The 2002 Strikethree.com
Baseball Awards

You Said It See some of the best and wackiest reader responses right here...

Good evening and welcome to Radio City Music Hall, where we present to you your Second Annual Strikethree.com Music Awards. Presenters include Sting, Victoria Jackson and Edward James Olmos, with musical guests Luther Vandross, Foghat and System Of A Down. (C'mon, we had a $50 music budget.) Unfortunately we had to shut down the red carpet after Tawny Kitaen punched Joan Rivers, but honestly, considering the dress habits of most major-leaguers, it was no big loss.

Moving on to the awards, your ballots were carefully tabulated by the accounting firm of E-Z-Bookz, and the winners' names sealed into giant Toblerone bars. Without further ado, the candy, please...

NL Most Valuable Player

We really didn't need to ask for voting on this one. With 92 percent of the vote to go with his 92 percent of the NL's OPS, Barry Bonds takes home his second consecutive Strikethree.com MVP award, which means his mantelpiece will once again look symmetrical.

Of course, being the wise guys you are, a few of you opted for, ah, less obvious choices. With the phrase "there are no wrong answers" ringing in your ears, you decided that Lance Berkman should be rewarded for almost leading the Astros to a potential near-wild-card. Others apparently took sides in the Giants' "slugout in the dugout" by writing in Jeff Kent.

AL Most Valuable Player

Whether or not baseball writers believe an MVP can come from a last-place team, you do and proved it by electing Alex Rodriguez by a two-to-one margin over the A's Miguel Tejada. (Next year we're hoping to attract more than three voters.) Still, it was far from unanimous, which makes us wonder whether A-Rod's going to have to learn to pitch too before the rest of you will consider him worthy.

A last-minute push for Garrett Anderson came to naught, because we all know David Eckstein is the true Angel MVP, right?

NL Pitcher Of The Year

Geez, if we're going to spend all this time tabulating votes, you could at least make it interesting for us, huh? Another year, another landslide for Randy Johnson, and this time he didn't have to nail a bird or win a Series to do it. Rotationmate Curt Schilling was within shouting distance, as long as he can shout extremely loud.

AL Pitcher Of The Year

At least the A's have something to show for another early playoff exit, with America's favorite Ben Folds Five fan Richie Zito earning the Junior Circuit's top hurler kudos. However, this was the closest race in our awards so far, which is not to say that it was actually close per se, just that there are a reasonable number of Pedro Martinez supporters out there.

More surprising was the mere smattering of ballots cast for Derek Lowe, who tied for a distant third with Mariner newcomer Joel Piniero. Maybe if Lowe had decided to call it a season before his last start...

NL Rookie Of The Year

Even their own fans may have recently ended their love affair with the Rockies, but the ascendance of Jason Jennings at least made us shut the hell up about Jack Cust. (Well, Cust himself might have had something to do with that, too.)

Jennings won handily over the Reds' Austin "Danger" Kearns and Cub phenom-of-the-month Mark Prior. Others with multiple votes included this year's Japanese model Kazuhisa Ishii, Braves starter Damian Moss, and Giants starter Ryan Jensen. At least we think they meant Ryan Jensen - career AAA catcher Marcus Jensen has probably built up enough big-league games by now to no longer qualify.

AL Rookie Of The Year

The Blue Jays continue to be a source of promising newcomers (if not actual promising teams), with Eric Hinske running away with this year's AL rookie crown. Before he ran away with it we were going to swap it with Rodrigo Lopez for a case of smoked salmon, but it's just as well.

NL Manager Of The Year

Finally we have our first close race of the 2002 Strikethree.com Baseball Awards (brought to you by Mud Gum). Cards skipper Tony La Russa this year managed to pull his team through some trying times, battling not only numerous injuries, but also his own strange compulsion to use a new relief pitcher for every opposing hitter.

His battles did not end with the thrilling NLCS, as La Russa barely edged Dodger pilot Jim Tracy for this award. Tracy in turn finished a single vote ahead of Bobby Cox, who in turn tied with Dusty Baker for third place. We think Baker might have finished higher in the poll had he cold-cocked Peter Magowan on national TV.

Frank Robinson also earned a handful of votes, apparently from folks who believe picking Expos in these awards will somehow send a message to Bud Selig.

AL Manager Of The Year

We now return you to our regularly scheduled rout, although Mike Scioscia would probably not have won if all ballots had been required to pass spellcheck. (Just remember "Scio-Scia," like the ABBA song...whaddya mean that's not an ABBA song?)

