1967 Awards Balloting

[leecemark]

--Voting is now open for the awards for 1967. Please vote for your top 10 for MVP and top 3 for Cy Young and Rookie of the Year. Voting will be open til midnight EST on Thursday, so there is still time to campaign for your guy(s) if you want. I'd especially like to see some nominees for Rookie of the Year.
--Attached are the current leaderboards expanded to the top 25. I'll update that one more time at the end of the season.

[leecemark]

--Harmon Killebrew has easily the best offensive stats, but he doesn't make my short list. You've got to discount his numbers some due to park factors, his defense is atrocious and the Gamblers don't look like they are going to make the playoffs. OTOH they have been a surprisingly storng contender, giving the Knights by far the toughest fight for the Johnson title in the CKL's 7 year history. I'm going to hold off till the race is officially decided and perhaos I'll reconsider his spot.
--The next best hitters are Yaz and Frank Robinson. Robbie probably has the slight edge here considering the sizeable obstacle Yankee Stadium presents to a RH power hitter. Yaz has the defensive advantage though and is finishing strong, while Robbie is sitting out to rest some nagging injuries. Bill Freehan is another strong candidate. He is 10th in runs created despite playing in a tough pitchers park and both the brutal grind and need to rest as a catcher. He has been outstanding behind the plate and I'm thinking he may get the top spot on my ballot.
--For the second year in a row Tony Oliva has surged after the All Star break and fueled a strong finish by the Skipjacks. If he didn't have a teammate who was just a little bit better he would get some consideration for back to back MVP honors. Richie Allen has had more or less the same season as Killebrew with park factors taken into account. Roberto Clemente kept the Diablos in contention for much of the season and is going to endup with his best year to date. Ron Santo perhaps deserves to rank ahead of both Killebrew and Allen as the league's best 3B. He is a notch behind with the bat, but miles ahead with the glove.
--Only a handfull of key defensive players cracked the top 25 in RC. Freehan is the only catcher and only top 10 of the bunch. Fregosi is the lone SS. McAuliffe and Morgan represent the secondbasemen. Santo and Brooks Robinson are excellent 3B and 6 CFers make the list - headed by Vada Pinson who has quietly had an outstanding season for the Badgers.

[leecemark]

--Only 3 serious contenders IMO. Gary Peters leads in wins, winning percentage and ERA. Joel Horlen is 2nd in wins, ERA and IP and leads in quality starts. Jim Bunning leads in IP, K's and complete games. He is tied for 2nd in wins (but with more losses than Horlen) and 5th in ERA. JIm Merrit may have challenged for a spot if he hadn;t had to be shut down for the last couple weeks of the season. Phil Neikro was having a great year for the Stingers before he had to be shutdown as well. Frank Linzy has been awesome out of the pen for the Skipjacks.

[leecemark]

--The Legends Tom Seaver and Rick Monday are both strong candidates. Gary Nolan had a very good year for the Shoeless Joes. Dick Hughes was a work horse for the Hard Cider. The Knights Mel Queen has 15 wins. No doubt I'm forgetting someone. Please nominate your best rookie whoever that might be.

[mac195]

Bill Freehan is another strong candidate.

I agree. I was looking to give Haller from my team a mention. But Freehan has been as good a hitter, better at throwing out runners, and has played a lot more. He'll probably get #1 on my list, although I'm still looking at Killebrew... what a monster he has been, and hugely valuable for the Gamblers.

[J W]

It doesn't look like there's a clear cut winner in either race right now. I'm certainly waiting until the very end. There are a lot of good choices.

[leecemark]

--One last sales pitch for Gary Peters for Cy Young. Peters ends up with 2 more wins - and less than half as many losses - than Bunning and Horlen. He helped himself quite a bit in winning those games. Peters drove in 18 runs (and scored 13) in his 36 starts. He also contributed EX defense. Bunning and Horlen didn't help their causes much at all, driving in a combined 11 runs (5 and 6).

[J W]

One good pitch deserves another:

Joe Horlen will take the ERA title this season (2.50) as well as the WHIP title (0.95). He finished the season with 31 quality starts, including his latest 2-1 loss... five more than Peters (26) or any other pitcher.

