The End of the Baseball Season

Wow. I can remember saying during a meeting up in Nashville with my old job to one of the other supervisors about how much I was looking forward to baseball season this year. Seems like yesterday.

Just a few meandering thoughts on the season as a whole:

I was surprised and saddened, but got over it, with Sammy's corked bat.

I'd forgotten Rafael Furcal's unassisted triple play, but he had one.

Eric Gagne is unstoppable. I'm not for pitchers winning the MVP....but I maybe willing to listen to arguments in Mr. Gagne's case.

I was angry with Rafael Palmiero for not wanting to come to the Cubs, but I got over that, too. Hope he enjoyed coming in last with the Rangers again. And now the Rangers have no real reason to bring him back. But then, he was only looking for the easiest season, and the best money, I think.

I'm glad the Tigers held on and didn't set the record. But still. They're easily the worst team I've ever seen.

Thanks to Mark Grace, one more time. Now come to Chicago and coach. Or announce. Failing that, find something to do in baseball. I'm of the opinion that baseball needs more gamers like Mark, who just enjoy the game.

Thanks to the Rocket, too. As much as I wanted to hate you and your asshole tactics. I loved watching you pitch. I wish you hadn't pitched for the Evil Empire.

God help me. I finally admitted to myself that Barry Bonds isn't such a jackass, and he really is the best player I've ever seen. (He's still a bit of a jackass...just not as much as I'd once believed)

That was a Hell of an All Star Game.

Bud "the most incompetent man in the world" Selig isn't redeemed by it.

I'm tired of hearing about Pete Rose.

I was rooting hard for the Royals. I hope this wasn't a fluke. The Twins and A's are now fixtures. I don't see why they can't be.

Doesn't change the fact that it's still easier for the Yankees of the world. Yeah, A's, Twins and Royals played hard, smart ball. I don't think the Yankees had to play as hard or smart. But they won the East again.

But this year, I think they won in spite of Steinbrenner.

I actually hope the Mets do better next year. I'm ready to start hating them again.

Hideki Matsui deserves the rookie of the year award. Jackie Robinson played in the Negro League for a long time before coming to the Majors.

My other award picks:

Barry Bonds, N.L. MVP. Without Barry, the Giants weren't even the Dodgers. I think Javy Lopez deserves as much consideration as his teammate Gary Sheffield or Albert Pujols. Lopez catches, which sucks. He handles the pitching staff. And he went out and hit all those home runs. But Barry Bonds was the man, once again.

Nomar Garciaparra, A.L. MVP. Nomar's the top in a list of about 4 guys in the A.L. who really deserve the award. I think he's the spark and the leadership in that Boston clubhouse. I think Vernon Wells deserves the most consideration among teams not in contention.

Eric Gagne, N.L. Cy Young. The man's money. Period. I'd vote Mark Prior second and it would be a tossup between Jason Schmidt and John Smoltz (who was injured the last month, but was money just short of Gagne's mark) for third.

Esteban Loiaza, A.L. Cy Young. This was a coin-flip to me, with Toronto's Roy Halladay losing. Pedro Martinez getting consideration for third, despite his odd illness that kept him from pitching a key matchup in early September.

Dontrelle Willis, N.L. Rookie of the Year. He energized that Marlins pitching staff. I think he's the big reason why the Marlins are in the post season now. Webb and Posednik rounding out the voting.

Matsui, A.L. Rookie. Like I said.

And the Cubs made it to the playoffs. I haven't been as happy in a while.

And, you can't argue with a season that has two teams, the Cubs and the Red Sox, with 180 combined years of post-season futility between them, making the post season in yet one more attempt to rectify their position.