The Rx My Car Needs

My dad once looked the Washington Nationals cap on my head and asked, "Why are wearing a Walgreens cap?"

Back in the summer, I relayed that story to my friend, Chad, and he has teased me about it sense.

Today, I see my home state, Virginia, is now offering a Washington Nationals license plate, well that is if the state receives 450 prepaid applications.

Make that 449 because I'm sending in my application today, so I can, as the news release states, show off my "Natitude."

With the good feeling the Nats left us with – I'm talking about the season as a whole, not the dreadful game 5 of the NLDS – I'm sure those 449 applications will be no problem, particularly in the Northern part of the commonwealth.

Sure, it's an additional $25 to my annual vehicle registration, but if I can show off my Natitude on the mean streets around Southwest Virginia, it’ll totally be worth the extra cash.

I'm sure I'd waste that $25 someplace else, anyway.

And you know, I'm guessing I'll one the only person in Southwest Virginia with the plates. This, for some strange reason, is Braves country.

I emailed the rendered image of the Curly Dub plate to my wife, asking her if she wanted a set for her sporty minivan.

Her reply: "No. I don't want people to think I'm a pharmacist."

Eveyone's a wiseguy.

Tony Oliva Has My Hall of Fame Vote Just Because He Was So Nice to Me One Day

I saw yet another one of those exhausting Internet lists today ranking the top – I can't remember the number – players who are not in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Every time that debate is reared, I can't help but think of the time I talked on the phone with Tony Oliva.

I hate to admit, I don't remember much of the conversation. I just remember he was a super nice guy, who took time out of his busy schedule – he was still working with the Twins organization back then – to chat on the phone with a goofball college kid writing a series of newspaper stories about small-town minor league baseball.

(That's a lot more than I can say about Nolan Ryan, whose secretary told me Mr. Ryan would call me back if he wanted to talk, but not to count on it.)

At that time, I was writing about minor league and semi-pro baseball in rural Wytheville, Va. I contacted Oliva because he played there for the Appalachian League Class D Twins in 1961 – he hit .410 in 64 games – and many folks in the town remember Oliva and recall a monstrous home run he slammed off a building a long way away from home plate.

There's even a plaque describing the homer there now, in a public park, where home plate once resided. (I have photos of it… somewhere.)

I asked Oliva about the home run. He just laughed and gave me a few vague details. I'm sure he hit a lot of those and perhaps that particular one was lost in long line of moonshot memories.

His brief recollection wasn't what I wanted for the story, of course. I wanted great detail.

What was the pitch? Fastball? Hanging curve? What did it feel like when your bat struck the ball and you saw the ball smack the building? Did the crowd go wild? Did grown men cry? Did women throw panties your way?

I got none of that, but I got a lot of other good stories… and a lot of laughs out of Oliva, who seemed to genuinely enjoy our conversation.

I'm not much of a stats guy and I'm no Hall of Fame master debater, so I don't really know if Oliva belongs in the Hall of Fame or not.

But I know he would like to be included in Cooperstown. And just because Oliva was so nice to me for 10 minutes one last summer day in 1996 – I'm really good at making this about me, aren't I? – I hope he gets his wish someday soon.

-- 108 Stitches -- 

Opening Day is Scheduled; I Feel Sick

Flash forward a couple of months. It's 7:55 a.m., Monday, April 1.

I make a phone call.

Hello, boss. (Cough)

Oh, hello Chad. You don't sound so good.

Yeah, I can't go to work today. I've been sick all weekend. I think I need one more day to rest.

Ok, feel better soon and take care of you.

Thank (Cough. Cough.) you.

Click!

Hehehehehehehehehe.

I did it. I'm off work.

What?

No, I'm not celebrating April Fool's Day. (Who takes off work for that?)

I'm playing hooky April 1 because it's opening day of the 2013 baseball season. And the Yankees are hosting the Red Sox at the Stadium. First pitch, to be tossed, I'm guessing, by CC Sabathia, is scheduled for 1:05 p.m., and the contest will be broadcast on ESPN.

