» Phillies Shut Out of Major Post-Season Awards

Phillies Shut Out of Major Post-Season Awards

As I continue housecleaning on the blog after the 7 week layoff, one cannot pass on the post-season awards and the absence of NL pennant- winning Phillies from winning any of them. One could say, however that the Phils’ success in making a 2nd consecutive trip to the World Series was the result of the sum total of all of their parts.

However, I was expecting young lefthander J.A. Happ to have won NL Rookie of the Year honors which were ultimately won by Florida Marlins leftfielder Chris Coghlan.

While Happ mainly sparkled finishing with a 12-4 record and 2.93 ERA with 3 complete games, including 2 big shut outs, he was pounded in a couple of outings down the stretch. It seems obvious that Coghlan trumped Happ with a consistent .321 BA in his rookie season breaking .300 and driving to his ending .321 average through the September stretch getting 162 hits in 504 at bats over 128 games and going 6 for 13 with 3 doubles and 3 RBIs in 3 games in the NL East division series with the Phillies.

I was also expecting Charlie Manuel to win NL Manager of the Year having guided the Phils to 3 straight division Championships, 2 consecutive World Series and a World Championship in 2008. But it was not to be as Colorado Rockies Manager Jim Tracy chapped the honors. I’m not sure I understand the logic here, but one could probably say that Tracy rated the edge by hitting the ground running after his promotion in late May from bench coach to manager in wake of Clint Hurdle’s firing. The Rockies went 74-42 with Tracy as skipper. Tracy got 29 of 32 1st place votes while Charlie garnered no first place votes — figure that one out!

Two Phillies, shortstop Jimmy Rollins and centerfielder Shane Victorino, managed to nail down Gold Glove awards while a Silver Slugger Award went to 2nd baseman Chase Utley so that the team was not totally shut out.

For those who were hoping for an MVP award for 1st baseman Ryan Howard, St. Louis Cardinals 1st baseman Albert Pujols notched the award for the 2nd straight season based on out-and-out merit. Check this out:

2009 AB Hits HRs RBIs BB K BA
Howard 616 172 45 141 75 186 .279
Pujols 568 186 47 135 115 64 .327

Enough said?? Howard’s got to cut down on strikeouts — Big Time!

Finally, I can’t let this post go by without commenting on the AL MVP award going to Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer. Mauer caught in 138 games in 2009 hitting 28 HRs with 96 RBIs and amassing a .365 BA. This after catching in 146 games in 2008, driving in 85 runs with a .328 BA. Checking out his 6 season career, he’s caught in-excess of 130 games in 4 of his last 5 seasons and is in the midst of a career, both offensively and behind the plate, which recalls to memory Cincinnati’s “Big Red Machine” era Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench, although so far, Bench holds a decisive margin in HRs and RBIs.

Below are reports with more detail on the Post-Season Awards: