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2012 MLB Awards

By Anonymous - Posted on 27 September 2012

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As the season comes to an end, not only is the playoff chase heating up, but so is the race for all of the awards.  For the most part, every award has at least 2 people that deserve it, so the final votes could be determined this week.

The awards given out in both leagues are Manager of the Year, Rookie of the year, MVP, Comeback Player of the Year, Cy-Young, and Gold Glove.  In my opinion, the gold-glove is given out on the quality of the name above the quality of play, so I do not put much stock into that.

MVP

AL- M. Cabrera.  Trout and Hamilton will get votes, but Cabrera's year just cannot be overlooked. 

NL- R. Braun with his 2nd award in a row.  Posey will get a lot of votes, but Braun is putting up monster numbers, above what he did last year, and he will win the award. 

Cy-Young

AL- David Price wins.  Sale, Verlander, and Weaver will get votes, but even with TB not making the playoffs, I still see Price winning the award

NL- Gio Gonzalez will win.  If I had a vote, I would give it to Kimbrel, and he will receive some votes, but not enough to win the award.  Dickey and Cueto have not pitched to great the second half and that is what will stop either of them from winning the award.

ROY

AL- Mike Trout.  No one else is even close

NL- Bryce Harper will get it.  He has fallen off a little bit in the 2nd half, and I think Wade Miley will get some votes, but Harper is too big of a name not to get the award.

Comeback player of the year

AL- The kids call him the Big Donkey, we call him Adam Dunn.  He wins in a landslide.

NL- Carlos Beltran.  I do not think there is a close second.

Manager of the year

AL- Buck Showalter wins this.  Melvin will get some votes, but what Buck has done with the Orioles will lead him to win this award.

NL- Davey Johnson deserves this award.  Not only will he lead his team to the best record in baseball, but he stuck by his guns and benched Strasbug and was still able to win. 

Will the luck be there?

sfdhdfg

http://www.ihatejjr.com/content/best-season-ever

The Best Season Ever

By Anonymous - Posted on 30 September 2012

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Recently I watched a special on the top 10 MLB seasons ever.  Right when I saw the title of the show, the first thing that popped into my head were 2000 Pedro and 2001 and 2002 Bonds.  They ended up being in the top four according to the MLB network. 

The more I think about that Bonds season( and his 1993 and 2002 season for that matter), the more I realize how dominant it really was.  The numbers speak for themselves, but having watched that whole season live, it was even more dominant then the numbers make you think.  Bonds had the following stat line:

73 HR, 137 RBI, 129 R, .328 AVG, 411 TB, .515 OBA, .863 SLG, 177 BB, 13 SB

That is one home rund every 605 ab's.  Not only is that amzaing, and I mean truly amazing if you think about it, but the fact that he normally only saw 1, maybe 2 pitches to hit each game, means taht almost every time a pitch was thrown near the strike zone, he got a hit.  I remember staying up late to watch the Giants play just so I could see him bat.  I knew that when he came up, he would either get walked( 177 times in 162 games) or he would be swinging for history.  The .863 slugging % is the highest in MLB history and to make it more impressive, he did it mainly at PNC Park which is known as a Pitchers park.  Obviously the 73 Home Runs are a record, but so are the 68 IBB.

For anyone that did not watch Bonds play that season, you missed history.  Yes, Ruth, T. Williams, Dimaggio, and others have put up great offensive seasons, but I stand by my opinion that this was the most dominant of all seasons, and apparently MLB Network agrees with me. 

http://www.ihatejjr.com/content/orioles-are-going-playoffs

The Orioles Are Going To The Playoffs!!!

By Anonymous - Posted on 01 October 2012

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The Baltimore Orioles have now clinched a spot in the 2012 Playoffs. There are no words that can truly describe my excitement towards this. I remember exactly where I was for every game of the '97 playoffs( I would like to thank my loving father for taking me), and I also remember where I have been for most of the games for every year since. ( and just for good measure, I still hate Jeffrey Maeir). Finally, my wishes, along with those of a whole city, have come true and the Orioles are back in the playoffs.

I used to think that the Orioles season would make a perfect Disney movie, and then I realized, there already is a movie about them, Major League. Last night when the O's plane had to land because of smoke coming from the engine, it just confirmed it. ( conversation that probably could have been heard last night..Jones: Call the stewardess Weiters, I need one of those bags.  Weiters: There aren't any stewardesses.  Jones: I wonder if there are any pilots).  Let me preface the rest of this buy saying, I love this movie and to do this day anytime there is a long fly ball hit, I find myself saying, "it's too high, it's too high, too high what does that matter, its out of here"

Major League was a movie about an awful Indians team who had a owner who was cheering for them to lose, playing in front of fans who had really never seen them win and really didn't care to go to the game. They did not have any big stars and in essence were a glorified AAA team. ( direct quote from Chris Davis " We're a Triple A all-star team").  Their team plane was so awful, they had to start taking a bus around, but through it all they battled all season and with the help o some seasoned veterans who most thought were washed up, mixed with some rookies that played out of their league, they were able to beat the hated Yankees to head to the playoffs.

There is no question that Jake Taylor was the leader of that team.  His catching ability along with his clutch hits is exactly how Weiters plays the game.  Adam Jones may not have the speed or the tax issues that Willie Mays Hayes has, but they are both leaders of the team and it was Jones's play that not only helped lead the Orioles to the playoffs, but led him to his 2nd consecutive Orioles MVP.  Jim Johnson notched his 50th save of the season and showed he is the captain of that bullpen.  When the Orioles needed an out, he got it.  The way he closed out games, reminded me how Ricky Vaughn ( once he got the glasses) used to come in and be un-hittable. On a side note, I do not think that Johnson would ever do anything wrong or immoral to another team mates wife. 

Finally, the biggest similarity is the fans and how they have once again made the city a Baseball city.  Both teams went from half sold out crowds to people waiting in line for hours just to get a ticket.  Every bar is packed to the brim to watch every game.  This was a great movie and seemed like it could never happen in real life.  Well, here the Orioles are, 4 days away from starting their march towards the 2012 World Series.

The Indians play by play man said " Just a reminder fans, coming up is our  Die Hard Night here at the stadium.  Free admission to anyone who was actually alive the last time the Indians won a pennant."  Obviously, it has not been that long, but it sure has felt like it for Orioles fans.  The movie ends with the Indians beating the Yankees and advancing even further in the postseason.  I can only hope for the same from Baltimore. 

v

http://www.ihatejjr.com/content/and-2012-al-cy-young-award-goes

And the 2012 AL Cy-Young Award Goes To...

By Anonymous - Posted on 18 September 2012

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Who is the best pitcher in the American League? This year, like most years in the past, there is a combination of top names, some surprises, some closers and some relievers. Last year Felix Hernandez was able to walk away with the award while playing on an awful team which normally doesn't happen, but his performance throughout the year along with his dominant numbers were good enough to win him the award.

Chris Sale, Jeff Weaver, David Price, Justin Verlander, Felix Hernandez and Fernando Rodney have been the best six pitchers in the AL this year. It is rare when I consider a reliever one of the best pitchers in the league, but Rodney has been damn near un-hitable this year. He has 68 K's in 68 IP and boasts a .66 ERA and an astounding .78 WHIP. With his 43 saves I do not think he can win the award, but with none of the 4 top starters running away with it, he will receive votes.

The five starters lead the AL and ERA, with David Price leading the AL in wins with 18. If you are a true stats geek and look at the saber-metrics of it all, these 5 are the top in the AL by almost every measure used to rate a pitcher. Weaver's stat line of 17 W, 2.74 ERA and a 1.0 WHIP puts him at the top of most people's Cy-young watch, but Price has an equally great stat line of 18 W, 2.54 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP.  Justin Verlander has way more strikeouts then both, but has a slightly higher ERA of 2.82 and only has 14 wins, but the fact that he is still dating kate Upton should get him at least 10 extra votes.

With all 5 starters having 2-3 starts left, the award can easily be won by any of the pitchers with a dominant September. At the end of the day if I had one game to win in the AL, I would want to have David Price on the mound, and that is why consider him the best pitcher in the AL and why he will win the Cy-Young award.

http://www.ihatejjr.com/content/hunt-october-2012-mlb-playoff-chase

The Hunt for October- 2012 MLB Playoff Chase

By Anonymous - Posted on 17 September 2012

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With 16 games left in the season, this is where it starts to get real exciting.  Yes, football season has started and the new Real World Challenge starts this Wed., but there is no reason you should not be glued to the television every night watching this playoff chase.  If the season ended today, Baltimore and Oakland would play a 1-game playoff for the right to face Texas while the White Sox would be facing the Yankees.  In the NL, the Cardinals would play Atlanta in the play-in game for the right to play Washington while Cincinnati and SF would face each other.

Division Champs

We all know a lot can happen in 16 games, and with that being said, 3 of the 6 divisions are still up for grabs.  The Yankees hold a 1 game lead over the Orioles in the East with Chicago holding a 2 game lead over Detroit in the Central, and shocking to everyone the A's are only 3 games back from Texas in the AL West.

In the NL, all 3 divisions are pretty much wrapped up.  The Nationals hold a 6 game lead, the Reds with a double digit lead, and the Giants are 7.5 games up.  With the schedules each team has left mixed with the awful play of the other teams, I do not see any way these 3 teams do not win their respective division.

