Kuzul

There was Boston Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner, who is associated with the “It gets through Buckner!” error in the 1986 World Series. Then there was Chuck Knoblauch, whose mind got so rattled he was hesitant fielding everything. Now, unfortunately, Brooks Conrad joins the group as a Buckner/Knoblauch hybrid, having a day in the field that would fuel a sleepless Sunday night if the Atlanta Braves couldn’t bounce back in third game of their evenly matched series with the San Francisco Giants.

His nightmarish night began in the opening inning, as he bobbled a grounder hit by Freddy Sanchez that put runners on first and second with nobody out. For his sake, the Giants didn’t score, as Brian McCann magically gunned down Andres Torres on a questionable attempted steal of third to quell the threat. In the second inning, after a drive by Mike Fontenot bounced out of Jason Heyward’s glove at the wall in right for a triple, a second miscue by Conrad hurt his team considerably. Cody Ross popped up the first pitch thrown to him by Braves right-handed veteran Tim Hudson, Conrad hovered under the ball, then lost it and watched it fall to the ground. Fontenot scampered home and many of Turner Field’s 53,284 booed.

Later in the game he called off first baseman Derek Lee on a pop-up and made the play. It was Lee’s ball, but it seemed Conrad wanted to make the catch just to show he could. At least that was my interpretation.

Worse yet for Conrad, San Francisco starting pitcher Jonathan Sanchez made that 1-0 lead stick. The team’s third best pitcher dominated just as Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain did. Swings and misses were prevalent by the Braves bats. Everything was clicking for the 27-year old: his fastball was overpowering and his off-speed pitches had late and deceptive movement, making him tremendously hard to hit.

Atlanta didn’t get a hit until Hudson, of all hitters, sawed his bat in two and flared a single to right-field in the sixth. The Braves didn’t score in that frame, nor did they push across a tying run in the seventh. But their fortunes changed in the eighth.

Shortstop Alex Gonzalez singled to begin the inning, but then Conrad brought out the boo-birds once more. Not only was he struggling in the field, having made two errors, he couldn’t make up for his gaffes by producing at the plate. His job was to move Gonzalez into scoring position with a bunt, but his attempt was popped up and found its way into the glove of a charging Fontenot.

Sanchez was pulled as Troy Glaus was announced as the pinch-hitter for Rick Ankiel, Game 2′s hero. Glaus wouldn’t get a shot to build upon Ankiel’s heroics against Sergio Romo, as Eric Hinske came up to the plate instead after the Braves saw who was coming in from the Giants bullpen. Glaus would have certainly like to have a chance to change Atlanta’s fortune against the incoming arm, but Hinske managed to deliver in his place.

Sanchez wasn’t all too happy about being taken out, with the same intense expression he carried with him during his dominant outing that featured 11 strikeouts. That expression turned into a dejected face consumed in shock, as Eric Hinske, who reached the World Series the previous three seasons with three different teams, crushed a hanging slider by Romo just fair down the right-field line and into the seats. Turner Field erupted. The Braves dugout went ballistic, especially when Hinske arrived. And Sanchez just sat there in the Giants dugout, motionless. A remarkable outing ruined. Worse yet, San Francisco was now three outs away from going down 2-1 in the series.

If Billy Wagner was to take the mound in the top of the ninth, ‘slim’ would have been the word to describe the Giants hopes of coming back after such a deflating bottom of the eighth. But Wagner is done for the postseason after straining his oblique in Friday’s loss, thus sadly ending his Hall of Fame career. This means Bobby Cox’s closer would be by committee. And, unfortunately, it was indeed a committee.

Craig Kimbrel, a 22-year old who had a whopping 40 strikeouts in 20 2/3 regular season innings upon being called up and who Wagner believed could successfully succeed him, got the call from Cox to try to collect the save. The hard-throwing right-hander induced Ross to pop-up to Conrad, the play that I described earlier in which the second baseman called off Lee. Now, two outs were all the Braves needed to take the series advantage.

Pinch-hitter Travis Ishikawa managed to work a walk out of Kimbrel, as the young hurler didn’t feast on Ishikawa’s weakness, refusing to throw his fastball upstairs to entice the 26-year old. He did recover to retire Andres Torres, getting the Giants center-fielder to whiff on a rare changeup, but Freddy Sanchez singled to end his outing. Mike Dunn, another hard thrower, trotted in from the bullpen.

Based on stuff, Cox had reason to believe Kimbrel would come through. He didn’t, but Cox put the same philosophy to work in ushering Dunn in. The new reliever’s job? The same as Kimbrel’s: to overpower and get the outs necessary to fuel a victory. He couldn’t either, but his short outing was far more painful than Kimbrel’s.

Two pitches were all he threw. The second, a flat slider to Aubrey Huff, was ripped into right field to score the tying run. As Ishikawa scored and Cox slowly walked out to the mound, a smile had to crack on Romo’s face and a deep sigh of relief had to be breathed. His reaction may not have been that drastic at this point in time, as the game was only tied, but he could soon reaction that way, as Conrad’s struggles continued with a play he will live over and over in his mind, cringing every time.

