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Review: Paramount Room
Um...really? Don't get us wrong: it's great to see the Cubs capture more postseason hardware and we thought Lou did a pretty swell job and all but given the way the Cubs shat the bed in the playoffs and the job Charlie Manuel did with the Phillies - who, you know, actually won the World Series - or even Torre out in L.A., we were surprised to learn that Lou Piniella has been recognized as National League Manager of the Year. Even more surprising is the fact that Manuel was a distant second place in voting, 103 points to 67. (In case you were wondering, Tampa Bay's Joe Maddon won in the A.L.)
It's Lou's third Manager of the Year Award (he won in 1995 and 2001 for his work in Seattle). He led the Cubs to a 97-64 record, good enough for best in the N.L. and is the first manager in 100 years to lead the Cubs to back-to-back playoff appearances and he's been rightly rewarded with a contract extension that'll keep him in Cub Blue until 2010 at least. After the Dodger series debacle, he said, "I'm excited [about next year], but I want to do more than play the part of the good loser. I really do. I want to do more than play the part of congratulating the other team in the first round of the playoffs.
We love Lou and the job he's done as skipper for the Cubs; there's actually a ray of hope in the clubhouse worth believing in. After all, it's not Lou's fault that the offense went AWOL in October. Lou is a strength that gives the Cubs their best shot at ending this ridiculous drought (that has NOTHING AT ALL TO DO WITH CURSES) and while we think he did an admirable job managing this year...well, we're just saying we're surprised. That's all.
Update: Okay, so multiple commenters and readers have pointed out that the voting is all done prior to the post-season. In which case, yes, Lou deserves it and that makes my questioning completely moot. Thanks, for the heads-up, guys. I don't know how I've followed baseball this long and didn't know that...
AP Photo/M. Spencer Green
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voting is done prior to post season play.
Manager of the year, MVP, Cy Young, etc. are all based solely on the regular season.
The fact that the awards are given out based solely on the regular season makes it all the more baffling that they wait until so long after the postseason ends to make the announcements.
...which is why even in following major league baseball since I was a wee lad, I never picked up on the whole "voting before the season ends" thing. I mean, sure it all makes sense, but...yeah...I'm feeling not so sharp right about now.
They don't announce it during the postseason to avoid distraction and to prevent taking away from the postseason games themselves. As for the long delay after the world series is wrapped up, I think you can chalk that up to MLB wanting to prolong the news cycle of the sport. Keep the game in the headlines as long as possible after the playoffs end.
it does seem like post-season should factor in to the voting in these award categories. sure you'd be judging 8 managers based on more games than the rest of the managers but it's not like their job ends when the calendar flips to October.
All of the major sports awards are regular season based. Its the only fair way to do it. Great players not surrounded by decent talent would be hampered. Same with coaches. If the Rays fell one game short of the playoffs, Maddon still deserved the award for the dramatic turnaround. If it included the playoffs, these situations would not be given a fair shake.