TX Gov. Rick Perry: Cliff Lee is Staying

Texas Govenor Rick Perry made an appearance on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" last night, publicizing his new book, Fed Up: Our Fight to Save America from Washington. In addition to hitting the required right wing talking points (big government = bad, border control = good), he mentioned that this administration's policies are going to have a direct effect on the Major League Baseball free agency movement, especially one Texas Ranger, in particular.

Gov. Perry said that Texas Rangers ace Cliff Lee will re-sign with the club, and the Obama administration, along with a century-old legislation is to thank.

Stewart: "So in your mind... when did Washington go off the rails?"

Gov. Perry: "About a century ago, actually."

Stewart: "Seriously?"

Gov. Perry: "Wilson, and the Progressive movement started. The Sixteenth Amendment, giving them the opportunity to take your money with the personal income tax. That's the reason Cliff Lee is gonna stay in Texas..."

So Gov. Perry either has his finger on the pulse of the economic crisis this country is experiencing, and how it directly relates to his state, as well as the desire of one free agent pitcher who has worked in Texas for all of three months... or he's possibly talking out of his backside, promoting a book. You decide.

LTSB's MLB Award Winners (According to Us)

Now that the World Series has been wrapped up by the San Francisco Giants (congrats Yay Area!) this would be a good time to look back on the regular season, which was filled with some great pitching performances, big time hitting and highlights galore. Let's acknowledge who I think should take home some MLB hardware to add to their trophy case. (post-season performance is not considered)

AL MVP - Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers / .359, 32 HRs, 100 RBIs

One of the true feel good stories in the majors, "The Natural" has recovered nicely from the addictions that almost crushed his career to become one of the best players in baseball. Hamilton led the junior circuit in batting average and also finished among the leaders in runs scored, hits, home runs and RBI's, all while missing 29 games. He also led the Rangers to their first AL West title and their first palyoff appearance in 11 years. Runner Up - Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay Rays

NL MVP - Joey Votto, Cincinnatti Reds / .324, 37 HRs, 113 RBIs

This was a close one, but I have to go with the division winner. Votto was a key reason why the Cincinnatti Reds were able to wrestle the NL Central crown from the St. Louis Cardinals and put up monster numbers in a season dominated by pitching while doing it. He delivered a bunch of big game winning hits and home runs and has already established himself as a feared hitter in the NL. All in only his third full season. Runner up - Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals

AL Cy Young - David Price, Tampa Bay Rays / 2.72 ERA, 19-6, 188 Ks

The number one overall pick back in 2007 has quickly become one of the top lefty starting pithers around. Price was consistent and posted a winning record in almost every month and was lights out down the stretch, going 4-0 in September with an ERA of 1.67. Not bad for a 25 year old who is still getting better. Runner up - C.C. Sabathia, New York Yankees

NL Cy Young - Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies / 2.44 ERA, 20-10, 219 Ks

Another tough choice here as Halladay and Adam Wainwright had virtually identical numbers, but I went with Halladay here as he had the better record on the road (9-5) and pitched about 20 more innings. There isn't much else to say about Halladay as he is the definition of an "ace" and one of the top 3 pitchers in MLB. Runner up - Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cards

-ALR

Los That Links 8-6-10 (Los That Ladies)

Happy Friday, people. We're a little over a week in now. Still figuring some things out, but having fun doing so.

In keeping with the idea of creating a theme for the daily links, today, and every Friday after this, will be dedicated to fine women. We'll call it, Los That Links: Los That Ladies. The picture above is a woman named Jenn Sterger. She's about to be (more) famous, or infamous. Not for this though. Think Rachel Uchitel. More on her in a minute. Your links await.

- Brett Favre has (allegedly) been throwing balls to people other than his receivers or his wife. How he has been avoiding the Tiger Woods treatment is beyond me.

- Lance Armstrong: the latest victim of snitching. At one point in time, Armstrong was connected to this fine woman, and now he's married with children. He may want to keep them close.

- The Rick Pitino extortion case is over. Karen Sypher was found guilty, and can face as many as 26 yeas in prison, although it will likely be much less. Sypher isn't so much "fine" as, say "talented". Read this, and we'll leave it at that.

- The Vernon Davis and Aaron Maybin stripper party photos are highly overrated, but I'll let you decide for yourself. Courtesy of radaronline.com

- Speaking of Ms. Uchitel, her former sugar daddy is still suffering from the loss of his mojo.

- Nolan Ryan's group was successful in outbidding Mark Cuban's group for ownership of the Texas Rangers. $590 million. Allegedly, Ryan threatened Cuban with this. (No fine women were hurt in the posting of this link.)