- The Rusty Kuntz Cup (best name): Had to consider Coco Crisp, but "Coco" is technically Covelli Loyce Crisp's nickname. Jared Saltalamacchia had to be considered for his record-breakingly lengthy tag, but not good enough. The Kuntz cup goes to... Reds reliever Jon Coutlangus. This is a deceptively filthy name in the tradition of Mr. Kuntz and the great Dick Such.- The Rob Deer Trophy (outstanding achievement in the field of striking out): Adam Dunn. Dunn has 105 whiffs at the break. While he flirted with the 200 K mark in 2004 and narrowly missed breaking his own record in 2006, we believe '07 could be the year Adam Dunn hits two hondo.
- The Pascual Perez Award (ugliest look): With apologies to Julian Tavarez, Randy Johnson and Jay Gibbons,who have taken the natural approach to looking absolutely terrible, the Perez award goes to Scott Speizio (right). He has purposely grown a four inch crimson rat-tail underneath his lower lip. If Astros minor leaguer Ezequiel Astacio makes it back to the bigs, he'll no doubt walk away with season-ending honors.- The Pavano Award (player who is doing wonderfully for a team nobody cares about, but will no doubt crumble if brought to a place that actually watches baseball): The award goes to... Tampa Bay 1st baseman Carlos Pena. Pena hadn't contributed to a major league club over any substantial stretch since '04. This season? He has inexplicably outproduced almost every 1st baseman in the game- crushing 20 HRs while driving in 52 for the D'Rays. However, you get the feeling that if Carlos left the Trop, his magical powers would "Pavano" into a sticky mess.
- The John Heder Trophy (colossal disappointment) Alex Gordon, Royals. Though he flashed some of his uber-prospect potential in June (.325 BA , 14 RBI), Gordon has stumbled badly in his first major league season, hitting .232 while whiffing a Dunn-like 73 times. Not only was Gordon nominated for the Deer trophy, but was considered for the Perez Award with his interesting "could be 'roids, could be weed" look. Regardless, Gordon- the '05 Golden Spikes award winner and top draft pick of the same year- was supposed to be one of the game's most exciting young talents. Julio Lugo and his .197 batting average could have easily won this award, but he has stolen some bases (22) and driven in 40 RBI.
If you have any other award nominees of your own, please feel free to comment!
2 comments:
I was hoping Magglio Ordonez would get a special achievement award for having the courage to bring back the pube-fro. He may be the Latin CHB.
You should add the Ernie McCracken award to your award list. For pitcher most likely to bowl the ball to first base... It may quell the disappointment of Julian losing the Pascual Perez award.
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