Superior League MVP & Cy Young Votes

All voters:

Please use the APBA stats page to peruse the best hitters and pitchers and vote for your top 5 in MVP, and top 3 in Cy Young. Please email your votes to kevin.smith1@comcast.net

A similar summary of the Major League award's voting will be posted soon (once Sean updates the Major League pitchers with their final stats).

Here are the top hitters and pitchers that are worthy of your analysis:

Playoff Teams:
Baltimore OF W. Gehrig Bear (dominant season on dominant team)
Baltimore DH J. Young (two time MVP)
Baltimore C J. Myers (APBA's answer to Joe Mauer)
Chicago C C. McMullen (another strong hitting catcher)
Mars SS M. Garciajawa (slick fielding do-it-all shortstop)
Miami OF B. Kaat (gold glove winning lead-off hitting cat)
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Teams with winning records:
Charlotte 2B J. Solo (35-year old 2B still gets it done, maybe the best 2B ever?)
Louisville 1B H. Glover (another dominant 35-year old, maybe the best 1B ever?)
Las Vegas OF A. Samuel (great hitter may win this award once LV gets to the playoffs)
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The rest:
Boston SS N. Garciajawa (Michael's older brother, still a fine hitter, average at best on D)
Boston 1B S. Johnson (38-year old likely HOF 1B, avg. at best on D now)
Springfield 3B B. Barrios (nice all around season)
Texas OF M. Crawford (might be the games most complete player)
Utah 1B F. Lewis (He is well on his way to his goal: There goes the best jawa hitter of all time)

Pitchers:
Baltimore: Storm Morris was the only 20 game winner, relief standout Andy Parsons nabbed 17 wins in relief.

Chicago: Mike Jolley had 230 Ks to lead the league, Kevin Millwood was better with 17 wins and a 2.98 ERA.

Mars: Tommy Klink was 2nd in the league with a 2.88 ERA and Michael Wicker has a great season as the closer.

Miami: K-Bob was a dominant closer all year.

Charlotte: Rob Porter had a 1.88 ERA and 35 saves.

Louisville: Grant Dunn had a nice 1st season in Louisville, continuing where he left off in Bay Area. Chad Anderson might have been the best closer (30 saves, 0.95 ERA) but only pitched 38 innings.

New York: Another good year for closer Troy Everett.

Springfield: Derek Howe was solid all year.

Texas: Their young frost giant, Bjorn Frostad came through with a 17-8 3.05 campaign.

Toledo: Elvis Rodriguez had a losing record, but an ERA under 3.00 and dominant numbers, Don Law led the league with a 2.83 ERA and won 14 games, and Paul Williamson had another great year in the pen with 40 saves and more innings than most closers.

Miami vs Baltimore Game 2

Game 2

With Jesse Myers injured, Baltimore sends Joe Young back to his original position, catcher. Brian Kaat gives Miami a quick 1-0 lead with a leadoff homer off Mark Richards. Clyde Frogg had 3 hits and 2 runs scored, as Miami took a 7-4 lead into the 9th. Baltimore got another crack at Bob Belardi, with the heart of their order.

Belardi struck out Joe Young swinging, Bear looking, and Kobe Jones swinging to record his second save. For the playoffs, he has 4 saves and 2 wins. In 8 1/3 innings he has allowed 2 hits, struck out 11, and walked none.

Baltimore Vs Miami game 1

Game 1

Bubba Lewis put the Stars on top with a 2 out, first inning, 3 run homer off Storm Morris. Morris settled down after that, and did not allow another run. Bill Greene pitched 7 innings of 3 hit, one run ball for Miami.

In the 8th inning, Baltimore threatened a comeback. With one out, Trent Weaver singled off Jay Lansing. Miami went to the lefty Rafael Garcia, and Darin Elam singled. The next pitch hit Jesse Myers, knocking the Baltimore catcher out for the series. Baltimore had the bases loaded for Joe Young, down 3-1. Miami brought in closer Bob Belardi, who got Young to fly out to shallow center. W. Gehrig Bear then hit a fly to deep center, which Brian Kaat was able to run down. Belardi pitched a 1-2-3 9th, striking out the last 2 hitters, for the save.

Major League Championship Series Games 1 & 2

Game 1: Both teams turn to their respective aces, Steven Hyde and Pedro Lewis. New York is able to scrape together 3 runs in the first 3 innings to take the early lead. In the 4th, Denver takes the 4-3 lead on a Keith Cerrano 3-run homer.

In the bottom of the 4th, New York gets all 4 runs back, highlighted by a Tim Griffin homerun. Hyde is chased with an ugly line of 3.2-7-6-6-2-2. In the 6th, a Stan Marsh homerun cuts the lead to 8-6. Pedro Lewis then departs with his 3rd poor outing of the post-season, 6-6-6-6-1-7. After Denver threatens in the 8th, Jaret Benser comes in to get the final 5 outs and does so in dominating fashion, striking out the 2 batters he needed in the 8th to prevent Denver from scoring. New York adds an insurance run in the 8th, and wins game one 9-6.


Game 2: Kei Ijawa vs. Roger Chillingworth. This one is a pitchers duel all the way. In the 7th inning, Denver scratches a run off Roger to take a 2-1 lead. Roger departs with a solid outing of 7-6-2-2-3-11. Ijawa is just as good, going 7-8-1-1-1-7.

In the 9th, the wheels come off the New York bullpen. Not wanting to use Benser again in this situation, they go to Fritz Jones. He walks the bases loaded and is relieved with Rudiger Rocker and then Brad Pearce. Denver adds 5 insurance runs and wins game two 7-1.

Draft 2009

Finally here:

http://home.comcast.net/~briankaat/draft2009final.xls

Game 6, Baltimore and Chicago

Game 6

Chicago tried to hold off Baltimore in an elimination game, but getting Joe Young out proved too difficult. With the score tied at 3 in the bottom of the 5th, Young reached base for the third time of the game on a walk. Chicago finally found a way to get him out, as Joe tried to score from 1st on Gehrig Bear's double. Cliff Moore made a great throw and nailed Young at the plate. Baltimore still took the lead though as Kobe Jones singled in Bear on the next pitch.

Joe Young added a solo homer in the 7th to make it 5-3. In the top of the 9th, Chicago had one more good chance against Gene Burris. Hideo Tunichi drew a one out walk. Sithas Kawasaki hit a grounder to second which could have ended the series, but after the forceout, Sithas beat the double play throw to reach first. Godzuki lined one bag to the pitcher, off his glove, and Burris could not recover in time to throw anyone out. Ray Hamilton stepped in, and drew a walk to load the bases.

Then the force failed rookie Luke Ford, as he popped up to catcher to end the game. Baltimore advances and will play Miami in the SLCS.

Bay Area at New York Game 6

Ryan McCloud vs. Suzuki Mazdahonda. Bay Area scores 1 in the 2nd, and 3 in the 3rd to take a 4-0 lead. RBI single from 3B for the day Jay Hendricks in the 2nd and a 3-run homer by Ryan Harris in the 3rd. A Tim Griffin solo homer in the 5th makes it 4-1. Jason Davenport hits a double in the top of the 6th to make it 5-1. In the bottom of the 6th, Keith Lee connects for a 2-run homer to make it a game, 5-3. After Jay Hendricks misplays a Brett Solo grounder, Chad White is then hit in the head with a pitch from McCloud. White has to leave the game and is replaced by utility man Dallas Knight Jr. McCloud is pulled from the game for Dave Riddle, who strikes out Manfred Mueller and Tim Griffin to end the inning. In the bottom of the 7th, New York rallies off the Bay Area bullpen. Justin Lewis leads off the inning with a single and then pinch hitter Leon Wolf singles to put the tying runs on base. Bay Area goes to the bullpen and brings in lefty Adrian Glanville. Ricky Buckley hits into the infield fly for the first out. Then slumping Jason Foster singles to right to make it 5-4 and send the runners to first and third. Bay Area then goes to Greg Strykthre to face Keith Lee and he strikes him out. Brett Solo then connects for a 2-out, 3-run homerun to give New York the 7-5 lead. After another Strykthre strikeout, Bay Area gets out of the inning. Going into the 8th with a 2-run lead, Eddie decides to move Tim Griffin to left field, pulling the weak link in the field Jason Foster, and replacing Griffin at third base with Jerrod Smith. Jaret Benser comes into the game looking for the 2 inning save. Facing Chavez, Stephens, and Davenport, Benser gets the 1-2-3 inning with a ground out, strikeout, and flyout. In the bottom of the 8th, New York adds another insurance run on a Jerrod Smith 2 out double. In the 9th, Bay Area sends the number 2-3-4 hitters to the plate hoping to tie the game. Fred Lewis grounds out to short, 1 away. Ryan Harris singles to right. Jack Collins hits a hard grounder to Brett Solo at shortstop...6-4-3 double play, and the series is over. New York wins the game 8-5, and the series 4 games to 2. Benser is named MVP of the series, pitching in 4 games (all of the New York wins), with 1 win, 1 hold, and 2 saves. Benser pitched 6.2 innings, allowing only 2 hits, walking none, and striking out 8. Both of his saves were power saves, going 3 innings in game 4, and then 2 innings in game 6.

In the Denver series, Keith Cerrano was named the MVP. Keith hit .444 (11 for 25) with 2 doubles, a triple, a homer, 4 walks, 4 runs, and 6 RBI. He also made no errors in right field and had 1 outfield assist.

New York will host Denver for Games 1 and 2 of the MLCS.

Philadelphia at Denver Game 6

Philadelphia elects to go with Game 1 and 4 starter Lee Harvey Oswalt on short rest, since he is actually better rested than Game 3 starter Rudy Baker. Roscoe Savage is ready to pitch Game 7 if it happens. Denver goes with Game 2 starter Bill Neuman, who is on 5 days rest. In the first 2 innings, Philadelphia scores 2 runs on sacrifice fly outs from Paul White and Jerry Ruiz. In the 4th, Philadelphia scores 2 more runs with 2 outs on a Bulger single, Ruiz triple, and then Oswalt single. Meanwhile, Harvey the Robot instructs the Denver hitters to be patient, take lots of pitches, and in the middle innings, he calculates a 77.2% chance to get some runs off a less than fresh Oswalt. Well, Harvey turned out to be right. Butters leads off with a single and gets to third on a Stan Marsh double. Kyle Broslofski singles to score the first run and advances Marsh to third. Keith Cerrano then doubles off the centerfield wall to make it 4-3. In the bottom of the 5th, Ozzie Gaedel leads off with a walk. Butters then singles to right, and Philadelphia right fielder Corey Sloan does not hustle after the ball, and Gaedel scores from first to tie the game. Joey Renseller than blasts an opposite field home run to give Denver the 6-4 lead, and chase Oswalt from the game. Oswalt goes 4-8-6-6-2-2. In the top of the 6th, Corey Sloan leads off the inning with a homerun. After a Ron Foreman single, Marc Bulger doubles to tie the game, but is thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a triple. In the top of the 7th, Philadelphia gets runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out, but Mark Morelock gets Corey Sloan and Ron Foreman to strike out to end the inning. In the bottom of the 8th with the game still tied, Philadelphia elects to use their best reliever, Steve King, to try to preserve the tie. Jason Hopper leads off with a single, and advances to second base on a wild pitch. Denver then instructs catcher Bobby Hoffman to lay down the sacrifice bunt, which he does perfectly to advance the go-ahead run to third base. With the infiled in, Jack Hollis grounds to Paul White, who makes the strong throw to the plate to cut off the go-ahead run. With 2 outs and Hollis on first base, Ozzie Gaedel grounds to Jerry Ruiz. Ruiz fires to first, and the ball is butchered by Paul White! The ball squirts into right field as Hollis streaks around the bases. He scores and Denver takes the 7-6 lead. In the top of the 9th, Denver's bullpen ace Luther Trautwein takes on the heart of Philadelphia's lineup. Paul White, looking to redeem himself, grounds out to first base. Domingo Chavez also grounds out to first. And finally, Corey Sloan strikes out to end the game and the series. Denver wins the game 7-6, and wins the series 4-2. They will be rooting for Bay Area since that would mean Denver would get homefield advantage.

