My Very Brief Commentaries on the MVP, ROY, and CYA

     The 2024 baseball season was filled with some extreme talent. There were two triple-crown winners among pitchers, and we had some rookies carrying their teams. All in all, the awards I'm giving my opinions on today should have been:

1) Fairly obvious choices

2) Well-deserved

The Rookie of the Year awards were announced on November 18th.
The Cy Young awards were announced on November 20th.
And the MVP awards were announced today.
I don't really care too much about the Manager of the Year awards.

NL Rookie of the Year:

Winner: Paul Skenes
My Choice: Jackson Merrill
Correct Choice: Either Skenes or Merrill

    I would have loved to see Jackson Merrill win the Rookie of the Year award. He not only was the most clutch hitter in MLB, but played stellar defense in center and took his team to the playoffs. However, it's hard to beat a flamethrower who posted an 11-3 record and 1.96 ERA. I think it could have gone either way, but of course, I'm a little bit biased :)
    What do y'all think? Who should have taken this one?

I don't have a Paul Skenes card :(

AL Rookie of the Year:

Winner: Luis Gil
My Choice: Mason Miller
Correct Choice: Mason Miller

    Mason Miller wasn't even a finalist for the Rookie of the Year. I feel they kind of jipped. He throws 104, threw to a 2.49 ERA, and collected 28 saves. His opposing slash line was .160/.233/.262, so he was near impossible to hit. Don't get me wrong, Luis Gil was solid (15-7, 3.50, 171 K), but he was inconsistent. At times he was lights-out, and at other times he looked horrible. I really think this one should have been Miller.

I don't have any Luis Gil cards either

NL Cy Young Award:

Winner: Chris Sale
My Choice: Chris Sale
Correct Choice: Chris Sale

    This one isn't very hard. Sale won the triple crown (18 wins, 2.38 ERA, 225 K). Though we have two dominant starters as the other two finalists in Zack Wheeler and Paul Skenes, you can't beat a triple crown. 

I do have Sale, but not with the Braves...

AL Cy Young Award:

Winner: Tarik Skubal
My Choice: Tarik Skubal
Correct Choice: Tarik Skubal

    I think this one was even easier. Tarik Skubal was likely the best pitcher in MLB this year, and like Sale, won a triple crown too (18 wins, 2.39 ERA, 228 K). And it was his 28th birthday yesterday when the award was announced, which makes for a nice gift. Emmanuel Clase was a finalist, which is kinda cool since he's a closer. Clase had an 0.61 ERA and 46 saves, so it's well-deserved. Seth Lugo is the other finalist, finishing as the second place man -- he was the only finalist with an ERA of 3.00.

This is my favorite card of Ubals that I own

NL MVP Award:

Winner: Shohei Ohtani
My Choice: Shohei Ohtani
Correct Choice: You guessed it, Shohei Ohtani

    I'm not gonna lie: I'm not the biggest Shohei fan. But come on, he had a 50-50 season. Even as a DH, with an offensive season that good (and his popularity), he can't lose. The other finalists were middle infielders in Ketel Marte and Francisco Lindor. They were both elite; but beating 54 homers and 59 steals is near impossible.

Bomb Squad seems right for the year Shohei had

AL MVP Award:

Winner: Aaron Judge
My Choice: Bobby Witt Jr.
Correct Choice: >sighs< Aaron Judge

    Bobby Witt played outstanding defense and was an incredible hitter (he won the batting title you know) from a harder position than Aaron Judge. But Aaron Judge did Aaron Judge things, belting 58 homers and batting .322. Not to mention his 144 RBI, 122 Runs, and OPS of 1.159. I think he'll be the next guy to win a triple crown for batting. They got it right, though I wanted Witt.

I don't know, I just like the picture on the card

Also, I gave my Stars of MLB Judge as part of a birthday gift

    

    There we go. I think for the most part, the BBWAA got the awards right. I would not have complained had Jackson Merrill won ROY or Bobby Witt MVP, but the winners were deserving of the award. What do y'all think? Did they get the awards right? What would y'all have done differently? 

    Well, thanks for reading, congrats to the winners of the awards, and happy collecting! Enjoy the rest of you week!

    I know that I said I didn't care about the Manager of the Year award. However, I would like to point out that Mark Kotsay made the leaderboard. The A's manager had a record of 69-93 -- he didn't get a vote for his record. I bet he got a vote for the way he dealt with his team leaving Oakland. Kotsay couldn't control the situation, but dealt with it the best he could. His speech on that last home game was great, and I think the fans appreciated it. I can commend that vote, even though he didn't win 100 games. 

Well, we got a world series....

     Don't get me wrong, this is a clash of the titans; one seed on one seed, team y team. But, alas, I was rooting against both these guys. Apologies to the numerous Yankees and Dodgers fans out there; I come in peace. But ay caramba, couldn't the Tigers at least have made it?

    

    I think I'll be rooting for the Yankees on this one, for the same reason I was rooting for the Mets before; for the sake of a friend who's a die-hard fan.    

    Well, hopefully this will at least be an entertaining series. Both of these team like to hit homers. I don't know, but it may come down to which team provides the most longball. My money's on a Dodgers World Series, but considering that I was wrong on most of my predictions for the playoffs, the Yankees are probably going to win. 

    

    If any of my readers are fans of either of these teams, good luck to you and your squads. As for me, maybe next year the Rangers will make a rebound or the Tigers or Giants will do something interesting (yes, believe it or not, it wasn't long ago when I was a hard-core Giants fan; not expecting much from then).

