Season Over, Bring On The Season

Full of surprises, the 2004 regular baseball season can finally be put to rest.

Congratulations over the last week of the season to Ichiro for smashing George Sisler's 84 year old record for most hits in a season, Larry Bowa for surviving well beyond his life expectancy as Phillies manager, beating the Mets as the most disappointing team in the NL East, AND to Cincinnati's Adam Dunn for shattering the season strikeout record and easing Barry Bonds' father off the top of the heap.

Some dishonourable mention goes to the KC Royals, who joined the 1985-87 Indians as the only teams to lose 100 games, have a winning season and then have another 100 loss season.

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One thing we can say with a modicum of certainty after the past two seasons is that if you are a floundering NL team, be sure to fire your manager in mid season. That way, you too can make the playoffs as the NL Wildcard like the Astros this year and the Marlins the year before.

Since the 14th of August, Houston went into overdrive, going 36-10 for the best record in baseball during that time frame. Raise your hand if you had Phil Garner jotted down as your preseason manager of the year.

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Awards

Now that the regular season has ended, Sports Amnesia can release it's awards for the season:

NL MVP goes to Barry Bonds - anyone who was walked 120 times intentionally by his opponents proves the fear he generates and the game-altering capability he has. Note also that without him, the Giants would have been nowhere near the NL Playoff chase at the end. Even if you point out his sole blemish was that fatigued by years' end, Bonds finished the season in a 2-for-16 slump. But perhaps even more fascinating was that at 40, he played in more games than did any of his teammates. Conversely, Adrian Beltre, everyone else's candidate for MVP, hit .185 over the last seven days of the playoff race with a homer and four RBIs in seven games. No one has a more profound effect on a team than Barry does.

AL MVP goes to Vladimir Guerrero - you can wonder all you want about where the Yankees would be without Sheffield, or the Sox without Manny but Guerrero made this team a contender with his signing in the offseason, yet another infamous Met non-signing. Both the Yankees and Sox have great lineups but let's see how formidable the Angels would be without Guerrero's bat. Chone Figgins? Darren Erstad? Jose Guillen? Not to mention that in crunch time, over the last seven days of the season Vlad went 14 for 25, hit 6 homers and knocked in 11 runs.

NL CY YOUNG: I've sided with the Randy Johnson argument for most of the season because the numbers (other than wins) have made his argument for him and I'm not going to back down from that now. A 16-14 record with a 2.60 ERA and 290 Ks versus a mere 66 walks is a pretty damned loud argument. The only NL pitcher with a good argument is Roger Clemens, who finished 18-4 with a 2.98 ERA and a 218 Ks to 79 walks. Opponents hit .197 against Johnson, .217 against Clemens. Had Johnson pitched for a winning team, he'd have won 20 games, easily. The same can't be said of Clemens, who rarily pitches deep into a game anymore.

AL CY YOUNG: goes to Johan Santana. This is another two man race, between Santana and Curt Schilling but Santana has a better ERA, more Ks, a better K-BB ratio, and has pitched more innings while surrendering fewer hits.

NL Manager of the Year: goes to the Dodgers Jim Tracy. Tony LaRussa has managed a team which has had more players having career seasons than any other. Plus, how hard can it be with a lineup including three of the best hitters in baseball? Bobby Cox's Atlanta Braves surprised alot of people (although not Sports Amnesia, who picked the Braves to win the NL East in the preseason) but the reality is, the Braves are simply a better organisation, top to bottom than anyone else in the NL East. After they're knocked out in the first round this postseason, the calls for Manager of the Year should die with the Braves.

AL Manager of the Year: goes to Minnesota's Rod Gardenhire. The Twins continue to win despite a meagre $50 million payroll and whilst some of this is because of smart front office decisions, it matters what is done on the field and no AL manager has done more with less than Gardenhire.

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NCAA Top Ten

After two week's absence, SA's NCAA Top Ten Poll returns with few alterations:

1. Oklahoma (4-0) defeated Texas Tech, 28-13.
2. Virginia (4-0) was idle.
3. USC (4-0) was idle.
4. Georgia (4-0) defeated LSU 45-16.
5. Miami (4-) defeated GA Tech, 27-3.
6. California (4-0) defeated Oregon State, 49-7.
7. Texas (4-0) defeated Baylor, 44-14.
8. Purdue (4-0) defeated Notre Dame, 41-16.
9. Minnesota (4-0) defeated Penn State, 16-7.
10. Wisconsin (5-0) defeated Illinois, 24-7.

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Tomorrow: MLB playoff analysis.