A sports blog by and for Midwest Sports Fans
As the injuries start to pile up and new players make their way into the league, this is a time where managers have to do some real work. Finding the right replacement for someone like the injured Albert Pujols isn’t easy by any stretch, but it still must be done.
The All-Star break is just two weeks away and when running a team, you want to see who is going into the break strong and who is just coasting in. So without further ado, your hitting planner.
The Tampa Bay Rays won the AL East for the second time in three seasons last year, winning 96 games, one better than the New York Yankees.
The departure of several players to free agency, most notably Carl Crawford (Red Sox), Carlos Pena (Cubs), Rafael Soriano (Yankees), Joaquin Benoit (Tigers) and Matt Garza (Cubs), will make this season challenging for the Rays.
Will the Yankees or Red Sox reclaim the top spot in 2011?
Cubs win! Cubs win!
No really…the Cubs actually won something.
Chicago Cubs catcher Geovanny Soto was named NL Rookie of the Year earlier today, capturing 31 out of 32 possible first place votes. Apparently either Dusty Baker or Joe Morgan has a vote, because one vote inexplicably went to Reds first baseman Joey Votto. It wasn’t even really a race in the NL this year — Geovanny Soto had a very strong first season and deserved to be Rookie of the Year.
In the American League, Chicago White Sox second baseman Alexei Ramirez finished second to Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria, who captured all 28 of the first place votes.
(When asked for comment as to why there are 32 first place votes in the NL, but only 28 in the AL, Bud Selig picked his nose and wiped the boogers underneath his desk. He then muttered something defensive, shouted “Beam me to paradise”, and was then transported into his dream world — where he is a backup dancer for the Talking Heads.)
Alexei Ramirez received 18 second place votes to finish ahead of Jacoby Ellsbury for second in the AL. Ozzie Guillen could not be reached for comment, but wants to know who Jay Mariotti voted for.
Soto’s assent to Rookie of the Year was not a surprise based on his strong start to the season and relatively consistent play throughout. Plus, he’s a Chicago Cub so even if he didn’t deserve the accolade he would have gotten it anyway. The case of Alexei Ramirez, however, is much different.
The Cuban Missile was hitting an awful .114 on May 7th. But he came on strong in the second half of the season and punctuated his stellar play with a grand slam to win the September 29th makeup game against the Detroit Tigers, which forced a one-game playoff against the Twins. For the season, Ramirez set a major league record to rookies by hitting four grand slams.
The outlook for both players appears promising. Geovanny Soto will resume his role as the Cubs’ catcher next season and be fawned over by fans across the globe regardless of how well his team does. He has, however, no chance of ever catching in a World Series unless he is traded. Alexei Ramirez appears poised to take over the shortstop position for the White Sox next season and is a prominent building block for Ken Williams as he reshapes the White Sox again roster for next year and beyond.
Congratulations to Geovanny Soto for winning, and to Alexei Ramirez for storming back in the 2nd half to finish #2. The only number that really matters though, is this: 1.
That’s how many more playoff games the White Sox won than the Cubs this year.
It’s how many World Series titles the White Sox have this century.
And it’s the number of future presidents who love the White Sox and hate the Cubs.
Thank you for reading this objective analysis of the Rookie of the Year voting. Geovanny, I swear it’s nothing personal. You just play for a crappy franchise.
[tags]chicago cubs, chicago white sox, mlb, rookie of the year[/tags]
Game 1 of the American League Divisional Series between the Chicago White Sox and Tampa Bay Rays just ended. Unfortunately, at least for game 1, I was proven right with my prediction from earlier today as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Chicago White Sox 6-4 at Tropicana Field.
Hopefully the rest of my prediction comes through, because I thought that the White Sox would lose today and then take the next three to capture the series in four games.