Ahead in the count 2-1 against Peter Moylan, rookie catcher Buster Posey hit a hard grounder Conrad’s way. He lifted his glove, expected the ball to bounce, instead of obeying the Cardinal Rule of keeping his mitt on the ground. The ball did bounce, but not high enough to cushion in Conrad’s keeping. It bounded into right-center field, scoring Sanchez from third with the go-ahead run. Right through Conrad’s wickets, a heartbreaking sight leaving the embattled infielder in disbelief.

Some fans flung their arms up in the air in disgust, booing Conrad. Others stood unable to say anything. No matter who was booing or silent, the packed stadium was in complete shock having witnessed Conrad’s third error of the game and fourth of the series.

The Giants went on to win, as closer Brian Wilson closed the door in the bottom of the ninth. Even though I wanted San Francisco to take the series advantage, it was a tough way to win. I hated to see what happened to Conrad, and, going back to by childhood as a diehard Braves fan, was sad to see Atlanta lose in such a devastating fashion.

Afterwords, he said, “I wish I could just dig a hole and go sleep in there.” He feels terrible. He feels like he let his team down, just as Knoblauch did time and time again and as Buckner did in ’86. But, he has support. No Brave teammate envies what he’s dealing with right now, as Chipper Jones, longtime member of the team and my childhood idol, summed up in the post-game interviews compiled by the Atlanta Journal Constitution‘s Dave O’Brien:

“There’s no a guy in here that wouldn’t take Brooks Conrad in their fox hole any day. We love the guy to death. He works his tail off. He deserves better than what happened to him today, but it’s part of the game. It’s happened to all of us. It’s happened to the best players. It’s just unfortunate because we want so bad for him to be successful.”

After witnessing Conrad’s struggles, Cox was noncommittal about him starting Game 4 at second base. Hopefully he will give him the chance to redeem himself, and hopefully Conrad can take full advantage of that chance. But for now, he will have to live with his errors running over and over again through his mind. Especially the last, one Billy Buckner knows all too well.

(Photos: Zimbio)

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When Atlanta Braves reliever Billy Wagner stiffly lunged off the mound to field a groundball hit by Andres Torres and immediately grabbed his side upon throwing to first base, I had a terrible feeling this would be the last time one of the greatest closers in history would grace a major league mound. The 39-year old, who was crouched on the ground in agony, was joined by the medical staff and catcher Brian McCann, and then was gingerly ushered into the dugout and towards the clubhouse.

The injury, which I estimate to be a strained oblique, did not appear to be something Wagner can shrug off. Given his desire to retire at season’s end, this was most likely the end to his Hall of Fame-worthy career, and, considering the enviable situation the San Francisco Giants found themselves in, it appeared the Braves would be sent to elimination’s brink.

Edgar Renteria was on second base, having reached on a bunt to begin the tenth inning–a bunt Wagner appeared to originally hurt himself going after. The Giants were in prime position to take a 2-0 series lead heading back to Atlanta, needing just a single to do so, but how extra innings were forced makes what transpired quite remarkable and fitting.

The Giants grabbed an early lead backed by Pat “The Bat” Burrell, who lived up to his one-dimensional nickname by slugging a first inning three-run blast off Tommy Hanson and over the left-field wall. Then they added to the advantage, scoring a run in the second on an rbi-single by pitcher Matt Cain.

That lead held for five innings, as Cain didn’t let the Braves take full advantage of a collection of hits by their many veteran hitters. But, eventually, the 26-year old right-hander couldn’t halt every attempted rally. Braves first baseman Derek Lee singled to begin the sixth and reached second as Burrell bobbled the ball in left. Lee’s wherewithal to take the extra base paid immediate dividends. McCann delivered as he has done all year, lining a single into center to plate Lee and cut the margin to three.

Reliever Mike Dunn, one of the Braves many impressive and aggressive bullpen arms with a closer’s mentality, came out for the sixth after pitching a scoreless fifth, retired the dangerous Aubrey Huff, and then gave way to Peter Moylan. Moylan, their team leader in appearances, worked around a double by Burrell to escape the threat.

No noise was made by either team in the seventh, but some was in the eighth. The Giants were the victim of this noise, as the Braves battled back against their usually dominant closer Brian Wilson, a bearded, quirky, and mohawk-boasting character. He entered after Sergio Romo, who was sporting a similarly scruffy black beard, allowed singles to Lee and McCann, and his job now was to collect just his second six-out save of the season.

Atlanta, down three, needed a big inning, and their call was answered. The pudgy Melky Cabrera hit a grounder to an equally out of shape Pablo Sandoval and reached as Sandoval’s throw took Huff off the bag at first, loading the bases with none out. Brooks Conrad and Alex Gonzalez made sure this opportunity wouldn’t go to waste, as Conrad’s groundout helped the Braves inch closer while Gonzalez’s ensuing drive into the left-center gap sent the basepath’s final two runners to the plate, knotting the affair at four.