Wild Card

Currently in the AL, Oakland holds the top spot with Baltimore in the 2nd position.  LA is 2.5 back, with TB 4 back and Det 4.5 back.  If any of the division leaders change, Chicago and NY will also be in this conversation.  Oak has far and way the toughest schedule and they play almost every team behind them the rest of the way, so there is plenty of time for any of these teams to take over the wild-card lead.

The NL picture is more complicated due to a combination of teams choking and forgetting how to play baseball(dodgers etc) and other teams who were playing awful, all of a sudden playing like the '83 or '97 Orioles.( Padres, Brewers, Phillies etc.).  Atlanta holds a firm grip on the top spot with the Cardinals holding the 2nd spot. After that, there are 6 teams within 6 games( LAD 1, Mil 2.5, Pitt 3, Philly 4, Arizona 4.5, SD 6) and they all have a chance to take that 2nd spot.  San Diego has been one of the best teams in baseball since the all-star break.  All of these teams will be playing each other in the upcoming weeks and that should make each night more exciting then the previous one.

A look ahead

Teams have anywhere from 15-17 games left to finish the season out.  Teams like Detroit have an easy path to go through with their remaining schedule at a .413 winning %, where as teams like the Rangers and Athletics have to face opponents that have a combined .582 winning %.

Toronto could prove to be the team that decides the AL East.  They have series against NYY, Baltimore, and Tampa.  Luckily for those teams, Toronto is playing like they have given up on the season.  All three teams in the east have a remaining schedule of teams with below a .500 wining %.  Tampa has 10 games remaining at home compared to 9 for NY and 7 for Baltimore.

Oakland, who currently holds the wild card lead, has 6 games left at home and 10 on the road.  They have huge series against NY, Det, and Texas remaining on their schedule.  They are not the only team in the west with a tough remaining schedule, Texas has to face a remaining schedule of teams with a .553 winning % including LA and Oakland. 

The Tigers, who also have 10 games remaining at home, have to rely on just winning games and hoping that the White Sox crumble on their own. 

The Nationals, who have the NL East wrapped up, are still playing for the best record in the NL.  They have series left against Atl, LAD, Mil, and Phi.  They are going to have a lot to say with who wins the Wild Card. 

The Dodgers have 6 games left at home and 9 on the road.  Out of those 15 games, they will play SD, Cin, and Washington.  They have been playing so bad lately, and they look like they will not be making the playoffs. 

There are other great games and series to look forward to in the next 2.5 weeks and I expect there to be at least 1 tie breaker game just to make it into the play-in game. 

http://www.ihatejjr.com/content/2012-baltimore-orioles-team-destiny

2012 Baltimore Orioles, A Team of Destiny

By Anonymous - Posted on 12 September 2012

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Somewhere in Hollywood there is a movie script being written about this team and actors like Derek Waters can not wait to star in it.  Think Angels in the Outfield mixed with Major League (the first one) mixed with the last two Batman movies. 

Forget all of the negative things you hear about the Orioles in the media and forget the fact that their lineup doesn't intimidate most college teams, the Orioles are a legitimate threat to win the American League.  With 20 games to go, the Orioles are tied for the lead in the AL East and they are winning the 2nd wild card spot.  They find a way to win.  They have the best bullpen in baseball and they lead the majors in 1-run victories. 

The way the AL is shaping up for these last 20 games, it appears that the East is going to be won by either Bal or NY.  The West will be won by Texas and the Central will be won by Det( yes, I think they will over take Chicago).  That will leave Oak, LAA, Bal, TB, and NYY fighting for 2 wild card spots.  Currently, Oakland is ahead for that #1 spot which doesn't mean much because the #1 and #2 wild card teams have to play in a 1-game play in game to make the playoffs and anything can happen in 1 game.  I see it breaking down one of two ways.  The most likely way based on talent; Oakland and Baltimore win the wild cards with NYY winning the East.  Baltimore wins the 1-game playoff and then loses to Texas while the Central winner upsets the Yankees and Texas and Chi/Det play in the ALCS with Texas winning and going to their 3rd straight World Series.  The storybook ending, which I think all Baltimore fans are cheering for would go like this.  Baltimore and NYY tie for AL East and have to play a 1-game playoff for the AL East crown( I know most fans want the O's to just win it outright, but this would play out way better for the movie).  The Orioles win on a walk off homer pushing NYY out of the playoff as Oakland and LA have clinched the top two wild card spots.  Baltimore and Texas than meet in the ALCS and in game 7, the Orioles find a way to win it in the bottom of the 11th inning to head to the World Series.

See you at the movies!!