete Rubel.

Also receiving consideration: Clapp (Ottawa), Rubel (Pawtucket), Glen Bergen (Baltimore)

Most surprising team: Cleveland Skidmarks
- The Skidmarks don't have a lot of pitching talent on paper, but they have the 2nd best ERA in the AL behind Monterrey and this is a big part of why they are still in the wild card race at 45-36. If they are 2nd in ERA at the end of the year, they could be printing playoff tickets.

Most disappointing team: Baltimore Iron Birds
- They've lost 37 of their last 39 games. They have a team ERA over 10. What else needs to be said?

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