It was still tied after nine, sending the game to an ever-exciting tenth. The Giants were in a prime position to score in the bottom of the frame, with the bases juiced and one out. Catcher Buster Posey, the hitter San Francisco wanted up in this situation, is usually very clutch but he couldn’t convert. A flyball lifted into the outfield would have a great chance at scoring the winning run, yet he only managed to weakly hit a slider from Kyle Farnsworth down the third-base line. Troy Glaus, who had assumed the position to begin the inning, handled his first attempt as well as possible. Instead of going home, he immediately made up his mind to try for the traditional double-play. Gonzalez fielded his throw at second base then spun and fired to first. Lee snagged the throw before Posey’s arrival and pumped his fist. Double-play: just what the Braves needed to stay alive.

A wasted chance turned into, well, what Rick Ankiel proceeded to do. Ankiel, who pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals a decade ago, lost all sense of command, and transformed into an outfielder, strode to the plate with one out against Ramon Ramirez. Acquired from the Kansas City Royals mid-season along with Farnsworth, he has struggled in Atlanta, hitting for a low batting average and little power. But, he managed to make Braves fans everywhere forget about his woes with one swing.

And my oh my what a swing it was. As powerful as he could produce, creating the sound every hitter dreams of hearing. Ramirez’s fifth pitch on a 2-2 count was thrown right down the pipe, in Ankiel’s wheelhouse. And Ankiel, who has been through so much during his tumultuous major league career, certainly didn’t miss it, crushing the offering deep into the night. After contact he thrust his right arm in the air. Seconds later the ball splashed into McCovey Cove. The ballpark fell silent. All that could be heard during the next few minutes was the announcers covering the blast on TBS, the cheers from the select few Braves fans amongst the record crowd of 44,046, and the jubilation inside the Braves dugout prior and especially during Ankiel’s arrival. Ankiel, like his teammates and those fans who made the long journey from Georgia, was all smiles. In the moments after being ambushed, he motioned to a coach that his heart was beating rapidly. He couldn’t believe what had just happened. Neither could the Giants.

San Francisco went quietly in the bottom of the inning, giving the Braves the victory heading home, where they were a major-league best 56-25 during the season. This may have been Wagner’s last game, but his Braves are far from done. The credit for that is due to Farnsworth and Ankiel; Farnsworth, who posted a 5.40 ERA in 23 regular season appearances, and Ankiel, who hit just .210 in 47 games with Atlanta. Ankiel, the 31 year old who, ten years ago, allowed seven runs in four playoff appearances with the Cardinals on five hits and a nightmarish and career-changing 11 walks, spanning the NLDS and NLCS. Ankiel, whose homer that sunk San Francisco “was the biggest home-run of my career … the pinnacle of my career,” washing away memories of his painful past.

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The Philadelphia Phillies may be the favorite in the National League, but the four teams representing the American League aren’t separated by much. The Texas Rangers, Tampa Bay Rays, Minnesota Twins, nor New York Yankees really stand out, which adds to the excitement.

However, it does please me to say the Yankees aren’t the cream of this postseason’s AL crop. They aren’t a surefire ALCS representative, as the Twins stand in their way.

NY Yankees vs. Minnesota Twins

New York squares off against the Minnesota Twins starting Wednesday, a pitching matchup between 21-game winner C.C. Sabathia and Francisco Liriano. Sabathia has been the Yankees unquestionable ace, and may win the Cy Young award this year, while Liriano has regained his 2006 form, winning 14 games as their top dog.

The game will be played in Minnesota, as the Twins have home-field advantage during the first round, which is bad news for Sabathia, who has been far more successful at the billion dollar, albeit magnificently luxurious piece of concrete that is the new Yankees Stadium.

Forced to start Sabathia on the road isn’t the lone problem for New York entering this series. Over their final 26 games the Yankees went just 9-17. And, that 26-game stretch only illustrated how horrid their pitching staff is behind Sabathia. Andy Pettitte is their No. 2 starter and will pitch in Game 2.

He has been a terrific postseason pitcher throughout his career, but he recently returned from a long stay on the disabled list and hasn’t found his groove. A.J. Burnett has been awful, and he won’t throw a pitch in the series if the Yankees have any sense.

But Phil Hughes will pitch, and though he finished the season with 17 wins he has been Jekyll and Hyde. And who knows which one would show up under the pressure-filled lights of postseason play.

Their lineup can more than pick up for the question marks in their playoff rotation, but the Twins have some good arms behind Liriano to silence them. Carl Pavano, who will start Game 2, has come up big for Minnesota this season and will certainly be motivated in facing his former team.

Especially in his case, it should certainly help to pitch at home, considering he would be treated like Pedro Martinez was during his days in Boston, with boos, rattling chants, and obscenities reigning down from the 50-plus thousand in the Bronx.

Twenty-seven-year-old Brian Duensing—who went 10-2 this year with a 2.62 ERA—will pitch Game 3, and the Twins hope it’s the last game of the potential five-game series.

If New York’s pitchers pitch well the pressure is off the offense. But since there is so much uncertainty behind Sabathia, the offense will surely have to deliver early and often for the Yankees to get past the Twins. Their lineup is stacked from top to bottom, but the Twins also have some solid bats, which is definitely not good news for New York.

Joe Mauer is without a doubt their most efficient hitter, but the likes of Jim Thome, Jason Kubel, Michael Cuddyer, rookie Danny Valencia, and free-swinging Delmon Young can make similar impacts. That’s as solid a sextet as any in the league.

