Closing out the year - award winners

There is usually some excitement as far as adding another set of cards to my binder to celebrate the most prominent individual player accomplishments - even if there were no particular surprises among the guys who won and I don’t have fancy cards [something shiny like a parallel and/or autographed] to show off.

Maybe something like a Topps Now card would be nice and relevant, but I stick with random base / inserts I may find since I have my share of them - knock on wood, maybe I'll try to look for more jazzy cards in future years.

For my MVP collection, I went with a 2017 Topps Stadium Club Jose Altuve #116 [American League] and a 2017 Topps Finest Giancarlo Stanton [#29] - the Altuve is a horizontal card and while I sort of want my cards arranged vertically on a nine-pocket page, my award winners collection is kind of made of a claptrap of assorted cards anyway, so I'm not going to be a stickler.

In my Cy Young collection, I dug out a 2017 Topps Chrome [#159] of National League winner Max Scherzer - it’s a current year card that's moderately shiny, so it might as well be the card for him.

For American League winner Corey Kluber, I just went with a second card [2014 Topps #279] I’d stored in the same pocket where I had his 2015 Topps Chrome Sepia parallel [#79] for winning the Cy Young four years ago - it’s kind of a boring card but it serves its purpose.

In my Rookie of the Year collection, I’d already put away a card for Aaron Judge [American League] and Cody Bellinger [National League] sometime during the regular season - I went with a 2017 Bowman rookie card for Judge [#32] and a 2017 Bowman yellow parallel prospect card [#BP149] for Bellinger.

Featured autograph - Ryan Howard

I’ve wanted a Howard auto since I’ve really had only a couple of chances not to end up getting his autograph over the last 10 years - I tend to look at Howard as a slugger who put up some nice power numbers and was a face of a franchise that won the 2008 World Series.

As is, Howard has probably been considered one of the worst MLB players relative to the contract he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2010 - while he still had occasional pop in his bat, his ability to hit otherwise has disappeared [primarily dealing with defensive shifts and his inability to hit lefties].

At first base, Howard seemed to be more of a big oaf with no defensive value - if advanced metrics are to be believed for all the counting numbers he has put up, has only been worth 14.9 WAR [according to Baseball Reference] over the course of his career.

The random certified autograph card features a sticker - I’ll flip a coin to see if I put this in my Rookie of the Year [2004 National League] collection or my MVP [2006 National League] collection.

Newest Rookie of the Year additions

1993 Ted Williams Sam Jethroe #137 - 1950 National League Rookie of the Year

2001 Fleer Red Sox 100th Walt Dropo #31 - 1950 American League Rookie of the Year

1992 Action Packed All-Star Gallery Wally Moon #22 - 1954 National League Rookie of the Year

1994 Topps Archives 1954 Bob Grim #252 - 1954 American League Rookie of the Year

1972 Topps Earl Williams #380 - 1971 National League Rookie of the Year

2001 Upper Deck Decade 1970s Jon Matlack #96 - 1972 National League Rookie of the Year

2001 Upper Deck Decade 1970s Mike Hargrove #155 - 1974 American League Rookie of the Year

Featured autograph - Chris Coghlan

I picked up a junk auto of the current Chicago Cubs outfielder to add to my award winners collection - the autograph is fairly clean and I like the cutesy design of these framed tobacco sized cards.

Coghlan was the 2009 National League Rookie of the Year and while his numbers have generally been an up-and-down - he has played parts of 8 MLB seasons and seems relatively viable as a semi-regular type for a contender.

Topps [1978-present] card run

I finally went through the cards I had for all 30 MLB teams and listed them in a Google Sheets file - this projects seems to be a little tedious because I have to try and make a wantlist for cards I may not be interested in chasing after at the moment, though I do want a showcase of Topps cards for each of the current MLB teams.

The goal is to find a player's card for each team, for each of the years - anything highlighted in red means I need the particular card, anything listed in black is the card I already for the team/year and any blank spaces are spots I still have to figure out with regards to selecting a card.

For whatever reason, I chose 1978 as the starting year for this project since I figure that is already at least 37 years worth of cardboard to pore over - even if I'm not going all the way back through the old-school/vintage Topps years.