[leecemark]

--Horlen did win the ERA title fair and square. Peters would have had it if he called it a season one inning earlier though. He went into his last start on top of the leaderboard and gave up only 1 run in 8 IP. With a big lead Earl Weaver sent him back out for the complete game and the 9th didn't go well, with 5 runs in before he hit the showers. He still got the win, but the ERA title was gone. Really you can't go wrong with any of the top 3 pitchers. Peters will get the homer (but justified) vote from me, but it would be no shame to lose out to Horlen or Bunning.

[leecemark]

MVP
1) Bill Freehan: probably the best seaosn by a catcher in CKL history
2) Carl Yastzremski: didn't quite match real 67 heroics, but still outstanding
3) Frank Robinson: the constant in the HC dynasty has another big season
4) Harmon Killebrew: almost powered Gambler's to surprise pennant
5) Jim Fregosi: $22M man proved to neccessity rather than luxury
6) Tony Oliva: another great 2nd half for our 66 MVP
7) Ron Santo: great all around season
8) Roberto Clemente: Diablo's franchise player has his best season
9) Dick McAuliffe: awesome rates for a middle IF, but often sat vs LHP
10) Dick Allen: great bat, terrible glove

CYA
1) Gary Peters: best season for 3 time 20 game winner
2) Joe Horlen: edged Peters for ERA title
3) Jim Bunning: workhorse struggled down the strech

ROY
1) Tom Seaver: great start to what promises to be great career
2) Gary Nolan: quietly has year pretty comparable to Seaver's
3) Rick Monday: if he'd played everyday he would be MVP candidate

[-Kyle-]

I would say Killebrew was still VERY valuable despite not making the playoffs...what happens if I don't have him? Probably 10 more games back.

[leecemark]

--I agree he was very valuable. Just not quite most valuable. Any of the top 4 on my ballot would be solid choices though. There isn't an obvious winner this year - at least not IMO.

[J W]

MVP
1) Carl Yastrzemski - best all-around player (148.6 RC, 8.9 RC/27, EX/EX defense)
2) Frank Robinson - 145.3 RC, 9.0 RC/27, better D than advertised... hard to pass up
3) Bill Freehan - 112.3 RC, 6.8 RC/27, EX/VG defense at C for the league's best team
4) Ron Santo - 126.5 RC, 7.5 RC/27, sub-par error rate though for his D-value
5) Harmon Killebrew - too much bat for his glove to keep out of the top five
6) Tony Oliva - gaining a new appreciation for him historically
7) Roberto Clemente - won batting title by a large margin... should be higher on the list?
8) Gary Peters - let's face it, he's the MVP of the Knights
9) Dick Allen - 134.7 RC, 8.6 RC/27, and many runs given up at 3B
10) Brooks Robinson - obligatory homer vote for unsung hero of the Skipjacks... may have had better season than Allen

CYA
1) Gary Peters - can you believe it? well, after seeing no positional MVP candidate for the Knights, I realized Peters is the man this season
2) Joe Horlen - does the CYA mean "best pitcher" or "most valuable pitcher"? Horlen was the best... Peters the most valuable to his team
3) Jim Bunning - definitely show. Was in first until last month of season

ROY
1) Tom Seaver - 19-6, respectable ERA, probably top ten CYA material
2) Rick Monday - 8.1 RC/27... big part of the Legends being the best this season
3) Gary Nolan - wow, second in the league in Ks. Too bad he didn't get run support

[leecemark]

24 hours till the voting closes

[baseballPAP]

Attempting to add a hint of realism, my votes are in the tradition of the Writers...based largely on the triple crown stats.

MVP
1-Harmon Killebrew
2-Carl Yastrzemski
3-Roberto Clemente
4-Frank Robinson
5-Bill Freehan
6-Tony Oliva
7-Frank Howard
8-Dick McAuliffe
9-Lou Brock
10-Joe Torre

CYA
1-Gary Peters
2-Joe Horlen
3-Jim Bunning

RYA
1-Gary Nolan
2-Tom Seaver
3-Rick Monday

[catcher24]