New York sets the table well with Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher, but so does Minnesota, with Denard Span and Orlando Hudson slapping base hits all year long in front of the big hitters.

It will be a good series, and I really think the Twins will win and do so in five games. New York has the offense to win in three games, but Minnesota has the bats to match them run for run. Mariano Rivera is better than Twins closer Matt Capps, and what makes this series so evenly matched is the similarities in middle relief.

Jon Rauch, Matt Guerrier, and Jesse Crain have done the job done in front of Capps, all posting ERA’s just over three with few hiccups to their names. On the other side, Boone Logan and Kerry Wood have been excellent, allowing a total of 15 earned runs in 66 innings.

Yet, the Yankees have been far from solid down the stretch, and, even though the postseason is a whole new ballgame and will get their blood pumping, it’s hard to turn it around just like that. My guess is that they won’t.

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Joey Votto watches one of the many moonshots he hit on the season for the NL Central division leading Reds. (Photo: Zimbio)

The American League Cy Young and MVP races are compelling, but no race has more contenders than the National League Most Valuable Player. There is Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals, who is having his yearly  campaign as baseball’s most gifted player; Joey Votto, who is having an equally impressive season for the Cincinnati Reds, a team heading to the playoffs for the first time since 1995; Adrian Gonzalez, who has extraordinary power for the surprising San Diego Padres; and, finally, the two-headed monster of Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki in Colorado, a duo that fueled the Rockies into playoff contention before the team ran out of gas.

As I detailed in my American League MVP article, a team cannot have two MVP candidates. Why? Because if it is hard to decide who is more valuable, then it would be better of giving the award to someone who has put up similar numbers as a team’s lone force. If the Rockies battled all the way back and reached the postseason, I wouldn’t be against Carlos Gonzalez and Tulowitzki being named co-MVPs.

As it is, though, the award should come down to the trio of Pujols, Votto, and Adrian Gonzalez. All three have been very valuable for their teams, but in my mind Votto is most deserving. Pujols has 42 homers, 118 rbi’s, a .313 batting average, and a 41 percent on-base percentage: his usual numbers. He has three MVP awards putting up those statistics. He is the best in the game. But he isn’t the most valuable this particular season. St. Louis is out of playoff contention and has been for the past month.

So, leaving Pujols out of the equation, it comes down to Adrian Gonzalez and Votto. Given how poor the Padres offense is without Gonzalez in the lineup his case is a compelling one. He’s a .300 hitter, has 30-plus homers and 100-plus rbis while playing Gold Glove first base. But, Votto’s numbers are far superior, and his Reds are going to a place they haven’t been in a long time.

Votto, 27, has 37 homers, 113 rbi’s, a 42 percent on-base percentage, and, as ESPN’s Jayson Stark documents in his awards’ article, has a “.374 [batting average] with men on base, .369 with runners in scoring position, .355 in the late innings of tight games, .357 from the seventh inning on, .336 since the All-Star break and 27 homers that have either tied games, put his team ahead, brought his team within a run or broken open a one-run game.”

He has delivered when it has mattered most for Cincinnati, and that, quite simply, defines an MVP.

Honorable mention: Adrian Gonzalez, Pujols, Tulowitzki, and Carlos Gonzalez

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Neftali Feliz has dominated for the Rangers, helping propel the franchise into the playoffs for the first time since 1999. (photo: zimbio)

Unlike in all of the other award categories, the candidates for the American League Rookie of the Year is a pretty thin group. It’s a very close battle between two players, outfielder Austin Jackson of the Detroit Tigers, and Neftali Feliz, the Texas Rangers closer.

Feliz, 22, was named the closer in early April, and though manager Ron Washington said Frank Francisco would assume the duties upon working out the kinks, Feliz stuck and flourished. In years past the Rangers bullpen had been their weakness, but Feliz helped make it one of their overwhelming strengths. With Francisco’s inconsistencies, Texas would have had a difficult time holding off both the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Oakland Athletics. They needed Feliz, and the Dominican proved his worth.

He reached the 40-save plateau in his first full season, a goal he set for himself. He was dominant in reaching that mark, allowing just 21 runs on 43 hits in 69 innings to compile a 2.73 ERA. Feliz rarely dug himself into a hole, with a miniscule 0.88 WHIP (Walks+Hits/Inning pitched), and only blew three saves. Hitters only hit .177 against him and reached base just 24 percent of the time. Only two closers held opponents to a lower batting average and a lower on-base percentage. He helped build a winner, and his importance anchoring the back end of their bullpen makes him a terrific candidate, one who should take home the hardware.

With him deserving to be named Rookie of the Year, that means Jackson has to settle for second place. I wouldn’t be surprised if the speedy Tigers outfielder did win. The race is just that close, and who wins is a matter of whether a team’s success should factor into the decision. Jackson put up amazing statistics, but Feliz was one of the reasons why Texas is in the playoffs for the first time since 1999.