I love opening day. It's usually a bit cold at most ballparks, which doesn't bother me since I'm sitting in my cozy man cave watching on a 52-inch TV. But the site of long sleeves throws off the baseball aesthetic a bit for me. But not in a way I can't enjoy the game.

I still remember a few years ago seeing Kelly Clarkson singing the national anthem on opening day at the Stadium. She looked very cold and uncomfortable all bundled up in a blue Yankees jacket.

I still have no idea why Kelly Clarkson, who's from Texas, was singing the national anthem at Yankee Stadium.

Back to the cold for a second. I totally dig the look of fans bundled up and freezing in October. Being a Yankee fan 34 years – yes, I've been having an affair with the Nationals since they moved to D.C. – I guess I've gotten used to that site and, with the Yankees playoff accomplishments the last 15 or so years, have associated the frozen fan look with success.

But no matter the temperature in the Bronx, or at any of the other Major League cities on opening day, I embrace the excitement. This year will be particularly nice with the Yankees playing the hated Red Sox.

Yuck, the Red Sox.

They make me sick.

Hello, boss. I may need take off Tuesday also.

Yankees Chatter on the Radio… Can't Wait!

I'm an avid listener to New York sports radio.

And let me tell ya, bro: I'm plenty sick of hearing about the Jets mess.

Really, bro. Can we move on?

Well, of course not.

From misfirings (Mark Sanchez all season) to firings (General Manager Mike Tannenbaum at season's end), the dysfunctional Jets are radio ratings gold.

Still, I can't wait for the days when Jets news has flown off into the wild, blue yonder and those airwaves are again filled with Yankees talk, and even Mets fans missing R.A. Dickey.

Be patient, I tell myself. It won't be long now.

Pitchers and catchers report to spring training in mid-February. There will be meaningless (for most of us) spring training games throughout March. I always look forward to those, but after a few days, I hardly pay attention, barely glancing at a box score here and there to see how the prospects are progressing.

Did Sanchez get a hit? He got two. Great!

What? A split squad game tomorrow? I hate those! What's for dinner?

This year, we fans of the Yankees will have our eyes on Austin Romine, both at the plate and behind it.

Brian Cashman already has said he expects the young catcher to begin the season at Triple A, but you certainly can expect plenty of calls to sports radio urging the Yankees' general manager to keep Romine on the big club's opening day roster, particularly if he plays well in March, handling the pitching staff adequately, smashing the snot out of the ball.

Because who else you got?

Francisco Cervelli and Chris Stewart, that's who.

Last year, Cervilli's WAR stat was… Hah, I got ya. You thought I was going to go all baseball stats geek on you, didn't you? No way, bro!

Speaking of stats, how often will the Yankees' awful, I mean god-awful, postseason batting numbers be discussed over the airwaves in late February and throughout March?

It'll be a number rivaling Alex Rodriquez's total failures in the clutch, I'm guessing.

And speaking of A-Rod, how about his contract? "We're paying this guy to strike out twice a game for five more years, Mike," will no doubt ring from the vocal cords of more than one frustrated caller.

And the pitching staff. Is CC going to hold up this year? Is he starting to break down? Did he lay off the Cocoa Puffs this offseason?

And what about Andy Pettitte? Can he stay healthy? Can he find a time machine and reverse his age?

And let's not forget about the Phil Hughes trade proposals offering the righty and a couple of prospects – hot minor league prospects are as plentiful as pennies, ya know – to the Angels for Mike Trout.

You think no one's dumb ignorant enough to make that call? Just listen.

All that talk is still a few weeks away, though. Right now, if we tune in to sports radio talk, we have to put up with ramblings about Rex Ryan's and Woody Johnson's ineptitude.

But soon, soon my Yankee friends, when the days begin to get brighter and warmer, when the snow melts away and the green grass is exposed, there will be baseball talk over the airwaves and someone named Sal will call for Jeter to be traded to the Marlins for Giancarlo Stanton if our long-loved short stop gets off to a slow start in the spring.

"They would love Jeter in Florida, Mike. He's got a house down there."

Just wait.

I can't wait, bro!

