7 The number of complete games (7) for C.C. Sabathia. He led the N.L. in complete games and shutouts, despite making only 17 starts for the Brewers. Sabathia only made it to 17 starts because for his last three he took the mound on only three days' rest.

9 The number of times (9) Tim Lincecum struck out ten or more batters in a single game. San Francisco's sophomore phenom struck out 265 batters in 227 innings for the highest total and the best ratio (10.51) per nine innings in baseball. Lincecum beat the Dodgers on Sunday to improve his record to 18-5, tying a career high with 13 strikeouts, including the first nine outs of the game.

41 The number of saves (41) for Brad Lidge. He struck out 92 batters in 69-plus innings, and he truly was "Lights Out" Lidge once again. He gave up only 50 hits and 15 earned runs, but of greater significance is the fact he did not blow a single save.

296 The earned run average (2.96) for Ryan Dempster. That puts him fourth in the league, but behind only two other contenders: Johan Santana and Tim Lincecum. Dempster tied for third with 17 wins, was fourth in winning percentage, and third in fewest hits per nine innings.

759 The winning percentage (.759) for Brandon Webb. Arizona's ace led the league with a 22-7 record. Webb was fourth in innings, tied for third in complete games, and third in winning percentage.

Other contenders: Johan Santana led the league with a 2.53 earned run average and 234-plus innings. He was 9-0 in his final 16 starts, during which time the Mets were 13-3. Jose Valverde led the league after saving 44 games for the Astros. He led the league with 47 saves for the Diamondbacks last season, but only placed sixth in Cy Young balloting. Santana should be on a lot of ballots, but Valverde will probably get no more support than he did last year. Ted Lilly, Roy Oswalt, and Edinson Volquez all tied Ryan Dempster for the third highest total in the league with 17 wins.

Two of my top five contenders are out of the playoff picture - Webb and Lincecum.

Webb is a former Cy Young recipient, but check out what he did against teams in his own division - the N.L. Worst. Webb was a combined 9-1 vs. Colorado, San Francisco, and San Diego, but he was only 1-2 vs. the team he had to beat out West, the Dodgers - including two horrific starts where he gave up 13 earned runs in nine innings, losing to LA twice in a week during the stretch run. Arizona won 82 games, LA just 84.

Tim Lincecum was the best pitcher in the league. I know sometimes we tend to get overly excited by high strikeout totals, but this guy was 18-5 for a team that hit only 94 home runs all season. Look it up, the Giants offense was really that bad. The Giants outscored the Padres by three runs or they would have been the lowest scoring team in baseball.

San Francisco was 72-90, which makes me believe that if Lincecum had been pitching for the Mets that, well, they still would have found a way to miss the postseason - but Lincecum would have won 20 games easily, for the Mets, Marlins, Astros, Diamondbacks, any of those teams that had a glimmer of hope for the postseason when September came around.

What about the other guys?

Dempster deserves some votes, but not the award. There is no question in my mind that Brad Lidge was a huge reason the Phillies won the East by three games - but not a Cy Young deserving reason.

Which brings us to the really big question, should we even consider Sabathia?

He was 17-10 with a 2.70 earned run average and 251 strikeouts - if you combine his totals from both leagues. Well, obviously you can't count his A.L. totals for an N.L. award, can you?

What about his performance on Sunday that got the Brewers into the postseason? You know, the one where he told his manager to give him the ball on short rest again, that he would win the game - and then he did.

Well, it was way cool.

The Cy Young, however, is for a season - not a moment.

I have no doubt that Milwaukee would have missed the playoffs if Sabathia was traded somewhere else, but Tim Lincecum was the best pitcher in the N.L. for the past six months - and that is who my fictitious vote is for.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

62 The number of saves (62) for Frankie Rodriguez. K-Rod set a new standard for closers as the Angels ran away with their division. He struck out 77 batters in 68-plus innings, allowing 54 hits and 17 earned runs.

687 The ratio (6.87) of hits per nine innings for Daisuke Matsuzaka. He was Boston's ace, posting the best ratio in the league. Dice-K gave up only 128 hits in 167-plus innings. He also led the Red Sox in earned run average (2.90) and wins (18), and he was second in the league in winning percentage (.857).

880 The winning percentage (.880) for Cliff Lee. The Indians' ace led the league with the 12th best winning percentage in baseball history after posting a 22-3 record for a team that was only 81-81. Lee also led the league in earned run average (2.54), wins, and lowest ratio of walks per nine innings (1.37).

Other contenders: Roy Halladay and Mike Mussina both won 20 games, and Halladay led the league with nine complete games. A.J. Burnett won 18 games and led the league with 231 strikeouts. Ervin Santana won 16 games and was second with 214 strikeouts.

What kind of support did they get?

Boston scored five or more runs in 19 of 29 starts for Dice-K, while Cleveland scored five or more runs in only 15 of 31 starts for Cliff Lee. Boston's offense was the second highest scoring in the league, compared to Cleveland (fifth), New York (sixth), LA Angels (ninth), and Toronto (tenth).

Toronto's pitching staff was the best in the league, but the LA Angels' staff was third best, ensuring that K-Rod got a lot of opportunities to close out games.

