ROY to Trout, Harper

Mike Trout won the A.L. Rookie of the Year Award in a unanimous vote. The Angels’ OF hit .326-30-83, led the majors with 49 SB, led the majors in runs scored, and led the A.L. in adjusted OPS (OPS+) with a 171.

In the N.L., Washington OF Bryce Harper won a close vote over Arizona pitcher Wade Miley, 112-105. Harper received 16 first place votes to Miley’s 12. Harper hit .270-22-59 with 18 SB. OPS+ 119. Miley was 16-11, 3.33, ERA+ of 125.

The Managers of the Year will be announced today (Tuesday). I’d expect Buck Showalter of Baltimore to be the A.L. mgr. of the year.

The minors today.

AAA: SWB was off today, and the Pawtucket/Gwinnett game was ppd., so SWB’s magic # for clinching the division remains at 1.

AA: Trenton won 7-4. Vidal Nuno (9-5, 2.39) 1 R in 6 IP. Pedro Feliciano 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 walk and 0 K. CF Adonis Garcia 2 HR, 3 RBI. Double and solo HR 3b/2b Dave Adams (.315-8-47). If you forgot, Adams was supposed to be included in the Lee deal a few years ago but had a leg injury, which forced Seattle to call the deal off and deal Cliff Lee to Texas. SS Addison Maruszak with a solo HR. (.275-15-54).

Low A: Tampa lost both games of a DH.

Game 1: 5-1 loss, only four hits. 2 doubles for RF Tyler Austin.

Game 2: 1-0 loss, once again only four hits. 2 hits 1B Kyle Roller.

Low A:   Charleston’s game ppd.

UPDATE: SWB’s Dave Miley deservedly named IL Mgr. of the Year. Hey, you win a division (magic # 1) and do it without any home games as the traveling nomads? You deserve it!

Update 2 MAJORS: Joel Sherman‏@Joelsherman1

  After adding Saunders to Chen/Matusz/Britton, #Orioles to add another LHP Wolf. Loading up LHs for huge games now v. #Yankees #Rays

Joel Sherman‏@Joelsherman1

Saunders/Wolf in last few days to go with Chen/Britton/Matusz. Strategic attack by #Orioles on 1st-place #Yankees #wise

Jack Curry‏@JackCurryYES

Steve Pearce hit 4th in Yankee debut. McGehee was option to Class A Charleston to open roster spot. Allows Yanks 2 recall McG sooner

Yesterday’s minors.

AAA: SWB won 10-3. Mike O’Connor 3 R in 5 IP (3-6, 3.73). Kelvin Perez two scoreless IP. Juan Cedeno 2 scoreless IP. SWB banged out 20 hits. C Francisco Cervelli, with one hit (2 rbi, .255), was the only player in the lineup to not have at least two. HR, 3 RBI  2b Corban Joseph (3 hits, .260-12-43). HR, 2 RBI DH Austin Romine (2 hits).  3 hits each for SS Eduardo Nunez and 3B Ramiro Pena. Perez, 26, had a 1.14 ERA at AA Trenton, (6-1) and is 1-0, 0.00 in three games at AAA. Overall 7-1, 1.03. The age worries me (27 in October) but talk about a breakout year. SWB is 73-56, and now has a four-game lead in the International League North, which is amazing because they have been the “traveling nomads” all season while their home ballpark is being renovated. As one writer suggested, there should be no question in naming Dave Miley AAA Mgr. of the Year.

AA: While SWB got 20 hits, Trenton got just two in a 3-2 loss. SS Addison Maruszak a solo HR. (.273-13-47). Vidal Nuno 2 r in 6 IP (7-5, 2.60). Trenton, at 72-54, leads the Eastern League’s Eastern Division by four games.

High A: Tampa ppd. Tampa leads the FSL North with a 31-23 record and has a 1 1/2 game lead for the second half of the season. Overall they are fourth in their division at 61-60, 10 1/2 out, but A ball plays a split season. They finished the first half at 30-37, fourth place, 12 out.

