Sorry, but I don't agree with the decision for the AL Manager of the Year.  I don't think he did anything all that interesting or special.  Joe Girardi took a team from not in the playoff one year to World Series Champs with the best record in baseball the next.  He did this with a sh!t-ton of pressure, three new expensive free agents and a whole lot of eyes on him. 


What I've read so far is that because the Angels had to deal with the death of Nick Adenhart, suddenly that means their manager "overcame adversity".  They lost a player who'd been on the team for about 3 weeks, they didn't lose Torii Hunter or someone very integral to the day-to-day running of the team.  I am so sick and tired of that young kid's death being pimped out and used to explain EVERYTHING surrounding that damn team.  They won the AL West for Nick Adenhart.  They finally beat the Red Sox in the playoffs because of Nick Adenhart.  They lost in the ALCS because the pain in their hearts over the death of Nick Adenhart was too great and they battled as hard as they could, blah blah blah.  Now Mike Scioscia won Manager of the Year because of the death of Nick Adenhart.  If I was in that young man's family, I'd be insulted. 


Jim Tracy though, I think he deserved it.  He came in after the previous manager had been fired and he took them to a franchise-high 92 wins and Wild Card berth.  So congrats to Jim Tracy and nerts to you, Mr. Rally Monkey Man.   

AL Rookie of the Year:


Andrew Bailey


6-3 / 1.84 ERA / 26 SV / 24 BB / 91K

"He made the Athletics Opening Day 25-man roster for the 2009 season as a long shot. Bailey was selected to represent the Athletics in the 2009 MLB All-Star Game in St. Louis. Bailey broke the Athletics rookie save record on September 12 against the Minnesota Twins with his 24th save of the season."




NL Rookie of the Year:





Chris Coghlan 


.321 BA / .390 OBP / .460 SLG / .850 OPS / 9 HR / 47 RBI

"Coghlan made his major league debut on May 8, 2009.

On August 9, 2009, he set the Marlins team record for consecutive multi-hit games at 8.

Chris Coghlan has 47 hits in August 2009, the most for a rookie since Todd Helton hit 45 in the month of August as a rookie. Chris put up 50 hits in September/October 2009, the first rookie with Back to Back 47+ Hit Months, and the first player to do so since Ichiro in 2004."

So here we are.  All the marbles.  Last team standing wins.  It's been fun doing this competition the last few days and I hope that everyone who has been reading this blog has been enjoying it as well.  Maybe I'll start running sims for different teams....we could make a master list of all-time match-ups we'd love to see.  However that's for the future and right now, we have a Super-Supreme World Series Champion to crown.


So who will it be, folks?  Joltin' Joe and the '39 squad or Crooked Cap and his band of merry champs? 



And the winner is....................................





2009!!!!!




It was a very close game, with the 2009 Yankees winning by a score 2-1.  Click the score to see the box score and game notes.  Click here to see the finished bracket.  The '39 Yanks gave us their best, with Red Ruffing going 6.1 innings in a losing effort.  CC shined, pitching 8 very solid innings and Mo of course, picked up the save.  He's Mo, even in fake simulated games, he's being very Mo-like.



Now it's time for the MVP awards, and I thought I'd give out one for hitting and one for pitching, because you can't win consistently without either. 




Our first MVP Award of the night goes out to CC Sabathia for a great pitching performance all the way through.  He went 2-0 (Hughes got a couple wins in relief, but CC was more dominant), compiling a 1.59 ERA over that time span.  There's no doubt he's the REAL team's pitching MVP, but not to forget....Mo picked up 2 saves in these contests as well.


Our MVP for offense is none other than Alex Rodriguez, who garnered Game MVP honors twice during this run.  He went 5-19 with 7 RBI and 3 BB.  At least he got a WS MVP from someone, right? 


Congrats to the 2009 Yankees on being crowned the best of the best.  :-)   

That was a thrilling but as you know.....only two teams could advance.  Who would they be?  The vaunted 1939 team, starring Joltin' Joe?  Maybe two of the dynasty teams?  Potentially even the current group of champions, led by Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez.  Well..........the winners are:

Away Team

Starter (ERA):
C.C. Sabathia (3.37)A.J. Burnett (4.04)Andy Pettitte (4.16)Joba Chamberlain (4.75)Chien-Ming Wang (9.49)

1	Derek Jeter	SS
2	Johnny Damon	LF
3	Mark Teixeira	1B
4	Alex Rodriguez	3B
5	Jorge Posada	C
6	Robinson Cano	2B
7	Nick Swisher	RF
8	Melky Cabrera	CF

Home Team

Starter (ERA):
Red Ruffing (2.93)Lefty Gomez (3.41)Atley Donald (3.71)Monte Pearson (4.49)Bump Hadley (2.98)

1	Joe Gordon	2B
2	Charlie Keller	RF
3	Joe Dimaggio	CF
4	George Selkirk	LF
5	Bill Dickey	C
6	Red Rolfe	3B
7	Babe Dahlgren	1B
8	Frankie Crosetti	SS

Updated bracket and scores





And now, the box scores:



1939 vs. 2000


1998 vs. 2009



Some highlights of the above game:  In the 2nd game of the round, Alex went 1-5 with 3 RBI and Melky got the game-winning hit in the 11th inning after hitting a single with the bases loaded.  Paulie nailed Robbie Cano at the plate though, so we only managed 1 run out of that.  Mo ended up getting the save, after CC went 8 IP, giving up 3 ER on 4 H while striking out 6.  He didn't get the win though, that went to Phil Hughes. 


In the 1st game, Rocket didn't have such a good start - usually when the opposing team tags a 10-run 3rd on you, that's not a good day at the office.  The 4-5-6 of the 1939 lineup went 5-10 with 9 RBI.  Now that's production. 



So it looks like it's shaping up to be a very, very, VERY good game tomorrow night.   

We have our Final Four ready to move on:


1939
1998
2000
2009



You can check out the bracket here and see how each team did.  As a treat, here are the 3rd round box scores:


1939 vs. 1936

1932 vs. 2000

2009 vs. 1950

1998 vs. 1961


The first year is the higher ranked team and therefore the home team, so having the DH really helped us out.  It's my dream to see CC Sabathia pitching to Joe DiMaggio, at least hypothetically, so let's hope 2009 and 1939 advance!


I hope to get some more feedback on this, I put a lot of work into setting this all up.   

HOLY CRAP, DID WE HAVE AN UPSET TONIGHT.



I wouldn't have believed it either, but our #2 seed is gone baby gone. 



Round 2 Bracket and Results



Here's the box score of the improbable defeat.  That's right, the 1927 Yankees LOST.  Oh the horror.  The 2009 Yankees advanced though, beating the 1956 Yankees 5-1.  Here's the box score to that game as well.  CC pitched very well, and his work will be cut out for him, he's facing the 1950 Yankees in the next round.  And do remember, Round 3 is tomorrow night, so be sure to check in and see how the boys do.