Major League Playoffs Game 5s

Denver at Philadelphia, Hyde vs. Zito. Its 1-1 in the bottom of the 5th, and Hyde gets the first 2 Philadelphia batters out, bringin up Zito. Zito singles, Jimmy Taylor singles, and then a Rocky Balboni double makes it 3-1. Denver gets 1 run back in the 7th on a Jason Hopper solo homerun. In the 7th, they pinch hit for Hyde trying to get more runs but fail. In the bottom of the 8th, the wheels come off the Denver bullpen as Philadelphia connects for hit after hit, scoring 5 runs to take the 8-2 lead. Thats the final score as Philadelphia stays alive and extends the series to 6 games. Zito goes 8-5-2-2-2-6 for the win. Hyde goes 6-6-3-3-0-3 and takes the loss.

New York at Bay Area, rematch of Game 1 starters Pedro Lewis and Scott Belcher. Bay Area takes a 2-0 lead in the first on RBI singles by Jack Collins and Bill Herrera. Tim Griffin drives home Chad White in the 2nd to make it 2-1. In the bottom of the 5th, Bay Area gets a 2-run homer from Fred Lewis to make it 4-1. The next inning, a 2-out 2-run double from Jason Davenport makes it 6-1. Pedro Lewis does not look like an ace in this one, going 6-11-6-6-1-8. In the top of the 7th, New York shows life. Manfred singles, Griffin singles, and Justin Lewis hits a double that scores Manfred, and makes it 2nd & 3rd with no one out. New York then pinch hits Harry Henderson, hoping for the 3-run bomb. He pops out to third, and then Ricky Buckley strikes out. Jason Foster then works the 2 out walk to load the bases for Keith Lee. Lee connects for a blast down the right field line. Is it fair or foul? Foul ball. Then, Lee lines a double to right center that clears the bases. 6-5 Bay Area. Belcher exits with a line of 6.2-9-5-5-2-5. After Bay Area gets out of the inning without any more damage, Bill Wright comes in for New York and shuts down Bay Area in the 7th & 8th. In the 9th, Bay Area goes to closer Ernie Perkins to preserve the 1 run lead. Leon Wolf pinch hits for Justin Lewis and singles. After a pinch runner, Perkins gets pinch hitter Dallas Knight to strike out. After a near pick-off, Ricky Buckley drives a Perkins fastball to deep centerfield. Herrera goes to the track but can't make the play...Homerun. Buckley blasts one over the wall to give New York the 1 run lead 7-6. In the bottom of the 9th, New York will be facing the 2-3-4 hitters for Bay Area and elects to go with Game 4 hero, Jaret Benser. Benser gets Fred Lewis to fly to right-center where Chad White makes a great running catch. Ryan Harris then grounds out to shortstop. Down to their last out, Benser stretches for the pitch but doesnt feel right. He has to leave the game due to injury, but should be OK for Game 6 after the travel day. Bernie Grayson comes in to relieve and allows a walk to Jack Collins. With the winning run at the plate, Grayson strikes out Otto Tingley to end the game. New York wins Game 5 7-6, and takes the 3-2 lead in the series as we go back to New York for Game 6.

Game 5, Colts-Winds, Stars Clinch

Game 5

Too much Joe Young. Young goes deep in the first inning, and winds up with 4 hits, 2 homers, and 4 RBI as Baltimore wins 5-2. Storm Morris pitched 7 strong innings for the win. Chicago has done little since the game 2 injury of catcher Chris McMullen.

