Revisiting THE CONTEST

Monday, July 05 2004 @ 06:04 AM EDT

Contributed by: Lucas

Back in late March, 79 of us predicted the World Series champs, pennant winners, division winners, award recipients, and every team's place in the standings. With the season half-gone, it's time to see who's wearing the wizard's cap and who's wearing the fool's cap.

Obviously, no contestant can gain any points for the pennant winners and World Series champs right now, and nobody's won any postseason awards in July. To add to the fun, I've chosen the midseason award winners. My choices are based on who I think the voters would pick, not necessarily who I think deserves to win. Batting average and wins hold great importance. OPS+ and Support Neutral Wins, not so much. On the chance you disagree with my choices, I have provided the current standings with and without points given to my fictional award winners. My choices:

AL MVP: Vlad Guerrero - .347, 69 runs, 20 homers, 71 RBI, 7 steals. Arguably, Manny Ramirez has had a slightly better offensive season but has too much baggage.

NL MVP: Barry Bonds - .352, 64 runs, 22 homers, 46 RBI, 3 steals, 121 walks(!). Scott Rolen has a shot with his line of .346/18/80.

AL Cy Young: Curt Schilling - 11 wins, 3.08 ERA, 110 strikeouts. Virtually identical to Mark Mulder but more famous.

NL Cy Young: Jason Schmidt - 10 wins, 2.61 ERA, 112 strikeouts. Very tough call, about seven worthy candidates. Glavine had the best ERA but only 7 wins, Clemens has 10 wins and is a great story but is on an underachieving squad, Zambrano is overshadowed by his teammates, Sheets plays for Milwaukee.

AL Rookie: Bobby Crosby - .273, 36 runs, 11 homers, 34 RBI, 4 steals. No one really stands out. No rookie is on pace to qualify for the ERA title. Cabrera, Bedard, Frasor, and Takatsu could join the picture in the second half. Lew Ford is ineligible (too much service time in 2003).

NL Rookie: Jason Bay - .301, 22 runs, 10 homers, 35 RBI, 2 steals. Stats match up with other rookies despite playing in just 45 games thanks to injuries and Lloyd McClendon's amusing lineup construction (more Randall Simon-flavored Kool Aid, Jim!). Matt Holliday and Aaron Miles have a shot. No NL rookie has more than 49 innings. Capuano joins the race with more health, Chad Cordero with more saves.

AL Manager: Buck Showalter - Texas is the present-day Wild Card. Enough said. Kudos to Alan Trammell, Lou Pinella, and, yes, Ozzie Guillen.

NL Manager: Tony LaRussa - Best record in the NL. Kudos to Felipe Alou, Bruce Bochy, and, yes, Dusty Baker. Triple Negative Kudos to Jimy Williams.

CONTEST STANDINGS (through games finished on 4 July):

Standings with "Postseason" Awards
(maximum 84 points)
Standings without "Postseason" Awards
(maximum 48 points)
37 - Bill Liming

35 - Sky

34 - Jonny German
34 - Pistol

33 - Elijah

31 - Harley
31 - Gerry
31 - Harley Winfrey

29 - Jes Golbez
29 - Paul D
29 - Ben
29 - T Nichols

28 - benum

27 - Brian Stewart
27 - Alex O

26 - Cristian
26 - Rob C
26 - Sophoric

25 - Jeff
25 - Brian W
25 - Dave Till
25 - Nick Frame

24 - Scott Lucas
24 - Chris B
24 - Oggman
24 - Phil Pilmar
24 - CONSENSUS

23 - baseballnut
23 - Donkit RK
23 - David Armitage
23 - Simon

22 - Rob
22 - alsiem
22 - Tassle
22 - John Gizzi
22 - Eric
22 - endos

21 - Mike D
21 - Dr. Zorco
21 - Leigh
21 - Harry Heatherington
21 - Andrew Edwards

20 - Ken Kosowan

19 - WillRain
19 - superdevin
19 - Coach
19 - Cornwall Lou
19 - ghol

18 - Gwyn Price
18 - Tom
18 - Jack Cooney
18 - David Goodwin

17 - Mike Green
17 - Mike Moffatt
17 - Asher
17 - Dylan B

16 - EddieZosky
16 - Nolan
16 - Joe Blow

15 - Dgriebeling
15 - Mick Doherty
15 - Kristian
15 - NDG
15 - Randy Winter
15 - Peteski

14 - Steve Birnie
14 - young
14 - braden
14 - Johnathan

13 - Craig Burley
13 - Best Mate

12 - A
12 - Boris
12 - Skywalker
12 - Argonaut

11 - whizland2000
11 - 3RunHomer

10 - Grand Funk Railroad

9 - sweat

8 - Geoff
27 - Bill Liming

24 - Jonny German
24 - Pistol

23 - benum
23 - Elijah

22 - John Gizzi
22 - endos
22 - Alex O

21 - Mike D
21 - Dr. Zorco
21 - Rob C
21 - Harley
21 - Gerry
21 - Harley Winfrey

20 - Jeff
20 - Dave Till
20 - Nick Frame

19 - Scott Lucas
19 - Ben
19 - Chris B
19 - Oggman
19 - Phil Pilmar
19 - CONSENSUS

18 - Gwyn Price
18 - David Armitage

17 - Rob
17 - alsiem
17 - Tassle
17 - Asher
17 - Brian Stewart
17 - Sky
17 - Eric

