{"id":22460,"date":"2012-11-18T20:02:02","date_gmt":"2012-11-19T04:02:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seamheads.com\/?p=22460"},"modified":"2012-11-19T00:07:17","modified_gmt":"2012-11-19T08:07:17","slug":"2012-mlb-season-now-in-the-books-time-to-hand-out-some-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/18\/2012-mlb-season-now-in-the-books-time-to-hand-out-some-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"2012 MLB Season Now In the Books: Time To Hand Out Some Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>The <strong>STAY AT FIRST<\/strong> Award:&#160; Jose Tabata of the Pirates.&#160; He tried to steal 20 bases this season and was thrown out TWELVE times&#8212;a success rate of just 40%.&#160; When this guy reached first base, coach Luis Silverio should have provided Tabata cement shoes in order for him to run NOWHERE.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>PETE ROSE\/GEORGE BRETT HONORARY THROWBACK PLAYER<\/strong> Award:&#160; Again, goes to Dustin Pedroia of the Red Sox.&#160; Had two different injuries to the SAME thumb in 2012; still played hard daily in a &#8220;zoo-like&#8221; atmosphere, hit .290, and also kept his &#8220;dirty&#8221; look at all times.&#160; Yes, a guy who could have played in ANY era.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>TONY BENNETT\/BEST YEARS BEHIND HIM <\/strong>Award:&#160; Jason Bay of the Mets (who also could qualify for the &#8220;Bonnie and Clyde&#8221; Award below).&#160; Since hitting 36 HRs for the Red Sox in &#8217;09, Bay has &#8220;gone yard&#8221; just 26 times in<em> THREE YEARS<\/em> with New York.&#160; His batting averages while in the &#8220;Big Apple&#8221; over the past three seasons?&#160; .259., .245., and <em>.165<\/em>. &#160; Tony Bennett HIMSELF may have even hit .160 if given the 200 at-bats Bay received in &#8217;12.&#160; Former great Todd Helton finished high in this category, hitting .238.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>LITTLE BUCKS\/BIG NUMBERS<\/strong> Award:&#160; A complete &#8220;no-brainer&#8221;&#8212;Mike Trout of the Angels.&#160; Earning the league minimum (480K), the now-21-year-old was an All-Star and led the league in stolen bases and runs scored.&#160; He&#8217;s already a superstar; scary what might lie ahead for this phenom.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>BONNIE AND CLYDE\/HIGHWAY ROBBERY<\/strong> Award (for stealing large sums of money):&#160; Many underachievers could be given this award; we&#8217;ll give it to Vernon Wells of the Angels.&#160; He was paid $21 million in 2012&#8212;hitting 11 HRs and driving in 29 runs; yes, that comes out to over $1.9 million per home run.&#160; A-ROID of the Yanks came in a close second:&#160; being paid close to $30 million, he earned nearly<em> 250 GRAND PER GAME<\/em> while driving in 57 runs.&#160; Feeling a bit ill, folks?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>BLACKSTONE\/HOUDINI DISAPPEARING ACT<\/strong> Award:&#160; Chone Figgins of Seattle.&#160; Since becoming a coveted free agent in &#8217;09, he&#8217;s done NOTHING during his three years in Seattle; the last two seasons, he&#8217;s hit <em>.188 and .181<\/em><strong><em>.<\/em><\/strong>&#160; Oh, and he&#8217;s owed $17 million over the next two seasons.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>PITIFULLY PUNCHLESS<\/strong> Award (for lack of offense):&#160; No doubt&#8212;the Seattle Mariners.&#160; They hit .234 as a team (worst in baseball); they also were last in the AL in RBIs, on-base %, slugging %&#8212;well, you get the picture.&#160; The fact that FIVE AL teams had <em>worse<\/em> records than Seattle is simply amazing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>ARSONIST OF THE YEAR<\/strong> Award:&#160; Mark Melancon of the Red Sox.&#160; Signed by the team to be the &#8216;bridge&#8217; to the closer, he gave up 31 ER in 45 IP in &#8217;12&#8212;an ERA of <strong>6.20<\/strong>.&#160; That&#8217;s one BUMPY bridge, folks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>BUM OF THE YEAR<\/strong> Award:&#160; Marlins mgr. Ozzie Guillen&#8212;case closed.