It’s that time of year….season is wrapped up…..post-season is heating up….let’s take a look at some possible post-season MLB Awards…..you will be familiar with some of them…others…not so much!
Cy Young….Best Pitcher of each league….both of my nominees are young and would be 1st time winners…in the AL it has to be Blake Snell…who you say?…..he’s the ace of the Tamp Bay Rays…his 21-5 along with a dazzling 1.90 ERA, 30 starts …that’s become a “lot” these days, 175 IP with 211 strikeouts…his WHIP (Walks + Hits per Inn pitched) was a sharp 0.96. Batters hit just .178 agasint him for the season. He’s just 25 years old right now. He was chosen in the 1st round by Tampa Bay in 2011. I realize that Justin Verlander with 16 wins and Cory Kluber holding 20 wins are more in the spotlight due to the success of their teams but….I believe Snell has earned the award. In the NL, Jacob DeGrom with his measly 10 wins was the best pitcher of the NL….he can’t help that he’s on a really bad team. DeGrom led the Major Leagues with an amazing 1.70 ERA struck out 269 batters in 217 innings, his WHIP was a 0.91. Batters hit .196 against him in 2018.
Quietest Slugger in MLB—Kris Davis (Oakland)…..he finished with 47 home runs. This isn’t anything new for him…he hit 43 and 42 dingers in the last 2 seasons. The Brewers really missed the boat here…they traded him away in February 2016 for Bubba Derby and Jacob Nottingham.
The Knight Award…..Batter most in need of Armor at the plate….Brandon Nimmo….he was hit by a pitch 22x in 2018…at last word, he has survived 
The Award for the Most YO-YO changes in Trending…UP—Down—UP—Down—etc…..the winner is Jose Martinez…one day he’d belt a HR; the next he’d misplay a fly ball; then a .300 average hitter; followed by bizarre fielding exhibitions at 1B; more hitting; more base running blunders; more hitting…yada-yada-yada
Talking Loud without speaking a word Award……MLB FANS….MLB attendance dropped to its lowest point since 2003. It was 69m+ this year, last year it was 72m+.
The Annie Oakley Award….Bryce Harper received the most “free passes” in 2018 with 129 walks
“Diet” Award….. should be awarded to the MLB to slim down in September….adding 15 minor league players …why? … it just loads the bullpen for more and more and more pitching changes… or makes us watch minor league players at major league prices…..abolish the expansion of roster to 40 players month…stay at 25 all year long! By adding 15 players, that’s a 60% increase…WOW…just think if NFL football expanded at that same rate…they’d have 64 players dressed out…years and years ago there may have been questions about “seeing the youngsters”….no need for that any longer…we zing them up to the “bigs” whenever we want to do it….
Best Player of each League (not necessarily the MVP)…Mookie Betts (Boston)….hit .346 tops in the entire MLB, 178 hits, 32 HR, 30 Stolen Bases, 80 RBI—down because he bats at the top of the order, OBP of .437, slugging .643 and OPS of 1.080…and he’s on the best team in the Major Leagues….had 594 Plate Appearances so he played…and played a lot. In the NL, I’m going with Christian Yelich…there are only 6 full-time players with averages over .300….Yelich is the highest at .321. 33 HR, 104 RBI’s, 21 Stolen bases, 626 plate appearances, .978 OPS. He improved when pressure increased down stretch.
The Mayberry Sheriff Award….with all the crime in Mayberry…the Sheriff’s duties were few and far between…..winner of that award this year is Brad Brach of Baltimore…he led the O’s in saves with 11 throughout 2018…all of ELEVEN…..you could say that he wasn’t “over worked”
The Winner of the “It Aint’ OVER til it’s OVER” Award.. is the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phils had a good year…they haven’t seen the .500 mark since 2012 when they were 81-81 for the season so ANYTHING over that level would have been considered “good”. However, Philadelphia started brilliantly in 2018. Philly played very well through July…then suddenly their gas tank went empty… they really slumped in September….staggered across the finish line.
KNOCK OUT Punch Award….this year the winne is the LA Dodgers….the Dodgers win this in 2018 due to knocking out the Cards on Saturday …just as the Cubs had done to us last year.
“Who Are those Guys” Award…winner is the Atlanta Braves…go ahead…other than Freddie Freeman… give me 3 other starters!!! Don’t feel bad…I can’t do it either 
The Good Place Award…for those of you who haven’t seen Ted Danson’s latest series….the good place is a type of heaven ..or supposedly…but really it’s an area that humans torment each other continually…. the winner of this award is the Cardinals and their Fans 
NCAA Football thoughts…
….In this world of “stars”….top players recruited by top NCAA teams expect to play and play now…. Clemson has been caught in this instant gratification at the most vital position… Last week, Head Coach Dabo Swiney named Trevor Lawrence as the starter replacing Kelly Bryant @ QB ..Bryant immediately announced he was transferring…soooo.. this week Lawrence suffers a “concussion-like” injury…now Swiney has lost ..presumably his #1 and #2 QB’s….#3 Chase Brice was shaky after Lawrence’s injury. The Tigers hold on the ACC maybe slipping with this QB issue.
….Still trying to be recognized…UCF …unbeaten last year and ignored by the NCAA committee…just keeps winning and winning big….sure their Coach Scott Frost left for Nebraska (how has that worked out?)…..UCF just trampled Pittsburgh 45-14 with 568 total yards and 31 first downs..one wonders if they stay unbeaten if they’ll be ignored again after their strong bowl appearance last year and another terrific season…now…they aren’t in the power 5 conference….soooo… according to the logic of the committee they must have played a weak schedule….how could anyone be a Championship Semifinalist without being in the Power 5?
…sometimes…coaches outthink themself …Louisville Head Coach, Bobby Petrino blew it….up by 3 points…after notching a 1st down on the Florida State 21 yd line and clock winding down…just running the ball 3x and using up both Seminole time outs followed by a FG would have been the customary approach…instead Petrino calls for a pass…it’s intercepted….suddenly with the momentum, Florida State’s Nyqwan Murray out runs the Louisville secondary for a 58 yd winning TD
….SEC West belongs to Alabama….the SEC East has Georgia & Kentucky at 5-0 while Florida is 4-1… Florida’s win over Mississippi State 13-6 showed the usual post Steve Spurrier type Florida team… great athletes, play hard, very good on defense…but offense …not so much….It had to be mixed feelings for new Florida coach Dan Mullen….he had been an assistant @ Florida during the Urban Meyer era…left to take the Head Coaching job @ Mississippi State…built up that program…then last winter returned to Florida as its head coach..
High School Team of the Week….
The Clayton Soccer team won the CYC Bob Guelker-Sullivan Walsh Division in a grueling week of soccer. The Greyhounds went 2-0-1 in pool play with wins over Lutheran South & Timberland and tied Alton-Marquette. Next Clayton beat Bayless 3-1 in the qualifying round of the tournament. In the Semifinals, the Greyhounds toppled Triad 6-2. The Championship match was a rematch with Alton Marquette. Clayton edged the Explorers 1-0 in OT…what a road! Clayton has now matched the win total of 2017 as they hold a 13-0-1 mark last year. James Dulle leads the club with 24 goals and 11 assists for 59 points. Dillon Flynn is also in double figures in goals with 14. Max Boeger has chipped in with 7 goals & 6 assists. In the nets is Andrew Matheny. Matheny holds a 10-0-1 record and he has been part of 5 shutouts, 4 solo. Congratulations to the Clayton Greyhounds soccer team for their vast improvement over last season and their terrific record.
Final award….goes to YOU…thanks for the read..