AWARDS!!!

Baseball ended...a while ago. Well, for us it did. For the 83-win Cardinals, they still have reason for grins on their faces. I mean, 4 teams won more games in a regular season than the Cards did up until the very end of October. But I'm over being bitter about that. It is now time for the much anticipated award week. ROY, Cy Young, Manager of the Year and Ryan Howard...sorry I meant MVP. While the Phils have only a realistic shot at one of them (and I will strip naked and run on the field of every Phillies game at CBP next year if Charlie Manuel wins Manager of the Year), I thought it would be fun to post the Phillies winners of 2006 in each of these categories.


Rookie of the Year: Cole Hamels

His numbers were not the most eye-popping (thanks to the dumb months that Cole and I no longer consider part of the year known as June and July) but the King stepped up big in August and September and gave us all hope to be a fan in the future. After making every team that faced him his bitch in the minors, Gillick called the savior to pimp the Majors. With a 4.08 ERA to go along with 145 ks in only 132 IP, Hamels proved he can handle the pressure of the show...unlike my mortal enemy and satan-worshipper Gavin Floyd. He ended the year as one of our best pitchers and defied physics and everything Isaac Newton stood for with his sickening changeup. And even though he gave me the scariest 15 days of my life with his non-funny practical joke DL stint, he gets my vote for the Phillies ROY 2k6.

Runners up: Jamie Moyer, Jeff Conine and Adam Bernero

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Cy Young: Brett Myers

I sort of had to give it to him. He pitched the most innings out of all the Phillies, had the most Ks, most wins and had the lowest ERA of all starters. For the most part he always gave us a shot at winning and could be downright filthy at times. Of course, he pissed us all off when he went to Boston and turned into Bobby Brown. I was shocked with his ability to remain an effective pitcher on his return. I was equally as amazed with little amount of boos he recieved on July 26 vs Atlanta. Brett ended with an ERA under 4 and had a RIDICULOUS 12 wins! And even though everyone was calling for his head during that infamous weekend in Boston, no one can deny the fact that since Dubee came in, Myers has turned his promise into reality. Is he a true number 1? Not the best one in the game, however, he is the best thing we got and we should be happy we have him.

Runners up: Julio Santana, Gavin '7.29' Floyd, Adam Bernero (again)

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Manager (in this case coach) of the Year: Ramon Henderson

I couldn't choose Manuel. Fancy Dancy would send Burrell home from first on a single. Bombard...nope. Milt Thompson is a nice dude but couldn't keep Pat the Bat going on the right path. Varsho always seemed like he wanted to kill someone. At least Henderson contributed to giving Phillies fans joy with his meatballs in the Homerun Derby. Last year, when abreu dominated the competition thus ending his ability to hit any dingers the rest of the year, I did not realize just HOW much Henderson was the cause for his bombs. He helped Howard take the competition he was raised to win. At that point in the year, the Phillies seemed like a downward spiraled team with nothing to play for. I was a depressed fan and was only looking forward to seeing if Utley could continue his streak. And while I only half-expected Howard to take it, I didn't realize how much fun I would have watching it. Henderson made me happy on 2 seperate nights in my life, and thats more than I can ask for from a bullpen coach.

Runners up: Aaron Rowand

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MVP: I don't even have to say it

Howard, who will officially own Philadelphia one day, never understood the meaning of sophomore slump. In fact, Rhyno doesn't really understand the word slump. If he was ever in a homerun drought, he was still knocking in rbis and keeping his average up. In fact, Howard's avg never dipped below .278...with his worst month being July where he hit .267 but still kept a .411 OBP and hit 8 homers. Yes...Howard was more of a treat than getting a big candy bar on halloween. Howard broke so many records this year and won so many awards, it would be redundant for me to spit them all out. Click here if you want to know the jist Will Howard hit 58 again? If he has the proper protection, then of course. Will he knock in over 150? Quote me: Yes. Will he become the best Phillie ever? Let us not get ahead of ourselves, but he is definitely in the perfect position to do so.

Runners up (serious): Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins

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Other Awards...
Rolaids Relief Man of the Year: Geary
Gold Glove: Jimmy Rollins
Comeback Player the Year: Thome for 2 reasons...He actually won it and we are still paying for him to play
Awesome Play of the Year: Rowand saving Floyd's ass in May
Dumbass Play of the Year: Rowand almost killing Utley in August







Badass Picture of the year:



Achievement(s) of the Year: 38 and 35 game hit streaks
Heartbreaking game of the year: Losing to the Yankees after Ryan Howard knocked in 7 runs.
Quote of the Year: "For Who? My Teammates. For What? To Win."

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As for the actual awards...my predictions go as follows
NL ROY: Zimmerman
AL ROY: Verlander

NL Cy Young: Webb
AL Cy Young: Santana

NL Manager of the Year: Girardi
AL Manager of the Year: Leyland (HE SHOULD BE OURS!!!!)

NL MVP: Howard
AL MVP: Jeter







One last award...Best Caveman ever: