Tuesday, July 10, 2007

MLB Awards at the Intermission: Senior Circuit

Happy Tuesday, intrepid readers! As promised, today's entry will feature the very generic Approximately-Midseason trophy presentation. Tomorrow is set in stone for the superior league of Americans and their alleged allies, but on this night the league of old timers will look down their noses at their trophy-less counterparts.

NL MVP: Prince Fielder.
One of the true gifts the sport has going for it, Fielder showed plenty of power but not enough substance during his rookie season. He came back with a vengeance, and has played a first half that can only be described as 'monstrous'. 29 home runs, 70 RBI, an on-base percentage of .376. Fielder doesn't hit the ball, he smashes it to a pulp continually and during the following at bat waits tacitly by as the wary pitcher throws all around the strike zone. The Brewer first baseman has become one of this league's most feared sluggers at the age of 23, truly doing his legendary but disassociated ancestor proud.
Runners up: Matt Holliday, Miguel Cabrera, Chase Utley.

NL Cy Young: Chris Young.
Curses and calamities! I never thought I'd see the day when I would be despondent to hand a fictional award to the Princeton grad from Highland Park. But recognizing his dominance means re-approaching the fact that he was once a Ranger and happy to be one. Young has been the best pitcher in a staff that includes the spectacular Jake Peavy, and they hold the two best Earned Run Averages in the majors. An ERA perched right at TWO. There are other stats, and they are not insubstantial. But simply examine that one for the time being: If Young pitches eight innings and surrenders a measly two plate-crossers, he's had an outing below his customary level. Gah, it simply drives me insane. But to be realistic: While I and most of my peers were very fond of CY, nobody-NOBODY-pictured him being as good as this.
Valuable Mentions: Jake Peavy, Brad Penny.

NL Rookie of the Year: Ryan Braun.
Braun is foremost amongst an extremely solid group of players this season. The third baseman has emerged as yet another awe-inspiring piece of Milwaukee's incredible infield. a .350 average, 11 home runs in 163 at bats... sweet lord, the man's even stolen eight bases. Is there anything Braun can't do? He and his partner across the diamond will form one of the most feared duos we have seen in some time.
Worth Mentioning: Chris Young the Diamondback, Hunter Pence, Chris Sampsen, Josh Hamilton, Troy Tulowitzkiwhatsit.


Good night all!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

AL MVP Vlad Guerrero?--I think A-Rod would be the MVP, because the Yankees were bound at the time for a big comeback, and as you know now, they did

he has carried the Yankees almost all year long

Or Moyal said...

True. But herein lies the glory and folly of preliminary predictions.
You can't fault me for saying that I didn't see the Yankees as a playoff team at that point of the season. If this were the case, A-Rod would be named MVP only by the total lack of a worthy candidate (as was the case once during his tenure with the Rangers).
Obviously, if I was making these predictions today, the superstar formerly positioned at shortstop would be foremost on mylist of candidates for the foremost AL award.
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