Diminutive 5′ 8″ Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who walked the walk Big Time to back up the talk — his bold February prediction about the Phillies winning the NL East, was awarded the NL MVP award in a close contest with  Colorado Rockies leftfielder Matt Holliday.

MLB.com’s Ken Mandel provides the voting results and background;

Of the 32 ballots submitted by two writers in each league city, Rollins was listed first on 16, second on seven, third on four, fourth on four and fifth on one for a total of 353 points. Holliday’s breakdown was 11 first-place votes, 18 seconds, one third, one fourth and one sixth for 336 points.

The 17-point differential between Rollins and Holliday made the 2007 election the 20th closest overall and ninth in the NL since the current format was adopted by the BBWAA in 1938.

Rollins gives the Phillies their seventh MVP award, joining  Chuck Klein (1932), Jim Konstanty (1950), Mike Schmidt (1980, 1981, 1986) and Ryan Howard (2006). With Howard, the Phillies become the first club with back-to-back MVPs since San Francisco’s Jeff Kent and Barry Bonds in 2000 and 2001.

Everything Philadelphia accomplished in 2007 focused on Rollins, starting with his January boast that the Phillies were the “team to beat” in the NL East. That disregarded the  Mets, who captured the division the previous season and the  Braves, who won it seemingly every year before that.

Despite taking flack after Philadelphia’s 4-11 season-opening stumble, Rollins remained at the center of the Phillies’ resurgence. He batted .346 (28-for-81) with six homers, 15 RBIs and 15 runs in 18 games against those Mets and started all 162 games at shortstop, playing all but 17 innings. Batting in the leadoff spot for most of the season, he kept the offense churning.

He committed just 11 errors, enough for his first Gold Glove, though his fielding percentage was second to Colorado’s  Troy Tulowitzki.

When closer Brett Myers hurled his glove in the air following a called strike three against Washington’s Wily Mo Pena — securing a 13-4 finish that earned the Phillies their first postseason appearance since 1993 — Rollins’ MVP credentials were cemented.

Rollins became the first player in history to collect at least 200 hits, 25 homers, 15 triples and 25 steals in a season. Overall, the switch-hitter batted .296, with 38 doubles, 20 triples, 30 homers, 94 RBIs, 41 stolen bases, 212 hits and 139 runs scored.

The 139 runs scored and 88 extra-base hits were league records for a shortstop. He also set a Major League record with 716 at-bats, and became the third shortstop in history to have at least 30 homers and 30 stolen bases in a season, after Barry Larkin in 1996 and Alex Rodriguez in 1998.

Holliday, meanwhile, captured the league’s batting and RBI titles, and led the Rockies into the postseason for the first time since 1995. The left fielder was the focal point of the team’s 15-1 run to get there, batting .442 with five homers and 17 RBIs.

Overall, he batted .340, with 50 doubles, 36 homers, 137 RBIs, 216 hits and 120 runs scored. He also led the league in hits, total bases, doubles and extra-base hits.

The statistics only told part of the story. The voters went with the player who backed up a bold prediction. On a team with Howard and Chase Utley, who himself had an MVP campaign despite missing five weeks with a broken hand, Rollins simply was the team’s most valuable.

So now, Rollins adds the most coveted NL MVP award to his other 2007 booty; Golden Glove and Silver Slugger awards.

Milwaukee Brewers slugging first baseman Prince Fielder came in a not- so-distant third in the balloting, despite his huge 50 HRs, 119 RBIS and .288 BA, with five first-place votes and 284 points.

Jimmy, thanks for some great 2007 thrills and memories.  Let’s go in 2008 — Phillies; NL East champs and beyond.  Don’t let up!

*****

Yankees closer Mariano Rivera apparently has accepted the team’s $45 million, 3-year deal pending the standard results of a physical.  The Yankees are the only club Rivera haas played for in his  year career.

AP Sports reporter Ronald Blum notes for Yahoo sports;

Rivera, who turns 38 on Nov. 29, gets an average salary more than $4 million above what any other reliever currently makes.

Rivera was coming off a three-year contract that paid him $31.5 million. He had hoped for an extension before the start of this season, but the Yankees decided not to discuss contract extensions with any of their players until after the 2007 season was over.

“Mariano is obviously someone that we can’t live without because he’s one of a kind and he’s so unique in what he does for us,” Rodriguez said during a conference call after he won the AL MVP award for the third time. “He’s such an unbelievable force in our clubhouse. In many ways he’s kind of the voice for a lot of people in there.”

“I was certainly hopeful,” Steinbrenner said. “It’s a good offer and an offer that was made because I wanted him back.”

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The Detroit Tigers announced on Tuesday a deal to re-sign 39 year old veteran closer Todd Jones. 

Jones, who had 38 saves for the Tigers last season; 117 saves over the last 3 seasons and 4 more in the 2006 post-season including their only win in the 2006 World Series, signed a one year, $7 million dollar deal in what has to be an indicator of the going rate for the current crop of free agent and arbitration-eligible closers.  In fact, MLB’s Ken Mandel indicates that newly acquired Phillies closer Brad Lidge may command in the $7 million range through the arbitration process.  Lidge, however, bests Jones’ lifetime ERA by .63, Jones standing at 3.93 and Lidge at 3.30 ERA.

AP Sports Writer Larry Lage provides background for Yahoo sports;

“For us, he’s done a quality job for the last couple years and for us, a real big need for him to come back and fill that closer role,” Tigers president Dave Dombrowski said.

Re-signing Jones became even more important for Detroit when hard-throwing reliever Joel Zumaya had shoulder surgery, costing him at least the first half of the 2008 season.

MLB.com’s Jason Beck adds these comments from Jones about the deal;

“Ultimately, the team that I think had the best chance to win was Detroit,” Jones said. “And the team that I was most comfortable with is Detroit. And where my heart is, is in Detroit. It’s just great. I just appreciate the Tigers letting me kick tires and letting me look around with no hard feelings. Because in an industry where ultimately it can sometimes become a very harsh business, [president/general manager] Dave [Dombrowski] and I maintain a wonderful, professional relationship.”

**************

The American League announced on Tuesday that Cleveland lefthander C.C. Sabathia, with a 2007 season record of 19-7, 209 strikeouts, only 37 walks in 241 innings pitched and a 3.09 ERA, is their AL Cy Young Award winner. 

AP Baseball Writer Mike Fitzpatrick provides background for Yahoo sports;

C.C. Sabathia won the AL Cy Young Award… beating out several worthy contenders by a comfortable margin and becoming the first Cleveland pitcher in 35 years to earn the honor.

The Indians ace received 19 of 28 first-place votes and finished with 119 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.  Boston’s Josh Beckett was second with eight first-place votes and 86 points…

“I was excited. My family and everybody were around,” Sabathia said on a conference call from his home in California. “I was surprised. Beckett had a great year and an even better postseason.”

Beckett (20-7) became the only big league pitcher to win 20 games since 2005, compiling a 3.27 ERA in 200 2-3 innings…

Voting took place before the postseason, when Sabathia struggled while Beckett pitched the Red Sox to a World Series championship with a string of dominant outings.

The only other Cleveland pitcher to win the award was Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry in 1972. Now that he has one, Sabathia plans to display his trophy prominently at home.

Sabathia is the first black pitcher to win a Cy Young Award since Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets in 1985 — and the first in the AL since Oakland’s Vida Blue in 1971.

“That’s awesome to be mentioned with him,” said Sabathia, adding that he attended a recent meeting designed to foster ideas for how to generate more interest in baseball among black kids.

While the top four Cy Young candidates had similar statistics, Sabathia’s stamina apparently set him apart. After being sidelined by injuries the previous two seasons, the 6-foot-7, 290-pound left-hander stayed healthy all year and made 34 starts to Beckett’s 30. That helped account for their wide gap in innings pitched.

