HeraldNet: Polish the trophies, it's baseball's awards season



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Mariners Blog

November 9, 2009

Polish the trophies, it's baseball's awards season

Posted at 2:34 pm by By Kirby Arnold

The American League Gold Glove team will be announced Tuesday as baseball's awards season reaches full song for the next week. The National League Gold Glove team will be released on Wednesday.

Inching my way onto a big, thick limb here, I'm thinking the Mariners' Ichiro Suzuki will win an AL Gold Glove, which would be his ninth straight.

Here's a day-by-day list of the other awards announcements, along with my personal favorites to win them:

Monday: American and National League Rookie of the Year
From the first time I saw him range deep into the hole to back-hand a grounder and then create havoc on the bases with his speed, I've loved Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus. The NL rookie? Lots of people see Chris Coghlan of the Marlins as the favorite, although for me it's hard for anyone to beat Phillies left-handed pitcher J.A. Happ, who went 12-4 with a 2.93 ERA.

Tuesday: American League Cy Young
Sorry, Felix Hernandez fans. Zack Grienke of the Royals was the most impressive pitcher I saw this season.

Wednesday: American and National League Manager of the Year
Maybe it's because I was with the Mariners from the day Don Wakamatsu became their manager last winter to the final game of an 85-victory season, but the job he did was nothing short of phenomenal. Joe Girardi, Mike Scioscia and Ron Gardenhire will get a lot of votes, but so should Wakamatsu.

In the NL, it's hard to choose from Carlie Manual, Joe Torre and Tony LaRussa, so I won't. What about the wild-card winner? Jim Tracy took a down-and-out-looking Rockies team back to the playoffs after taking over for fired skipper Clint Hurdle after the Rocks had posted an 18-28 record.

Thursday: National League Cy Young Award
Go ahead and blame my St. Louis Cardinals bias for this one, but the Redbirds' Chris Carpenter gets it after going 12-4, 2.24.

Monday, Nov. 23: American League Most Valuable Player Award
Joe Mauer. Enough said.

Tuesday, Nov. 24: National League Most Valuable Player Award
Albert Pujols, of course.