Jackson, 23, was acquired by Detroit from the New York Yankees in the deal that sent Curtis Granderson to the Bronx, and he quickly made the Tigers glad a trade was completed. Granderson was a fan-favorite, a talented hitter, and did tremendous work in the community. But, though he had big shoes to fill, Jackson quickly won over Detroit, possessing speed and a major-league ready bat to anchor the top of their order. He is one of four rookies in history to reach 180 hits, 100 runs, 30 doubles, 10 triples, and 25 steals, joining Juan Samuel of the Phillies in 1984, Hanley Ramirez of the Marlins in 2006, and Shoeless Shoe Jackson in 1911.

He has been their sparkplug, a balanced all around hitter to compliment his superb play defensively. Some rookies come up to the majors and flourish for a short while until pitchers figured out their holes. Jackson has been consistent throughout the year, missing only five games and amounting 600-plus at-bats. He never hit a wall, which is eye-opening considering the American League boasts so many solid pitchers.

It is hard to go against Jackson. His team had a down year, but he certainly did everything he could to provide a winning energy. Feliz just did a bit more as one of the more important Rangers during their run into the playoffs.

Honorable mention: Jackson, Wade Davis and Danny Valencia

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After making my pick for the American League Cy Young, which was an easy decision on my part, I move on to the American League Most Valuable Player, which is a bit more difficult to choose.

Just as I believe that wins should play a minimal role in deciding the Cy Young award, an MVP should not come from a team that has other potential candidates. That erases New York Yankees Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez, and Mark Teixeira from the conversation. This isn’t my Boston Red Sox bias creeping in; it is logic. If Cano might not even be the best player on his team how can he get strong consideration for the MVP? The MVP has to be someone who is definitively leading his team–hence the “Most Valuable” part of the award’s title. No one can say that it is just Cano primarily propelling New York.

Jose Bautista is a very interesting case. The Toronto Blue Jays right fielder had never hit more than 16 homers in a season, nor had he driven in more than 63 prior to his ridiculous 2010 season. Currently, Bautista has 54 homers and 124 RBI on the year. That is 41 more homers and 84 more RBI than he had last year with the team. It’s hard to comprehend, but considering Toronto has the fourth most homers in MLB history this season, his sudden power is not mind-boggling.

He credits an entirely renovated swing for his impressive jump, one where he turns into the zone far quicker than during his lowly days in Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Baltimore, and Kansas City. His swing is also much flatter and his weight transfer is vastly improved, which obviously helps a hitter consistently make crisper contact. The steroids conversation shouldn’t even be brought up. Suspicion is attached, but players are randomly tested and one would be a complete dodo to chance their reputation and career with syringes this long after the steroid era.

Yet, though his accomplishments this season are remarkable, and though his team has played predominately well despite finishing fourth in the toughest division in baseball, he is not my MVP of the American League.

The MVP has to go to someone who has been most important to their team’s success. Bautista has been for the Blue Jays, but his team isn’t going to the playoffs nor have they ever been in the hunt. And, he’s only hit one homer this season—his 53rd—to the opposite field, which is bizarre. Is the 29-year-old a flash in the pan? Could the Blue Jays have won 85 games with Travis Snider getting regular playing time in right instead?

I know the Texas Rangers couldn’t have done as well as they have without Josh Hamilton; that’s for certain. Texas has always had a fairly good offense, but Hamilton has made it one of the more feared in baseball. They played in an easy division. The division was pretty much won when July turned to August. But they would have had a tougher time holding off the Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim if he didn’t produce the way he did prior to getting injured in early September.

That he went down with an injury early last month, fracturing multiple ribs crashing into the center field wall, and still leads the American League in batting average at .361 and has 31 homers, 97 RBI, and a .412 on-base percentage is incredible. Entering his return to the field in tonight’s game against the Angels, he had missed 27 of 158 games. A months-worth of baseball and he is only 17 hits away from 200, has already reached the 40-double plateau, and is nearing 100 runs. He won’t reach 200 hits nor will he reach triple-digits in runs, but that he has put up those numbers—a terrific season for many who play all 162 games—while missing so much time only helps his case for the award.

It is not just coincidence that the Rangers ran away with the American League East during the five months in which Hamilton regularly appeared. And, it’s not as if players who have missed substantial time haven’t won before. In fact, Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer won last year with very similar statistics, as ESPN’s Jayson Stark displayed in his article:

Enough said in arguing for a player who has been to hell and back in his life and is now among the elite in the great game of baseball.

Honorable mention: Cano, Bautista, Miguel Cabrera, Evan Longoria, Adrian Beltre, Paul Konerko, and Delmon Young

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Also, the American League East is up for grabs. Both the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees are assured of making the postseason, but, as they are currently deadlocked, it’s just a matter of who wants to play the Texas Rangers or Minnesota Twins in the American League Division Series (the division winner would play Texas, with the Wild Card playing Minnesota).

An exciting weekend awaits, but it is time to hand out the awards for baseball’s best. First in my multi-part series is…

American League Cy Young

I’ll start with perhaps the most intriguing. New York Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia has 21 wins and a 3.18 ERA over 237-and-two-thirds innings. He is deemed to be the front-runner. But he shouldn’t win. My choice, if indeed chosen, would defy most of the credentials needed to be considered. He’s not on a winning team; he’s on one of the worst. He doesn’t have anywhere near Sabathia’s win total. But, statistically, Felix Hernandez was the best pitcher in not only the American League but the entirety of baseball, dominating for the Seattle Mariners.