While 1978 is the starting point, the plan is find cards for the present year going forward - for as long as I have this itch for this particular project.

One rule for this project is not having a player represented more than three times - as much as I'd like certain players from particular teams represented as much as possible, I want a variety of different players.

Another rule [I may actually about to break starting from 2015] is only using cards from flagship Topps sets - I actually found some 'stragglers' that were part of update sets that I removed.

However, I'm missing a 2015 Houston Astros card and while I can fill it with a random Astros card - I think a 2015 Topps Update Carlos Correa would fit in perfectly.

2011 Rookies of the Year - some random thoughts

So Craig Kimbrel and Jeremy Hellickson were named Rookies of the Year in their respective leagues - I think my autographed in-person Hellickson card is already in a toploader somewhere and I had to go hunt down my autographed in-person Kimbrel card in my '2010 rookies' box.

I have no real problem with Kimbrel being ROY since it seems like he blew everyone away until the end of the season - when he showed some wear and tear.

I think in the American League, Mark Trumbo should have won even though I'd conceded - his .290 on-base percentage was simply too much of a black mark on the 25-year old.

Looking at it objectively, maybe Eric Hosmer was the best rookie position player in the American League and if he'd come up just a bit earlier in the season - would have been the guy going neck-and-neck against Hellickson for the award.

2010 National League Championship preview

San Francisco's Tim Lincecum, Jonathan Sanchez and Matt Cain are about as good as the Philadelphia Phillies trio of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels - the key for the Giants having any chance in the National League Championship Series is for their lineup to heat up and hopefully score enough runs.

Outfielder Pat Burrell was a Tampa Bay Rays castoff but was essentially a Phillies player for most of his Major League career - it will be interesting to see how he tries to help the Giants try and beat his old team.

The Phillies are a juggernaut but stars Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard need to get it going - for all the talk of the Phillies' success lately, the duo seems to get lost in the mix but a good series for both would make the Phillies that much more dangerous.

Second baseman Chase Utley was pretty banged up in 2010 - but he is solid All-Star caliber second baseman who gives the Phillies good at-bats and ability to hit for power.

The San Francisco Giants are not going to win the series against Philadelphia but hopefully they don't just fold in the NLCS - to make this Phillies' run to the World Series a little tougher than expected.

2010 National League Division Series preview

San Francisco Giants vs. Atlanta Braves
The Giants should be poised to stick around in the playoffs - a starting trio of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez looks pretty impressive while the Giants' smorgasborg of castoff hitters may just give the lineup enough offense.

It has been no surprise, but catcher Buster Posey has been pretty impressive since taking over the No. 1 catching position for the Giants - he seems like a young guy who can explode with the bat, particularly in a short series.

The Braves made the playoffs despite pretty much some smoke and mirrors - Chipper Jones is hurt, Martin Prado is hurt, Nate McLouth had a terrible year and whipping boy Melky Cabrera is still penciled in as a guy who is going to play a lot, even though admittedly his bat falls short.

Braves rookie Jason Heyward has been a phenom and may give the Braves the sort of inspiring performance to boost them to the National League Championship Series - while Heyward seemed banged up for parts of the season, the 21-year old picked up 91 walks and had a .393 on-base percentage overall in 2010.

There is a story about 2010 being Bobby Cox's last hurrah in Atlanta - not to be a buzzkill, but it wouldn't bother me either way, if his Braves get dusted by the Giants in the Division Series, just to upset the 'feel good' narrative of beloved old-timey, fuddy-duddy skipper leading his team to one last shot of glory under his helm.

Philadelphia Phillies vs. Cincinnati Reds
The Phillies go one-two-three in the NLDS with Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels - general manager Ruben Amaro has been derided for trading off Cliff Lee, but his Phillies are the best team in the National League, with the best pitching staff and a balanced lineup with Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth, Chase Utley, Placido Polanco, Shane Victorino, et al.



While the Reds don't seem as good on paper as the Phillies - they have Joey Votto, Scott Rolen, Jay Bruce and Brandon Phillips among the cast of characters that make for a solid lineup.

Their bench strength should be great with Laynce Nix, Miguel Cairo, Chris Heisey, etc - look for one of these guys to contribute.

A key for the Reds is getting away from staying with a starting pitcher too long, finally making a move in haste to bring in a reliever and watching the reliever implode - the Reds have Aroldis Chapman, a 105 MPH throwing 'big gun' in the bullpen.

Dusty Baker and his coaching staff cannot stick with a starting pitcher who is going to be laboring into the late innings - basically they have to make deft moves and have to think outside the box, even if it means ruffling some feathers with some guys and their presumed roles i.e. Francisco Cordero.

It doesn't seem like the Reds will be able to stay with the Phillies - the Reds' chances of upsetting the Phillies in the NLDS however will depend less on talent, but whether or not Baker micromanages too much, particularly under duress.

National League MVP Award winner Albert Pujols

After winning his third National League MVP award, what can be said about Albert Pujols that hasn't been uttered already - he is the best player in the Major Leagues not named Joe Mauer.

Pujols has done his thing since his rookie year - the numbers are staggering and the numbers don't seem real in the sense they are 'video game numbers. Pujols is a living, breathing baseball legend who is a slam-dunk Hall of Fame candidate, based on the numbers so far.

Contrary to any age-gate rumors, Pujols is finally hitting '30' in 2010 - I wonder how long his metronomic excellence will continue into his 30s, particularly how how goes about his business as a Major Leaguer, when he has accomplished so many achievements.

National League Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum

Tim Lincecum was announced the 2009 National League Cy Young Award winner - being honored Thursday for the second straight season as the best pitcher in the National League.

Along with Zach Greinke in the American League being honored, it only punctuates the underlying story behind the headlines - Lincecum only had 15 wins and Greinke only had 16 wins but clearly were deserving because of their sheer dominance.

It seems kind of silly to think if a guy makes 30-35 starts and is good enough to pitch six, seven innings in the majority of those starts to win 18, 19, 20 or more games - he isn't as good as the guy who wins only 15, 16, 17 wins.

But for a starting pitcher, the evaluation of the quality of work has evolved and statheads or sabremetrically-inclined baseball fans/pundits are rejoicing - because they are the ones championing more sophisticated stats to be taken into account over merely being stupefied by the numbers of wins accumulated in one season.

It isn't no coincidence Lincecum and Greinke are acutely aware of the terms - and have seemingly been made poster-children for evaluating a pitcher's performance.

For Greinke - he likes the FIP.

For Lincecum - it is all about the WHIP.

In the end, Chris Carpenter or Adam Wainwright had more wins, pitched more innings and clearly demonstrated their value to their team - Lincecum simply had the more dominant season.

American and National League Rookie of the Year Award winners

It must feel good for the Oakland Athletics organization and its fans - when the A's No. 1 reliever Andrew Bailey gets the nod as the 2009 American League Rookie of the Year, over guys like Rick Porcello, Elvis Andrus, Gordon Beckham, Jeff Niemann, Ricky Romero among the top American League rookies.

An accomodating signer, it was pretty nice to get Bailey's autograph in spring training and a couple more times during the past baseball season - having his autograph already means I don't have to get one to put in my award winners collection.

An infielder by trade, Florida Marlins star rookie Chris Coghlan was a hard-hitting outfielder for the Florida Marlins in 2009 - really doing a little bit of everything, playing in 128 games. At the plate, Coghlan generated a .390 on-base percentage and a .460 slugging percentage. The 2009 National League Rookie of the Year had 162 hits and among those hits were 31 doubles, nine triples, nine home runs and 47 RBIs in 504 at-bats.

It is all about the possibilities

With the Angels' out of it, I'm not emotionally attached to any of the teams playing in the American League Championship Series - the Tampa Bay Rays have been getting too much hype and too much love since their break out season and maybe they need to be knocked off their pedestal.

On the other hand, compared to the Boston Red Sox, they are still the plucky underdogs - a trip to the World Series [and or even winning the whole thing] would just shake Major League Baseball up.

If the Red Sox advance and win another World Series - they officially become the model Major League team of the 21st century, leapfrogging over the New York Yankees in status.

