Manager of the Year - With the highly coveted Commissioner's Trophy being handed out earlier this month to one of the most unlikeliest candidates coming into Spring Training (the San Francisco Giants), the 2010 Baseball season officially came to an end. However, there would still be much to look forward to as players and managers alike awaited the announcements of this year's award winners. While both Bud Black of the Padres (90-72) and Ron Gardenhire of the Twins (94-68) won the Manager of the Year Award in each of their leagues respectively, most of the other handful of awards would be somewhat more of a surprise.
Cy Young Award - Leading the debate was the Cy Young Award. While Philadelphia's ace Roy Halladay pretty much had the NL Cy Young Award won before the season concluded, tossing only the second no-hitter in Postseason history to go along with a regular season perfect game and career highs in wins and strikeouts, the race in the AL would end much closer. Finishing the year with a 13-12 record, Seattle's Felix Hernandez beat out his competition (C.C. Sabathia and David Price) by way of almost every other statistical category possible, both traditional and sabermetrical. Despite finishing behind the pack in wins, Hernandez placed atop the charts in ERA (2.27), innings pitched (249 2/3), and came one strikeout shy of tying the Angels' Jared Weaver for tops in the league. Granted only 10 pitchers have led their league in those three categories since the Cy Young Award was introduced in 1956 (all winning the award), it was only fitting Hernandez also took home the hardware.
Much to blame for King Felix's poor win-loss record, was the atrocious run support he was given by the Mariners offense, which scored the fewest runs per game of any major league team since the DH was adopted to the AL in 1973. Hernandez' 13 wins were the fewest by a starter to win the award in a non-interrupted season, surpassing Tim Lincecum's 2009 total of 15 wins he logged for the Giants. Hernandez' mediocre 13 victories proved once again that wins are an overrated stat when it comes to starting pitchers as 17 others in the American League alone finished the season with more victories than the Mariners ace. While the lack of runs proves to be the case more often than others, the bullpen is obviously another issue starters have to deal with, which is something San Francisco's Matt Cain would be able to tell you a little about.
Most Valuable Player Award - Sticking with the AL, Josh Hamilton of the American League Champion Texas Rangers beat out Miguel Cabrera, and Robinson Cano for the MVP Award. Posting 32 home runs, 100 RBI's, 95 runs scored, and 40 doubles to go along with his league leading .359 batting average, Hamilton helped the Rangers reach the Fall Classic for the first time in franchise history, despite missing 29 games due to a bruised rib cage. For what it's worth, the 29 year old Hamilton added to his MVP campaign by leading the league in slugging and on-base percentage.
Meanwhile in the NL, Reds first baseman Joey Votto beat out Colorado's Carlos Gonzales and St. Louis' Albert Pujols in an almost unanimous vote by the Baseball Writers Association of America, falling one first place vote shy of the sweep. In spite of not being named to the All-Star team in July and trailing the opposition in both home runs and RBI's, Votto edged the Cardinals slugger who was aiming for a third consecutive MVP Award and fourth overall. Most importantly, Votto's efforts helped Cincinnati clinch a Playoff berth for the first time in 15 years, and although they fell short in the NLDS getting swept by the Phillies, the Reds gave us a sneak peek of how just much talent their young team has.
Rookie of the Year Award - As for the award I anxiously awaited the most, the Rookie of the Year Award, Giants rookie sensation Buster Posey won the hardware in the NL, outlasting fellow Georgia native Jason Heyward who placed second in the voting. Prospects Jaime Garcia (St. Louis) and Gaby Sanchez (Florida) came in a distant third and fourth place. In my eyes, Posey won the award before the season even ended, considering the quick turnaround the Giants made when he was entered into the lineup. However, many would argue that he had a slight disadvantage, only playing two thirds of the season in the Majors (108 games), opposed to Heyward who appeared in 38 games more than Posey (142 games). Regardless of the extra month Heyward had over Posey, the Giants catcher had him beat in just about every major offensive statistic, except for RBI's, finishing with 67, five shy of Heyward's 72.
Posey, who was promoted by the Giants in July as the everyday catcher once Bengie Molina was shipped to Texas, was given no easy task, and was fed to the lions early having to catch the Giants' All-Star pitching staff, not to mention hit in the heart of a Giants order that wasn't known very well for its offensive abilities prior to what they showed in the World Series. Regardless, Posey made his presence felt right away, starting his magical ROTY campaign off with a 21-game hitting streak, falling one game short of tying the Giants' franchise record held by Hall of Famer Willie McCovey. For what it's worth, the 23 year old catcher also caught the attention of voters by getting the job done defensively, successfully throwing out 37% of those who tried stealing bases. If you ask me, I'd say no words and or award can describe just how much Posey meant to the Giants organization and their first crack at bringing home a World title to the bay area.
On the American League side of things, Neftali Feliz joined teammate Josh Hamilton in the award category, earning Rookie of the Year honors, and becoming the first Texas Ranger to win the award since 1974, ending a 36-year drought, the longest dry spell of any team to ever win the award. Though the AL ROTY race wasn't as competitive as its counterpart in the NL, Feliz exceeded Detroit's Austin Jackson by a total of 12 first-place votes and 24 points overall. At the early age of 22, Feliz set a Major League record for most saves by a rookie, with 40, surpassing the previous total of 37 saves collected by Seattle's Kazuhiro Sasaka who won the award in 2000.
With a win-loss record of 4-3, Feliz finished the season with 71 strikeouts in 69 1/3 innings while allowing 43 hits and 18 walks, all leading to a 2.73 ERA. The stat I found to be the most interesting regarding Feliz' All-Star season, was of the 127 Major League pitchers to compile at least 40 saves in a season, he's just one of 23 who had three or fewer blown saves. More importantly, he played a major role in me winning my Fantasy Team this season (Along with Posey and Hernandez)! :-)
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