Mid-Season
Awards
By Sideshow
Rob - Senior Editor : Issue 3, Vol. I
Another
half-season gone, another Yankees lead in the AL
East. The homerun race has since lost its
importance and Gwynn, Wade, and Cal's 3000 is old
news… so what is left in the world of
baseball that's even somewhat interesting? MVP's,
Cy Young's, blah! I think the fans of baseball
would much rather laugh at the opposing pitcher's
horrible performance or see a costly error win the
game for the home team than see a MVP candidate
going 3-4 with 2 RBIs and seeing a Cy Young
winner throw a 2 hitter with no homers given up.
So, instead of casting my predictions for who
will win at the end of the year in the snoozer
categories, with the help of ESPN.com and
SI, I'll give out awards to the lesser
known players for their… um… "accomplishments"!
Injuries
of the Year
-
Third Prize:
Rangers pitcher Darren Oliver fell
through the ceiling in his house while in
his attic. He needed 12 stitches in his
leg.
-
Second Prize:
Giants catcher Doug Mirabelli missed a
game because a drop of Drano fell into
his eye.
-
First prize:
Marlins pitcher Ricky Bones strained a
muscle in his rib cage when he turned his
head while watching TV in the clubhouse.
Box Score
Lines of the Year
-
Third Prize:
On June 18, in a 19-2 loss to Colorado,
Arizona starter Armando Reynoso and
reliever Omar Daal piled up these
sensational lines back-to-back: 2 IP, 10
H, 9 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 HR by Reynoso, then
1 1/3 IP, 7 H, 8 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 2 HR by Daal. So their totals: 3 1/3 IP, 17 H, 1
BB, 1 K, 3 HR. Yikes!
-
Second prize:
On the way to his unimaginable 2-13, 7.36
ERA first half, Jose Lima became the
sixth pitcher since '77 to give up 12
earned runs in one game: 5 IP, 13 H, 12
ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 1 WP, 5 HR. Lima also
joined Catfish Hunter and John Smoltz as
the only pitchers in history to give up
four home runs in the first inning. 20-game
winner, this guy was…
-
First Prize:
On May 21, in a 16-10 game against
Milwaukee, Giants pitcher Russ Ortiz
became the first starting pitcher to give
up 10 runs in a game and still win since
1954. Ortiz's line: 6 2/3 IP, 8 H, 10 ER,
3 BB, 7 K, 2 HR, 2 WP. Then, in his next
start, Ortiz managed to give up only one
hit and not win!
Zeros No
More
We don't know
how this happens in baseball. But until June 10,
that noted speedster, Mark McGwire, had gone 22
months without stealing a base and that famed
slugger, Luis Castillo, had gone 22 months
without a home run. Then they both got their
first on the same day. Gotta love it. Castillo
had swiped 79 bases since McGwire's last steal.
And Big Mac had pounded 110 homers since Castillo's
last homer. Who knows, they might crack double
digits someday…
Ugliest
Game of the Year
On April 29th,
the pitching staffs from the Astros and the
Brewers combined to issue 23 walks, but wait,
that's not all… the losing team (the Brewers)
gave up 10 runs -- on five hits. The winning team
(the Astros) threw more balls (70) than strikes (69).
Brewers starter Everett Stull gave up seven runs
on one hit. The Astros also batted around in the
fourth inning -- on one hit. The two starting
pitchers -- Stull and Scott Elarton combined for
17 walks (most by any two starters in 25 years).
Craig Biggio, incredibly, reached base five times
without putting a ball in play (three walks, two HBPs). And the two teams combined for 630 yards
worth of walks. Next year, the Astros have
proposed a walk-a-thon for the next meeting with
the Brew crew.
"Huh?
He was an All-Star?" of the Year
Some people
make the All-Star team because they get 4 million
votes. Other people make the All-Star team
because their numbers are so staggering, the
managers have to select them.
Then there's Joe
Girardi. He made the All-Star team this week
because, essentially, he happened to be sitting
by his phone. "Hey," said the Cubs'
catcher Tuesday, "Fifty years from now, no
one's going to know how I got here." So how
did he get there? Well, Mike Piazza was hurt.
Javier Lopez and Todd Hundley were unavailable.
Other catchers couldn't be located over the break.
So at 2:30 PM Monday, about 28 hours before game
time, the search for a third National League
catcher led to Girardi's house. The only reason
he was even home was because his 10-month-old
daughter, Serena, had a cold. "We'd just put
the baby down for a nap," the Cubs catcher
said, "and taken the dog for a walk. I was
on the computer, playing FreeCell, when the phone
rang." On the line was Katy Feeney, of the
commissioner's office. She asked if Girardi had
interest in coming to Atlanta "You mean, as
a player?" Girardi replied, skeptically.
That's what she meant, all right. So one night
later, there was Girardi, waving to the crowd on
national TV. What a story this will make for the
grandkids one day.
Trifecta
of the Year
In an April 21
game at Tropicana Field, three Angels hitters --
Mo Vaughn, Tim Salmon and Troy Glaus -- homered
in the same inning twice, the second and the
eighth. What's more, Vaughn, Glaus, and teammate
Garret Anderson are on pace for 40 homerun years! Trifecta, baby!
Best
Record Chase of the Year
Well…
guess we'll have to settle for the 30 year old
record of most strikeouts, set by Bobby Bonds in
1970 with the Giants, with an amazing 189
strikeouts, but his record is in jeopardy with
Preston Wilson on pace to whiff 215 times! He's
also on pace, however, to hit 35 homers and 116
RBIs, career highs.
"I'm
Not Old, I'm Getting Better with Age" of the
Year
Edgar Martinez,
37 years young, is slugging better than ever as
Seattle's DH, on pace for 43 HRs and 164 RBIs,
easily surpassing his career highs of 29 and 113,
also putting him in contention for the Triple
Crown. He continues to demand, however, that
those crazy kids get off his lawn when taking BP.
David Wells has to get his props too, the 37 year
old ace for the Blue Jays is on pace for 30 games!
Amazingly, this hurler, with a perfect game to
his name, has never even won 20, which would make
him the oldest pitcher to win 20 games for the
first time.
And finally…
Wildest
Ball Thrower
Ha! Found one
thing wrong with the Yankees, ol' Chucky Knoblauch. This guy has gone from former Gold
Glover with the Twins to throwing a ball so
wildly, it entered the stands and hit
sportscaster Keith Olbermann's mother in the face!
Must be something in the hot dogs… luckily,
manager Joe Torre recently acquired 2B Jose
Vizcaino to handle most of the duties, the
Chuckster has converted to DH. But when he
strikes out and gets ready to hurl his bat or his
helmet, look out!
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