Being the best hitter doesn’t necessarily mean you are the Most Valuable Player. That has never really been understood by those who officially cast ballots. It’s who is most valuable, and in my mind “best” and “valuable” can have entirely different meanings when it comes to the offensive aspect of the game. But as far as pitchers are concerned, whomever puts up the best statistics should win their league’s Cy Young award.

Hernandez certainly accomplished what is necessary to take home the hardware. Throw his 13-12 record out of the window because he had the game’s worst offense behind him. The Mariners, as ESPN’s Jayson Stark mentions in his awards article, have scored less than three runs 98 times this season. Ninety-eight. For him, they scored just over three runs per game, by far the worst this year. But, according to Stark, it “isn’t merely the worst in baseball this year. It’s the worst in this millennium. And according to Elias (Sports Bureau), it’s the second-worst support in the entire DH era for an AL pitcher with an ERA under 2.50.”

And his ERA is well under the necessary 2.50 to qualify for this horrid statistic that will haunt the Mariners until they find some players who can hit. It’s 2.27, the best mark in baseball. He only allowed four earned runs twice in 34 starts, and relinquished just 194 hits in 249-and-two-thirds innings. Yet, due to his putrid offense, he has only 13 wins and, presumably, a second-place finish to Sabathia to show for such excellence.

To reiterate, racking up the victories should not be the main reason why a pitcher wins the CY Young. Sabathia has been terrific, but he has nine very good hitters backing him. Knowing your offense is going to have a great shot at supporting you has to ease the pressure heading into outings. This is why, with such a horrid offense, Fernandez’s candidacy should in no way be affected by what his offense does at the plate. To further explain why, I leave my argument for Hernandez with this, once again from Stark:

And here’s the amazing part: The Mariners are doing all this even though one of their lineup spots is occupied by a fellow who leads the league in hits (the one, the only Ichiro). At least that helps explain how the guy who leads the American League in hits has somehow scored fewer runs (72) than the man who is last in the National League in hits (that .198-hitting Mark Reynolds, who has scored 79), among qualifiers for the batting title.

Honorable Mention: Sabathia, Jon Lester, David Price, and Clay Buchholz

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Bill Hall did all he could, helping put Boston in the lead against Mariano Rivera (foreground), but his Red Sox ultimately fell, their playoff chances taking a huge blow. Photo: daylife)

In the bottom of the 10th inning, veteran left-hander Hideki Okajima needed a double play but he didn’t get it. With the sacks packed full of New York Yankees, a 3-1 pitch to Juan Miranda—a 27-year-old who struck out ever 3.4 at-bats against left-handers in Triple-A this season—from the Boston Red Sox reliever missed inside. Game over. Boston’s season essentially over.

After struggling for most of the season, Okajima’s countryman Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched brilliantly, doing his part to try to keep Boston’s hopes alive. He shutout New York over the first six innings nursing a 1-0 lead made possible by a Victor Martinez RBI single in the third that scored Bill Hall. The movement on Matsuzaka’s pitches was extraordinarily effective, and his pitch selection and placement kept their plethora of star hitters off balance. That was until the seventh, when the player I loathe the most cashed in for Yankees.

Alex Rodriguez, whom I snickered at throughout my trip to Yankees Stadium earlier this month, entered his plate appearance having tallied 495 at-bats. This one would net him $66,666 (he makes $33 million this season) whether he delivered or not. Matsuzaka had allowed a one-out single to Mark Teixeira just prior, and Teixeira would soon score, as Rodriguez crushed a misplaced 0-2 fastball into the first row of the right-field seats. In baseball terms, money earned.

It was his fourth home run of the series, so it certainly didn’t come as much of a surprise. Boston couldn’t do something about the 2-1 deficit in the eighth. And worse yet, they had to face the infamous Mariano Rivera in the ninth.

Boston has broken through against the best closer of all time many times before, but what transpired was still surprising. Rivera entered his outing having blown two saves in the month, which he had never previously done in September. The number would grow, but not in the manner one would think.

As ESPN announcer Orel Hershiser pointed out, closers have historically had difficult times holding runners. Since their job is to get three outs they primarily focus solely on the hitter, as was the case with Rivera tonight. Young outfielder Ryan Kalish worked a walk with one out then took advantage of Rivera’s focus on Hall, who was the hitter. Two bases were swiped by Kalish during Hall’s lengthy at-bat, both stolen quite easily as catcher Jorge Posada failed to even attempt to throw him out.

Hall, who has been a very effective player for Boston this season, rewarded Kalish for his efforts, hitting a frozen rope past Rodriguez at third to score the tying run and end a seven-pitch battle, and then he harnessed his inner Kalish, stealing second and third. Posada missed badly on both throws, and Boston was in business, with a runner on third and only one out. Pinch-hitter Mike Lowell did what was necessary, lifting a fly ball deep enough to center to score Hall. Boston had the lead.

But it wouldn’t last. Closer Jonathan Papelbon, who has struggled this season, made things far too interesting as usual. He couldn’t hold the advantage given to him by his scrappy offense, allowing three runners to reach with one out and then a tying single to MVP candidate Robinson Cano. The strike zone was incredibly small for Papelbon, but it was the same as it had been for Matsuzaka. Sure strikes hitting the outside edges of the zone and the lower portion were called balls. Umpire Phil Cuzzi was consistent, but consistently wrong.

