April Awards

This week I went to two Rangers games. The first one was the first game of the Yankees series on Tuesday. It was a bad game. The Rangers couldn’t pitch, hit, or field. They lost 10-1. The second one was the first game of the Blue Jays series. It was the exact opposite. The Rangers got great pitching from Brandon McCarthy and Willie Eyre, great hitting, and great fielding. They won 7-1. Also, before the game, I got autographs from Frank Thomas and Royce Clayton. I was the only one to get Royce. Frank signed for a long line of people and I was the last one he signed for. I now have a streak of 4 players where I was the last person to get an autograph (Mike Piazza, Nick Swisher, Royce Clayton, and Frank Thomas). Also, today my baseball season started. I’m on the Durham Bulls. I played third base and went 1-for-1 at the plate with a walk and a run scored. We won 8-7.

This week I will give my April awards. All the stats and explanations are as of April 30th.

Rangers MVP:
Ian Kinsler: .298 AVG., 9 HR, 22 RBI: He’s tied for second in baseball and is the only Rangers hitter batting over .260.
Runner-up: Sammy Sosa

Rangers Cy Young:
Robinson Tejeda: 3-1, 3.82 ERA, 21 SO, 30.2 IP: He’s been the only consistent starter.
Runner-up: Akinori Otsuka/Ron Mahay

Rangers Rookie of the Year:
Chris Stewart: .214 AVG, 0 HR, 2 RBI: He’s the only rookie on the team.
Runner-up: No other rookies

Rangers Biggest Underachiever:
Michael Young: .215 AVG, 2 HR, 14 RBI: a .300 hitter shouldn’t be batting .215 through April.
Runner-up: Mark Teixeira


AL MVP:
A-ROD: .355 AVG, 14 HR, 34 RBI: He tied the baseball record for the most home runs in one April.
Runner-up: Ian Kinsler
Last year’s MVP award: My pick – Frank Thomas, Actual – Justin Morneau

AL Cy Young:
Josh Beckett: 5-0, 2.48 ERA, 28 SO, 32.2 IP
Runner-up: Roy Halladay
Last year: My pick – Johan Santana, Actual – Johan Santana

NL MVP:
Adrian Gonzalez: .309 AVG, 7 HR, 25 RBI: He’s got over a .300 AVG and is on pace to hit 42 HR’s.
Runner-up: Jimmy Rollins
Last year: My pick – Ryan Howard, Actual – Ryan Howard

NL Cy Young:
John Maine: 4-0, 1.35 ERA, 30 SO, 33.1 IP: He’s leading the MLB in ERA and is getting plenty of strike-outs.
Runner-up: Aaron Harang
Last year: My pick – Derek Lowe, Actual – Chris Carpenter

AL Biggest Underachiever:
Paul Konerko: .198 AVG, 3 HR, 16 RBI, 22 SO: Konerko is hitting .198 and only has 3 HR’s.
Runner-up: Johan Santana

NL Biggest Underachiever:
Trevor Hoffman: 6.23 ERA, 1-2, 5 saves, 2 blown saves, 4 BB: Hoffman has a 6.23 ERA, 2 losses and 29 percent of the time he has blown the save.
Runner-up: Carlos Zambrano/Carlos Delgado

Results of last week’s poll:
Questions: Who do you think is the nicest hitter on the Rangers team?
Kinsler – 46%
Teixeira – 12%
Young – 12%
Sosa – 8%
Hairston – 4%
Laird – 4%
Stewart – 4%
Wilkerson – 4%

Come back next week for my predictions for each team for the rest of the year.