Are you thinking of the idiot who refused to vote for Ryan? If so, it wasn't Ryan, it was some other big, fat dude who I haven't seen on tv in some time. Connelly perhaps?
maybe it was Conlin. I get those two knuckleheads mixed up. Yeah, I believe he said the only player who deserved to be 1st ballot was Carlton and thats why he never gives someone his vote the first time they are eligible.
This is awesome. I'm so glad Roger came back to pitch for the Astros. I couldn't be happier that they gave it to the pitcher who really did deserve it most this season. Sweetness
Clemens was just interviews by phone on Sportscenter... had some interesting things: 1.) When asked to rank the cy young awards, he said his mom told him that "This is really your first... you gave the other ones away." (which, I guess means that she actually got to see this one in person). Thus, he thinks this year's is very very special. 2.) When they showed highlights of him in 86 vs. him now, you see almost the exact same Roger, minus the splitter. Same fastball in the same locations (plus or minus 5 mph), and same presence on the mound. He said he was "blessed" to still be able to bring it at this age. 3.) When asked whether or not he'd return, he mainly leaned to the side of retirement, citing him wanting his mom to see him get into the HOF, and his kids getting older and starting careers of their own... but he didn't sound as vehement in his reasons as he was last year (which may or may not be a good thing for him returning... maybe he knew all along last year that he'd most likely return if Andy went to Houston... and this year, he's just flat out telling the truth).
While I believe Johnson was the best pitcher in the NL last season, the Astros fan in me certainly was glad that the Rocket won. But the big travesty here is with Ben Sheets. There's no consistency with the voting here. If a sportswriter is going to ignore the won-loss record by giving RJ a 1st place vote, then at least realize that this methodology should grant Ben Sheets at least a 3rd place vote on that same ballot. If you're going to penalize Sheets for pitching incredibly on a horrible team, then Johnson deserves the same penalty.
Ben Sheets was a sub-.500 pitcher who went 3-9 after the All-Star break. He's a little-known pitcher playing for a team that's annually terrible in a tiny market. I'm not at all surprised that he didn't get more support. It's one thing for the voters to overlook a paltry 16 wins, but 12-14's never going to get you a sniff, no matter how horrible your team is.
I think Roger wants to play with Andy Pettite and will play one more year. I know he wants his mom to see him inducted in the HOF, but hopefully he can go one more year. I am sure she would tell him that she enjoys watching him play more than give speeches. DD
They just reported on ESPN news that he will likely retire. Clemens said he ws 99% positive he would retire and that he wanted to spend more time with his family. Though we have heard something like this before from him...
If he is leaning towards not coming back, I would think that winning his 7th Cy Young would make it easier to walk away. He could go out on top which is rare these days.
should've gone to randy. that would've tied them up, now randy will never get back even. of course, clemens has had a better career so maybe they shouldn't be tied but randy still deserved this one. and roger shouldn't have won the one with the yankees either. the media just freakin' loves this guy and he racks up amazing winning percentages thanks to his teams helping him out (especially that 20-3 yankee season). but since it seems like he got screwed in i think 1990 out of the cy young then he should still have 6 and be tied with randy.
Sheets? I'd go with Peavy as the best pitcher to not be recognized. Though I don't think he should have been higher than 4th
Peavy threw for 166 innings this year. Sheets threw for 237. That is a difference of 71 innings, or basically 10 starts of 7 inning performances. Peavy's .43 edge in ERA just can't offset the fact that he pitched a lot less. As for stats, Sheets is 3rd in ERA, behind Johnson and Peavy, 2nd in Ks, behind Johnson, 4th in innings pitched, 2nd in walks allowed. But of course, none of that matters to the voters because (A) he has a 12-14 record and (B) no one really knows who he is or cares about his crappy team.