Game 6

Once again, Dave Lefevre tried to shake the post-season bust label that has haunted his 15 year career. He came out strong, matching Bob Zimmerman with 3 scoreless innings, but he got rattled by a 4th inning error on Brian Kaat that led to an unearned run. Next inning Dave served up a 3 run homer to Marcel Johnson, and Bobby Bartlett added one in the 6th. Lefevre pitched 7 innings, allowing 5 runs. In the 8th, Mars scored another run on a popup that fell as Quilvio Gato and Vince Lewis collided in short right. Both players had to leave the game. With the score 6-4, Mars brought in Michael the Wicker Man to close.

Brandon Cohen led off with a single. He moved to second on a Concepcion groundout. Junior Spidey followed with a single to center, and Cohen made a colossal rookie blunder as he ran through a stop sign and was thrown out at the plate. His run was not the tieing run! He should take zero chances on the bases. The Stars were down to their last out.

Brian Kaat followed with a walk, and a Damon Nkik single made it a one run game. Matt McCoy followed with a single to tie the game, but Bubba Lewis ended the inning on a groundout to second.

Bob Belardi pitched a scoreless bottom 9th. In the top of the 10th with one out and one on, Cohen came up with a chance to redeem himself. He took a Matt Burke hanging slider deep to the left field seats for a 2 run homer. Belardi then shut Mars down in the bottom 10th, striking out Jose Moreno to send Miami to the SLCS.

Chicago vs Baltimore

Game 1
Parker Brouthers gets Baltimore off to a 2-0 lead with a second inning homer, but the Winds fight back to score 4 off Storm Morris. Later in the game, the volatile Brouthers is ejected for arguing a called 3rd strike. Hideo Tunichi has 4 hits, Catfish North put out the middle inning fire, and Chuck Hoyt picks up the save.

Game 2
Chicago rolls Doug Lefevre in the first inning and blasts the Baltimore bullpen in a 13-4 win. Godzuki Honda, Cliff Moore, and Sithas Kawasaki each have 3 hits, Dragomir and Luke Ford each drive in 3 as Chicago goes up 2-0 on the road.

Game 3
Joe Young has 3 hits, a homer, and 4 RBI as Mark Richards goes the distance for a 5-1 Baltimore win.

Game 4
Chicago knocks John Barton out in the 3rd, and takes a 5-0 lead, but then the Baltimore bats go off, scoring in every inning after the 3rd, for a 16-7 romp to even the series. Darin Elam has 5 hits. Dave Lapoint, Mike Reed, and Parker Brouthers hit back to back to back homers in the 5th.

Superior League Playoffs, Miami vs Mars

Miami vs Mars

Game 1
Miami wins 4-2 behind Bill Greene.

Game 2
Ernie Escobar's 11th inning homer off Jeff Liefer gives Mars a 7-6 win.

Game 3
Vince Lewis's 8th inning RBI single puts Miami up 4-3, Bob Belardi pitches a 1-2-3 9th.

Game 4
Tim Sullivan is wild and unhittable, allowing 1 hit and 1 run through 4 innings, striking out 7, but also walking 7. Mars bullpen outduels Miami bullpen for a 4-1 win.

Game 5
Miami takes game 5, 7-6. Tied at 6 in the top of the 9th with 2 on, Bob Belardi comes in to strike out Ismael Cruz. Eli Moreno singles to start the bottom 9th, and Mike Dumas pinch runs. Light-hitting Jim Concepcion twice fails to get a sac bunt down, but with 2 strikes lines one off the rightfield wall, and Dumas races around to score the winning run.

