DK's Dugout

DK’s Mid-Season Honors & Awards

Although Major League Baseball waits until after the season is completed to dole out the real hardware for individual accomplishments, I don’t have quite as much patience. As a result it’s time once again, as we hit the All-Star break, to give out some accolades for first half performance. So without further ado here are a dozen dedications to the worthy recipients of “DK’s Mid-Season Honors & Awards”.

The Teddy Ballgame (for Red Sox team MVP) – Manny Ramirez. All five of the Sox All-Stars were considered for this award, but Manny is the man. Sure his average is down and maybe he hasn’t been quite as consistent as Ortiz or Damon, but the fact remains that when Manny is playing his best so are the Sox. That to me is the definition of an MVP. Manny was struggling at the beginning of the season and so were the Sox. He now enters the break with 80 RBI and not coincidentally the Sox enter the break in first place. And while Ortiz has the luxury of lineup protection (Manny), Ramirez has done his damage with the likes of Kevin Millar “protecting him” in the Sox lineup.

The Dewey (for my favorite Sox player) – Jason Varitek. How could any true Red Sox fan not love the way that V-Tek plays the game, produces consistently, or goes about his business. As much as I was against putting the “C” on Varitek’s jersey, he has done it justice so far this season. He is a true team leader in words and actions and was a very deserving starter for the All-Star Game. Lack of hustle, lack of intelligence, lack of preparation and a seeming lack of caring are all things that drive me insane about players when watching games; V-Tek never makes me insane. For this I thank him and award him “The Dewey”.

The Belichick (for best coaching move) – Terry Francona. People may not like the way he left a few of his players off of the original All-Star roster, or the times he gives his entire starting lineup a rest on the same night, but I am honoring Tito for an ‘off-field’ coaching move: kicking Jay Payton off of the team plane. Francona is often viewed as soft by many, but this move was straight out of the Belichick text book, proving he was not going to take any “stuff” from anyone. Payton was unhappy with playing time, fine. Payton wanted to be traded, fine. But once Payton took things too far Tito took charge. Not only was it decided that Payton would be let go by the Sox, Francona made him take his luggage and get off of the team’s flight to Baltimore. Well done! (Did you really think I was going to honor Dale Sveum here?)

The Oil Can (for undeservedly being upset about not making the All-Star team) – Mike Timlin. While Matt Clement had a legitimate beef to be upset about not being selected by his manager as an All-Star, Timlin did not. Don’t get me wrong, Timlin has been the best member of the Sox bullpen this season, but being the best of the worst does not make one an All-Star selection. Although his 3-1 record and 1.69 ERA are impressive on the surface, they do not tell the whole tale. Timlin has allowed 11 of 18 inherited runners to score, one of the worst marks in all of baseball. In other words, although his ERA looks great, he has caused the ERAs of the pitchers he has “relieved” to balloon. As I say, Timlin is having a very good year, but to be upset about not making the All-Star team is ludicrous.

The Big Papi (for best off-season signing) – Matt Clement. No, Clement hasn’t pitched as well as Pedro this season, but anyone that was expecting him to was being unrealistic (there is a reason that Pedro is going to the Hall of Fame someday). Clement has more than earned his keep his first year in Boston, and has emerged as the ace of the staff in Curt Schilling’s absence. Clement has earned his spot on the All-Star team (even if it was as a replacement) courtesy of his 10-2 record and 3.85 ERA. Clement also handled his All-Star “snubbing” with nothing but class and seems to be as good of a teammate as he has been on the mound. He has given the Sox a chance to win in nearly every one of his starts and looks to be one of the best off-season signings in all of baseball.

The Mike Eruzione (for living off of past accomplishments) – Theo Epstein. Epstein still has a chance to make a solid move or two before the trading deadline, but his performance since the Sox won the World Series has been, generously, sub-par. The worst of his moves was the deal that sent Dave Roberts to the Padres for the useless duo of Jay Payton and Ramon Vazquez. I repeat, useless! He also opted to replace his sure-handed shortstop Orlando Cabrera with Edgar Renteria, who has made 17 errors already this season (and yes, I do realize the OC is only hitting .245). The Sox, barring a return to full strength by Schilling, are lacking the “second ace” needed to win in the post-season. The bullpen has been disastrous. They have gotten no production out of the fifth slot in the lineup or from their first basemen (though those two are not unrelated). Of course when you are the GM for the first World Series Championship team in 85 years you deserve a free pass for a while, but if the Sox fall out of the first the natives will begin to grow restless with Theo.

The Paul O’Neill (for most hated opposing player) – Alex Rodriguez. This one is such a no-brainer it actually may be renamed the “Alexis Rodriguez” next season.

