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

Cheers to "The Natural"

In today's world it's rare that you hear a feel good story about an athlete that recovered from a troubled beginning to completely turn his life around, but in Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton you find just that. Hamilton has rebounded from drug and alcohol addictions to become a MVP candidate and one of the most inspirational figures in sports.

Hamilton, a Raleigh, NC native, was selected first overall by Tampa Bay back in 1999 right out of high school. Rumor was that the kid had tons of talent and was on the fast track to the Big Leagues. Hamilton shot through the minors before a car accident, injuries, drugs and alcohol caused many issues and derailed his career early on. He was eventually suspended for 30 days in 2004 for violating MLB's drug policy. We're not talking about weed here; major league baseball suspensions usually require that you fail 2 or more drug tests for a substance much stronger than "trees". Hamilton's suspension repeated got increased and he was out of baseball from 2004-2006.

Hamilton eventually found his way to rehab and sober living and was allowed back into baseball in summer of 2006 at the age of 25 (still young enough to have a productive career in the Majors) and was selected in the Rule 5 draft in December by the Cubs, who traded him to the Cincinnati Red for a measly $100,000. That's a far cry from the $4 mil he was given when The Rays selected him back in '99. He finally made his major league debut April 2nd, 2007 and hit his first career home run in his first start on April 10th. After battling through injuries he finished with solid numbers and was second in rookie of the year voting. He was traded to the Rangers in the off season and made his first All Star team in 2008 and put on a fantastic display at the annual Home Run Derby that year. Fast forward to today and Josh Hamilton has been a perennial all star, a leading candidate for Most Valuable Player honors and has lead the Rangers to their first division title in years. Not bad for a recovering addict, right?

Moral of the story is, not all athletes that have a rough go at it are lost causes. Not every story written about an athlete has to be slander or about something negative. If we put more focus on feel good stories such as Josh Hamilton's, maybe more athletes will want to be looked at in a positive light and make better decisions instead of subconsciously wanting to be seen on TMZ or World Star Hip Hop shacked up with a Kat Stacks type. It's sad that our society finds more time to point fingers at the negative than to focus on the positive. It's refreshing to see someone come from a background such as Hamilton's to become an impact player and highly recognized figure in sports.

Josh Hamilton should be a role model for young athletes everywhere. My hat goes off to you, sir.

-ALR

To MLB, or not to MLB

I got into an email argument recently. It's like a texting argument, only more queer.

The topic began somewhere, then evolved to ranking favorite sports to watch live. I had the audacity to rank NBA and MLB games above the hallowed NFL. This led to a bunch of baseball bashing, complete with the most commonly used cliche arguments against the sport. Its a boring, slow, simple game, played by non-athletic people who used to maybe use steroids. All BS, of course, but whatever...

Within that email thread, only myself and a Puerto Rican guy were willing to defend the game. We pointed to the history, the unwritten rules, the unique complexities of the different ballparks, the Ken Burns documentary, and all kinds of other things that made me realize that even I was beginning to bore myself.

How did we get here?

Many have and will point to the Steroid Era as what ultimately has done the game in. I can't wholeheartedly disagree. The media likes to point to the early 2000's as the height of the Steroid Era, but if you look closely at the numbers (and film) the case can be made for steroids being a part of the game as far back as 25 years. It matters because in a game that is so reliant on sheer numbers to impress an audience that admittedly has to endure a lot of inaction throughout the course of a game, having almost three decades of tainted play is a concern.

I grew up in the Steroid Era, pulling for a San Francisco Giants team led by all-time homerun leader Barry Bonds no less. An unlikable guy, doing unfathomable things, with unknown amounts of illegal assistance (allegedly). Time has come to reveal that the best player on my favorite team was far from alone in this. I more than understand the current hangover effect that may have set in America's conscious about the game.

As a fan though, I don't want it to be that easy. There are a lot of good things happening in Major League Baseball right now. Seventeen of the thirty teams are still in contention for either a division title or playoff spot. There have been five no-hitters this season, and it isn't even August. Washington Nationals pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg is showing to be worth the "Lebron-esque" hype he'd been receiving since being drafted. Texas Ranger Josh Hamilton may be the first athlete to pull the reverse "Lawrence Taylor", going from crackhead to Triple Crown MVP. The New York Yankees...wait...fuck the Yankees. But you get my point, right?

I have to believe that all is not lost. As the picture above alludes to, baseball is in a rough patch right now. The game is scuffed. It's unclear how, if at all, it will be able to pull through. Strip away all the ancillary stuff, though, and you still see the only thing you need to see, and that is the ball. In the end, that should be all that matters.