Hamilton, Seattle and Caffeine

Can you see Josh Hamilton playing for the Seattle Mariners?

Better question: Can you imagine the Mariners paying Hamilton the money the slugger is said to be demanding?

Either way, there are reports out there stating the Mariners and Hamilton's reps are talking about a deal.

What interests me most is, if Hamilton does play in Seattle in 2013, gets on a hot streak and then cools off late season, what will be his excuse?

You can see where I'm going with this, right?

Yeah, I'm sure that in mid-August, when Hamilton's numbers dip a bit, a Seattle reporter will ask why and Hamilton will no doubt spout off some sorry excuse about he got hooked on Starbucks coffee and is now either drinking way too much or is trying to quit.

Either circumstance will yield reasoning to why the outfielder is suddenly not hitting home runs, striking out a bunch and missing routine fly balls.

Smells Like Yankee Spirit

This smells a bit funky.

New York Yankees super closer Mariano Rivera, battling his way back from a torn ligament in his right knee, tossed his first pitches from a mound recently while, get this, filming a commercial for his new fragrance.

Did that process? While filming a commercial for cologne!

Rivera reportedly threw 25 pitches from the mound, all knuckleballs (ok, I made that up) while filming the spot for a product that is part of the Yankees official fragrance collection.

Check out the black and white video below and see the all-time saves leader toss a slow motion pitch on a snow-covered field.

Why was their snow? Just curious.

One a side note: It seems something funky happens when the bat hits the ball, but I can't figure it out. It looks a little weird.

Oh yeah, I got. It's rare a bat hits a ball thrown by Mariano Rivera.

(That's just dumb.)

Royals Bring Guthrie Back

Click quickly.

The #Royals are trending on Twitter.

No, not those Royals. I'm talking (writing, actually) about the Royals who play baseball in Kansas City.

I'm guessing this rare surge in trendiness for the Royals has something – ok, everything – to do with the Kansas City ballclub re-signing free agent pitcher Jeremy Guthrie Tuesday morning.

The righty's new deal will pay him $25 million for the next three seasons.

Kansas City acquired the 33-year-old pitched from Colorado back in July in exchange for lefty pitcher Jonathan Sanchez. Guthrie was 5-2 with a 3.16 ERA with the Royals.

Before being traded, Guthrie was making a mess of things in Colorado – is that fair to say? – with a 3-9 record accompanied by an oh-my-god-hide-the-women-and-children earned run average of 6.35. To be fair, the entire Rockies season was terrible, operating with a 35-56 record when they shipped Guthrie to Kansas City.

Guthrie will be paired in the Royals rotation with Ervin Santana, who the club picked up from the Los Angeles Angels via a trade for minor leaguer Brandon Sisk.

Following the Tuesday morning contract announcement, Guthrie expressed his excitement and gratitude on Twitter:

3 more years in Kansas City! I couldn't be more pleased & excited! Thanks to the Royals & all the great fans for your support.👑
— Jeremy Guthrie (@TheRealJGuts) November 20, 2012

Blue Jays Are Melking It, Baby!

Don't take my word for this, but trending right now on Twitter is a rumor the Toronto Blue Jays are working to bring Babe Ruth back from the dead to hit clean up, maybe pitch a little, for the 2013 season.

It's not enough, is it, you greedier-than-Trump Blue Jays, that you took advantage of Jeffrey Loria's bat-$#!t crazy ways of running a baseball franchise to secure a trade for nearly all of the Miami Marlins' good players?

Sorry about that. I must have been channeling my inner Brian Cashman.

Ok, where was I?

Who knows at this point if this is a good move or not, but Canada's only team today has reportedly signed Melky Cabrera to a two-year deal with $16 million.

This past season in San Francisco, Cabrera was tearing it up – he was hitting .346 – and was well on his way to securing a lucrative free agent contract. But then, as you know, Cabrera, the All-Star Game's MVP who helped secure home-field advantage for the Giants, was suspended for 50 games after testing positive in August for performance enhancing drugs.

Now, Cabrera is back, but will he have the same motivation to light it up with his bat the way he did in his contract walk year?

We'll see.

