Category Archives: Awards Season

Clayton Kershaw is the National League Player of the Week.

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Clayton KershawDodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who won his first two starts of the season without allowing a single earned run, was named the National League Player of the Week on Monday.

Kershaw tossed a shutout against the San Francisco Giants on Opening Day and hit a solo home run for the game-winning RBI. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Kershaw became just the second pitcher in Major League history to hit a home run and throw a shutout in his team’s season opener, joining Cleveland Indians hurler Bob Lemon, who homered in his Opening Day one-hitter against the White Sox on April 14, 1953.

On Saturday, Kershaw allowed just two hits in seven scoreless innings on the way to a 1-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Dodger Stadium.

The left-hander hasn’t allowed a run in his last 20 innings dating back to his final start of the 2012 season, which is the second-longest streak of his career (22.0 innings, May 8-19, 2012). This is his third career N.L. Player of the Week honor and first since May 14-20 last year.

In recognition of the award, Kershaw will be awarded a watch courtesy of Game Time.

Hall of Fame vote fizzles: No one elected for the first time since 1996.

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The Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony in July will feature an empty podium.

No players listed on this year’s ballot got the necessary 75 percent of votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America. Craig Biggio led the way with 68.2 percent, followed by Jack Morris at 67.7 percent and Jeff Bagwell at 59.6. It’s the first year no players will be enshrined since 1996.

Former Dodgers catcher Mike Piazza was fourth, listed on 57.8 percent of all 569 ballots. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly received 13.2 percent of votes, down from the 17.8 percent he received last year. Support for hitting coach Mark McGwire also dropped, from 19.5 percent in 2012 to 16.9 percent this year.

Two former Dodgers, Kenny Lofton (3.2 percent) and Shawn Green (0.4), did not receive the necessary 5 percent of votes to remain on the ballot. Both were listed on the ballot for the first time.

Some other notable names who fell short: Barry Bonds (36.2 percent), Roger Clemens (37.6), Sammy Sosa (12.5), Fred McGriff (20.7).

The complete results, courtesy of the BBWAA:
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My failed romance with Baseball’s Hall of Fame.

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Bert Blyleven

Bert Blyleven has been accused of being Dutch and giving up a lot of home runs, but not of taking performance-enhancing drugs. (Associated Press)

Some kids want to be astronauts, firemen, architects, or all of the above.

I wanted to vote for the Baseball Hall of Fame.

That’s embarrassing to admit, because I should have known better. Architects make good money. They are also able to work with numbers that don’t lie. If Edgar Kaufmann’s house in rural Pennsylvania (better known as Fallingwater) didn’t have enough weight resting in the rest of its structure, its cantilevered deck would collapse into the waterfall below. There’s no ambiguity about those numbers.

I’m not a Hall of Fame voter; I don’t have the required 10 years’ tenure in BBWAA. But I know that my voting colleagues can’t place the same confidence in their numbers. Not when those numbers are statistics compiled by steroid users in a country that considers steroid possession illegal, in a game that didn’t enforce the same rules as its government.

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Baseball’s Hall of Fame ballot: Four more ex-Dodgers for your consideration.

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Baseball’s Hall of Fame ballot was announced yesterday, and there were a few more Dodger connections among the first-time candidates. We’re guessing that none of these guys will make it in, but not to be overlooked …

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Poll: Who should be in the Hall?

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Today, the 2013 ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame will be revealed. It should be an interesting ballot.

Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Roger Clemens, all fantastic players in their primes and suspected PED users, should be on for the first time. Former Dodgers catcher Mike Piazza is also newly eligible. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly is on the ballot for the 13th time, hitting coach Mark McGwire for the seventh. Former MLBPA head Marvin Miller isn’t on the ballot, but quite a debate ensued over his Hall-worthiness when he died yesterday.

It’ll renew the great, uncomfortable, annual debate over whether known and suspected PED users belong in the Hall of Fame. (Jeff Bagwell … what was he on? Anything?)

There are about as many opinions as there are candidates. Here’s your chance to chime in before official results are announced on Jan. 9:

R.A. Dickey wins National League Cy Young Award.

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New York Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey denied Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw’s quest for a second straight Cy Young Award on Wednesday, winning the award given to the league’s best pitcher for the first time at age 37.

The veteran knuckleballer went 20-6 with a 2.73 ERA for a moribund Mets club, equaling his win total from the last three seasons combined.

Clayton Kershaw

Kershaw led the National League in ERA (2.53) and fell one short of Dickey for the strikeout title, with 229 in 227 2/3 innings. Dickey also led the league in starts (33), complete games (5) and shutouts (3).

Kershaw led the NL in wins (21-5), strikeouts (248) and ERA (2.28) while winning the award last year.

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Poll: Who should win the National League Cy Young Award?

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The voters have spoken and the three finalists for the National League Cy Young Award have been chosen. Now it’s your turn.

Simple question today: Who deserves the award? Here’s a bit more about Clayton Kershaw, R.A. Dickey and Gio Gonzalez with links to their stats.

BBWAA Awards: Kershaw among finalists for National League Cy Young Award.

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Clayton Kershaw is among the top three vote-getters for the National League Cy Young Award, announced Wednesday by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. The New York Mets’ R.A. Dickey and the Washington Nationals’ Gio Gonzalez are the other finalists.

Clayton KershawKershaw led the National League in ERA (2.53) and fell one short of Dickey for the strikeout title, with 229 in 227 2/3 innings. The 24-year-old led the NL in wins (21-5), strikeouts (248) and ERA (2.28) while winning the Cy Young Award in 2011.

Dickey is considered the favorite to win the award this year. The 37-year-old knuckleballer went 20-6 for a moribund Mets club, equaling his win total from the last three seasons combined.

Davey Johnson, Buck Showalter win IBWAA Manager of the Year awards.

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Don Mattingly was not among the leading vote-getters for the IBWAA Manager of the Year announced Wednesday. The awards went to Davey Johnson and Buck Showalter in their respective leagues. The IBWAA is independent of the BBWAA, but shares a few voters in common and serves as a predictor of the BBWAA end-of-season awards.

The top three vote getters in each league:
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Another award for Vin Scully.

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Vin Scully can make room for one more trophy in his case.

The Dodgers’ Hall of Fame broadcaster will be presented with the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation’s Allan H. “Bud” Selig Executive Leadership Award at the Foundation’s 10th annual “In The Spirit of the Game” Sports and Entertainment Spectacular at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel on Jan. 12, 2013. Selig will present Scully with the award.

Scully has won a few awards since calling his first Brooklyn Dodgers game in 1950. In 1982, The National Baseball Hall of Fame awarded him the Ford Frick Award. The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association has named him National Sportscaster of the Year three times (1965, 1978, 1982) and he has been awarded the title of California Sportscaster of the Year 29 times. He was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2009. In that same year, the American Sportscasters Association named him the Top Sportscaster of All-Time.