Papelbon managed to persevere in spite of Cuzzi’s blindness, retiring the still dangerous Posada and Lance Berkman to limit the damage. Boston lived on, but they wouldn’t live long.

Miranda’s game-winning walk was far too anticlimactic considering the excitement that had led to that. Prior to the inside pitch that had Boston walking off the field and down the tunnel dejected, it was a classic Red Sox-Yankees affair. The Red Sox were still playing for something. As Hall said after Friday’s win over New York, “I don’t think ‘spoiler’ is what we’re looking at. We want to sweep the series and go to Chicago and sweep there, too. We’re looking to win out.” That can’t happen now, but it’s the thought that counts.

The Red Sox shouldn’t have been in the position to make this game meaningful. They lost Jacoby Ellsbury early on, Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia hit the shelf mid-summer, and pitchers Josh Beckett, John Lackey, and Matsuzaka (in spite of his brilliance tonight) have struggled mightily. Still, trudging out an injured Marco Scutaro, a well past his prime David Ortiz, an underachieving J.D. Drew, a banged up Martinez, and a slew of call-ups and journeymen—like Kalish and Hall, respectively—Boston scared New York in their second-to-last series of the season. And though the team expected to make the playoffs in spite of their depletion, that’s good enough for me.

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Troy Tulowitzki has been in a historic zone for the Colorado Rockies.

Carlos Gonzalez has had an unbelievable year for the Colorado Rockies, but despite hitting a ridiculous .467 this month, he isn’t even the most publicized player on his terrific team.

That title belongs to Troy Tulowitzki. The 25-year-old shortstop broke his wrist in mid-June and had to miss a month’s worth of games due to a broken wrist. It was a crushing blow for the Rockies, a team that needed his bat in their lineup if they wanted to keep up with the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres in the hotly contested National League West.

Not surprisingly, they struggled without him, going 18-17 in his absence to fall eight games behind the then division-leading Padres. He returned and immediately caught fire, teaming up with Gonzalez to pull their team back into the pennant race.

In August, Tulo (as he is called) hit .351 with a .417 on-base percentage. Colorado went a respectable 15-12 in the month but, despite his and Gonzalez’s efforts, the team found itself seven games back entering September.

Then all hell broke loose. Gonzalez has been scorching hot, but Tulo has been something else entirely. How he has played is really hard to describe. When he first came up with the Rockies and took the majors by storm, I saw a lot of Derek Jeter in him. Now, he’s become a reincarnation of former Colorado great Larry Walker. Or, better yet, a comparison that manager Jim Tracy liked, Barry Bonds (without the steroids, of course).

Tracy, from an article by MLB.com’s Evan Dellich:

“That’s a pretty good correlation,” said Tracy, who managed the Dodgers when Bonds was breaking records with the Giants. “I wore some of that during my time. We went to Spring Training in 2002, and I remember starting the first three games of the season against the Giants here in Dodger Stadium. I think [Bonds] hit five in the first two days. And I just decided we’ll hang some more rubber chickens up on the wall. That’s enough, I’m convinced. That’s a great correlation.”

The correlation’s birth began on September 3rd. Tulo hit a third-inning two-run homer off San Diego Padres’ rookie Cory Leubke to propel the Rockies to their first of ten straight victories. He socked another blast two nights later, a third the following night, and then five in a three-game span from September 8-10th. Eight homers in seven games, in seven days. That was just the beginning.

He came back to earth momentarily, going 1-8 in the first two games of a series against the Padres but then heated back up again, nailing a three-run shot in an eventual loss to the Rockies’ division rival. Then he had another stretch of five homers in three nights, including two in a win over the Padres in which he drove in seven and two more tonight in a drubbing of the Los Angeles Dodgers. His 2010 collection of multi-homer games, four, has come in the last ten games, and overall he has amassed fourteen homers in his past 15 contests, becoming just the third player in major league history to hit that many over that span of games. Fourteen!

More from Tracy, following their latest win:

“I don’t have words to describe what we’re seeing from Troy Tulowitzki. It’s one thing to be hot. It’s another thing to be in the zone like this guy is. But he has that type of mentality, and he loves this time of the year, going back to 2007 when he was just a kid. He’s still at a very ripe age where he’s at right now.”

In those fifteen games, Tulo hit well near .400, and the Rockies have been as hot as his bat, having won 13 of 17 games in 18 days. And in the month, to go with the fourteen longballs hit, he has driven in 33 runs, one shy of tying Matt Holiday’s team record for September. As Dellich points out, the next highest RBI total in the majors is 17, notched by Boston Red Sox Victor Martinez, Philadelphia’s Chase Utley, and Holliday, who is now with the St. Louis Cardinals. The next highest home-run total is the six hit by Florida Marlins rookie Mike Stanton. Tulo’s on another planet.

What’s really incredible about Tulo’s numbers this month is that there are still eleven games to be played in it. Eleven. Who knows what happens from here on out, if 20 homers and 40 RBI can be attained by the man who sits second in the National League in batting average behind Gonzalez, hitting .327. But it’s hard to see him or his team, which sits just a game behind the Padres, cooling off.

