American League Champions
AL Rookie of the Year- Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox: .317 BA, .822 OPS, 86 runs
Ladies and gentlemen, dp devotedly presents another DP, Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia, as your American League Rookie of the Year. Pedroia batted .317 and provided excellent defense, displaying vast range and a knack for the spectacular at second base. If there were any doubters out there who were tempted to vote for Florida's Delmon Young (whose OPS was nearly 100 points lower than Pedroia's) or a pitcher like Dice-K or Joba Chamberlain, Pedroia's clutch performance in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, an 11-2 Boston victory over Cleveland, sealed the deal. Leading off the bottom of the first, Pedroia singled and later scored the game's first run. Pedroia has excelled in setting the table for the Sox, scoring eight runs in the ALCS, but he himself had zero RBIs through six games. Well, only until Sunday, when Pedroia got five RBIs in two innings in Sunday's Game 7. In the seventh inning, he broke open a 3-2 game with a huge 2-run bomb over the Green Monster off Rafael Betancourt, who had given up zero runs through 8 2/3 postseason innings until that point. Then in the eighth, Pedroia rocked Betancourt again, this time with a bases-clearing 3-run double. Dustin Pedroia, we really like to knooow ya! Kevin Youkilis followed with his own 2-run jack over the Monster to push the lead to 11-2 and totally crush Cleveland's hopes. Jonathan Papelbon recorded a six-out save for the first time in his career, aided by spectacular catches by Jacob Ellsbury and Coco Crisp, who ended the game by robbing Casey Blake of extra bases to send the Sox on to face the Colorado Rockies in the World Series.What an amazing team victory in this series for the Sox. Slots 1-9 in the lineup all contributed about as evenly as is realistically possible in a seven-game series. In fact, dp struggled to decide upon the ALCS MVP. With his .345 BA and Game 7 heroics, Pedroia merited consideration, but so did Manny, who hit .409 with 2 HRs and 10 RBIs, and Youkilis, who hit .500 with 3 HRs and 7 RBIs, and Mike Lowell, who batted .333 with 8 RBIs, and JD Drew, who hit .360 and ripped the game-breaking grand slam in Game 6 off Fausto Carmona, and of course usual suspect David Ortiz, who scored seven runs and posted a .966 OPS.
With this wealth of production, dp was still waffling when Josh Beckett received the MVP. Duh. Beckett posted a stingy 1.93 ERA with 18 Ks in 14 innings to win both Game 1 and Game 5.
AL Cy Young- Josh Beckett, Red Sox:
20-7, 3.27 ERA, 194 Ks
Ladies and gentlemen, your AL Cy Young, Josh Beckett. Making menthol-smoking, scruffy skater dirtbags everywhere proud, Beckett utilized a lethal mix of power pitching and pinpoint control (a rare Clemens-Maddux hybrid) to become the majors' only 20-game winner. Throw in a grade-A post-season legacy (2003 World Series MVP with Florida; 5-2 with a 1.78 ERA and three shutouts in eight career starts) that includes three dominating wins this October, and the 26 year old looks to be a good bet to keep adding more hardware to his trophy case. Beckett is good for at least two more World Series victories and very well may repeat as MVP in helping the Sox fulfill dp's perfect post-season predictions.
Check out ESPN.com's sweet 10 question World Series poll to see how America views Red Sox Nation versus Rocktoberfest: POLL
AL MVP- Alex Rodriguez, Yankees: .314, 54 HR, 156 RBIs, 143 runs
Sometimes the MVP is a guy who singularly outperforms everyone else in the league by a wide margin. Sometimes the MVP is a guy who single-handedly carries his team on his back into the playoffs. Once in a while, the MVP is both guys, like A-Rod this year. A-Rod batted .314 and led the majors with 54 home runs, 143 runs, 156 RBIs, .645 SLG, and 1.067 OPS. His ridiculous output paced the Yankees' second-half charge to make the playoffs. Magglio Ordonez hit .363 with 139 RBIs for the Tigers, but he picked the wrong season to have a career year. Rodriguez picked the right year to max out, as he has the right to opt out of his contract and potentially sign a $300 million deal as a free agent. Whether he returns to New York is one of the big baseball questions to be settled after the conclusion of the World Series.AL Comeback Player of the Year- Carlos Pena, Devil Rays: 46 HR, 121 RBIs, 1.038 OPS
In another no-brainer, Carlos Pena is hands-down the 2007 AL comeback player of the year. If the D-Rays were a bit better, Pena would be a legitimate MVP candidate. After appearing in only 18 games for Boston in 2006, he rebounded in a big way in 2007, batting .282 with 46 HR, 121 RBI, 99 runs, 103 BB, and an outstanding 1.038 OPS. What an amazing turnaround for a career .252 hitter who hit more than 20 homers in a season just once before 2007. What a sleeper for lucky fantasy baseball managers who stole him late in their drafts.AL Manager of the Year- Eric Wedge, Indians: 96-66, 1st in Central Division
Joe Torre, Mike Scioscia, and Terry Francona all deserve congratulations in leading their teams to the playoffs, but then again, the Yankees, Angels, and Red Sox all enjoy perennially high payrolls and high expectations. In other words, back in spring training these teams were supposed to make the playoffs, while the Indians looked to be fourth behind the Tigers, White Sox, and Twins in the AL Central. For expertly guiding a young team to within one game of the World Series, Eric Wedge (pictured with Indians GM Mark Shapiro) wins the award for top AL manager in 2007. At least one fan in Cleveland appreciates the job the Indians have done this year.Check back Tuesday for dp's 2007 National League awards.