In the National League Championship Series - I like the Los Angeles Dodgers to win against the Philadelphia Phillies because I've never had any compelling feelings for the Phillies, while the Dodgers are led by Joe Torre and Manny Ramirez.

How interesting can things get when Torre is four wins away from reaching the World Series - after seemingly hearing he had lost his touch in New York? Maybe there were random grumblings [from the media, from Gary Sheffield] about Torre not being difference maker, except managing the best players money can buy in New York.

Now, he is working some of his mojo and it seems ironic he is where he is - while the Yankees failed to make the playoffs in 2008.

I guess I can jump on the Dodgers bandwagon when convenient - I can't root for them to win the World Series because I'm an Angels fan and it doesn't feel right to see another 'local' team besides the Halos win it all.

For full disclosure - it isn't the worst thing in the world if they advance and actually win the whole thing. On the other hand, they will be so tough to approach for random autograph signings in-person in the next year. Perhaps I want them to fall just short.

Imagine the scenarios if Manny being Manny's team advances to face his former team in the World Series - who unceremoniously dumped him, kicked him out the door, threw him infront of the bus, locked the doors out on him. Wouldn't it be sweet revenge to see him lead his Los Angeles Dodgers' against the Boston Red Sox?

2008 All-Star Game - it is the fans who select the starting lineup and every year, there is a tendency to assume we the people will vote on who they we to see as opposed as who is sometimes more deserving.

On the other hand, Major League Baseball gives fans so little these days - we need something like being able to vote for the all-star game starters to make us think we are more than just paying customers.

For the National League, I want these guys to start - Catcher - Geovany Soto, First base - Lance Berkman [Houston Astros], Third base - Chipper Jones [Atlanta Braves], Shortstop - Hanley Ramirez [Florida Marlins], Outfield - Ken Griffey Jr. [Cincinnati Reds], Ryan Braun [Milwaukee Brewers] and Aaron Rowand [San Francisco Giants].

At second base, I've flip flopped - Chase Utley was having a heck of a year, but he has slumped recently. I think I'd rather see Dan Uggla start for the National League, since he's more of an 'underdog' guy playing for a surprise team in the National League East.

Junior Griffey at times has been a guy who would rather spend time with family and basically do something else than attend an all-star game as a player - yet I think he should start this year, even he pulls out, just because he's done so much.

If I was picking a starting pitcher in the NL, the nod has to go to Tim Lincecum [San Francisco Giants]- I don't get to watch him often, but I've heard all about him. While some of the other National League starting pitchers [Edinson Volquez, Brandon Webb and Carlos Zambrano] are great, Lincecum represents the future realized with an 8-1 record and a 2.21 ERA, for a mediocre Giants team. In 97 innings, he has struck out 95 and walked 38 and I'd rather see him on the mound as a young up-and-coming stud.

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For the American League, I want these guys to start - Catcher - A.J. Pierzynski [even though he is an ass otherwise], First base - Justin Morneau [Minnesota Twins], Second base - Placido Polanco [Detroit Tigers], Shortstop - Derek Jeter [New York Yankees], Outfield - Josh Hamilton [Texas Rangers], Milton Bradley[Texas Rangers] and Manny Ramirez [Boston Red Sox]. As my designated hitter, I've chosen Hideki Matsui [New York Yankees].

At first base - I think Morneau has been having a solid season, though Jason Giambi [who is having a renaissance season of sorts] will probably get the nod, especially with the game in New York.

There is no way Bradley is going to start the game - but he's gone through a lot in his career and while he doesn't get the same sympathy for his own troubles as Hamilton does [for his troubles], Bradley has been killing the ball as well as anyone in the American League.

If I was picking a starting pitcher in the AL, the nod has to go to Cliff Lee [San Cleveland Indians]- I would have given the nod to Joe Saunders [Los Angeles Angels], since Saunders is from my local Major League team. On the other hand Lee has been a little better in the first half, coming back from an ineffective season in 2007. In 88 innings pitched so far, the Indians' lefthander has struck out 76 and walked only 14, giving the Tribe someone to lean on when C.C. Sabathia wasn't doing so well.