2011 Walter Johnson Awards

The Victoria Seals Baseball Blog (VSBB) is a proud member of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance (BBA). Once again this year, the VSBB has the honour of casting the Other Baseball Chapter ballot for a number of the BBA awards given to players and managers in both the National and American Leagues.

On Thursday, we posted our ballots for the Goose Gossage Award, which goes to the top reliever in each league. Today we give you the VSBB ballot for the National League Walter Johnson Award, which is presented to the top pitcher (starter or reliever). The Other Baseball Chapter’s American League ballot for the award was cast by Wally Fish at Seedlings to Stars.

Although the Walter Johnson award can be given to a relief pitcher, no reliever had a season that even came closer to the top five starters in either league.

On our National League ballot, I'm giving the nod to 23-year-old Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kershaw posted a spectacular 21-5 record with a 2.28 ERA and a nifty 0.977 WHIP. He also struck out 9.6 hitters per nine innings while only walking 2.1 per nine.

A pair of Philadelphia aces secured the second and third spots on our ballot. Roy Halladay finished in second place thanks to a 19-6 record, 2.35 ERA and a 1.040 WHIP. Halladay's teammate Cliff Lee was penned into the third spot, based on his solid 17-8 record. The southpaw also registered a 2.40 ERA and a 1.027 WHIP.

Two Giants starters finished fourth and fifth on our ballot, in spite of mediocre win-loss records. Matt Cain finished fourth after posting a 2.88 ERA and 1.083 WHIP this season. Madison Bumgarner snagged the last spot on our ballot due to his solid 3.21 ERA and 1.241 WHIP. He also had an excellent strikeout to walks ratio of 3.83.

Honourable mention goes to Ian Kennedy of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Our NL ballot for the Walter Johnson Award stands at:

1. Clayton Kershaw
2. Roy Halladay
3. Cliff Lee
4. Matt Cain
5. Madison Bumgarner

2011 Goose Gossage Awards

The Victoria Seals Baseball Blog (VSBB) is a proud member of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance (BBA). This year, the VSBB has the honour of casting the Other Baseball Chapter ballot for a number of the awards given to players and managers in both the National and American Leagues

On Sunday, we posted our ballot for the Willie Mays Award, presented to the top rookie in each league. Today we reveal our National League ballot for the Goose Gossage Award, which will be presented to the league's top relief pitcher. The Other Baseball Chapter’s American League ballot for the Goose Gossage Award was cast by Wally Fish at Seedlings to Stars.

Closer Craig Kimbrel of the Atlanta Braves gets our vote as the top reliever in the National League. Kimbrel saved 46 games in his rookie campaign, tied with John Axford of the Milwaukee Brewers for the league lead. He also struck out an incredible 14.8 batters per nine innings pitched, while posting a 2.10 ERA and a nifty 1.04 WHIP.

Second on our ballot is Sean Marshall of the Chicago Cubs. Marshall only notched five saves in 2011, since he spent the year as the setup man for Carlos Marmol. However, he appeared in a whopping 78 games for the Cubs and finished third in the league with 34 holds. Marshall had a 2.26 ERA and a WHIP of 1.10, but his most impressive statistic is the number of home runs he gave up during the season: ONE. That’s right, Sean Marshall gave up 0.12 homers per nine innings in spite of the fact that 40 of his appearances were at Wrigley Field.

We gave the nod to Sergio Romo of the San Francisco Giants for the third spot on our ballot. Romo was the setup man for closer Brian Wilson and he had a spectacular year. Romo appeared in 65 games and sported a stunning 1.50 ERA and 0.71 WHIP. He also struck out 13.1 batters per nine innings and only walked 0.9 hitters per nine – a strikeout to walks ratio of 14:1!!

Honourable mention goes to my favourite Canadian hurler, John Axford, who saved 46 games in 48 opportunities.

Our NL Goose Gossage Award ballot is:

1. Craig Kimbrel, Atlanta Braves
2. Sean Marshall, Chicago Cubs
3. Sergio Romo, San Francisco Giants

2011 Willie Mays Awards

The Victoria Seals Baseball Blog (VSBB) is a proud member of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance (BBA). Similar to the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), the alliance is organized into different chapters. Gus, the founder of the VSBB, is President of the alliance's Other Baseball Chapter. This year, the VSBB has the honour of casting the Other Baseball Chapter ballot for a number of the awards given to players and managers in both the National and American Leagues. On Friday, we posted our ballot for the Connie Mack Award, presented to the top manager in each league. Today we present our ballot for the Willie Mays Award, given to the top rookie in each league.

The 2011 season was full of great performances by rookies, so coming up with a list of the top three newcomers in each league was a difficult job.