    Y'all have a great start to the week, happy World Series, and happy collecting! 

Finally Jumped on the Bandwagon

     Well, I finally got some Topps 2024 cards. After all the hype I've heard (and shared), I really wanted to grab some, and I finally found an opportune time. 36 cards for $7.98; could be better, but not bad as compared to the 2021 Topps prices.

    So then, let's show off the spoils, shall we?

    Favorite: Stone Garrett (top middle)

    Least Favorite: Isaiah Campbell (bottom left)

    Like I've heard, the team names have a nice touch of metallic shine. I really like photo taken for Stone Garrett. The salute after the slide makes for a nice snapshot. And Isaiah Campbell; his picture is kind of boring and anticlimactic. The cards on this first page - with the exceptions of Christian Yelich and Brandon Woodruff - lack star power. 

    Favorite: Future Stars Christopher Morel (top right)

    Least Favorite: Houston Astros Team Card (bottom left)

    Being a Rangers fan, I'm not too thrilled about the Astros team card, but, I don't really care. I got the ever-popular screaming Chris Morel card, and the color scheme for the Future Stars is cool. There were also some nice action shots out of Daulton Varsho, Jorge Mateo and Corbin Carroll. 

    Favorite: Evan Carter RC (top middle)

    Least Favorite: Stars of MLB Tyler Soderstrom RC (bottom right)

    Like I've said numerous times, love Evan Carter. Now I have his rookie card to go along with my autograph. The gold-border on Jonathan India is cool, and we get one of those weird blueprint cards. I don't mind the design on them, but it's not even a current player, being Derek Jeter. The Stars of MLB Tyler Soderstrom is ridiculous. He has only 120 MLB at-bats, and is only hitting .160 in that time! Star of MLB? I think not. Not yet, at least. Apparently though, Soderstrom is a Star of LMB. I got the same label on that card that has been pointed out by both Uncle Charlie's Shoebox and Wrigley Wax.

    Favorite: Tyler O'Neill or Jon Gray (top right or bottom left)

    Least Favorite: Carmen Mlodzinski RC (middle left)

    At this point, I'm liking the individual pictures on the cards. Tyler O'Neill gets a nice vein-bulge, and Jon Gray's wearing the Rangers City Connect jersey. Finally we get a true Star of MLB in Aaron Judge, although he doesn't seem to be doing much, maybe celebrating after a hit. It's hard to tell with the lack of background. At least the back says Stars of MLB. I don't mind Carmen Mlodzinski, but he was the only player on this page who I didn't know.

    All in all, not bad. I only got two Rangers, but they were good ones in Evan Carter and Jon Gray in the City Connect jersey.
    If I had to choose a favorite card in the whole package, it would be Evan Carter, of course. That was the only card that received an exclamation when it was pulled. My least favorite card of the whole package was probably the Tyler Soderstrom Stars of LMB card. But I'm not going to complain about the 36 cards for under $8. Glad I was able to find some of the 2024 cards at a decent price. 

'Antique' Cards

      Over the years that I have been collecting cards, I've had some nice finds at antique stores, although I have to say that many antique stores will present bad pricing for worthless cards. However, there is this one antique store about twenty or so minutes away from my house that often will have some very nice finds. 

    While I'm not as much of a bargain hunter, I do look for cards that spark a certain interest in me. I'm a sucker for shiny cards, so these 2022 Topps Chrome cards were just right for me. These cards were interesting to me because I like to collect newer cards, and I just like both of these players. I believe I got these for $2 apiece.    

    I also got this 2023 Bowman Aaron Judge card, complete with MVP stats on the back (sorry for the bad lighting). It's a nice card, and considering how popular Aaron Judge is, I grab as many of his cards as I can at a good price. However, I can't remember how much I got this particular card for.

   

   

     

    I really like this Topps Chrome card of Albert Pujols pitching, hence the reason I spent $4 on it, which I semi-regret. Oh well. Four bucks never killed me. Pujols made one pitching appearance in 2022, which I remember from watching the highlight video. He gave up four runs in one inning to end a win against the Giants. It's great that they were able to land a picture of that onto a card. 

    

    Along with the neat cards I've found at antique stores, I've also found a good deal of autographs selling for a decent price. 

   

                                               

    I think I got all three of these cards for a combined $7, which isn't bad considering who these players are and the condition of both the cards and the autographs. The most notable of these players is Frank Tanana, who had a solid 21 year career in which he won 240 games. The verse on it, John 3:36, is: Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not believe in the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him.
    I appreciate when a player will sign something with a Bible verse to remind us that baseball shouldn't become the number one goal. Frank Tanana actually had a bit of a conversion. He had seriously hurt his arm and was coping with the death of a teammate, Lyman Bostock. He realized that his career as a pitcher might be over, but that pitching was his life. On November 6, 1983, in a hotel room, Tanana analyzed his life, and decided to trust in God. He decided to be a 'brand new person' and entrusted his life to the Lord. It's a nice story of how a man's life turned around for the better.
    I've gotten more autographs than these,  including Rick Reuschel, which I gave to my father for Christmas last year. A lot of the autographed cards I get I'll give as presents to my family.

    And so, that wraps up this post. I've found a goldmine of cards just at that one antique store, and they always have hundreds of cards to pick through. Maybe I'll get more to post about later. God bless.