New York at Bay Area Game 4

New York goes with Stuart Coppolla against former New York #5 starter, Tim Rogers. In a surprising move, Bay Area benches Game 3 hero Bill Herrera for lefty killer Ned Davis. In the first inning, both teams get 1 run apiece, with Chad White hitting a bases loaded sacrifice fly in the top half of the inning and Jason Davenport connecting for a leadoff homer in the bottom half. In the top of the 4th, New York scores 3 runs on a Brett Solo homer, a Manfred Mueller RBI single, and a Justin Lewis RBI double. Back to back doubles from Ryan Harris and Jack Collins cut the lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the 6th. New York then pinch hits for Stuart Coppolla but fails to score in the 7th. Coppolla goes 6-5-2-2-0-5, meanwhile, Tim Rogers disappoints with 5-6-4-4-2-4. Manager Eddie of New York decides that if he is going to lose this game, he's going to do it with his best pitcher. With the 2 run lead in place, he brings in relief ace Jaret Benser for the 3-inning power save. In the 7th, Benser allows 1 hit but manages to strike out the side. He has now struck out all 6 batters he has faced in the series. In the 8th, Benser gets a 1-2-3 inning with no strikeouts. In the 9th, Benser gets Otto Tingley to ground out to first, strikes out Jeff Stephens, and then gets Ned Davis to ground out to first to end the game. Benser line is 3-1-0-0-0-4. He will most likely be unavailable to New York in Game 5, but with the travel day after that, he should be rested for Game 6. Eddie went with his best player and it paid off. New York wins the game 4-2 and evens the series at 2 games each.

New York at Bay Area Game 3

Roger Chillingworth vs. Bryan Curtis. In the top of the 3rd, New York takes a 3-0 lead on RBI hits by Ricky Buckley, Tim Griffin, and Brett Solo. In the bottom half of the inning, Fred Lewis cuts the lead to 3-1 with an RBI double. In the 4th, Bill Herrera's 2 out single makes it 3-2. In the bottom of the 6th, Bill Herrera hits a 2 run homer to center to give Bay Area the 4-3 lead. Roger Chillingworth leaves the game with 6-8-4-4-1-4, not what New York needed. In the bottom of the 7th, Fritz Jones pours gasoline on the fire, giving up 3 hits, 2 walks, getting one out, and with the help of Bill Wright, allows all 5 runs to score, giving Bay Area the commanding 9-3 lead. New York gets 2 runs back in the 8th, but whimper in the 9th and they lose 9-5. Bay Area leads the series 2 games to 1. Herrera goes 3-4 with 4 RBI.

Denver vs. Philly Game 4

Denver goes with their 2006 first round pick Bartolo Fatone against former #1 overall pick Lee Harvey Oswalt on 3 days rest. Denver scores 1 in the first on a Renseller sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the inning, Taylor gets on base and Fatone surrenders a 2 run homer. At this point, the Cheese is starting to regret his decision to go with Fatone over the veteran lefty Bob Robertson, especially with big lefty Paul White coming up. But Cheese sticks with Fatone who gets out of the inning. In the 2nd, Denver ties it on a Jason Hopper double that scores Keith Cerrano (How about those Denver outfielders this year?). In the 4th, Stan Marsh and Keith Cerrano hit solo homers off Oswalt to make it 4-2. Meanwhile, Fatone settled down and started to handle the potent Philly lineup. In the top of the 5th, Fatone helps himself with a leadoff single. After Butters hits into a fielding error by the shortstop, Joey Renseller hits a gapper to make it 5-2, and put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. Stan Marsh follows with a sacrifice fly to give Denver a 6-2 lead. In the bottom of the 6th, Ruiz gets an RBI double to make it 6-3, and Denver goes to the bullpen. Fatone goes 5.2-5-3-3-3-4, not too bad for the #4 starter in the playoffs, let alone a rookie with one month experience. Denver's bullpen does the job and in the 8th, Denver gets all the insurance runs they will need courtesy of a pinch hit 3 run homerun from Ron Vineyard. Final Score, Denver 10 Philadelphia 5. Denver leads the series 3-1.

Denver - Philly Game 3

In Philadelphia, its Rudy Baker (PHI) vs. Kei Ijawa (DEN). This is a fine pitchers duel from the start. Philadelphia decides to sit SS Jerry Ruiz and C Matt Bulger since they are tired despite the off day. To replace Ruiz, Philly slides 2B Jimmy Taylor back to his original position and plays Moochie Henson at 2B. In the bottom of the 3rd, Ijawa strikes out the side, but not before allowing back to back homers to Rocky Balboni and Paul White. Those homers turn out to be the only runs of the game as Philly takes Game Three 2-0. Baker goes the distance, 9-4-0-0-2-10 and Ijawa takes the loss with 7-3-2-2-4-8.