Low A: Charleston lost 7-6. Brett Gerritse 2 R in 5 IP (3.95). Melvin Mercedes 4 R in 2 1/3 (0-1, 11.81). 2 h, 2 RBI C Francisco Arcia. Charleston is 23-31 and in last place in the SAL South, 12 back. Overall they are 62-59, fourth, 14 back in their division. They were 39-28, third, 6 1/2 back in the first half of the season.

Pedro Feliciano hasn’t thrown one pitch for the Yankees since his shoulder surgery shortly after the Yanks signed him in 2011. He threw just one inning in the minors in 2011 (GCL, no runs, no hits, no walks and 1 K) and pitched in his third GCL game of this year yesterday. He threw one inning, 0 R, 1 H, 0 walks and 1 K. In his three games he has thrown 3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 walk and 5 K. Feliciano turns 36 next week. It’ll be a long road back but at least he’s started it.

 

Feller passes away; some history and some Yankees news.

Hall of Famer Bob Feller  passed away at the age of 92. I met Feller a few years back and got an autographed baseball. Unfortunately, Feller signed in felt-point, not ball-point and you can guess what happened. Faded away. Sigh. I did thank him for his military service.

Feller won 266 games, all with the Indians, 1936-1941 and 1945-1956. He missed 3 2/3 years due to WWII, when he was with the Navy fighting the Japanese in the South Pacific.

Look at his stats (click the link) from 1939-1947 and consider those years he missed.

Feller was only 17 when he reached the majors. An 8x All-Star, he finished 3rd, 2nd and 3rd in MVP voting in 1939, 1940 and 1941. He finished top-10 in 1946, 1947 and 1951. Six times he was a 20-game winner, including seasons of 24-27-25 (1939-1941) and 26 wins (1946). Six times he led the AL in wins (3x all of MLB). He led the AL in ERA once. Games pitched AL  3x (MLB 1x). Games started 5x (MLB 4x). CG 3x (MLB 2x). 44 career shutouts. He led the AL in shutouts 4x (MLB 1x). 5x he led the AL in IP, the majors 4x. Three times he pitched over 300 innings in a season, including 371 1/3 in 1946! 4x he led the majors in walks. “Rapid Robert” was said to hit 98 with his fastball, but it’s unknown how high he actually hit, given the rudimentary measuring devices of his day. Many thought he was the fastest since Walter Johnson. Seven times he led the majors in strikeouts, and he had the record of 348 from 1946 to 1965 when Sandy Koufax topped it (Nolan Ryan broke that in 1973). I could go on, but you get the picture.

Before he turned 18, he had a 15 and a 17 strikeout game. For many years, he had the record of 18 strikeouts in a game (it is now 20).

Most players who lost significant time during WWII lost 1943-1945, as did Rizzuto, Williams and DiMaggio. He lost all of 1942-1944 and most of 1945. Since he won 24 games in 1939, 27 games in 1940 and 25 in 1941, if we give him 75 wins for 1942-1944 and another 20 for 1945, those 95 wins would take him from 266 career wins to 361.

In 1945, the war ended in time for him to come home and start 9 games. After some 3 2/3 to 3 3/4 years away, he went 5-3, 2.50.

In his first game back in the majors in almost four years, 8/24/45 (shortly after the atomic bombings of Japan—Feller was in the Navy in the South Pacific, fighting on the U.S.S. Alabama), Feller pitched a complete game victory, 2 R, 4 H and 12 K. It was his first MLB game since 9/26/41. He had enlisted in the Navy the day after the Pearl Harbor attack.  

Feller threw three no-hitters, one on Opening Day (I earlier said 1946, it was 1940 (sorry), and the only Opening Day no-no in major league history to date), and twelve one-hitters.

In postseason play, he went 0-2, 5.02 in the 1948 WS. His non-pickoff of Phil Masi is still considered a controversial call. Most thought Masi was picked off by Feller in Game 1 of the 1948 Series. He wasn’t (he was on second) and he scored moments later. Feller lost that game to Johnny Sain 1-0. The Indians did win that series, which was Feller’s only WS win and the Indians last to date. Feller didn’t pitch in the 1954 Series that the Indians were swept in, despite going 13-3 that year.

For his career, 266-162, 3.25 ERA. ERA+ 122. 2581 K. WWII probably stole some 980 K from him. If so, then he could have wound up with say, 361 wins and 3500 K. As a hitter Feller hit .151 with 8 HR.