In the National League, we believe the most deserving rookie is Danny Espinosa of the Washington Nationals. Although Espinosa only hit for a .236 average, he drew 57 walks and produced a solid .323 on-base percentage. He also played in 158 games, hit 21 homers and 66 RBI and chipped in with 17 stolen bases. He was also excellent defensively, turning 101 double plays for the Nationals at second base.

The Braves’ closer Craig Kimbrel came a close second. Kimbrel notched 46 saves and struck out a staggering 127 hitters in only 77 innings. He also turned in a stellar 2.10 ERA.

Another Braves pitcher, Brandon Beachy, earned a third place finish on my ballot. Beachy started 25 games with Atlanta, registering a 3.68 ERA with 169 strikeouts and only 46 walks in 141 2/3 innings. Honourable mention went to Wilson Ramos of the Washington Nationals.

My National League ballot is:

1. Danny Espinosa, 2B, Washington Nationals
2. Craig Kimbrel, RP, Atlanta Braves
3. Brandon Beachy, SP, Atlanta Braves 

In the junior circuit, I gave the nod to the Michael Pineda of the Seattle Mariners. Pineda’s stuff is electric and he reminds me of a young Pedro Martinez. In 28 starts with Seattle, Pineda notched a 3.74 ERA with 55 walks and 173 strikeouts in 171 innings pitched. He’s likely to have a stellar career.

Another Mariner, Dustin Ackley, finished in the second spot on our ballot. Ackley hit .273 and had a .348 on-base percentage in 2011. He also hit 6 homers and knocked in 36 runs in only 333 at-bats.

The final vote on our ballot went to Ivan Nova of the New York Yankees. Nova had a 3.70 ERA in 165 1/3 innings pitched, while walking 57 and striking out 98. Nova is likely to gain a lot of consideration for the award based on his gaudy 16-4 record, but in my opinion that record says at least as much about the Yankees’ offensive support as it does Nova. Honourable mention goes to Desmond Jennings of the Tampa Bay Rays.

My American League ballot is:

1. Michael Pineda, SP, Seattle Mariners
2. Dustin Ackley, 2B, Seattle Mariners
3. Ivan Nova, SP, New York Yankees

2011 Connie Mack Awards

The Victoria Seals Baseball Blog is a proud member of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance. As a member of the alliance, we have the honour of casting a ballot for each of the five awards given to players and managers in both the National and American Leagues. The first award for 2011 is the Connie Mack Award, presented to the top manager in each league.

National League

This year, the Connie Mack Award in the National League is a no-brainer. Kirk Gibson took a team that won only 65 games in 2010 and ended up shocking most baseball experts by leading his squad to 94 victories and the NL West title. Gibson was able to get his team to adopt many of the same attributes that he displayed as a player and he succeeded in completely changing the clubhouse culture in Arizona this year. His intensity ensured that losing was no longer accepted without a fight and this was best demonstrated by the Diamondbacks' 48 come-from-behind victories in 2011.

Also warranting serious consideration was Ron Roenicke, who led the Milwaukee Brewers to their first division title in almost 30 years. He took a team that was nearly identical to the one that won only 77 games in 2010 managed to post an impressive 96 victories, in spite of distractions such as the ongoing Prince Fielder free agency issue.

Tony LaRussa proved once again why he is one of the most successful managers of all time. Although the Cardinals suffered some early season turmoil in the clubhouse, LaRussa rallied the troops down the stretch and the team erased an 8 1/2 game deficit in September to snag the wildcard birth.

Accordingly, my NL ballot is:

1. Kirk Gibson - Arizona Diamondbacks
2. Ron Roenicke - Milwaukee Brewers
3. Tony LaRussa - St. Louis Cardinals

American League

Speaking of comebacks, Joe Maddon continued to pull miracles out of his hat in 2011. The Tampa Bay Rays overcame a 9-game deficit to win the wildcard on the last day of the season. Somehow, a team with a $41.9M payroll managed to squeak past the Red Sox and their bloated $161M payroll (all figures as of opening day). Moneyball is alive and well and the proof is in Tampa Bay.

Ron Washington led the Texas Rangers to their second consecutive AL West division title in 2011. In spite of the loss of Cliff Lee, the team cruised to a 96-win season.

Jim Leyland proved that he can still do the job by managing the Tigers to their first division title since 1987. Their 95 wins was only two behind the New York Yankees, a team with twice the payroll than Detroit.

My ballot in the junior circuit is:

1. Joe Maddon - Tampa Bay Rays
2. Ron Washington - Texas Rangers
3. Jim Leyland - Detroit Tigers

UPDATE:

The Baseball Bloggers Alliance has announced that the NL Connie Mack Award winner was indeed Kirk Gibson. In the AL, the award went to Joe Maddon. You can read all of the details on the Baseball Bloggers Alliance web site.