Votes Are Now In and Farrell still Got the Shaft!!

Well, now I've seen at least partial vote totals and I still think Farrell got the shaft.  Apparently, the voting took place before the post-season was played, so all of Farrell's achievements EXCEPT (and that's a very important except) winning the AL East were not considered. But, even on that basis, isn't a complete turnaround from 2012's last place to this year's Division title worth something? Francona did get the Tribe into the playoffs for the first time since 2007, but only as the second wild card! Terry won by a total vote margin of 16 points on a 5-3-1 method of counting, including 16 of 30 first place votes cast for Terry versus 12 for Farrell.

UNBELIEVABLE! Terry Wins Manager of Year Over Farrell!

I haven't seen the vote totals yet, but the unbelievable just occurred. Even though John Farrell led the Sox from a 2012 last place finish that had 93 losses under Valentine to a 2013 finish that had them win the Division, A. L. pennant and the World Series, he finished second to Terry Francona. Terry, in his first season back since leaving the Sox after 2011's late season collapse, got the Indians back into the playoffs as the second wild card team for the league. How that, as good as it was, even comes close to beating what Farrell accomplished with the Sox this year boggles the imagination! Talk about an injustice!

Papi Wins Silver Slugger

Well, this is a first for the blog! Three posts on the same day! Awards will do that for you. Tonight the Silver Slugger awards were given out. They are given to the best offensive players in each league at each position. For the sixth time, Papi won as best at Designated Hitter. His BA of over .300, attached to 30 homers and 103 ribbies was what gave him the award. Congrats to Big Papi! That can go up on the trophy room shelf right next to his World Series MVP trophy.

More On MLB Awards

Further to my earlier comments today on the post season awards, the following is the announced schedule for all of the major awards (both leagues).
Beginning with Monday, November 11 (Veterans Day as well): Rookie of the Year. Wednesday, November 13: Cy Young. Thursday, November 14: MVP. The BBWAA, the association of baseball writers who vote for the awards announced their three finalists in each category, and none of them is with the Sox. As previously announced in this blog, the only Sox nominee for an award that has been announced by the BBWAA is Manager of the Year, with Sox manager John Farrell among the three nominees.

I haven't yet seen a date or announced finalists for Exec of the Year, but it would seem very logical that Sox GM Ben Cherington should get strong consideration based on the team he assembled in the off-season, as well as picking up Jake Peavey at the trade deadline to help the Sox get to their final positions as (in chronological order):  AL East Division Champ; AL Champ; and World Series Champ.

Awards Begin Next Week

Well, the season's done; Sox won the World Series, and we now wait until February, 2014 for the start of Spring Training. What is the Sox fan or baseball junkie to do? Simple! Wait for the awards! Specifically, and in no particular order, MVP, Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, Manager of the Year, Exec of the Year and Comeback Player of the Year (don't suppose the last one could be given to a team do you?).
Manager of the Year is announced next Tuesday, November 12. Early named candidates in the AL include our own John Farrell and the A's manager, who won last year, as well as Terry Francona. We'll bring you the name of the winner as soon as it's announced, but I'd be way more than damn surprised if it were anyone other than Farrell.