Ron Gardenhire earned a significant (yet simultaneously token) tally for his work with the Twins. Art Howe also earned a modicum of votes, although it's likely none were cast by Billy Beane.

NL Team Of The Year

After all the St. Louis Cardinals have been through in 2002, how could you not select them as the cream of the Senior Circuit? The sentimental favorite took 63 percent of the vote in this category, while the relentless Braves made do with a distant second. A three-way tie for table scraps put the Dodgers, Giants and Expos in third place.

The Reds somehow earned multiple votes, indicating that there must be some Team Of The Year criteria we don't know about.

AL Team Of The Year

Forget the fact that they were bounced in the first round of the playoffs. Apparently a 20-game winning streak is plenty reason to make the Oakland Athletics your favorite American League team. The vote was a squeaker, however, with the A's final tally a mere two votes better than that of the Minnesota Twins, and only four better than the Anaheim Angels. But honestly, we like to think that everyone's a winner here.

Yeah, right.

Most Surprising Player

Apparently y'all truly believed Alfonso Soriano was a big ol' fluke last year, because you handily chose him as your surprise player of 2002. Or maybe it was the way he swung like Jose Hernandez but produced like A-Rod. Either way, he made mincemeat of his nearest competitors, Derek Lowe and Dodger closer Eric Gagne.

Nineteen different players garnered multiple votes in this category, including Mark Bellhorn, Eli Marrero, Junior "We Just Like Saying 'Junior Spivey'" Spivey, Torii Hunter, David Eckstein, and Barry Bonds. How Bonds could possibly surprise anyone anymore is beyond us, but go figure.

Most Surprising Team

Hmm...just who do you think might win this one...could it be...Satan?

Well, the Rally Monkey is close enough for some folks, but the Anaheim Angels took this category practically by acclamation. They surprised you, they surprised me, they surprised their own mommas. Heck, they freaked out John Travolta so much he forgot to wear his girdle.

Oh, there are other surprising teams, including the Twins and Les Expos, as well as returning also-rans the Mets, who for the second straight year prompted the voter comment, "(surprisingly bad, that is)." We could have used a similar comment from those voting for the Reds, because we're still not sure just which way they were surprising.

Most Disappointing Player

While your surprise was certain, you weren't nearly as sure about your disappointment, as 26 different players made this list, none of whom got more than 17 percent of the vote. That seventeen-percenter was the Mariners' Jeff Cirillo, making him either a surprise disappointment or surprisingly disappointing. Met second-sacker Roberto Alomar wasn't far behind, but after him the drop is precipitous to the third-place Moises Alou.

Others with multiple votes include Mo Vaughn, Kevin Brown, Livan Hernandez, Ken Griffey Jr. (disappointingly injured?), Mike Hampton (at least he's not surprising you anymore), Jeromy Burnitz, and Mike Cameron. A few voters nominated "any Met."

In fact, if you combine Alomar's votes with those for Burnitz and Mo Vaughn, the Mets handily beat the combined total for the Mariners.

Most Disappointing Team

In this category the New York Mets handily beat the Mariners. Is there an echo in here?

Of course, if you sit down and think about it, most fans are going to be somewhat disappointed in their home team, as reflected in the fact that half the teams in MLB were named in your ballots. The Padres, sure. The Rangers, perhaps. But should anyone have expected more from the Tigers or the Orioles?

Most Crushing Injury

There were some pretty crushing injuries this past season, and when voting in this category you weren't sure whether Darryl Kile's death should count as an injury or something worse. Well, to clarify the rules, there are no rules, so everything counts. On the other hand, maybe Kile's death inspired the Cards to pull together a team that had been floundering and ravaged with injuries. Crushing personally perhaps, but on another level, inspiring.

Either way, it was Luis Gonzalez' season-ending collision with Tony Womack that ended up with your nod as the injury which most severely hamstrung (pun intended) a team. No word on whether you're going to try and make Womack sit out 2003 and think about what he's done.

Many of you saw Edgar Martinez's hamstring problems (and subsequent hammy removal) as the straw that broke the Mariners' season (although others seemed to believe it was Chris Snelling's ACL tear...silly others). Manny Ramirez's hand and Ken Griffey's various leg issues also generated a modicum of hand-wringing. A few late votes also rolled in for Scott Rolen's playoff sprain. One voter was crushed by "the [injury] not suffered by Doug Glanville."

Biggest Freak/Wacko

Okay, so it's been a slow year for wackos in Major League Baseball. In fact, the lack of bona-fide freaks seems to have resulted in a holding pattern in the Biggest Wacko voting. Despite making no real headlines and being on the Rangers' DL much of the season, John Rocker's past accomplishments seem to have earned him a victory in this category.

Closely following Rocker is last year's winner, Carl Everett, despite the fact that he was on his best behavior all year. Perhaps knowing he could strip a gear at any moment is enough? Commissioner Selig pulls up a rather disappointing third, considering the year he's had.

A large number of wacko wannabes fill out this year's voting, with old favorites like Rickey Henderson, Larry Bowa and Kenny Lofton vying with newcomers such as Ben Weber and Travis Lee. Honestly, pickings were so slim this year that some wise guy voted for Randy Moss.

Best Baseball Writer/Broadcaster

Last year saw ESPN.com's resident stathead Rob Neyer win this category in a walk (and you know how the Beane Count values walks). This year you went with a more aesthetically pleasing selection, as Giants/ESPN broadcaster Jon Miller squeaked by Neyer for this year's trophy. At this rate, in five years the only man you'll remember named Vin will have a shaved head.

You haven't forgotten Vin Scully yet, though, placing him firmly (but gently - those old bones are fragile) into a third-place tie with FOX broadcaster Joe Buck and Sporting News columnist Ken Rosenthal. We believe the votes for Buck may be out of sympathy -- not because of his father, but because he's forced to share a booth with Tim McCarver.

Worst Baseball Writer/Broadcaster

In stark (no pun intended) contrast to last year, there's very little crossover between the Best Broadcaster and Worst Broadcaster lists (dichotomy, thy name is Joe Morgan). Again his quantity of postseason airtime seemed to tip the scales in favor of Tim McCarver, whose ongoing mission to shout things at baseball fans continues to be recognized in the most fitting manner possible, other than banishment to the Saturn Airship.

Close by in second place is perennial favorite(?) Peter Gammons, and moving up the charts to a solid third is SI columnist and foe of Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa, Rick Reilly. Unfortunately for Reilly, we only present third place awards after successful completion of a urine test.

Chris Berman is apparently so annoying that even his remaining trace amount of baseball airtime is enough to earn him an honorable mention. At the top of the list of strictly local broadcasters, the Mariners' Ron Fairly continues to do the little things it takes to irritate.

Greatest Moment Of The Year

While it kind of twists the idea of a "Greatest Moment," the aversion of a player strike definitely was a good thing. Close behind in the balloting was the Yankees' loss in the ALDS, which proved that America loves to watch the Yankees, especially when they lose. You also loved, among others, Torii Hunter's theft of a Barry Bonds homer in the All-Star Game, Jason Giambi's 14th-inning grand slam vs. Minnesota, and the Lowe no-no. Who wouldn't?

Again proving the average Strikethree.com reader dances to the rhythm of a different gypsy tambourine, one voter decided this was the place to nominate the "Mets smoke pot" tabloid scandal.

Worst Moment Of The Year

Unfortunately, for the second straight year there's a clear winner in this category, with the passing of Darryl Kile appearing on the vast majority of your ballots. As a worst moment it definitely makes the All-Star Game tie pale in comparison, don't you think?

Strike-related nonsense (the buildup, fans lashing out in Anaheim, players giving in to the owners) also earned a share of votes, as did the attack on Royals' first-base coach Tom Gamboa.

Weirdest Moment Of The Year

In our final category, there seemed to be no shortage of weird happenings in 2002, from Derek Bell's spring-training "Operation Shutdown" to the Rockies' humidor to the Giants' daycare service and Rally Monkey Mania. It might have been a dry year for wackos, but with stuff like this they'd only be a distraction. I mean, go back and look at last year's Weirdest Moment category. This year's craziness makes last year look like an episode of Providence.

Your ultimate weird moment came, ironically, on a day set aside by MLB for celebrating the game. Yes, the All-Star Game tie was a car-wreck-disbelief-type moment. Sure, no one got hurt, but listening to the angry Milwaukee fans and watching Selig leave the scene of the crime like a scalded dog, it sure seemed like a felony, didn't it? (We won't even go into Gammons' near-heart attack afterward.)

The Comiskey Park "fan attack" placed second in the voting, followed interestingly enough by the "Piazza not gay" news conference (not that there's anything wrong with that). After that, you've got your Ted Williams controversy, Finley vs. Kitaen, Wells' butter-knife diner attack, Ben Weber's windup, yada, yada, yada.

Well, that's it for this year's awards. What? You don't have a pass for the after party? Too bad. Heard Claudia Schiffer's gonna be there.

Before we leave, the winner of the coveted Strikethree.com t-shirt is...Fernando Morales of Houston. We'll be contacting him shortly. Thanks to all of you!