BenMaller.com - Ben's Takes

Ben Maller's First Half Awards

NL MVP: 1.) Eric Gagne, Dodgers 2.) Shawn Green, Dodgers, 3.) Andruw Jones, Braves 4.) Lance Berkman, Astros. 5.) Barry Bonds, Giants.

No player in baseball has been more valuable in the National League than Eric Gagne slamming the door shut in the 9th inning for the Dodgers. The odds are he'll not win the MVP, but that means the Dodgers' Shawn Green has a great chance after a crappy start. Green is on a record HR pace.

AL MVP: 1.) Torii Hunter, Twins 2.) Alfonso Soriano, Yankees 3.) Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners 4.) Nomar Garciaparra, Red Sox 5.) Jason Giambi, Yankees.

Torii Hunter has taken his game to the next level for the Twins. He's helped carry Minnesota to the front of the AL Central and a great chance at the playoffs.

NL CY Young: 1.) Eric Gagne, Dodgers, 2.) Tom Glavine, Braves 3.) Curt Schilling, Diamondbacks.

The CY Young is Gagne's to lose. He's turned into the best closer in the game but can he do it over the full 162 game season? If he fails then Tom Glavine of the Braves is in line to win the award. Just don't pitch him in a big game.

AL CY Young: 1.) Derek Lowe, Red Sox; 2.) Eddie Guardado, Twins. 3.) Mike Mussina, Yankees;

Lowe has been consistent all year, has thrown a no-hitter and has the league's best ERA. Much like Gagne in the National League, the only question about Lowe is if can he do it over a full 162 game season. Guardado leads the AL in saves and his been the Twins' version of Gagne.

NL Manager of Year: 1.) Jim Tracy, Dodgers, 2.) Frank Robinson, Expos, 3.) Bobby Cox, Braves.

Lets see... Gary Sheffield is in Atlanta. Jeff Shaw is retired. Kevin Brown and Darren Dreifort have been hurt all year. Adrian Beltre couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat. All this and the Dodgers find themselves atop the toughest division in baseball. Jim Tracy is the next great Dodger manager and this will be his first NL Manager of the Year Award.

AL Manager of Year: 1.) Ron Gardenhire, Twins, 2.) Grady Little, Red Sox, 3.) Mike Scioscia, Angels.

Gardenhire only got the job because nobody else was available. Tom Kelly had retired, and the Twins where supposed to go the way of legend. Instead the Twins are still around and have found a solid manager in Gardenhire who is much like Kelly.

NL Rookie of Year: 1.) Jason Jennings, Rockies, 2.) Kaz Ishii, Dodgers, 3.) Josh Fogg, Pirates.

Jennings has won 9 games for a horrible Rockies team. Ishii is a pro from the Japanese league so he's not really even a rookie and is starting to drop off the second trip around the NL.

AL Rookie of Year: 1. Eric Hinske, Blue Jays, 3.) Rodrigo Lopez, Orioles, 3.) Nick Johnson, Yankees.

Hinske who comes from the A's farm system is on pace for 26 HR's and 87 RBI's in his rookie campaign. Rodrigo Lopez is a Padres farm system reject who is 8-3 with a 3.04era for the Orioles. permalink

Wednesday, July 10, 2002

Bud Idiot

There is no crying in baseball and there are no ties.

Major League Baseball did it again. Bud Selig and his cast of idiots have now ruined the Midsummer Classic. It's hard to believe that last night's game was allowed to be played without a team actually winning. It's also hard to believe that Bud Selig has been the Commissioner of this game as long as he has.

I don't know what's more disgusting: the game being called at 7-7 after 11 innings or the players' and managers' reactions after the game. Bob Brenly of the NL team said that the teams were the winners. That might be true, because the fans sure weren't. The reaction seemed to be like, "who cares? We played a full game plus some extra innings and the fans got to see the players so it doesn't matter that the game ended in a tie."

Well, that's bull crap.

They should change the name of the game to "The Major League Baseball All-Star Event." A game has a winner, and an event is something to watch and not care who wins. Buck Schowalter said after the game on ESPN that baseball still had the best All-Star Game, so people should relax (in so many words). While in the past the all-star game has been great, if your not going to have a winner, then baseball's event becomes the worst. Give me an AFC vs. NFC battle in Hawaii at the Pro Bowl any day of the week over the crap that took place at Miller Park last night.

Mike Williams, the closer of the Pittsburgh Pirates and an All-Star, was on Fox Sports Radio last night and said that it was good the game ended, because they didn't want anyone to get hurt. That's the biggest line of BS I've ever heard. If players are so worried about getting hurt, they shouldn't even play the freaking game. The NFL Pro Bowl is a much tougher event, yet they are able to play that with a WINNER every year.

If I had spent money buying tickets for the game last night I would send a letter to Bud Selig and baseball demanding my money back. You paid money to see the American League or National League win, not tie.

Just another pathetic day for baseball. permalink

Tuesday, July 09, 2002

2002 All-Star Game Notes

Location: Miller Park in Milwaukee

*Major League Baseball announced Monday that the All-Star Game MVP award will be named after Hall-of-Famer Ted Williams, who died last week at the age of 83. Williams played in 18 All-Star Games in his career. Tuesday night will be the 56th anniversary of the 1946 game at Fenway Park, where Williams went 4-for-4 with two home runs.