“This stretch, this is something I’ll always remember,” Tulowitzki said. “It could get a little better, but at the same time, I might not play better my entire career. So it’s something I’ll always remember. But for right now, I’m not done with this, so might as well try to keep on riding it out as long as I can.”

It’s hard to believe doing more than he did over that stretch, but Gonzalez, who has been on base for many of his blasts, hopes his incredible and historic month continues, if nothing else than to keep his legs fresh. “When I’m on base, I’m like, ‘OK, get ready, ’cause this guy’s going to hit it far,’” Gonzalez said. “Maybe off the wall so I can score. He’s keeping it easy for me. I don’t need to run so hard.”

Fourteen homers in the past 15 games by Tulo tells me all CarGo will need to do is lightly jog from here on out, which would clearly suit him just fine.

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Last year, I thoroughly enjoyed laughing at the expense of starting pitcher A.J. Burnett, who was all over the map in his first season with the New York Yankees after the team signed the then-31-year-old to a five-year, $82 million contract.

He had his fair share of solid outings, as his 4.03 ERA suggested, but he would also toss in a terrible start here and there; he allowed five runs or more eight times in 2009.

He has been worse this year, carrying a 10-13 record and a 5.13 ERA into tonight’s start against the Baltimore Orioles, but though I have continued to enjoy his mediocrity and the laughable amount of years and money doled out for such ineptness, I cannot do so as carefree as before.

Why? Because the Boston Red Sox now have their own version.

John Lackey fits the bill: an expensive, old, mediocre pitcher whose signing has turned out to be more regretful than I presume Burnett’s is for New York.

Burnett can be dazzling when everything’s working. When he didn’t allow five-plus runs last year, he was more often than not allowing two or one.

This year, when he hasn’t been booed (or in visiting ballparks, cheered) off the mound in the third or fourth inning, he has been tremendously effective, pitching deep into games.

Lackey has had some solid performances for Boston, but not lately, and he’s been far worse overall than Burnett, though Burnett’s ERA is higher.

The difference between the two: Burnett gives up runs in bunches once or twice a month while Lackey—especially over the past few months—gives up bunches of runs every outing. Tonight’s start against the Toronto Blue Jays was his season in a nutshell.

He entered with a 12-10 record and a 4.45 ERA, but left Fenway Park with 11 losses and an ERA 18 points higher.

Boston scored two runs in the first inning to give him some support, but it didn’t take long for the Blue Jays to grab an advantage and build upon it.

It’s the norm when Lackey takes the mound. Just as Clay Buchholz‘ brilliance is expected, so is Lackey’s ineffectiveness.

Lackey allowed two runs in the top of the second, then imploded in the fifth, allowing five runs in the frame. In that inning, he recorded just one out before departing to a park full of boos.

His stat line? 4 1/3 innings, eight hits, seven runs (six earned). Ho hum; just another day at the office for the Red Sox poor man’s Burnett.

Lackey was a pretty good pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, but didn’t pitch more than 176 innings in 2008 or 2009.

He won 12 and 11 games respectively, carried ERA’s of 3.75 and 3.83, and missed approximately 15 starts over those final two seasons with the team. There was a sense he would only decline further, but Boston didn’t see it.

After all, they gave him Burnett’s exact contract, and all he’s been is Burnett on his worst of days every time out.

Counting tonight’s debacle in an eventual 12-9 loss, he has allowed 211 hits and 101 runs in 190 innings. The hit total is 34 more than was accumulated in 2009 in just two more starts.

The run total is his highest since 2004, and his walk total of 66 is the most he has issued since 2006.

At home, opponents are hitting .286 against him. On the road, they are hitting .279.

And with runners on base, opposing hitters are batting .292. The ugly statistics are never-ending, and to think he’s making $18.7 million this season.

He could turn it around next season. He could turn out to be the No. 2 starter they were looking to get when he signed.

But, with that said, he’s not getting any younger, and considering his consistently bad play, it’s hard to see him getting any better.

There’s always an adjustment period joining a team like Boston, considering their high expectations, but Lackey should be past that by now.

It’s not like he’s moving from the National League to the American League. He’s seen his opponents many times before. And they’ve come to know him better than he would like.

Boston’s offense has been depleted by injuries, so the run support hasn’t consistently been there, but a ERA nearing five speaks for itself. He hasn’t been getting it done; simple as that.

Boston wanted to match the Yankees signings of Burnett and CC Sabathia, but the market for pitchers was thin. It was overpaying Lackey or taking a risk with injury-prone Ben Sheets, who has been on Oakland’s shelf the majority of the season.

They did what they thought was right, hoping he could be a dependable starter who would really show up come playoff time.

Playoff time won’t come in large part because of injuries, but also because of Lackey’s inability to deliver. If he had even posted a ERA at or below four like he did with the Angels, the Red Sox would be right in the thick of the playoff race.

So, even at this early stage of his deal with the team, it’s hard for me not to characterize him as nothing more than a bad contract.

That’s a terrible burden for Boston to carry, a team with a pitching staff that is otherwise good.

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