If balloting had included their October results, however, the outcome might have been different. Beckett beat Sabathia twice in the AL championship series and went 4-0 with a 1.20 ERA in four postseason starts, striking out 35 and walking two. Sabathia was 1-2 with an 8.80 ERA and 13 walks in three playoff outings.

The NL is slated to announce their Cy Young Award on Thursday with San Diego ace Jake Peavy apparently the favorite.

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The media is reporting that Grady Little has resigned as manager of the L.A. Dodgers and that Joe Torre and the blue pinstripers have “agreed in principle to a three-year deal worth $14.5 million.”  According to the NY Post report, Torre “could be introduced tomorrow, the same day the Yankees are holding a press conference to welcome Joe Girardi, Torre’s successor, at Yankee Stadium.”

But something smells in L.A. over Littles’ resignation and it’s called two-faced duplicity.

L.A. Times reporter T.J. Simers looks deeper;

Grady Little says he has his own personal reasons for resigning as Dodgers manager, and here’s hoping none of them involve his health or the health of anyone in his family.

GM Ned Colletti says he spent a good deal of time encouraging Little to remain on the job — Colletti apparently really good at multitasking — talking at the same time to Joe Girardi and Joe Torre about taking Little’s job.

“I wanted Grady Little back,” Colletti says on a conference call, no one asking if Colletti is going to be Pinocchio this Halloween.

Colletti says that had Little told him Tuesday he was going to remain on the job, the job would still be Little’s.

There’s also a published report out there that says Colletti had a deal in place to hire Girardi last Friday, the Yankees matching it and taking Girardi away from the Dodgers — saving Colletti the problem of making Little and Girardi baseball’s first co-managers.

Take Colletti at his word, all right, four weeks after he and Frank McCourt tell everyone Little will be back on the job…

Little says, “There’s a lot of belief I’ve been dealt an injustice here. That couldn’t be further from the truth,” but then he calls his resignation “a mutual resignation . . . just something that mutually happened, just something better for the organization.”

Listen to Colletti and Little speak, and maybe there are personal reasons beyond baseball that have Little stepping down — rendering Colletti’s encouragement useless.

But then maybe Little heard rumblings within baseball that Colletti was interested in hiring Girardi, as manager or manager-in-waiting.

Or maybe there was something in the fact the Dodgers had not given new contracts to Little’s coaches, leaving the door ajar for a new manager to bring in his own staff.

“It’s just something myself and family had talked about,” says Little, while declining to say whether the Dodgers have bought his silence with a contract buyout. “It’s not an easy decision, but it’s final. My plans are to play with my grandkids.”

No question that’s going to be more fun than spending time with the babies that occupy the Dodgers clubhouse, but all those years trying to make it to the big leagues, then the big chance in Boston, and heartbreak and another shot at redemption — only to just walk away?

“I have my personal reasons,” Little says.

Colletti and Little deny a published report they had a blowup at season’s end, the same report also having them not talking to each other for weeks.

Also according to the NY Post report, it appears that Torre may be bringing third base coach Larry Bowa and Don Mattingly with him to the Dodgers and, according to the NY Post article,  Alex Rodriguez may just turn up in L.A. on the NL side as well.

One of the reasons Rodriguez opted out of the last three years on his Yankees contract was he wasn’t sure what Yankee life would be like without Torre’s calming presence in the clubhouse and dugout. In the Dodgers, Rodriguez will find a club in dire need of a jolt at the plate and in the stands.

And Yahoo sports’ Jeff Passan cites the Dodgers as the 2nd most likely place that A-Rod will end up for much the same reason.

Meanwhile, up in Beantown, as much as I’d like to see Mike Lowell in a Phillies uniform, his world series MVP award endears him to Red Sox management and fans alike, although Yahoo sports’ Steve Henson quotes Lowell as magnanimously saying;

“For us to come through and do what we thought we were capable of doing is unbelievable…. “We’ve got a lot of people to give credit to.”