In the meantime, ESPN's Buster Olney, after the news of Cabrera's signing broke, Tweeted the Blue Jays' possible lineup for 2013.

Possible Jays' lineup: SS Reyes LF Cabrera RF Bautista DH Encarnacion 3B Lawrie 1B Lind C Arencibia CF Rasmus 2B Izturis/Bonifacio. Speed.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) November 16, 2012

Olney's lineup does not account for the possibility of the Blue Jays resurrecting Ruth.

Sweating the Relatively Small Stuff In Derek Jeter's Contract

If you're still not convinced the New York Yankees are hell bent on getting on a budget, perhaps doing a Dave Ramsey-style total money makeover, then take into consideration the Yanks reportedly are relieved by the fact Derek Jeter did not finish in the top 6 of the American League MVP voting.

Had Jeter been voted as high as sixth, the short stop's contract would ignite incentives that would have paid him an extra $2 million on his 2014 player option year.

2014?

Yep, that's the year the Yankees have targeted for getting their payroll down to at least $189 million ($170 million?) to avoid those expensive-as-hell luxury taxes.

That's right, the Yankees brass, which in the past were willing to spend whatever it took to get a top free agent ballplayer, reportedly were sweating having to pay Jeter an extra 2 million bucks in 2014. That's a bunch of No. 2, right?

Hey, every million counts.

So how close did Jeter get toward collecting that 2 mill in 2014?

One place spot.

He finished seventh behind the Orioles' Adam Jones. But in reality, the voting wasn’t close. Jones secured 120 votes to Jeter's 77.

For those of you who tend to overvalue Triple Crown category numbers – was that a bit snarky? – Jeter hit .316 with 15 home runs and had 59 RBIs. He had .362 on base percentage and a .429 slugging percentage for a .791 OPS.

Bottom of the Sixth and a Topless Mae West

"Bottom of the Sixth"

How steaming mad would your wife be if each year, a super hot movie star, let's say Scarlett Johansson in this instance, offered up to you her best holiday wishes via a Christmas card that included a photo of her, you know, totally buck naked?

My wife would pop me with the sweet spot of a Louisville Slugger.

But you know whose wife, or so she claimed, did not get ticked off?

Beans Reardon's wife, Eugenia, that's who.

I've been researching through a bit of baseball history recently and came across Beans, a National League umpire from 1926 to 1949. He was known for his beer drinking (not on the diamond, I hope) and strong language (you bet that happened on the diamond). He was behind the plate when Babe Ruth hit his 714th and final home run.

Scarlett Johansson, not Mae West

From what I gather from a little research, the Boston native – yeah, tha's how he got the nickname Beans – lived a spectacular life.

You may not know the name Beans Reardon, but you've seen him.

You remember the Norman Rockwell 1949 Saturday Evening Post cover and paiting "Bottom of the Sixth" featuring three umpires standing together under a slight rain? Beans, with his face all scrunched up, is the umpire in the middle.

In addition to appearing in Rockwell paintings, Beans owned an Anheuser-Busch beer distribution business – he later sold it to Frank Sinatra – and he appeared in several movies.

That brings us back to Mae West.

Beans and West were friends, and according to rumors or whatever, West was said to have sent nude photos of herself to Beans each year at Christmas.

Reading about Bean's life, all of his accomplishments and what not, this is the item that piqued my curiosity, as you can imagine.  

So I dug a little deeper and found an interesting Los Angeles Times story from way back in 1988 about Bean's wife, Eugenia, who in the interview confirms Mae West annually sent nude photos of herself, or as Eugenia suggest in the article, the same photo each year, to her husband.

Mae West

And apparently, Beans enlarged the photo and hung it on his den wall.

The last paragraph of the aforementioned L.A. Times story places Eugenia in the den, describing the room's contents"

"And Beans, who also was an actor, can be seen with Gary Cooper and other movie stars on a wall dominated by a large nude picture of Mae West. 'She always sent him a copy of that picture every Christmas,' Eugenia said. 'No, I was never jealous.'"

Frame it: GIF is Your Word of the Year!

