Today in Baseball History – November 25

As I try to revive and think about a new direction for this awful – yeah, I admit it’s awful – baseball blog, I’m going to try a new daily category: Today in Baseball History. It’s pretty straightforward. I pick an event or two that happened on each day’s date in baseball history and write a brief post about it.

Later, if I don’t get bored with this topic, I hope to conduct more research and write more in depth – but not too much – about the event.

Forty-four years ago on this day, Nov. 25, 1970, Yankees catcher Thurman Munson was named American League Rookie of the Year. The backstop finished the season with a .320/.386/.415 slash line, hit 25 doubles and belted six home runs.

Munson’s selection for the award was a near unanimous decision for the Baseball Writers Association. He collected 23 of the 24 first-place votes. Indians outfield Roy Foster got the other top vote.

Defensively, Munson threw out 52 percent of runners who tried to steal against him. The following year, he led the league in that category with 61 percent.

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.

Baseball Awards Time! Plus: Will There Be a Kate Upton Dance?

US Preswire

The Baseball Writers Association of American released Wednesday night finalists for its 2012 postseason awards. I'm told it's the first time ever the writers have let us in on who the candidates are. Thanks, fellas.

Anyway, beginning Monday with the rookies of the year honors, each award will be announced live on the MLB Network. (Totally awesome!) Honors week (my phrase, not theirs) concludes Thursday with the announcement of American League and National League MVPs.

Voting for the awards was conducted at the end of the regular season, so postseason performances do not come into play. If you're rooting for Nationals' pitcher Gio Gonzalez to win the NL Cy Young, you can rest assured his deer-in-the-headlights performance in Game 5 of the National League Division Series had no affect on the voting.

Below is the schedule for each awards announcement and a list of the finalist. My predictions, don't laugh, are in bold.

Monday, November 12: Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year

American League:

Yoenis Cespedes, A's
Yu Darvish, Rangers
Mike Trout, Angels (Who else?)

National League:

Todd Frazier, Reds
Bryce Harper, Nationals (Wishful thinking?)
Wade Miley, Diamondbacks

Tuesday, November 13: Manager of the Year

American League:
Bob Melvin, A's
Buck Showalter, Orioles
Robin Ventura, White Sox

National League:
Dusty Baker, Reds
Bruce Bochy, Giants
Davey Johnson, Nationals

Wednesday, November 14: Cy Young

American League:
David Price, Rays
Justin Verlander, Tigers ( I wonder if Kate Upton has a Cy Young dance prepared.)
Jered Weaver, Angels

National League:
R.A. Dickey, Mets
Gio Gonzalez, Nationals
Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers

Thursday, November 15: Most Valuable Player
American League:
Adrian Beltre, Rangers
Miguel Cabrera, Tigers (That's my prediction, not who I think should win.)
Robinson Cano, Yankees
Josh Hamilton, Rangers
Mike Trout, Angels

National League:

Ryan Braun, Brewers
Chase Headley, Padres
Andrew McCutchen, Pirates
Yadier Molina, Cardinals
Buster Posey, Giants

Are you a little surprised Ryan Braun, following last year's positive PED test, made it into the top five? I am a little surprised, but you have to believe there's no way the writers will pick him as their MVP.

The only race I really care about is the National League Cy Young. I'm rooting for R.A. Dickey because 1.) he had a terrific season and deserves the award and 2.) I love knuckleball pitchers. I sincerely hope none of the writers put a lot of weight into things like "I really like knuckleballers" when they cast their votes.

Ok, there's the list and my humble guesses predictions. Give me your criticisms. Say what you will. I'm no Nate Silver, but I did have a fair amount of success with the MLB preseason picks I made back in late March. Have a look:

American League

East: Yankees

Central: Tigers

West: Rangers

Wild Cards: Angels, Rays

American League Champion: Tigers

National League

East: Braves

Central: Reds

West: Giants

Wild Cards: Nationals, Cardinals

National League Champion: Giants

World Series: Tigers over Giants

"How it actually turned out."

American League

East: Yankees

Central: Tigers

West: A's  (Rangers had the lead all season and lost it to the A's on the last day.)

Wild Cards: Orioles (Yes, the Orioles) and Rangers

American League Champion: Tigers over Yankees

 National League

East: Nationals! (Can you believe that? And they had the best record in baseball: 98 wins!)

Central: Reds

West: Giants

Wild Cards: Braves, Cardinals

National League Champion: Giants

World Series: Giants over the Tigers (I had the two teams, but picked the wrong winner.)