16 - Cristian
16 - Leigh
16 - Nolan
16 - Harry Heatherington
16 - Andrew Edwards
16 - Sophoric

15 - Dgriebeling
15 - Mick Doherty
15 - Ken Kosowan
15 - Kristian

14 - WillRain
14 - superdevin
14 - Jes Golbez
14 - Paul D
14 - Coach
14 - Cornwall Lou
14 - ghol
14 - Johnathan
14 - T Nichols

13 - baseballnut
13 - Tom
13 - Jack Cooney
13 - Donkit RK
13 - David Goodwin
13 - Best Mate
13 - Simon

12 - Mike Green
12 - A
12 - Boris
12 - Skywalker
12 - Argonaut
12 - Dylan B

11 - whizland2000
11 - EddieZosky
11 - 3RunHomer
11 - Joe Blow

10 - Grand Funk Railroad
10 - Brian W
10 - NDG
10 - Randy Winter
10 - Peteski

9 - Steve Birnie
9 - young
9 - sweat
9 - braden

8 - Craig Burley
8 - Geoff

7 - Mike Moffatt

This is Bill Liming's world. The rest of us are his tenants.

HOW WE VOTED:

World Series Champ AL Pennant NL Pennant
Boston (22)
Houston (12)
NY Yankees (11)
Oakland (10)
Philadelphia (9)
C. Cubs (8)
Toronto (3)
St. Louis (2)
Anaheim (1)
San Diego (1)
Boston (37)
New York (18)
Oakland (16)
Toronto (4)
Anaheim (3)
Chicago (1)
Chicago (25)
Philadelphia (22)
Houston (21)
Atlanta (5)
San Francisco (2)
St. Louis (2)
Florida (1)
San Diego (1)

AL East Champ AL Central Champ AL West Champ
Boston (40)
New York (38)
Toronto (1)
Baltimore (0)
Tampa Bay (0)
Minnesota (38)
Kansas City (28)
Chicago (9)
Cleveland (4)
Detroit (0)
Oakland (44)
Anaheim (33)
Seattle (0)
Texas (0)
NL East Champ NL Central Champ NL West Champ
Philadelphia (62)
Atlanta (10)
Florida (7)
New York (0)
Montreal (0)
Houston (42)
Chicago (33)
St Louis (4)
Pittsburgh (0)
Milwaukee (0)
Cincinnati (0)
San Francisco (33)
San Diego (20)
Arizona (15)
Los Angeles (11)
Colorado (0)

AL Wild Card NL Wild Card
Boston (28)
New York (22)
Toronto (20)
Oakland (6)
Anaheim (3)
Chicago (32)
Houston (23)
St Louis (7)
Atlanta (6)
Florida (4)
Philadelphia (4)
San Francisco (2)
San Diego (1)
AL Worst Team NL Worst Team
Detroit (60)
Texas (10)
Tampa Bay (5)
Chicago (2)
Baltimore (1)
Cleveland (1)
Pittsburgh (34)
Milwaukee (17)
Cincinnati (11)
Colorado (11)
Montreal (3)
New York (3)

AL MVP AL Cy Young AL Rookie AL Manager
V Guerrero (20)
A Rodriguez (15)
C Beltran (11)
C Delgado (11)
M Ramirez (6)
E Chavez (5)
V Wells (3)
M Ordonez (2)
G Anderson (1)
J Giambi (1)
N Garciaparra (1)
D Jeter (1)
G Sheffied (1)
I Suzuki (1)
R Halladay (25)
C Schilling (17)
T Hudson (16)
P Martinez (8)
J Vazquez (6)
M Mussina (3)
K Brown (1)
M Buehrle (1)
M Mulder (1)
J Washburn (1)
J Mauer (46)
B Crosby (22)
M Riley (3)
A Rios (2)
G Gross (2)
D McPherson (1)
G Balfour (1)
R Harden (1)
V Martinez (1)
T Francona (19)
C Tosca (15)
M Scioscia (8)
K Macha (7)
R Gardenhire (6)
T Pena (6)
E Wedge (5)
O Guillen (5)
L Pinella (4)
A Trammell (2)
J Torre (1)
M Hargrove (1)
NL MVP NL Cy Young NL Rookie NL Manager
A Pujols (37)
B Bonds (14)
J Thome (10)
L Berkman (5)
B Giles (4)
M Cameron (1)
A Dunn (1)
T Helton (1)
A Jones (1)
C Jones (1)
D Lee (1)
M Lowell (1)
R Sexson (1)
S Green (1)
R Oswalt (18)
M Prior (13)
R Johnson (11)
K Wood (9)
J Beckett (5)
J Schmidt (5)
B Webb (4)
A Pettitte (2)
K Millwood (2)
M Morris (2)
R Wolf (2)
A Eaton (1)
B Wagner (1)
G Maddux (1)
J Peavy (1)
K Escobar (1)
T Ohka (1)
K Matsui (35)
K Greene (16)
E Jackson (8)
A LaRoche (6)
J Bay (5)
R Wagner (3)
J Acevedo (2)
C Cordero (1)
J Reyes (1)
S Mitre (1)
T Sledge (1)
B Bochy (16)
D Baker (13)
J Williams (11)
L Bowa (10)
F Alou (8)
B Cox (7)
F Robinson (3)
B Brenly (2)
J Tracy (2)
"after" L Bowa (1)
"after" J Tracy (1)
C Manuel (1)
D Miley (1)
J McKeon (1)
T Larussa (1)

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