The Kevin Millar (for most hated member of the Red Sox) – (tie) Kevin Millar and Keith Foulke. It’s impossible to not give Millar at least a share of the award named in his “honor”. This is especially true when he is not producing at the plate, playing average (at best) in the field and still somehow complaining about a lack of playing time and (possibly, depending on who you believe) demanding a trade. Why has nobody simply told him, “You’re not that good”? Foulke has been a mess on and off the mound this season. He has already walked as many batters and allowed as many homers as he did all of last year (in half as many innings) and his 6.23 ERA (unlike Timlin’s in the other direction) is not deceiving at all. He really has been that bad. Couple that with his comments about “Johnny from Burger King” and it’s tough to believe anyone could have such a fall from grace in such a short period of time. Keep in mind that this was the same man that was on the mound when the Sox won it all and was arguably the World Series MVP. The bad knees may be an excuse for his poor pitching, but it still doesn’t explain him being such a jerk.

The Eck (for best former Sox player) – Roger Clemens. Three former Red Sox were named to the All-Star team this year: Clemens, Pedro and Shea Hillenbrand, but The Rocket wins the award named in honor of the man who went on make the Hall of Fame after being traded to the Cubs for Bill Buckner. After an amazing first half performance at the age of 43 (he will turn 44 August 4) Clemens’ record is 7-3, but could be much better if he were only given a little more run support. He also has 112 strikeouts and an incredible league-leading 1.48 ERA, almost a full run better than anyone else in all of baseball. As icing on the cake, Clemens is sporting an impressive .273 batting average, higher than Sox regulars Kevin Millar or Mark Bellhorn. Think he’d be interested in playing first?

The Bobby M. Jones (for the player who contributed the least to a potential Champ) – (tie) Cla Meredith and Kelly Shoppach. In case you forgot about Jones, he was a lefty reliever who appeared in three games for the Sox last season. He pitched 3.1 innings, allowed three hits, walked eight (yes, eight!) and finished with a 0-1 record. For his “contributions” to the cause Jones was rewarded with a World Series ring on Opening Day this year. This year’s early favorites to deserve a ring as much (or less) than I do are Meredith and Shoppach. Both are solid prospects and could be solid major leaguers in the future, but that is impossible to tell based on their ’05 performance in Boson thus far. Meredith appeared in three games out of the bullpen, covering 2.1 innings. He allowed six hits (including a home run), walked four and hit a batter. His 27.00 ERA has nowhere to go (hopefully) but down. Meanwhile Shoppach has nowhere to go but up. He had 11 at bats and walked away with no hits. Needless to say his average of .000 can’t go down any further.

The Dave Roberts (for best contribution off the bench) – Doug Mirabelli. First base addition John Olerud was considered for this honor (he has hit .354 in 48 at bats and has played great defense…why doesn’t he play more again?), but Mirabelli gets the nod. The contributions of the Sox backup catcher were most noticeable in his absence when Tim Wakefield (for whom he is the “personal catcher”) couldn’t win a game, literally. When Mirabelli went on the DL in mid-May Wakefield was 4-2 with a 3.61 ERA. In Wakefield’s next four starts, without Mirabelli behind the plate, Timmy Wake went 0-4 with an 8.87 ERA. In Wakefield’s next five starts, once again with Mirabelli catching, he went 4-0 and lowered his ERA from 5.13 to 3.98. This cannot be a coincidence. Being such an obvious key factor in his team winning, even if it is only once every five games, earns Mirabelli (despite his .219 average) “The DR”.

The Jim Rice (for most under-appreciated superstar) – Manny Ramirez. This award is in honor of Jim Ed Rice, who remains the most under-appreciated Boston athlete of my lifetime. Rice’s numbers, especially now that it’s been revealed most of those ahead of him did their damage in a watered down “steroid era”, are Hall of Fame worthy. So this award goes to the most under-appreciated player on this years’ Red Sox team: Manny. I realize it is nearly impossible not to appreciate a player who makes $20 million and leads the league in RBI, but somehow it seems to have happened. People realize that Manny is great, but I’m not sure they realize just how great he is. After smashing his 400th career homer earlier this season Ramirez appears to have an excellent shot at finishing his career with 500 home runs (he currently has 412), and 2,000 RBI (currently has 1,350). If Ramirez were able to achieve this feat he would join Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth as the only threesome to have accomplished it (Barry Bonds could also join with 157 more RBI). Not bad company for a guy that seems to be criticized nearly as often as he is applauded in these parts.

And there you have “DK’s Mid-Season Honors and Awards”. Despite some injuries (Schilling), under-achievers (Millar/Foulke) and unneeded drama (Foulke/Payton), the Red Sox find themselves in first place at the All-Star break in the A.L. East for the first time since 1995. Not too shabby. Hopefully there is still some more hardware ahead for Boston (i.e. another World Series trophy), but for now maybe these honors and awards will help whet their appetite for even greater honors and awards which may lie ahead.