And Then There's the Senior Circuit.

In the race for the 'Biggest Boob in TV sports broadcasting' trophy, Tim McCarver gets the nod over Big Joe. His lack of basic knowledge of how to pronounce players' names is legendary. His stubborn refusal to even acknowledge a better system of baseball statistics is asinine.

To wit: "I only care about on-base percentage if you can run. If you can't run, I could care less about on-base percentage."

Um, what?

Or saying silliness like this: "I think if Norman Rockwell were alive the guy that he would paint more than anyone else would be David Eckstein."

But, in my world, it's his continued belief that the NL is a better league than the AL that makes him the biggest terdball in this or any other universe. When pressed, he substitutes 'better' with 'exciting'. What a douche.

With that, here's the right and proper answers to the question, "Who are the best players in a terribly average league."


NATIONAL LEAGUE


Most Valuable Player: Matt Holliday, LF, Colorado Rockies

The Rockies won 14 of their last 15 (including last night) to win the Wild Card. Holliday, during that stretch, hit .442 with 5hr and 17rbi. His .340 AVG. was tops in the NL. His 137rbi was tops as well. His SLG and OPS were second to Prince Fielder by a few hundredths of a point in both categories. In short, the Rockies are a .500 team without him.

Runner-ups:

Jimmy Rollins: A fairly close second, Rollins played in every game this year, no small feat at the hardest position to play in baseball. He hit .296/.344/.531-30-94-41, numbers that were significant improvements over last year. He has become a star. But he hit a very ordinary .272 with RISP and .255 Late & Close. Holliday hit .330 with RISP and .294 L&C. Take away 25 stolen bases (a very overrated stat) and Ryan Braun has better overall numbers. Close but not really.

Jake Peavy: Meh.

Ryan Howard: .268/.392/.584-47-136-1. And he missed almost a month. Hit 47hr but struck out 200 times, a Major League record. Hit 47hr and still managed to have an OPS under 1.000. A bit one-dimensional.

Prince Fielder: .288/.395/.618-50-119-2. Great year. Not better than Holliday or Rollins.

Trivia Question: Who led the NL in OPS? Highlight ---> Chipper Jones (1.029)


Cy Young Award Winner: Jake Peavy, RHP, San Diego Padres

19-6, 2.54ERA, 1.06WHIP, 240K in 223 innings. First in wins, ERA, WHIP, SO. ERA was a half run better than Brandon Webb. Consistent throughout the season, going 9-3 (2.19ERA) in the first half and followed it by going 10-3 (2.57ERA). Had an ERA of 2.10 on September 1. Not a tough one.

Runner-ups:

Brandon Webb: 18-10, 3.01ERA, 1.19WHIP, 194K in 236 innings. Had what will most likely be a typical Webb season and is really a John Lackey clone in more ways than one. Had a 42 inning scoreless in July and August, corresponding with Arizona's resurgence. Just 8-6 at the break, but was 8-2 in the last two months of the season. Threw four complete games including three shutouts. That's good.

Cole Hamels: 15-5, 3.39ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 177K in 183 innings. Long-shot, but he really came into his own. Legitimate ace at just 23.


Rookie of the Year: Ryan Braun, 3b, Milwaukee Brewers

The most heated and stupid argument currently in rotation. He hit .324/.370/.634-34-97-15. He did all this in 451 at-bats and played his first game of the year on May 25!!!! If he qualified, his BA would have been fifth in the NL, his SLG would have been the best by a fairly large margin. He finished tied for 5th in home runs...in 451 ab!!! Oh, and had 60RBI with runners on...in only 122 abs!!! Okay, no más punta del exclamation. His fielding is atrocious but who cares?!

Runner-up:

Troy Tulowitzki: .291/.359/.479-24-99-7. He may be the next great shortstop. He is that good. Aside from his overall numbers, he went .295-15-60 after the break. Silly baseball minds (Mr. Boers) want to give him the award for the world's great human because of his fielding. He handled the most chances in the league and committed only seven errors, helping to boost his WARP3 to an astounding 10.3. For a shortstop, especially a rookie, that is unheard of and should be heavily considered. But it does not make him a better rookie than Braun, who had more extra base hits in nearly 200 fewer plate appearances than Tulowitzki. When the pitching and nearly every other player in the lineup laid an egg for Milwaukee during the middle of the season, Braun and Fielder single-handedly kept them in it.


Comeback Player of the Year: Dmitri Young, 1b, Washington Nationals

Playing on a team that everyone predicted would be historically bad, Young was one of the reasons they weren't. In fact, they showed signs of being a fairly decent team with eight teams having a worse record than the Nats (including the White Sox). Going .320/.378/.491-13-74 overall, Young hit .397 in May, .377 in June and .373 in August. If he didn't hit .159 in September and just hit his average, Young would have finished second to Holliday. Not bad for someone that everybody wrote off as done.

Runner-ups:

Aaron Rowand: Threatening to fade into obscurity, Rowand had a year nearly identical to his 2004 year. He hit .309/.374/.515-27-89-6 and, as White Sox fans know, was inexplicably consistent throughout the year, never hitting below .264 (August) and hit as high as .378 (April). It WAS a contract year, but he had the kind of year that gets you 5/$50 mil.

Derrek Lee: I hardly think anyone should be considered for 'comeback POY' if he was injured but I'd give Lee consideration based solely on the fact it was a major wrist injury to his lead hand. He hit .317/.400/.513-22-82-6 and seemed to find his home run stroke again later in the year (16 hrs after the break). He also hit .365-7-14 in September, a time when the Cubs made their (f'-in') run.


Manager of the Year: Manny Acta, Washington Nationals

This one's not really close. This team on paper should have lost 110 games. And their best pitcher (by far! - Patterson) barely pitched. Mostly, they held serve, going 40-41 at home. The bullpen had the ninth-best ERA in the majors and were 27-24 in one-run games. How a team that was outscored by more than 100 runs won 73 games is beyond me but Manny Acta is the reason.

Runner-ups:

Charlie Manuel: The Phillies started 4-11, at one point, he wanted to beat up a sports talk show host and they were .500 at the break, but they completed the most remarkable comeback with 15 days left in the season in the history of baseball. Manuel should be given some credit for that, even if it's mostly for staying out of the way.


Coming Soon: Team-by-team reflections and a look back on preseason predictions.

Thanks for reading.