So the Baseball Writers’ Association Awards took place this past week. And well, the outcome of the 2013 BBWAA’s certainly let me down, and here’s why…
Before you read any further, I am about to defend Mike Matheny. I know some of Cardinal Nation isn’t a big fan of that. Just take a second and soak in my take on him.
As many of you guys know, Matheny wasn’t even a finalist in BBWAA’s list of finalists for Manager of the Year, which makes me highly confused.
We can all admit and say that Matheny has made his share of silly mistakes throughout the 2013 season. Every manager does it, some more than others. But open your eyes and really look at where Matheny led his team. On his first year of management, he led the Cardinals to one game away from being World Series bound against the San Francisco Giants. I said this in my earlier article, if you can’t appreciate that, then I’m sorry. We HAVE to admit that leading a team THAT FAR into the playoffs on a manager’s FIRST year of management, is highly impressive.
I was talking to a Twitter friend of mine on Twitter the other day, and we were talking about this exact thing. We were talking about the “grading system” in the MLB. We both agreed that Matheny would be a solid B. Unless a manager is perfect, which none of them are, I would never give a manager an A on his first couple years of managing. Managing a major league baseball team is a learning experience. It shouldn’t be something that comes natural to a person. Of course, looking at Matheny and how far he took the Cardinals in his first two years, one would say that he is close to perfect. Like I said, yes, he made some strange decisions here and there. But having a B on a grading scale in his first two years of managing is quite impressive.
Not only did he lead his team very far into his first year, look at where he took his team this year – all the way until Game 6 of the Fall Classic. That is something really hard to complain about.
Managing a team that is filled with young guys that still have a lot to learn can be difficult to do on one’s own. Which leads me to my next point of topic..
Yadier Molina. Yes, Yadier Molina. Molina has led these young pitchers to many highly successful games.
Molina was nominated a finalist for National League Most Valuable Player of the Year, running up against Pirates’ Andrew McCutchen and Diamondbacks’ Paul Goldschmidt. Don’t get me wrong, these two guys that Yadi ran up against are two HIGHLY talented guys. I mean, of course I’m going to say that Yadi well deserved the NL MVP. I’m not just saying that just because I’m a Cardinals fan, here’s a couple of reasons why.
First, I will give you my definition of “Most valuable” when it comes to playing ball. Being the most valuable player means that you do all you can to get your team to the Fall Classic. I can admit, I’m a numbers and statistics kind of person. But I can also admit, numbers don’t always count. As great as they are, there should just be more that should be looked at. For another example, “valuable” makes “one of a kind” pop into my head. Which, of course, is EXACTLY what Yadi is. Yadi, by a mile, is one of a kind. His toughness, great attitude, and ball-playing discipline makes him very valuable in the MLB.
I won’t get TOO into stats and all he did (if you would like more of my take on his MVP worthy skills, take a look at my MVP article). Everything he does makes him such a great ball player.
This article was short and sweet, but my point is that even though Matheny wasn’t a finalist in Manager of the Year, and Yadi came to a disappointing third place in the NL MVP of the Year, these two guys in particular led the Cardinals to yet another fantastic year.
I hope everyone is surviving the off-season okay. Hang in there, Cardinal Nation. Opening season is just one hundred and thirty-nine days away. But who’s counting? Thanks for reading, everybody.
Keep flying, Cardinal Nation.
Carly Schaber
Twitter: @Carly_Schaber
Photo: USA Today Sports Images