Associated Press

As far as the English language is concerned, the word – or acronym, really – GIF is extremely young.

Having been coined in 1987, the term is used to describe a file for looping images to create a short, simple animation. GIFs have gotten so popular on the Internet recently that Oxford University Press on Monday named "GIF" its Word of the Year for 2012.

"The GIF has evolved from a medium for pop-cultural memes into a tool with serious applications including research and journalism, and its lexical identity is transforming to keep pace,” said Katherine Martin, head of the US Dictionaries Program at Oxford University Press USA in a press statement.

GIFS certainly have been popular on baseball blogs and websites the past several months. How many times did you watch the GIF of Hunter Pence's broken bat "triple-double" from the National League Championship Series?

Addicting, isn't it?

Well, here's something else to latch your eyes to: Ben Lindbergh at Baseball Prospectus has written an excellent article, complete with eye-popping GIFS, demonstrating Jose Molina's extraordinary knack for framing pitches. Those framings, some of which on pitches that were more than a foot and a half outside the strike zone and still called strikes, led to the catcher, according to a Baseball Prospectus statistic, saving a total of 50 runs for the Rays this season.

Now, that's value.

The lengthy article and the GIFS, which must have taken a lot of time and patience to construct, are well worth your time. It's the type of brilliant baseball nerdery I love reading, but never in a million years could ever write.

Nate's Take on the AL MVP Race

I can't imagine what the political junkies are thinking today.

Baseball talk on the FiveThirtyEight blog?

Blasphemous!

If you have a few extra minutes today, check out Nate Silver's lengthy article on the New York Times' website – it's on the FiveThirtyEight politics blog – explaining why Mike Trout, not Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera, should win this year's American League Most Valuable Player honor.

If you're familiar with his work, both in baseball and politics, it'll come as no surprise to you the "statistically-minded" Silver picks the Los Angeles Angels star.

Many of those supporting Cabrera point to his hitting numbers, a .330 average with 44 home runs and 139 RBI, but Silver looks at the all-around performance of each player, including their performances in the field and on the base paths.

"Between his defense and his base running, therefore, Trout was about 35 runs more valuable to the Angels than Cabrera was to the Tigers," Silver writes.

The article is a must-read if you're still on the fence between the two candidates.

And let's be honest, why try to argue with a guy who, through a ton of numbers crunching and analysis, correctly predicted the outcome of all 50 states in the presidential election?

The American League and National League MVPs, voted on at the end of the regular season by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, will be announced Thursday on a MLB Network hour-long special, which airs at 6 p.m.

You Have My Permission to Pick the Jays to Be Contenders

Ok, in 2013 I'm giving you guys a pass.

And by "you guys," I mean all you baseball prognosticators who annually say "hey, look out for the Blue Jays to be contenders in the American League East this year."

You hear and read that every year, right? And then every season, Toronto is nowhere to be found, unless you take a peep near the basement of the AL East.

The "we-rarely-live-up-to-expectations" Jays have finished fourth in the division each of the past five years and have placed higher than third only once (second in 2006) since 1994.

I considered writing a post just after the regular season ended, begging all you Nostradamuses out there to lay off the Blue Jays this season.

But now… well, now if you’re picking the Blue Jays to be competitive there's nothing I can complain after they traded Wednesday for nearly every good player on the entire Miami Marlins roster.

In case you missed it, the Jays acquired short stop Jose Reyes, right handed pitcher Josh Johnson, lefty Mark Buehrle, infielder Emilo Bonifacio (love that surname) and catcher John Buck. Speaking of bucks (as in dollars), the Marlins also threw 4 million of those across the Canadian border.

So, who's leaving Toronto for Miami? Taking their talents to South Beach, if you will. That would be short stop Yunel Escobar, righty pitcher Henderson Alavarez, short stop Adeiny Hechvarria, left handed pitcher Justin Nicolin and a few other guys you've probably never heard of.

I'm not saying this trade makes the Blue Jays instant contenders. How would I know?

I'm just saying if you're one of those guys who annoys me by perennially picking the Jays to hang with the Yankees and Red Sox – and let's not leave out the Orioles – in the AL East, I'm ok with that.  

