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BBA: Walter Johnson Ballot

Posted on October 17, 2011 at 3:37 PM
Filed Under: Baseball Bloggers Alliance
As you know, or you should if you've read the blog for any length of time, besides the United Cardinal Bloggers I have another blogging group that I'm involved in, the Baseball Bloggers Alliance.  I head up the whole organization as well as the St. Louis Chapter, so it's fairly important that I participate in things when I'm supposed to.

One of the great things we do in the BBA (besides getting to know other bloggers such as those that have participated in the Know Your Enemy feature recently) is vote for postseason awards.  The Baseball Writers of America got on us the first year we did this, so we modified and named the awards after great players in the past.  I've been neglectful of getting the press releases posted here, but will do that soon so you can see who has received our Connie Mack Award (best manager), Willie Mays Award (top rookie) and Goose Gossage Award (top reliever).

Today, though, I'm tasked with submitting one of the ballots for the St. Louis Chapter for our Walter Johnson Award, which, as you may imagine, relates to the best pitcher in the league.  With the Cardinals doing this wonderful post-season run, I've not had the time to sit down and write out a detailed post, so you are getting the ballot with my initial impressions.  Feel free to disagree and check back to see who actually received the top slot when the rest of the BBA's votes are counted.

1. Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers

To make my selections, I listed out a few names, then picked a few categories to see how these players were in relation to one another.  For various reasons, I selected wins, strikeouts, K/BB ratio, WHIP, defense-independent ERA and average game score.  Seemed to be a tolerable blend of the old and the new and, hey, it's my ballot.

In all of these categories, Kershaw ranked no lower than third in the National League and was first in four of them.  The Dodgers had Kershaw and Matt Kemp, both serious contenders for major awards, and yet weren't able to ever really challenge for the NL West.  That tells you just how bad the rest of that team was!

2. Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies

Even knowing how well Kershaw had done this year (and in spite of the soft spot I have for Kershaw since he led my fantasy team to a title), I half-expected to have Halladay's name at the top of my ballot.  If we were able to count the postseason, especially after that 1-0 duel he had with Chris Carpenter, I just might.

Halladay was the only one out of my short list to finish on top of more than one of those categories (besides Kershaw, of course) and had his worst finish in WHIP at fourth in the National League.  Yeah, I think I'd take him on my team.

3. Cliff Lee, Philadelphia Phillies

I think the Rangers are a favorite in the World Series right now, but if they still had Lee, they'd be an overwhelming choice.  Lee hit a couple of rough spots this year (including walking five in a start against St. Louis) but he had two different stretches where he went 30 innings without a run.  He finished no lower than fourth (wins) in any of my categories and gets a bonus for being an Arkansas boy.

4. Cole Hamels, Philadelphia Phillies

How again did the Cardinals beat the Phillies?  With three possible contenders for the best pitcher award, that shows just how tough that NLDS was.  Hamels wasn't quite as strong as the top three guys on this ballot, finishing second in only one category and as low as tenth in another one (strikeouts) but his overall performace as pretty special and deserves recognition.

5. Ian Kennedy, Arizona Diamondbacks

Kennedy led the Diamondbacks into the playoffs and that was no mean feat.  He also tied with Kershaw with 21 wins, which about five years ago would have gotten him the Cy Young Award, I think.  Nowadays, though, voters look past the wins to see how you won, why maybe someone else didn't win.  

Wins is the only category of mine that Kennedy led in and in no other category was he higher than fifth in the league.  He sunk to 14th in DIPS and eighth in strikeout ratio, meaning that, to me, he had a very good season, but not necessarily a great one.

Agree?  Disagree?  We've got comments below.  Feel free to use them!



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Heroes
Matt Carpenter (4)
Matt Holliday (4)
Carlos Beltran (3)
Rafael Furcal (3)
Jon Jay (3)
Kyle Lohse (3)
Lance Lynn (3)
David Freese (2)
Jaime Garcia (2)
Yadier Molina (2)
Adam Wainwright (2)
Allen Craig (1)
Shane Robinson (1)
Fernando Salas (1)
Jake Westbrook (1)

2011 Top Hero: Lance Berkman (24)
2010 Top Heroes: Matt Holliday and Albert Pujols (24)
2009 Top Hero: Albert Pujols (28)
2008 Top Hero: Albert Pujols (25)

Goats
Matt Holliday (4)
Carlos Beltran (3)
Jaime Garcia (3)
Adam Wainwright (3)
David Freese (2)
Rafael Furcal (2)
Tyler Greene (2)
Jason Motte (2)
J.C. Romero (2)
Marc Rzepczynski (2)
Mitchell Boggs (1)
Matt Carpenter (1)
Tony Cruz (1)
Daniel Descalso (1)
Jon Jay (1)
Erik Komatsu (1)
Kyle Lohse (1)
Victor Marte (1)
Fernando Salas (1)
Jake Westbrook (1)

2011 Top Goat: Ryan Theriot (12)
2010 Top Goat: Brendan Ryan (14)
2009 Top Goats: Rick Ankiel and Todd Wellemeyer (13)
2008 Top Goat: Troy Glaus (13)

2012 Happy Flights
Happy Flights: 7
Happy Flight Opportunities: 10
Happy Flight %: 70%

Through 5/15

    Cardinal Nation Approval Ratings (March 2012)
    Adam Wainwright 91.9% (down 2.8%)
    Chris Carpenter 90.1% (up 3.2%)
    Lance Berkman 88.6%
    Tony La Russa 88.2% (up 17.4%)
    Yadier Molina 87.4% (up 3.7%)
    Matt Holliday 87.3% (down 3.8%)
    David Freese 85.5%
    John Mozeliak 85.4% (up 13.3%)
    Mike Shannon 85.3% (up 0.4%)
    Jose Oquendo 84.7%
    Derrick Goold 82.8% (down 5.0%)
    Mark McGwire 82.6% (up 20.1%)
    John Rooney 81.5% (down 2.8%)
    Mike Matheny 81.1%
    Bill DeWitt 79.8% (up 8.8%)
    United Cardinal Bloggers 78.9%
    Skip Schumaker 73.3% (up 9.2%)
    Jim Hayes 71.9% (down 4.2%)
    Jon Jay 71.1%
    B.J. Rains 69.5% (down 0.9%)
    Kyle Lohse 68.9% (up 13.8%)
    Dan McLaughlin 68.0%
    Joe Strauss 67.7% (up 10.2%)
    Ricky Horton 67.5% (down 1.6%)
    Al Hrabosky 66.4% (up 3.2%)
    Albert Pujols 54.9% (down 45.5%)
    Colby Rasmus 46.5% (down 35.3%)

    2011
    Dave Duncan 87.9% (up 0.9%)
    Matthew Leach 85.5%
    Pop Warner 76.7%
    Ryan Franklin 72.8% (up 3.1%)
    John Vuch 68.9%
    Jeff Luhnow 66.4%
    Dan Lozano 58.7%

    2009
    Rick Ankiel 83.9%
    Chris Duncan 69.1%


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