Major League Baseball concluded its regular season last Sunday, and the playoffs began Tuesday. Soon enough the Baseball Writers Association of America will award its annual awards. In light of the upcoming awards, I have decided to take my best shot at giving out the League MVPs, Cy Youngs and Manager of the Year awards.
American League MVP\nThe definition of an MVP is supposed to be the most valuable player to his respective team. Lots of people argue that the award should be exclusive to players on playoff bound teams, but this year lacked a stellar player on any American League playoff team. Therefore, Carlos Delgado should collect his first MVP award. Sure Delgado was a star for the third place Blue Jays, but his 42 home runs were second best in the AL. His 145 runs batted in led the league and were 27 more than Alex Rodriguez in second place, and he was fourth in runs scored with 117. Delgado posted these stats with a .302 batting average and all while getting walked 109 times. If it were not for Delgado's offense, the Blue Jays would not have been in the AL postseason race into the mid summer.
American League Cy Young\nWhere would the Boston Red Sox be without Pedro Martinez? The simplest answer is: not in the playoffs. While Martinez's win statistics do not match those of his counterparts, he was second in the AL in strikeouts, first in earned run average, and first in opponents' batting average. Martinez was also the only double-digit game winner in the AL to give up fewer than 15 home runs to opponents, not to mention that he did so in the hitter-friendly Fenway Park. Martinez would likely have paralleled his opposing AL aces in victories if it was not for the Boston bullpen, which, before it came together late in the season, blew nine leads that were given to them by Pedro.
American League Manager of the Year\nThis should be a no-brainer: Tony Pena of the Kansas City Royals. No one expected the Royals to even pose a threat in the AL Central this season, yet with, at best, the third most talent in the division, they led in the standings for much of the year. A record of 51-41 at the All-Star break had the Royals battling down to the last couple of weeks before falling to a surging Twins team. It was the Royals' first winning season since 1994 as they finished with an 83-79 mark.
National League MVP\nIt seems like the perennial and easy pick that Barry Bonds should collect his sixth NL MVP award, but this should not be Bonds' year. Bonds' minor injuries and missing games due to the death of his father cost him 32 games and possibly another MVP. The St. Louis Cardinals' Albert Pujols deserves the MVP after leading the NL in batting average. He was tied with Bonds for second in home runs and was fourth in RBIs. Pujols made a push at the Triple Crown before tailing off near the end of the season after carrying the Cardinals on his back through July and August. Pujols' 30-game hitting streak in the mid-summer was the longest by a Cardinal since 1950, and he became just the fifth player all-time to put together a 30-game hitting streak and hit 30 home runs in the same season.
National League Cy Young\nIt is rare for a closer to win the Cy Young Award, as the last was Dennis Eckersley in 1992 and the last NL closer to win the award was Mark Davis in 1989. Despite impressive seasons by the Cubs' Mark Prior and Braves' Russ Ortiz, the Cy Young should go to Eric Gagne, the closer for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Gagne collected 55 saves on the year while posting 137 strike-outs in just 82 1/3 innings pitched. His ERA of 1.20 is nearly unheard of for a relief pitcher. Even more impressive, 23 of Gagne's saves came in one-run situations as he also set a Major League record by recording 63 consecutive saves without blowing a save.
National League Manager of the Year\nFew people expected the Florida Marlins to make the playoffs heading into the 2003 season, and I would bet no one expected them to do it with 72-year-old Jack McKeon at the helm. McKeon was hired as Marlins manager May 11, after the team fired Jeff Torborg. After McKeon took over, the Marlins were a whopping 26 games over .500 and finished the season as the NL Wild Card team and a 91-71 record. McKeon led a young and exuberant bunch of players to the playoffs and have a chance to make a run like the 1997 Wild Card Marlins did to the World Series title.