He won the triple crown of pitching in 1940 (K, W, ERA) when he was just 21. He was elected to the HOF in 1962.

If you read that he was the oldest living HOFer, don’t believe it. Bobby Doerr is still alive and he is the oldest HOFer. Doerr was born seven months before Feller.

Feller’s #19 is retired by the Indians.

One of the all-time greats.

A little history. In 1992 the Yanks were after Greg Maddux, but he spurned a 5-year $34MM offer from the Yanks to go to the Braves for $28MM. The Yanks got Jimmy Key to shore up the rotation instead. In game 6 of the 1996 WS, Maddux loses to the Yanks (he won Game 2) and the Yanks wrap up the Series. Who does he lose to? Jimmy Key. (Maddux also lost to the Yanks in the 1999 WS. He did pitch well in all three games he faced them. The 3-2 loss in game 6, 1996. In the 1999 game, 2 of the 4 runs he gave up were unearned).

Yankees news on LoHud:

SWB coaching staff remains Miley, Wynegar, Aldred. Frank Menechino joins as infield coach. Tony Franklin (underrated mgr.) back at AA Trenton.    

They also report that Don Zimmer, 79, had a pacemaker installed. Get well, Zim.   

  

Kennedy to start Bricktown showdown.

Tuesday, the winners of the International League (SWB) and the Pacific League (Sacramento, A’s AAA team) will meet in a one-game winner-take-all AAA showdown in Oklahoma City. Ian Kennedy asked to start and according to Chad Jennings, he will get his wish.

After the tragedy with his son, rooting for SWB manager Dave Miley this postseason has been easy.

I was right, when I guessed that the MVP of the Bricktown showdown will get the Bobby Murcer award. I had read about an award named for Murcer was to be associated with the game and guessed it to be MVP of the game. It’s nice to see the Oklahoma native Murcer, remembered in this fashion. You can read more about it here.

and from the article, First pitch Tuesday night will be at 7:05 pm CDT. ESPN2 will be providing live television coverage of the game.

Pete Abraham reports :

The Yankees have promoted Humberto Sanchez to the majors and he’s expected to be uniform tomorrow.

The big man from the Boogie Down appeared in 16 games in the minors as he got over Tommy John surgery. In 15.2 innings, he allowed six earned runs on 15 hits, walked five and fanned 20.

My hunch: As Joba goes into the rotation next year (after possibly starting in the bullpen again), Sanchez and/or Melancon replace Joba in the bullpen. If both are in the bullpen, the question is who (Edwar? Veras?) goes. With Sanchez, Melancon, Phil Coke and David Robertson, you have four guys who didn’t start 2008 with the Yanks. There may be a significant bullpen turnover this offseason to see who works with the master, Rivera, in 2009.

As I mentioned on the show last night, just once since the last WS season of 2003 have the Yanks had an ERA+ over 100 (meaning your ERA is above league average). It all comes down to pitching. Here are 2003-2008. I probably put this up recently, but it bears repeating:

2003, 109 (meaning 9% better than the league average);lose Clemens, Pettitte, Wells. Get Brown, Lieber comes off DL, Get Vazquez.
2004, 96; Go get Randy Johnson. Midseason, trade Contreras for Loaiza. Offseason, sign Pavano, Jaret Wright.
2005, 93. Small and Chacon save the season. Leiter finishes his career. Wang debuts.
2006, 102. Midseason deal for Lidle. Farnsworth replaces Gordon. Yanks deal RJ after season, get Andy back.
2007, 99. Clemens returns (17 starts). Hughes and Igawa debut (combined 25 starts). 18 starts combined from Clippard, DeSalvo and Rasner.
2008. 98 as of now. Injuries force Rasner into 20 starts. Kennedy and Hughes (to date) no wins in 15 combined starts. Ponson, 14 starts. 34 starts from Rasner/Ponson combined. 9-14, 5.74. 20 starts from the trio of Ian, Hughes and Pavano. 3-9 (all 3 wins from Pavano), 7.52. That’s 54 starts. 1/3 of the season. 12-23 in those starts. ERA 6.32. Repeat. 1/3 of the season.

Pitching, pitching, pitching.