Results tagged “Francisco Rodriguez” from The Sports Desk

Frankie Rodriguez finished third -- without getting a first-place vote -- in the American League Cy Young balloting announced today.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Cliff Lee won the American League Cy Young Award in a runaway Thursday, capping a dominant comeback season that made him the second consecutive Cleveland Indians lefty to earn the honor.

Demoted to the minors last year, Lee went a major league-best 22-3 this season with a 2.54 ERA. He received 24 of 28 first-place votes and 132 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Toronto ace Roy Halladay was a distant runner-up with four first-place votes and 71 points. Record-setting closer Francisco Rodriguez of the Los Angeles Angels finished third with 32 points.

Here's a hint about how much this bothers me.

You can contribute to a column I'm planning to write. The topic is the right and wrong ways for athletes to celebrate victories, big plays, etc. Tell me what kinds of celebrations you like and what kinds go too far -- or not far enough.

Does it seem as if Francisco Rodriguez's saves-record pursuit is getting less attention than other record chases? I sure hope so.

Rodriguez's next save for the Angels will be his 58th of the season, breaking the record held by Bobby Thigpen of the Chicago White Sox. The question isn't how Rodriguez's achievement stacks up with Thigpen's, it's whether any achievement involving the statistic called saves is as big a deal as the feats of starting pitchers and hitters.

My attitude, and this applied to Eric Gagne's record-setting saves streak for the Dodgers a few years ago, is that the feats of bullpen closers are more like curiosities than Cooperstown calling cards.