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My postseason awards ballot

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Ballots for the major awards given by the Baseball Writers Association of America must be submitted before the start of postseason play. In accordance with those rules and the number of entries for each category on the ballot -- 10 spots for MVP, three for the three other awards -- I am hereby submitting my vote, even if it has absolutely no bearing on the outcome.

Just to make the submission patently unofficial, I also submitted my choices for some lesser awards -- so lesser you've probably never heard of them. Enjoy.

AMERICAN LEAGUE		NATIONAL LEAGUE
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER 1. Jason Giambi, Oakland 2. Alex Rodriguez, Seattle 3. Frank Thomas, Chicago 4. Carlos Delgado, Toronto 5. Darrin Erstad, Anaheim 6. Manny Ramirez, Cleveland 7. Bernie Williams, New York 8. Nomar Garciaparra, Boston 9. Edgar Martinez, Seattle 10. Mike Sweeney, Kansas City Comment: Giambi ought to be unanimous; he's that clear cut a winner. He was the definitive MVP: a leader in the clubhouse with great numbers who was at his best down the stretch while taking a team into the playoffs. He took the award away from Alex Rodriguez with a torrid September (.400, 13 homers, 32 RBIs). A DH is a part-time job for limited players. A DH can win the award, but, without any defensive component to his credentials, he would have to put up offensive numbers that blow away the field. Giambi had a better batting average, a better slugging percentage and a better on-base percentage than Thomas. They tied in home runs and Giambi had six fewer RBI. A guy who goes out there every day and plays defense, regardless of whether it's Gold Glove caliber or not, gets the edge. And let's not even get started on how valuable it is to have a middle infielder like A-Rod as opposed to a DH. CY YOUNG AWARD 1. Pedro Martinez, Boston 2. Tim Hudson, Oakland 3. David Wells, Toronto Comment: Martinez's 1.74 ERA was the best in the AL since the DH rule was instituted. He won the ERA title by a Secretariat-like blowout: Roger Clemens was next, at 3.70. In some ways, Pedro was even better than he was last year. Remarkable. ROOKIE OF THE YEAR 1. Kazuhiro Sasaki, Seattle 2. Terrance Long, Oakland 3. Mark Quinn, Kansas City Comment: The rules say Sasaki is a rookie. We shouldn't decide on our own that the man is not eligible. He is eligible and should be a unanimous winner for setting the rookie save record while pitching in a pennant race. Some dunderheads, though, will hold his seasons in Japanese ball against him. MANAGER OF THE YEAR 1. Jerry Manuel, Chicago 2. Lou Piniella, Seattle 3. Art Howe, Oakland Comment: Manuel got Frank Thomas to buy into giving him a solid, whine-free season. Most important, he handled his young pitching staff with aplomb.		MOST VALUABLE PLAYER 1. Jeff Kent, San Francisco 2. Mike Piazza, New York 3. Barry Bonds, San Francisco 4. Todd Helton, Colorado 5. Jim Edmonds, St. Louis 6. Chipper Jones, Atlanta 7. Jeff Bagwell, Houston 8. Gary Sheffield, Los Angeles 9. Vladimir Guerrero, Montreal 10. Andruw Jones, Atlanta Comment: The Kent-Bonds debate is almost too close to call. But here's the clincher: What's good enough for Dusty Baker is good enough for me. Who better than the manager of the Giants to decide which player is most valuable? His choice of Kent acknowledges the importance of Kent's consistent run production, his excellent glovework at second base and, even if no one there wants to say it on the record, the fact that Kent is much more of a leader than Bonds, who operates on his own island in that clubhouse. Yes, yes, we know Kent gets more RBI opportunities because pitchers work around Bonds. But Kent does get the big hits when he has to. Piazza had the award to himself for most of the season. But then came September. CY YOUNG AWARD 1. Randy Johnson, Arizona 2. Greg Maddux, Atlanta 3. Tom Glavine, Atlanta Comment: Johnson now has two of the top seven strikeout seasons in baseball history (364 in 1999 and 347 in 2000). Kevin Brown didn't get enough wins and Darryl Kile didn't get his ERA low enough to crack the top three of what was a very deep field of contenders. ROOKIE OF THE YEAR 1. Rick Ankiel, St. Louis 2. Rafael Furcal, Atlanta 3. Pat Burrell, Philadelphia Comment: Ankiel broke Dizzy Dean's rookie strikeout record in St. Louis. He took a regular turn in the rotation of a division winner all year and finished strong. Honorable mention in a deep, but not necessarily overwhelming class goes to Jay Payton, Matt Herges, Mitch Meluskey and Adam Eaton. MANAGER OF THE YEAR 1. Dusty Baker, San Francisco 2. Bobby Cox, Atlanta 3. Tony LaRussa, St. Louis Comment: The Giants' second-half surge is a tribute to Baker and how he uses players and keeps them playing hard. San Francisco has enjoyed a remarkable string of keeping its players healthy, especially pitchers, and Baker must get some credit for that. Cox did his usual fine job keeping his team together in the face of injuries (John Smoltz, Quilvio Veras, Rudy Seanez, Kevin McGlinchy) and he wasn't afraid to take a kid like Furcal from Class A ball to the bigs right out of spring training.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Tom Verducci covers the baseball beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. Click here to send a question to his mailbag.

 

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