IT'S RAMIREZ BY FOUR POINTS OVER ZIMMERMAN
[November 13th] -- Charley Steiner just reported that Hanley Ramirez won the NL Rookie-Of-The-Year award, beating Ryan Zimmerman by four points. Dan Uggla came in third.
It goes without saying that I couldn't disagree more. Ramirez played well offensively, but made 26 errors at short, a number that "is sure to go down over the years" according to one of the Marlins' beat reporters. Well, that could be true -- but Ryan Zimmerman's defense is already major league ready and doesn't have to get any better.
Sigh. The guy is a gold-glove fielder and drives in 110 runs, and he isn't rookie of the year? Someone has to explain that to me. That said, it would have been nice, but in the long run, it doesn't matter. Does anyone really think that Ramirez will have a better career than Zimmerman? Fast guys get old, they get injured, and they stop stealing bases. Bad fielders don't always get better. Gold-glovers, on the other hand, will only get better, and power hitters remain power hitters for years to come.
Congratulations to Hanley Ramirez -- honest -- he's a fine player. But I wouldn't trade him for Zimmerman; heck, I wouldn't trade him and Dan Uggla for Zimmerman. I have a feeling that Uggla is a one-year wonder, and will return to the "real world" in 2007.
Zim's still the guy. Nothing that happened today has changed that.
Buck Martinez Surprised: Charley Steiner interviewed XM's Buck Martinez who said that while Ramirez is a "quality" choice, He thought that Ryan Zimmerman was going to win the award. "It all boils down to shortstop being the more glamorous position," said Martinez.
Surprises: Prince Fielder, who I think is going to be a much better player than either Ramirez or Uggla, came in a distant 7th place with only two votes. Dan Uggla, who I thought was a close second behind Zimmerman, finished third with just 55 votes.
I guess the voters still have that "throw 'em out of Washington" mentality.
Regardless of how the voting turned out, Ryan Zimmerman is still the "TOP ROOK" in the National League this year. We should petition his home state of Virginia to create a "personalized" license plate in his honor. Ryan is not only one heckuva player, he is also one heckuva person. He reminds me a lot of Dale Murphy, an "aw shucks" kind of guy that everyone likes.
C'mon, DMV, for once, do something right!
That said, it's hard to not recognize Zim's 110 RBI's and gold-glove defense.
Me thinks there was a conspiracy.
In 1958 and 1959, the AL ROYs both came from last-place Washington teams - Albie Pearson in '58 and Bob Allison in '59. So there I disagree.
However, in the modern sports era, it seems no one can place achievement in context unless ESPN tells them how. In that context, I can understand (though not appreciate) the shortsightedness of voters basing an individual award on the overall performance of the surrounding cast (acknowledging that it is a team sport just the same). So there I agree.
Today, however, ESPN is no longer the conduit to the story, it is THE story.
And that's too bad.
Today, however, ESPN is no longer the conduit to the story, it is THE story.
And that's too bad.
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