Who gets the nod?

I like playoff bound guys, and I prefer starters over closers, and guys who make a big impact for their team. Cliff Lee was a much better pitcher than Dice-K this year, no question--but he's on vacation as of today, as are the guys for New York and Toronto, meanwhile Boston and the Angels are gearing up for October.

I bet the actual voting comes down to Cliff Lee vs. K-Rod, but here I have it down to Dice-K vs. K-Rod.

Boston won the Wild Card, while the Angels won their division by 21 games. I guess there are a couple of ways to look at K-Rod then--either his team could have won their division with anybody closing, or the reason they won by so many games is at least in part due to their closer.

Boston won the Wild Card by six games, but lost their division by two. I'm almost swayed to give Dice-K the nod because Boston won seven of his starts consecutively at a crucial time, beginning on August 3.

I really do not like seeing the Cy Young go to a closer, but in this case, the best starter in the league missed the playoffs while the best closer in the league won his division by a large margin. If the choice is between the best playoff bound starter and the best playoff bound closer, then I'm reluctantly going to give my fictitious vote to K-Rod.

 

 

 

 

 

100 Yankee Stadium was the site of (100) World Series games. In addition, the stadium also was the host for 31 ALCS games, 27 ALDS games, and three games during the 1981 A.L. East playoffs--a total of 161 postseason games. The finale on Sunday was game number 6,581 during the regular season at Yankee Stadium. Only Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, Sportsman's Park, and Tiger Stadium hosted more regular season games than Yankee Stadium.

3 The number of home runs (3) for catcher Jose Molina after Sunday's victory vs. Baltimore. His third home run of the season will forever be a part of history--it was the final blast at Yankee Stadium.

21 The number of former players (21) that took part in pregame ceremonies at Yankee Stadium on Sunday night. That total included six current Hall of Famers, and Babe Ruth's daughter threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Family members of late players such as Phil Rizzuto, Thurman Munson, Elston Howard, and Roger Maris all took the field as well.

96 Derek Jeter got (96) hits at home this season. He came up four short of the century mark, which would have given Jeter five consecutive seasons with at least 100 hits at Yankee Stadium. Jeter was already the only player to record four straight seasons with at least 100 hits--and his seven total seasons with 100 hits at Yankee Stadium are also a record. Jeter got 1,274 career hits at Yankee Stadium for yet another record.

109 Jason Giambi now has (109) hits on the season after going 1 for 3 vs. the Orioles on Sunday night. That lone hit was an RBI single in the seventh inning--and it puts Giambi in the record book for the final hit and RBI in Yankee Stadium history.

230 The number of career saves (230) for Mariano Rivera at Yankee Stadium--easily the most in history. Rivera was fittingly on the mound for the final out of the game.

528 The earned run average (5.28) for Andy Pettitte at Yankee Stadium this season. He made 17 starts and was only 6-8 on his home turf, but after picking up the 7-3 victory vs. the Orioles, Pettitte earned his 95th career win at Yankee Stadium--and the last in the history of the legendary ballpark.

593 The winning percentage (.593) for New York at home in the final season at Yankee Stadium. NY posted a 48-33 record and outscored their opponents 412-361.

 

 

20 The Rays' magic number (20) to win the East. Toronto swept the Rays this weekend, however, and now Tampa must take on the surging Red Sox at Fenway. Tampa needs at least one win in the series to leave town with a lead - albeit a very small one - but the whole season really comes down to this: Tampa plays Boston six times in the next ten days.

1 Toronto scored only (1) run against Rays' pitcher Matt Garza on Sunday - but that was enough for the Blue Jays to sweep Tampa. Garza was the hard-luck loser to Blue Jays hurler David Purcey in the 1-0 game, but just 11 days earlier it was Garza who beat Purcey 1-0 at the Trop. The last time two pitchers traded 1-0 decisions against each other in the same season was 1976.

3 Brandon Webb is 0 for (3) in his quest to win 20 games. The Diamondbacks' ace has also given up at least six earned runs in all three of his attempts - the latest a tough 7-2 loss in a critical series with the Dodgers. In his last three starts, Webb has given up 21 runs, 22 hits, 12 walks, and four home runs - in 13-plus innings of work.

23 Chris Young retired the first (23) batters he faced on Sunday. The Padres hurler flirted with perfection against the Brewers, but Gabe Kapler took him yard with two outs in the eighth to ruin the perfect game, no-hit bid, and shutout with one swing of the bat. The last perfect game in the majors was Randy Johnson's gem on May 18, 2004.

41 The major league record for games (41) with at least five RBI - held by the legendary Lou Gehrig. Manny Ramirez is getting close to catching him, however, as he did it for the 33rd time this weekend. Manny got the Diamondbacks this time, but earlier this year he got the Rays while playing for Boston. In all 33 games that Manny has driven in five or more runs, he has hit at least one home run.

70 David Ortiz went (70) at bats without a home run - but that drought came to an end on Sunday as Big Papi went yard in Boston's 7-2 win at Texas. Ortiz was a member of the Twins the last time he suffered through a longer homerless stretch - 128 at bats in 2002.