May Award Winners
June 2nd 2008 14:57
I am a day late but I wanted to give out the Baseballer awards for the league's MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year and Manager of the Year if the season ended on May 31. There are some new faces getting these awards because of their production from last month but the playoff picture looks very similar. Please feel free to comment because there are some debate on who deserves these awards.
AL East - Rays (led on May 1)
AL Central - White Sox (led on May 1)
AL West - Angels (led on May 1)
AL WC - Red Sox (A's led on May 1)
NL East - Phillies (led on May 1)
NL Central - Cubs (Cards led on May 1)
NL West - D-backs (led on May 1)
NL WC - Cardinals (Cubs led on May 1)
NL MVP - Lance Berkman (Astros)
Berkman has kept the Astros in the playoff hunt. They are only 6 1/2 games out of the NL Central lead and 4 1/2 games back in the NL Wild Card race. He is batting .385 with 17 home runs and 47 RBIs. He is second in the league in batting, second in home runs and third in RBIs. He has the opportunity to win all three of those categories and take home the Triple Crown. He is only .020 behind Chipper Jones in the batting race, three home runs behind Chase Utley and three RBIs behind Adrian Gonzalez and Chase Utley.
AL MVP - Josh Hamilton (Rangers)
Hamilton is also going for the Triple Crown in the American League. He is batting .328 (3rd best in AL) with 15 home runs (best in AL) and 63 RBIs (best in AL). He is only .002 behind Hideki Matsui for the best batting average in the American League. Hamilton returned to the game last season with the Cincinnati Reds after being suspended in 2002 by the league for violating the substance abuse policy. The former first overall pick in 1999 is now showing what he is capable of doing.
NL Cy Young: Brandon Webb (D-backs)
Webb has struggled as of late but he is still one of the best pitchers in the National League. He is 10-2 with a 2.69 ERA. His first loss came on May 21 against the Marlins. He also won the award in April so he continues to be on pace to win his second straight Cy Young Award. He is one of the reasons the D-backs are in first place in the NL West.
AL Cy Young: Daisuke Matsuzaka (Red Sox)
Matsuzaka has been impression in only his second season in the majors. He is 8-0 with a 2.53 ERA. Matsuzaka is currently on the disabled list with a right rotator cuff strain but his performance this season should not go unnoticed. If he is able to recover from the injury in time, he will be the starter for the American League in the All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium. Yankee fans will not be happy seeing a Red Sox start the All-Star Game on their turf.
NL Rookie of the Year: Geovany Soto (Cubs)
Soto has continued to hit Major League pitching after batting .389 in 18 games last season. This season he is batting .296 with eight home runs and 38 RBIs. He has 55 hits and 29 of those went for extra bases. He is one of the reasons the team has the best record in baseball.
AL Rookie of the Year: Jacoby Ellsbury (Red Sox)
Ellsbury sets the tone in the Red Sox lineup. When he gets on base there is always a chance he is going to steal and help produce runs. He has 27 stolen bases and has only been caught three times. He is batting .290 with 41 runs scored. He will be in center field at Fenway for many years.
NL Manager of the Year: Lou Piniella (Cubs)
The Cubs have the best record in baseball after May 31 for the first time in 100 years. That is enough to give Piniella the award.
AL Manager of the Year: Joe Maddon (Rays)
For the second straight month the Rays are in first place in the AL East. They already have 35 wins and are on pace to break the franchise record of 70 wins in a season. Maybe they will attract more than 10,000 fans a night if they make the playoffs.
AL East - Rays (led on May 1)
AL Central - White Sox (led on May 1)
AL West - Angels (led on May 1)
AL WC - Red Sox (A's led on May 1)
NL East - Phillies (led on May 1)
NL Central - Cubs (Cards led on May 1)
NL West - D-backs (led on May 1)
NL WC - Cardinals (Cubs led on May 1)
NL MVP - Lance Berkman (Astros)
Berkman has kept the Astros in the playoff hunt. They are only 6 1/2 games out of the NL Central lead and 4 1/2 games back in the NL Wild Card race. He is batting .385 with 17 home runs and 47 RBIs. He is second in the league in batting, second in home runs and third in RBIs. He has the opportunity to win all three of those categories and take home the Triple Crown. He is only .020 behind Chipper Jones in the batting race, three home runs behind Chase Utley and three RBIs behind Adrian Gonzalez and Chase Utley.
AL MVP - Josh Hamilton (Rangers)
Hamilton is also going for the Triple Crown in the American League. He is batting .328 (3rd best in AL) with 15 home runs (best in AL) and 63 RBIs (best in AL). He is only .002 behind Hideki Matsui for the best batting average in the American League. Hamilton returned to the game last season with the Cincinnati Reds after being suspended in 2002 by the league for violating the substance abuse policy. The former first overall pick in 1999 is now showing what he is capable of doing.
NL Cy Young: Brandon Webb (D-backs)
Webb has struggled as of late but he is still one of the best pitchers in the National League. He is 10-2 with a 2.69 ERA. His first loss came on May 21 against the Marlins. He also won the award in April so he continues to be on pace to win his second straight Cy Young Award. He is one of the reasons the D-backs are in first place in the NL West.
AL Cy Young: Daisuke Matsuzaka (Red Sox)
Matsuzaka has been impression in only his second season in the majors. He is 8-0 with a 2.53 ERA. Matsuzaka is currently on the disabled list with a right rotator cuff strain but his performance this season should not go unnoticed. If he is able to recover from the injury in time, he will be the starter for the American League in the All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium. Yankee fans will not be happy seeing a Red Sox start the All-Star Game on their turf.
NL Rookie of the Year: Geovany Soto (Cubs)
Soto has continued to hit Major League pitching after batting .389 in 18 games last season. This season he is batting .296 with eight home runs and 38 RBIs. He has 55 hits and 29 of those went for extra bases. He is one of the reasons the team has the best record in baseball.
AL Rookie of the Year: Jacoby Ellsbury (Red Sox)
Ellsbury sets the tone in the Red Sox lineup. When he gets on base there is always a chance he is going to steal and help produce runs. He has 27 stolen bases and has only been caught three times. He is batting .290 with 41 runs scored. He will be in center field at Fenway for many years.
NL Manager of the Year: Lou Piniella (Cubs)
The Cubs have the best record in baseball after May 31 for the first time in 100 years. That is enough to give Piniella the award.
AL Manager of the Year: Joe Maddon (Rays)
For the second straight month the Rays are in first place in the AL East. They already have 35 wins and are on pace to break the franchise record of 70 wins in a season. Maybe they will attract more than 10,000 fans a night if they make the playoffs.
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