*37 of the 60 All-Stars will receive bonuses this year ranging from $10,000 to $100,000, according to a survey of their contracts by The Associated Press. The total bonus amount was $1,525,000. The biggest winners are Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants, Alex Rodriguez of the Texas Rangers, Shawn Green of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Omar Vizquel of the Cleveland Indians, who will receive $100,000 each for traveling to Milwaukee.

*In 2000, Derek Lowe made the All-Star Game as a reliever. This season, Lowe (12-4) will start the All-Star Game for the AL, thanks to a league-low 2.36 ERA. He will face Curt Schilling, who leads the majors with 14 wins and 186 strikeouts.

*The American League has won five straight Midsummer Classics, and 11 of 14.

*According to the sports-business people at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, it would cost $1,330 for a family of four to attend all the All-Star events. The tab includes $50 for the Fan Fest, $700 for game tickets, $160 for All-Star Sunday, $300 for All-Star workout day and the Home Run Derby, $30 for parking, $40 for the program and two official All-Star logo T-shirts for the kids, and $50.25 for refreshments.

*The last All-Star game in Milwaukee (1975) featured the 24th and final All-Star Game appearance for Hank Aaron. Aaron is tied with Willie Mays and Stan Musial for the most appearances in All-Star Game history.

*Sources say Detroit is the leading candidate to be awarded the 2005 All-Star Game. The next two sites will be Chicago's Comiskey Park (2003) and Houston's Minute Maid Field (2004).

*All three current AL division leaders (Yankees, Twins, Mariners) led their respective divisions at the All-Star break in 2001. On the other hand, no current NL division leader led their division at the break last season.

*The Milwaukee All-Star Game will be broadcast in 220 countries and is expected to draw close to 100 million viewers.

*The Braves go into the break with an MLB-low 2.99 ERA. (Four of their relievers have an ERA under 2.00.) No team in 13 years has finished the season with an ERA under 3.00. The last team was the 1989 Dodgers, with a 2.95 ERA. Ironically, the Dodgers had a losing record (79-83) that season.

*Barry Bonds seems ready to rewrite the record book again. Bonds is on pace to be walked an MLB record 203 times this season. Combined with a .345 batting average, Bonds has an on-base percentage of .562 (would set single season record). Bonds gets on base 11 percent more than any other player in the major leagues (2nd - Adam Dunn, .452 OBP).

*With 32 saves at the break, Eric Gagne is on pace to break Bobby Thigpen’s record of 57 saves in 1990. Gagne did not have a single save before this season.

*Only four pitchers have gone undefeated at home this season while picking up five or more wins. Barry Zito has gone undefeated at home since last season’s All-Star break. Zito has won 15 straight at home. His last home loss, 24 starts ago, came on June 2, 2001.

Source: Stats Inc.
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Sunday, July 07, 2002

Baseball Liars

By Ben Maller

I'm sick and tired of the people in baseball taking cheap shots at the game. I read close to 100 sports pages a day for my prep work at Fox Sports Radio as well as the Rumors & Notes page on this site, and can't tell you how many people in baseball rip the sport. This problem does not exist on the same level in the NBA or NFL.

You don't hear NFL owners complain that while they are able to build a winning team, they can't keep it together. Yet, this has happened in baseball in several cities the last few years. Fans don't know who's on their team because the roster turns over every other year. When is the last time an NFL owner said their sport was in trouble because they don't have a team in Los Angeles, the nation's second biggest market, and haven't had one since 1994? NFL players, while taking the most physical risk of major injury, are the lowest paid amongst the major sports and have no guaranteed contracts. Nobody in the NFL says this is bad and that the players should make more.

The NBA has many problems they don't talk about. Owners don't spend much time talking about all the high school kids jumping straight to the NBA lottery while most of them are not close to ready for the pro life of travel from city to city. Since 1980 there have been just seven different cities that have had NBA titles. Do you hear owners in Milwaukee, Minnesota, Sacramento, Seattle, and Memphis say they can't compete because they're not located in a major market? How often do you hear owners complain that many of the players in the league smoke pot, and according to Charles Oakley, some might even play high?

The answer is, "almost never," to the questions above.

In baseball, teams complain and bitch none stop about how the money is out of control and everyone is on steroids and nobody is coming out to watch their teams play. To me the biggest problem in baseball is bad ownership. Instead of spending a few bucks to build the Milwaukee Brewers farm system and develop young talent, the Brewers owner and her father Bud Selig would rather bitch and complain that they can't compete.

I look at the Oakland Athletics and Minnesota Twins, and say, "shut up you idiots." If you develop young players and are committed to winning, then it can be done. While it's easy to rip the Yankees for the money they spend, the core of the team was built through the farm system. Alfonso Soriano, Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettite, El Duque and Mariano Rivera are all from the Yankee minor league system.

Teams like the Indians, who traded Bartolo Colon, and the Marlins, who are about to deal Cliff Floyd and Ryan Dempster, just don't get it. Fans are right for not supporting teams that give up on their seasons midway through.

Baseball owners should shut up and get there own teams in order before they take shots at the players or the game. The players did not set the salary structure in the game, the owners did. Most of the game's problems are the owners fault and they make things worse by bitching to the media, and in turn, the fans. Baseball would be better off if teams actually tried to win instead of throwing in the towel and saying they have no chance to compete. permalink