My Choices for the 2013 Baseball Blogger Alliance Post Season Awards

The Baseball Bloggers Alliance is a 4-year old organization that brings together hundreds of Baseball blog writers from throughout North America to foster communication and collaboration.  We are encouraged to use one another to deepen our understanding of the game and the teams that play it. It is for this reason that I thoroughly enjoy being a part of the group

A side benefit to membership is having an opportunity to vote on end of the year awards; much like the more established BBWAA.  Here are my choices for the years best in the National League.

The Connie Mack Award is given to the top manager each year.

Clint Hurdle.  The Pittsburgh Pirates did great things in 2013.  They went from finishing 4 games below .500 last season to 26 games above .500 a year later.  That's a 30 game turnaround, and the franchises first winning record since 1992. Clint Hurdle took a band of misfit ballplayers and transformed them into a cohesive unit ready to battle for a pennant.  Sure, the stellar play of their MVP caliber outfielder Andrew McCutchen helped lead the way, but without an able skipper they would have likely just waded in the pool.

The Willie Mays Award is given to the top rookie each year.

Jose Fernandez.  This was a tough pick, but I believe Fernandez had a better rookie season then our rising star, Yasiel Puig.  At just 21 years of age he won 12 games for the lowly Miami Marlins.  In 28 starts he recorded 2.18 ERA, a 6.3 WAR, an 0.979 WHIP average, and a league leading low of just 5.8 hits per 9 innings.  As the lone representative in the All-Star game for the Marlins, he pitched a scoreless inning and struck out 2.

The Goose Gossage Award is given to the top reliever each year.

Craig Kimbrel.  The 2011 Rookie of the Year winner was just outstanding on the mound this season.  He tied with Jim Johnson of Baltimore for the Major League lead in saves with 50.  With a  devestating four-seam fastball clocked in the high-90's and a phenomenal curveball, he recorded a 1.21 ERA, a 0.881 WHIP average, and 13.2 strike outs per 9 innings.  Not only that, Craig Kimbrel is a good guy.  Via his website, he donates $100.00 per save and $25.00 for each strike out he records to help kids with cancer.

The Walter Johnson Award is given to the top pitcher each year.

Clayton Kershaw.  I don't think there's any doubt that Clayton Kershaw was the best starting pitcher in the Major Leagues this season.  He lead the Major Leagues (not just the National League) in ERA with 1.83 and a 0.915 WHIP average.  He also recorded a 2 shutouts, 232 strike outs, and a WAR of 7.9.  On top of that, he reached 1,000 career strike outs, was the NL Pitcher of the Month in July, won the Warren Spahn Award as the best left-hander in the Majors, and named onto the Sporting News NL All-Star Team at the end of the season.  We are in the midst of witnessing greatness, and this season was his best so far.

The Stan Musial Award is given to the top player each year.

Paul Goldschmidt.  This man should have been a Dodger.  He was originally drafted by us in 2006, but opted to go to college instead.  Damn that college education.  In 2013 he broke out in a big way.  Goldschmidt lead the league with 36 home runs, 125 RBI's, .551 Slugging Average, .952 OPS, and 332 total bases.  Furthermore, he was 4th with a .401 OBP, 4th with 182 hits, 3rd with 99 walks, and 3rd with 103 runs scored.  Goldschmidt was unstoppable.

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Blog Kiosk: 10/29/2013 - Dodgers Links - Seager & Garcia in Fall Star Game, Kershaw to be Honored this Saturday and Gold Gloves Announced Tonight

Check out Fernando Valenzuela 'behind the scenes' at Nacion ESPN, pic via twitter @DodgersPR.

• Just to let you know, the Gold Glove Awards announcement will be later this afternoon on ESPN, per a ESPN press release.  Five Dodgers are in the running for an award: AJ Ellis, Zack Greinke, Adrian Gonzalez, Juan Uribe and Mark Ellis.
• BTW, DodgerTalk starts up again this coming Wednesday (and every Wednesday this winter) on AM570 from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM.
• Tony Jackson at Dodger Scribe writes, "The continuing baseball education of Corey Seager".

“One of the best things my brother told me was just to treat every stop like your own major leagues, and just kind of be in the moment, that way you’re not always looking up at all the levels you still have to go through,” he said. “It’s hard to do sometimes, but it was great advice.”

• BTW, Seager and Yimi Garcia will be in the AZ Fall League Falls-Star Game, via a tweet from @Dodgers.

#Dodgers prospects Yimi Garcia and Corey Seager have been selected to play in the @MLBazFallLeague Fall Stars Game.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 28, 2013

• Greg Zakwin at Chad Moriyama's site tells us more about some more Dodger prospects on the farm.
• If you are free this coming Saturday then you might want to check this out, via a tweet from Kershaw's Challenge.  Sharefest is recognizing Clayton Kershaw as its Honorary Chair.

Clayton & Ellen are excited to join @Sharefestinc on Nov 2nd in LA for their charity event! Tickets still on sale at http://t.co/2idNaPDdZg
— Kershaw's Challenge (@KershsChallenge) October 29, 2013

• Via Craig Calcaterra at Hardball Talk, "Doomsayers be damned: Baseball is healthy and ratings are strong".
• Chris Olds at Beckett writes, "Behind the Scenes: Where the magic happens in the sports card industry — outtakes & more".
• A twitter account named @BestFansStLouis does its level best to show that Cardinals fans are far from being the best fans in the league - that's such an overused phrase.  Heck, he just proves that their fans are just as dumb and vile as fans from any other team.
• Philip Van der Vossen at Gunaxin Sports shares some great photos of NFL Cheerleaders celebrating Halloween.  Va-va-voom!
• As a former marching band geek, I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Ohio State Marching Band's routine this past weekend.  It's impressive. 

Video Link:

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