It’s getting more and more unlikely that Boston would part with this cog.

But Curt Schilling’s situation may be a different story.  He’s kept busy since winning the world series writing  good-bye letters to a number of his teammates and indicating that there’s a ‘very realistic chance’ he’s done in Boston.

There are persistent rumors that the Phillies are interested in 1-year deal with a 1 year deal with the 40 year old Schilling.  And according to Jason Stark, Phils’ GM Pat Gillick likes short contracts, the Phillies badly need pitching and “Schilling loves a good script.”  Curt Schilling finishing out his career in Philly — a distinct possibility.

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It’s all over but the screaming and the celebrating as the newly crowned Champion Boston Red Sox, winners of 2 World Series in the last 4 years arrive at Fenway in the afternoon.

As many expected, the Red Sox overwhelmed the Colorado Rockies in sweeping them 4 games to none in the 2007 World Series.

But in the clinching game 4 which Boston won by a 4-3 score, as with game 2, the Rockies made it a tight game. 

The Red Sox touched Rockies starter Aaron Cook for single runs in the 1st, 5th and 7th innings, chasing him in the 7th after series MVP 3rd baseman  Mike Lowell’s leftfield solo homer.  Cook tossed 70 pitches for the game while striking out 2 and issuing no walks.

Meanwhile, Boston starter Jon Lester carried a shutout thru 2 outs in the 6th inning before issuing a walk and being relieved by Manny Delcarmen who got the final out of the inning. 

Centerfielder Jacoby Ellsbury led-off the game with a double, got to 3rd on a groundout and scored on 1st baseman David Ortiz’s single to rightfield.

Both teams registered zeros until the Red Sox scored in the 5th on catcher  Jason Varitek’s long single to rightfield.

In the 7th inning, both teams traded runs on solo homers, Boston’s by Lowell and Colorado’s by rightfielder Brad Hawpe to rightfield.

In the 8th inning, rarely used pinch hitter Bobby Kielty went ballpark to leftfield on reliever Brian Fuentes for what turned out to be the winning run as Boston led 4-1.

In the Colorado 8th, 3rd baseman Garrett Atkins blasted a 2 run homer to leftfield off of lefthanded Japanese reliever Hideki Okajima to draw to 4-3 and to make the 9th inning dramatic.

But with closer Jon Papelbon pitching, the last 1 2/3 innings were lights out for Colorado and wild victory parties and parades in Boston.

AP baseball writer Ben Walker makes some choice observations about this World series for Yahoo sports;

… No NL team could have blocked Boston this October.

At this rate, New England fans might get spoiled. Francona’s team has become a perfect counterpart to coach Bill Belichick’s bruisers on the Patriots.

As for his comment about NL teams, I have to grudgingly agree.  The  National League seems to be suffering a severe shortage in good, young consistent pitching at all levels; starting, middle relief, set-up as well as closers.  But, that’s comment for a blog entry in and of itself.  It’s off-season winter talk.

Mike Lowell’s MVP is well-deserved.  AP Baseball Writer Mike Fitzpatrick offers these thoughts and observations about Lowell;

Earlier in the Series, Lowell called himself “the throw-in” on the 2005 deal with Florida that brought ace Josh Beckett to Boston. Nobody looks at Lowell that way anymore.

“Pretty good throw-in, I guess,” Lowell said, drenched in champagne as he clutched his glistening trophy in the raucous Red Sox clubhouse. “Icing on the cake. This is just extra special.”

“I’m on Cloud 9. It’s unbelievable,” said Lowell, a survivor of testicular cancer. “We’ve got a lot of people to give credit to.”
 
A key cog in Boston’s powerful lineup, Lowell bats fifth behind David Ortiz and  Manny Ramirez.

Few could have done it better this year.

Lowell homered, doubled and scored twice in the Game 4 clincher at Coors Field, dirtying his uniform with a headfirst slide at the plate that typified his whatever-it-takes attitude. He hit .400 (6-for-15) in the Series with four RBIs, three walks and a team-high six runs.

Lowell, who also won a World Series ring with the Marlins in 2003, hit .348 this postseason with two homers and 13 RBIs. He did it quietly, like almost everything. But that doesn’t mean it went unnoticed.

It may be a pipe-dream, but here’s hoping that Mike Lowell finds himself playing 3rd base for the Phillies.  But after the season he’s had and his World Series MVP, it’s too much of a long-shot to bet on.

On the Colorado Rockies behalf, their phenomenal late-season 21 out of 22 game run will be remembered for years to come, as will the Phillies’ September charge to catch and overtake the Mets to win the NL East. 

The Rockies have a lot of real good young players and are going to be a force in the NL Central for years to come.

Well, the 2007 season which has been memorable has drawn to a close.  This blog will be around throughout the off-season commenting on the various award recipients, the annual winter exhibition series in Japan, the winter meetings, the trades, free agency, arbitration, etc. as well as bringing many more all-time baseball highlights, through to spring training for 2008.

Many thanks for your readership throughout these past two seasons. Stay tuned and stay surfing to Blogging Baseball.

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The Boston Red Sox pounded Rockies’ starter Josh Fogg for six runs in the 3rd inning, but saw their lead nearly evaporate as Colorado scored two runs in the 6th inning and 3 more in the 7th on leftfielder Matt Holliday’s homer off of reliever Hideki Okajima.  

But the Rockies shot at game 3 was short-lived as the Red Sox pulled away with three runs in the 8th, another run in the 9th and closer Jonathan Papelbon barred the door on the Rockies to insure a Boston 10-5 victory on 15 hits and a 3-0 lead in games in the world series.

Red Sox starter Japanese rookie Daisuke Matsuzaka went into the 6th inning with a six run lead and even helped out his own cause with a two run double in the 3rd amidst the six run outburst where 1st baseman David Ortiz, 3rd baseman Mike Lowell and centerfielder Jacoby Ellsbury all drove in runs. 

But Dice-K, who gave up three hits, issued one walk and hit a batter through 5 innings, was touched in the 6th inning for two runs having walked two and given up two hits; copnsecutive RBI singles to rightfileder Brad Hawpe and catcher Yorvit Torrealba.  Matsuzaka was chased having thrown 101 pitches for the game stiking out 5 and walking 3.

Then in the 7th inning, Boston reliever Mike Timlin gave up two hits, was replaced by Okajima who was greeted by Holliday’s 3 run shot to temporarily make it a ballgame.  However, the Sox, led by lead-off hitter and centerfielder Ellsbury’s 4 hits, 2 RBIs game and 2nd baseman Dustin Pedroia’s 3 hits and 2 RBIs, Boston pulled away with four late inning runs to insure the win.

For Colorado, 2nd baseman Kazuo Matsui went 3 for 5 with a run scored as the game was easily the Rockies most productive of the series offensively in getting 11 hits.

For the boxscores and recap on Saturday’s game, click here.

It is evident that the Red Sox smell World Series victory as both teams prepare for Sunday’s game 4. For the Rockies, their 21 wins in 22 games to get the series now just a memory, it is do or die time over the next 3 games — one more loss ends the series.

Baseball Writer Ronald Blum reports Rockies manager Clint Hurrdle’s assessment of the situation for Yahoo sports;

The 22 previous teams that took a 3-0 World Series lead all went on to win, 19 with sweeps.

“It looks like we’re in groundbreaking territory,” Colorado manager Clint Hurdle said.

If the Rockies are the National League’s best, the senior circuit has a lot of catching up to do. Maybe it is the rust of a record eight-day layoff for the Rockies, or maybe the Red Sox really are a league above.

Colorado has been outscored 25-7 and is batting just .222. Boston’s batters have been bruisers, hitting .352 in the Series with 16 doubles. The Rockies were the talk of baseball with 21 wins in 22 games coming into the Series, but they’ve gone into reverse, looking more like the fourth-place team they were in mid-September.

