Pujols wins MVP, but 3 Gyros receive votes

Pujols is the '09 NL MVP as expected, but check out the official BBWAA results for the exact rundown. As for the 3 Giants that received votes...

Pablo Sandoval finished 7th
Tim Lincecum finished 19th (behind Carpenter and Wainwright interestingly)

Aaaanndddd.... drum roll please!

Jeremy Affeldt finished 28th with 1 10th place vote. Pretty cool for Affeldt who had a monster season as a setup man.

Interesting to me is that Mark Reynolds of Arizona finished 21st in the voting behind guys like Jayson Werth and Yunel Escobar. I know the guy is all or nothing and struck out like 873 times, but compare his numbers to Pujols's:

Reynolds: 98 R, 44 HR, 102 RBI, 24 SB, 76 BB, .892 OPS
Pujols: 124 R, 47 HR, 135 RBI, 16 SB, 115 BB, 1.101 OPS

I'm not saying that Pujols didn't deserve to win unanimously, because he did, I'm just saying that Reynolds had an amazing season and got almost zero recognition, especially in the MVP vote.

These MVP votes are just bizarre in that way. While Reynolds was blasting dongs left and right all year, both Troy Tulowitzki and Derrek Lee, who finished 6th and 9th in the voting respectively, sucked for the first 6 weeks plus of the season.

Then there's the matter of how Timmy wins the Cy, but Carpenter and Wainwright (14th & 15th) finished ahead of his 19th place finish.

The right guy won, and I guess that's all that matters, but the rest of it makes zero friggin sense.

Lincey's Cy Young hopes all but gone and Winn sucks

It is with great regret that I say this, but there is very little to be happy about at this current juncture. Tim Lincecum will probably not win the Cy Young award for the second year in a row.

Is he deserving of it and should he win? Hell yeah he should.

The problem is a lack of wins. As I wrote in this August 28th post, Timmy being Timmy may not cut it this year-- and it's not his fault.

Chris Carpenter/Adam Wainwright seem to have a leg up right now, and a lot of it has to do with the team they play on rather than them having "blow-you-away" stats. The Cardinals are simply a better team. They've won more games, they've scored more runs. It's that simple.

Carpenter: 187.2 IP, 16-4, 2.30 ERA, 138 K, 1.07 WHIP, 6.62 K/9

Lincecum : 218.1 IP, 14-7, 2.47 ERA, 254 K, 1.09 WHIP, 10.47 K/9

Wainwright: 219 IP, 18-8, 2.59 ERA, 193 K, 1.21 WHIP, 7.93 K/9

It truly is an unbelievably close race, and everyone knows which horse we're pulling for. Timmy's numbers are overall the best I think, especially because of his cartoonish strikeout totals. It's all up to the writers though, and I think the sob story of Carpenter returning to prominent dominance following 2 years of injuries will tear-jerk them into a vote for Carp. Timmy has one more start this season, so the lineup gets one more chance to pick up their ace. Don't hold your breath.

This could've all been avoided though...

IF THE GIANTS COULD SCORE SOME GODDAMN RUNS FOR THIS GUY IN SEPTEMBER!

Friday's offensive performance was downright offensive. Getting two measly hits off Z and 1 measly walk is just a total joke. Zambrano is a guy who allows nearly 1.5 baserunners per inning on the season! We get three in the whole effing game. Typical.

All while Timmy is out there pitching his can off, dog-tired, and in need of a pick-me-up.

And while I'm on the subject of offensive offense, we can all put this effing stat in our collective pipe and smoke it:

Randy Winn, a guy who has taken the majority of his at bats in 2009 in the 3rd spot (inexplicably) in the order, has... wait for it....

Two home runs.

Two.

Carlos Zambrano has four home runs in 2009.

Yes. That Carlos Zambrano. Carlos Zambrano the pitcher. The guy who hits 9th and isn't supposed to hit .160. I am ashamed right now.

And to top it off, Bochy has continually defended putting Randy Winn in the 3rd spot all year. The order disorder has gone on all season. Although Bochy has gotten unbelievably far with the tools he was given for his lineup, the continual unwillingness to rid the lineup of Renteria and Winn (and even Rowand) all year probably cost us 5 games. Guess how many games we're behind Colorads right now.

Here's another stat to smoke in your pipe.

Randy Winn hit .212 this season in the 3rd spot of the lineup. That is the lowest average of any spot in the order this year in which he's had 10 or more at bats. I'm sorry. I have to make a spreadsheet of this. Indulge me and click here please. This is too appalling. Just do it.



It's sickening.

Oh.

And it's about goddamn time Buster Posey got a friggin start. What's the plan for next year, huh? Is Posey or is Posey not the future catcher of this organization? Are you going to start the season next year with Eli Whiteside and Steve Holm as your catching tandem? Get Posey as much big league experience as possible while he's up here. How effing hard is that to understand? If he doesn't start the rest of the Giants' remaining games, I'm going to put my head through the drywall. You've gotta be kidding me. Sit Bengie's ass down permanently. It's been a nice run Big Money, and you carried us through some dark times, but I'm tired of your ways, and you are no longer part of this team. Good bye and good luck.

In fact, while I'm on this angry rant, goodbye Randy Winn, Randy Johnson, and Rich Aurilia. Three great guys, three washed up ballplayers.

God. Sorry. I needed to get that out there.

PS: Mike Krukow said Vespas were cool during the 5th inning. I used to respect him 100%. Now it's at 99.5%. Don't ever say that again Krook. Also. Congrats to Matt Cain for winning the Willie Mac award.

I've gotta sleep this off. Later.


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Ugly loss, press is giving up on us

One of the ugliest losses I've ever seen in person. Just total domination. That Brad Penny acquisition either needs to happen now, or we could have a seriously tough time with this wild card thing. It's obvious that Joe Martinez, after giving up 8 runs, is not a viable fifth starter at this time.

ESPN/Baseball Prospectus is now counting us out (insider required):

"...the Giants' remaining schedule is 20 points harder than that of any other NL contender, a consequence of their playing in what's surprisingly been the league's strongest division this year. This translates to a 12.2 percent chance of making the playoffs. Eighteen of their remaining 34 games come against contenders -- six apiece with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Rockies, including a three-game series with Colorado starting tonight, plus three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs. Not only are they 10-14 against their two NL West rivals, they've been outscored by 41 runs in those games."

These prospectus guys are all into Pythagorean theorems and quadrangle equations and whatnot, but I don't buy into all that the way some people do. Yes, the Giants have a difficult schedule and the Rockpile are kicking ass right now, but it comes down to pitching and execution. The Giants have shown that they can bounce back from just about anything. What we really need is for Lincecum to have a lights out start tonight against Colorado.

Cy Young Watch

It pains me to say it, but if Timmy doesn't go back to his lights out self for the rest of the year, he could be passed up by a couple of Cardinals for the Cy Young. The media has recently begun salivating over two St. Louis Cardinals and their impressive streaks. Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter have been otherworldly as of late, while Timmy has been simply great. With these two redbirds on the scene, great may not cut it. Let's hope Timmy gets back on track. Here's a look at the stats, it is an incredibly close race. Also amazing is how great a season Matt Cain has had.

If you cannot see the table below, click here. Trust me.



Other than the wins, Timmy leads in the most relevant categories. We'll just see if we can survive the media bias!

Oh yeah.

HAPPY LINCECUM DAY!

What a complete goofball --->