This year.

Phone rings...

Me: Hello.

Caller: Hey, Chad. It's Malcolm.

Me: Oh, hey Malcolm.

Caller: Remember yesterday we were talking about the AL Manager of the Year nominees and you said you thought Bob Melvin was a shoo-in?

Me: Sure. I remember, but…

Caller: I read your post earlier today predicting the winners. What made you change your mind to Buck Showalter?

Me: I tried to think like the voters, I guess, and I flip flopped.

Caller: Haven't I always told you to trust your instincts, go with your initial gut reaction?

Me: Right. I just thought… you know, it was a close vote. Buck was a close second.

Caller: Forget today. It's past. Tomorrow's the Cy Young awards. You picked Verlander and Dickey. Stick with your gut and don't blink on those decisions.

Me: You got it, Malcom. I won't change my picks again.

Caller: Ok. Later, dude.

Call ends. I go back to eating pizza.

Managing Expectations

Bob Melvin's Oakland A's came out of the pits of baseball obscurity this season, won 94 games, and upended the slug-it-all Texas Rangers on the last day of the regular season to win the American League West.

Twenty-eight hundred miles east of Oakland, Buck Showlater's Baltimore Orioles began the 2012 campaign, just like the A's, with low expectations – from others, not themselves – entering the season and, like the Athletics, produced similar winning results.

The Orioles won 93 games and battled the New York Yankees through 162 games for the America League East crown, ultimately losing out by a single game.

Just a few miles down the Beltway from Baltimore, Davey Johnson led his Nationals ballclub to the best record in baseball (98 wins) and a National League East title. His team, armed with Natitude, took the defending World Series champions St. Louis Cardinals to a decisive game 5 in the NL Division Series.

For Johnson and the Nationals, their rise to prominence was a year ahead of schedule, according many prognosticators.

Tonight, as part of awards week, the Baseball Writers Association of American (BBWA) will select its AL and NL managers of the year. Melvin and Showalter are candidates for the AL honor and Johnson is among the three nominees in the National League.  

Bruce Bochy, who led the San Francisco Giants to a World Series victory over the Detroit Tigers is also a candidate for the honor in the NL. Tigers skipper Jim Leyland is not up for the award in the AL.

Keep in mind, these nominations were made by the writer's at the conclusion of the regular season. Ballots were cast long before Bochy's team celebrated on the field at Comerica Park a four-game sweep of Leyland's club.

Where am I going with all this?

I want to know just what exactly does it take to win manager of the year in Major League Baseball or coach of the year in other sports?

It seems all too often this award is given to the manager, or coach, whose team rises above expectations, wins more games than we thought they ever possibly could, and creates buzz around the ball club. You know, the kind of buzz that brings 15,000 fans more than usual to the park who, for some strange reason, begin twirling towels all around their heads until their arms nearly fly off and hit the beer man.

Is that the way it should be? I don't think so, either.

But how do you asses this award? Do you look at each and every game and critically examine managerial moves – platooning, bullpen, pinch hitting, etc. –through each game situation?

Forget that? Who has the time?

Oh, I know the writers who make up the BBWA see a lot of games, but do they see enough to make a determination on each manager's skills?

And if they do, man they need some time off.

Now, with all that said, I think baseball gets it right more often that the other sports. Leyland won the award in 1992 with a solid Pirates team and Joe Torre won the AL Manager of the Year in 1998 with that loaded Yankees team that won 114 games.

Ok, let's skip out of the ballpark for second. Phil Jackson… how many NBA titles has that guy won?

11.

How many NBA Coach of the Year awards has he won?

One! Just one.

Now you can say all you want that Phil had players like Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal and Steve Blake (just checking to see if you're still with me through all this lightly-researched rambling) on his team.

But tell me, how many titles did those Lakers and Bulls teams win without Jackson? You got it, bro. Zero.

When the BBWA makes known its selection for manager of the year tonight at 6 p.m. Eastern, I expect the decisions to go along the "hey, their teams did better than we expected" lines of thinking.

And with that, watch for Davey Johnson and… hmmmmm, this one's close, but I'll take Showalter over Melvin.

Jimmy Rollins is Fruits and Nuts

Pardon me, but Jimmy Rollins just made me laugh.

Not the way Eddie Murphy used make me laugh when I'd sneak and listen to "Comedian" while my parents were in another room.

"You don't got no ice cream. You can't afford it…" Remember that?

Hahahahahaha!

No, Jimmy made me laugh like… well, like the eye-rolling laughs I used to have when my buddy Dan would tell me about his many, ahem, encounters with girls when we were in high school.

Now, Jimmy isn't sitting here with me at the palatial 108 Stitches World Headquarters, talking $#!t about how his Philadelphia Phillies are going to dominate the National League East for the foreseeable future.

No, of course he's not here, but he did talk that crazy talk at a charity event Monday.

CSNPhilly.com today has this gem from the Philadelphia short stop:

"It still runs through Philly. [Washington] had one year to win it. It was just like when the Mets took it from Atlanta, it was still up for grabs. I'm sure Atlanta felt it was still theirs, but fortunately we were able to come in and take it the next five years."

Click over and read the entire story. It has a lot of "ifs" and "buts" about how the Phillies could have won the NL East had they remained healthy throughout the season.

Psst!

You know what they say about ifs and buts and fruits and nuts.

Merry Christmas, Jimmy!

See How They Voted; Get Ticked Off

Who's excited about the announcement of the National League and American League Rookie of the Year honors tonight?

Me too!

I'm so excited; I may soon wet my pants.

Sorry about the above sentence. That's not the kind of thing you write on a respectable baseball blog. 

Ahem.

Anyway, I just noticed a few minutes ago on Twitter that, after the announcements have been made, baseball fans – well, anyone actually – can visit the Baseball Writer's Association of America website to see exactly how the ballots were cast.

This is a new thing for the writers, and it'll fun, if nothing else, to see which writers voted for which players.

(Wouldn't it cool if you could see how people voted in the presidential election? Oh, wait. I think we can. I called Facebook.)

The BBWA announcement show airs at 6 p.m. Eastern on MLB Network.

Here are the finalists for the Rookie of the Year awards:

American League

Yoenis Cespedes, Athletics
Yu Darvish, Rangers
Mike Trout, Angels

National League
Todd Frazier, Reds
Bryce Harper, Nationals
Wade Miley, Diamondbacks

No Joshin'

I'm not writing another word about Josh Hamilton.

I'm sick of all the speculation as to what MLB team Hamilton will take his talents too and how much money he will be paid to do so.

Forget it.

If you want Josh Hamilton speculation, you may as well find yourself another lazily-written baseball blog.

I'm tired of the articles pontificating on why, for example, Hamilton is not a great fit for the Orioles and the pros and cons of him joining the Phillies. (As a Nationals fan, I have tons of reasons Hamilton should not go to Philadelphia. Dude, could Phillies be more obnoxious?)

And who ever thought the free agent outfielder would consider playing in Seattle?

As for my two cents, I've been thinking all along Hamilton will sign with the Red Sox... but maybe not. But he will sign with the Red Sox. That's my prediction, and I'm awesome at predictions.

Anyway, who cares about Hamilton? From now on, my fingers will not again touch my laptop keyboard in the order of J-O-S-H—H-A-M-I-L-T-O-N.

Deal or No Deal? Josh Hamilton Edition

Tell me baseball fans, do you really want Josh Hamilton on your team for the contract he reportedly wants?

Seven years, $175 million?

You know I'm a bit of a Nationals fan, and there is a small possibility the Curly Dubs ballclub, striving toward long-term success, could bring the free agent outfielder to the District.

It's a small chance.

It appears the only way the club would sign Hamilton, is if Adam LaRoch moves elsewhere and the Nationals move Michael Morse to first base.

An outfield of Hamilton in left, emerging superstar (fingers crossed) Bryce Harper in center and Jason Werth in right could be a monster. Can you imagine having those three in the batting order?

Bang, zoom go the fireworks!