“After 21 of 22, four games doesn’t seem like a whole lot,” Fuentes said.

Boston has won six straight since falling behind Cleveland 3-1 in the AL championship series. While the Yankees owned the 20th century, the Red Sox are one win from becoming the first team to win two titles in the 21st. 

In Sunday’s 4th game, Boston’s lefthander Jon Lester (4-0) opposes Aaron Cook (8-7) for Colorado.  Both pitchers have recovered from serious health issues; Lester from a lymphoma and Cook from a blood clot.

If a game 5 is necessary, it will be payed in Colorado, followed by a return to Boston for games 6 and 7 if needed.

For the boxscores and recap on Sunday’s game, click here.

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Red Sox leadoff man 2nd baseman Dustin Pedroia, who hit 8 homeruns the entire season, became only the 2nd leadoff hitter ever to lead off a World Series with a homerun.  Starter Josh Beckett was beyond awesome on the mound and the Colorado Rockies, off of an 8 day layoff awaiting the AL pennant winner, went totally flat and were unable to cope with Beckett.  These factors plus a 17 hit Red Sox offensive explosion added up to a 13-1 Boston rout in game one of the world series.  Boston’s win also ended Colorado’s 10 game winning streak and 21 wins in 22 games run.

AP sportswriter Ronald Blum reports on how the game started for Yahoo sports;

Beckett got off to the most overpowering start since Sandy Koufax…

Beckett began by fanning Willy Taveras, Kaz Matsui, Matt Holliday and [Todd] Helton, becoming the first pitcher to strike out the first four batters in a Series game since Koufax got five  Yankees to start the 1963 Series, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. And what a five those were: Tony Kubek, Bobby Richardson, Tom Tresh, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris.

Then, in the bottom of the 1st inning, Pedroia pounded lefthander Jeff Francis’ second pitch over what they call the “Green Monster” in leftfield and Boston scored two more 1st inning runs as the Rockies pulled their infield in with a runner on third. Leftfielder Manny Ramirez, who went 3 for 4 for the game with 3 runs scored and 2 RBIs, singled over Troy Tulowitzki — who might have caught the ball had he been in his normal position, but he was playing in on the shift.  Rightfielder J.D. Drew doubled to made it 3-0.

AP sportswriter Blum notes;

The only other player to homer starting a Series was Baltimore’s Don Buford against Tom Seaver and the 1969 Miracle Mets.

In the 2nd, while the game remained competitive, shortstop Tulowitzki drove in the Rockies’ only run with a double to centerfield to narrow the score to 3-1.

From there, the Sox plundered Francis for another run in the 2nd inning, 2 more runs in the 4th as the lefthander got through his final inning.   The Sox scored 7 more runs with two out in the 5th inning, all charged to rookie lefthander starter and reliever Franklin Morales, although reliever Ryan Speier contributed to the mess walking the 3 hitters he faced.  Mercifully, Matt Herges came on to get 1st baseman Kevin Youkilis to fly out to rightfield end the onslaught.  

Rockies’ relievers Herges, Jeremy Affeldt and LaTroy Hawkins held the Red Sox scoreless over the final 2 1/3 innings, but  by then, the game was way out of control.

Beckett was masterful through 7 innings allowing only the one run on sic hits while walking one, striking out nine and keeping the Rockies off-balance throughout.  Relievers Mike Timlin and Eric Gagne were perfect over the final 2 innings to seal the rout.

For the boxscores and recap on Wednesday’s game, click here.

The Rockies, who lost for only the 2nd time in their last 23 games, need to shake the rust off in order that they not, as the lead on the Yahoo sports’  Steve Henson column turns the phrase, “flatline fast,” and that the series not get out of control.  Thursday’s game two at Fenway Park features rookie Ubaldo Jimenez (4-4) facing veteran and future Hall of Famer Curt Schilling (9-8) with his 10-2 career post-season record.

For the boxscores and recap on Thursday’s game, click here.

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