&#160; The award usually goes to a player who is selfish, non-team-oriented, etc.&#160; But the Castro comments clinched it for this guy very early on.&#160; Oh, he lost 93 games, too, which sealed his fate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The fourth annual <strong>EARL WEAVER\/FULL PACK<\/strong> Award (causing managers to smoke too much and\/or develop ulcers):&#160; Jonathan Sanchez, who made 12 starts for the Royals and pitched to an ERA of<em> 7.76<\/em> while walking 44 batters in 53 innings; he caused MAJOR distress to mgr. Ned Yost.&#160; Oh, he was traded to the Rockies in mid-year where he caused MORE distress, going 0-3 with an ERA of<em> 9.53<\/em>.&#160; Ugh&#8230;..<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>HIT OR MISS<\/strong> Award (soon to be renamed the <strong>FRANK SINATRA\/&#8221;ALL OR NOTHING AT ALL&#8221;<\/strong> Award):&#160; Adam Dunn of the White Sox.&#160; Forty-one of his 110 hits this season were HRs; he also struck out an outrageous<em> 222<\/em> times.&#160; This guy gets infield singles as often as yours truly dates Hollywood actresses.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>MAYTAG\/DEPENDABILITY<\/strong> Award:&#160; As I said last year, Ichiro Suzuki is the ARCHITECT of this award; he wins it yearly because he shows up DAILY.&#160; No, he&#8217;s not the player of 3-4 years ago and was even traded by Seattle this year.&#160; But he STILL played in ALL 162 games and has AVERAGED playing close to 160 games per season his <em>entire<\/em> 12-year MLB career.&#160; Yes, mind-boggling stuff.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>GERITOL\/AGE DOESN&#8217;T MATTER<\/strong> Award:&#160; We&#8217;ll give it to Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey; at age 37 (just turned 38), he won 20 games and pitched a league-high <strong>233 2\/3<\/strong> innings, striking out a league-best 230.&#160; Yeah, he may be a knuckle-baller, but he throws a <em>hard<\/em> one; it&#8217;s still one heck of an accomplishment for someone approaching the age of forty, folks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>AVERSION TO WALKING<\/strong> Award:&#160; Goes to catcher Miguel Olivo of the Mariners.&#160; This guy had 323 plate appearances and walked just SEVEN times; he walked an average of once every<em> 46<\/em> at-bats.&#160; Bottom line?&#160; If a pitched ball is delivered anywhere in the same zip code as the ballpark, Olivo is swinging.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>RODNEY DANGERFIELD\/LACK OF RESPECT<\/strong> Award:&#160; Chase Headley of the Padres.&#160;&#160; In the laid-back confines of southern California, it almost went unnoticed that the infielder led the NL in RBIs (115) while hitting 31 HRs.&#160; I&#8217;m not gonna feel too sorry for the guy, though; there are WORSE things in life than playing a game for a living&#8212;while making millions&#8212;in a place called San Diego.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Finally, the <strong>DOLLY THE SHEEP\/REASON TO CLONE<\/strong> Award:&#160; Albert Pujols of the Angels.&#160; Despite getting off to a horrific start in a new league, he topped the 30 HR\/100 RBI mark for the <strong>11th<\/strong> time in his career; he hit 50 doubles, too.&#160; In an unpredictable world filled with inconsistency, Albert Pujols ALWAYS delivers&#8212;and I expect even better numbers from him next season.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The STAY AT FIRST Award:&#160; Jose Tabata of the Pirates.&#160; He tried to steal 20 bases this season and was thrown out TWELVE times&#8212;a success rate of just 40%.&#160; When this guy reached first base, coach Luis Silverio should have provided Tabata cement shoes in order for him to run NOWHERE. The PETE ROSE\/GEORGE BRETT [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":730,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4235],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-top-stories"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/730"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22460\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}