Most Valuable Player Award

1. Bill Freehan - Without him the Legends don't win the division, and maybe don't make the playoffs. A huge offensive season from a defensive oriented position - and great defense, too!
2. Carl Yastrzemski - His superior fielding puts him here ahead of Frank Robinson.
3. Frank Robinson - Perennial Hard Cider offensive force just keeps rolling along.
4. Ron Santo - Perhaps a homer vote here, but he was the biggest offensive force on the team with the best record, and played a decent third base as well.
5. Harmon Killebrew - His huge offensive season for the Gamblers almost took them to the playoffs. Would've placed higher if not for the iron glove.
6. Tony Oliva - Another great season for the Skipjacks. Jason has to be pretty sad about his impending free agency.:faint:
7. Roberto Clemente - As Mark mentioned, probably the greatest offensive season so far for this Diablos cornerstone, plays a great right field, and no one takes extra bases on him.
8. Frank Howard - Have to include him at least in the top 10. Led the Shoeless Joes attack all season long. The team faded at the end, but big Frank had a season to be proud of.
9. Dick McAuliffe - Another great season for the Knights keystone sacker. Puts up offensive numbers worthy of an outfielder but does it from his second base slot.
10. Dick Allen - Only here due to the lack of AB Rick Monday had. Tremendous offensive force, horrid defensively.

Sincere apologies to Rick Monday, Norm Cash, Al Kaline and Mickey Mantle, who also all deserved mention.

Cy Young Award

1. Gary Peters - With sincere apologies to both Bunning and Horlen. The award could just as easily go to them. I put Peters first because he was the most important of the three to his team's final success. Without him, the Gamblers may have ended the Knights dynasty. Without Bunning, the Hard Cider win by 7 or 8 instead of 13; without Horlen, JW is still the wild card.
2. Jim Bunning - A tremendous season. Mac has gotten better seasons out of Bunning than I have out of McCovey since that pre-1961 trade. That'll change soon!
3. Joel Horlen - Rather under the radar all season, but finished in the top three or four in most pitching categories. Many other years might be #1.

Rookie of the Year Award

1. Tom Seaver - A very difficult choice, basically a coin flip between Seaver and Monday. Probably wouldn't have finished first without either one.
2. Rick Monday - With more PA, would've been high on my MVP ballot as well, and would've been a bigger offensive force than Santo.
3. Dick Hughes - Beats out John Hiller by virtue of his importance to a division winning team.

[Sockeye]

MVP

1. Harmon Killebrew
2. Frank Robinson
3. Carl Yastrzemski
4. Dick Allen
5. Roberto Clemente
6. Bill Freehan
7. Tony Oliva
8. Ron Santo
9. Norm Cash
10. Frank Howard

CYA

1. Jim Bunning
2. Joel Horlen
3. Phil Niekro

ROY

1. Tom Seaver
2. Gary Nolan
3. Rick Monday

[jkc32]

MVP
1 Carl Yastzremski
2 Frank Robinson
3 Harmon Killebrew
4 Bill Freehan
5 Tony Oliva
6 Frank Howard
7 Roberto Clemente
8 Dick McAuliffe
9 Ron Santo
10 Dick Allen

CY
1 Gary Peters
2 Joe Horlen
3 Jim Bunning

ROY
1 Tom Seaver
2 Gary Nolan
3 Rick Monday

[mac195]

MVP
1-Bill Freehan
2-Carl Yastrzemski
3-Harmon Killebrew
4-Frank Robinson
5-Ron Santo
6-Tony Oliva
7-Roberto Clemente
8-Dick Allen
9-Jim Fregosi
10-Dick McAulliffe


CYA
1-Gary Peters
2-Jim Bunning
3-Joe Horlen

RYA
1-Tom Seaver
2-Rick Monday
3-Dick Hughes

[leecemark]

--Carl Yastzremski wins the MVP award in a very tight 4 man race.
1) Carl Yastrzemski 68
2) Harmon Killebrew 59
3) Bill Freehan 57
3) Frank Robinson 57
5) Tony Oliva 36
6) Roberto Clemente 33
7) Ron Santo 30
8) Dick Allen 15
9) Frank Howard 14
10) Dick McAuliffe 11
--Others receiving vote; Fregosi, Peters, Cash, Brock, Mantle, B. Robinson, Torre

[leecemark]

--Gary Peters is an easy winner in the CY Young race, although the top 3 were pretty clearly identified.
1) Gary Peters 30
2) Joe Horlen 17
3) Jim Bunning 15
--Phil Neikro 1

[leecemark]

--Tom Seaver runs away with the Rookie of the Year award.
1) Tom Seaver 33
2) Gary nolan 15
3) Rick Monday 13
--Dick Hughes 2