This past season in Texas, Hamilton hit .285 in 148 games with 43 home runs and 128 RBIs. (Every time I write about RBIs, I hear guys yelling at me: RBIs don't matter. They mattered to Henry Chadwick, dammit. Never mind.). Hamilton also struck out a whopping 162 times last year.

Anyway, the free agent, who won his third Silver Slugger award Thursday, had an excellent season. Some of his numbers were down, like batting average – remember he hit a league-leading .359 in 2010 – and some were up, 43 homers compared with 25 in 2011 and 32 in 2010.

Of course, the home run totals are larger because he played in more games in 2012; 148, versus 121 in 2011 and 133 in 2010.

One of the concerns with signing Hamilton, particularly to a high-dollar, long-term deal, is his durability. Can he stay on the field, whether it be avoiding injuries or, you know, battling past demons, for more than 120-130 games?

Certainly if a general manager is willing to fork over $175 million for seven years to a ballplayer who'll be 32 year old in May, the GM will want to have some assurance Hamilton is going to stay on the field and produce. But those assurances, as you know, don't exist.

Does anyone have Nate Silver's number?

Let's say Hamilton does get a seven-year deal. He'll be 39 when it expires, and it's unlikely he'll be producing numbers worthy of a $175 million contract in years five, six and seven. And who knows how much value he'll have in years three and four, even if he plays 150 games. (I'm 41, and I know, once you hit about 35, the physical stuff doesn’t get easier.)

Still, the thoughts of having Hamilton in the lineup and jacking moon shots is a tantalizing thought for any clubs, and I'm certainly entertaining the prospect if I'm Nationals' General Manager Mike Rizzo or any GM in the majors.

But that big contract – the Nats already are playing Werth and Ryan Zimmerman more than $100 million – is tough to get past.

Look at the situation in New York with the Yankees and Alex Rodriquez.

Sure A-Rod helped the Yanks win a World Series title in '09, but it's been all down hill since. And you know Brian Cashman wants to urinate on his third baseman's contract each time he thinks about having to pay A-Rod to strike out with runners in scoring position for five more years.

Who knows where Hamilton will eventually sign and how much money he'll garner. A number of teams, Nationals, Phillies, Brewers, Orioles and Mariners (ain't happenin') are all in the rumor mill.

So tell me, if you're suddenly named general manager of your favorite MLB team, do you sign Hamilton or do you pass?

If I'm the making the call for the Nationals, I'm passing. I can see this deal going turning sour fast.

And for that much money, give me Zack Grienke.

The Red Sox Want You! Seriously, They May Be Interested

Quick question: Is there any baseball player the Red Sox are not interested in?

Every time I look at Twitter, I see some baseball media person writing "Red Sox have interest in (insert name of free agent or trade possibility here)."

Those names have included Torii Hunter, Justin Masterson, Shin-Soo Choo, Hiroki Kuroda, Justin Upton, Adam LaRoche and Mike Napoli. There are more.

Now do the Red Sox really have interest in all these players or is this a lot of media speculation?

I'm sure the Red Sox front office is doing its due diligence, so the answer to the above question most likely is "both." But how much does the real interest tip the scale? (Man, I ask a lot of questions.)

Boston has significant payroll flexibility after sending Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett to the Dodgers back in August.

It'll be interesting over the course of the offseason to see who the Red Sox actually target.

Just for fun this morning, I played the Google auto-fill game. In the search bar, I typed "Red Sox interested in" to see which names popped up. You've played that game before, right?

Here are some interesting results:

Red Sox interested in Torii Hunter

Red Sox interested in Matt Garza

Red Sox interested in Hanley Ramirez

Red Sox interested in Jeter (That one made me nearly wet my pants.)

Red Sox interested in Jose Reyes

Red Sox interested in Cliff Lee (That one makes Brian Cashman nearly wet his pants.)

Red Sox interested in Matsui

Red Sox interested in Albert Pujols

Red Sox interested in Matt Holliday

Red Sox interested in Prince Fielder

Red Sox interested in R.A. Dickey. (Ok, I made up that one, but it would not surprise me to see the Cy Young candidate pitching in Fenway Park for the Sox next season.)