Money doesn’t necessarily buy happiness; Cabrera for MVP and the wacky one-game wild card. With this in mind, brace yourself for my swing on Major League Baseball. 

The majority of people can identify with the Oakland A’s, the little guy that just goes about business with little fanfare or respect. The A’s were 100-1 long shots to win the AL West at the all-star break. They started the season 26-35 and trailed Texas by 13 games on June 30^th and by five with nine to play, yet finished first with a 94-68 record, going 68-33 in their final 101 games.

The baby face, no name money ball A’s not only won their division but did so with the lowest payroll in the A.L. at $59 million, less than half of Texas, and just over a third of the LA Angels, who missed the playoffs.  

In addition, five of the 10 playoff teams in the majors are in the lower half of annual player salaries. The LA Dodgers spent millions in various trades to upgrade their roster yet they did not make the post season. The Philadelphia Phillies started the year with the second highest payroll and were not even close to the playoffs. 

The A’s are an example that having a competitive winning team is not just about dollars and sense. Yes, sometimes money does talk, but for many teams the only word money says is “goodbye”. 

*** 

There seems to be a huge debate about whether Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers or Mike Trout of the Angels is the American League MVP. Numbers can be interpreted many ways but Cabrera should be the hands down winner since he was the first player in 45 years (Carl Yastrzemski in 1967) to win the triple crown and Cabrera helped his team to the playoffs while Trout did not.

Cabrera had the best batting average .330, the most home runs with 44, the most RBI’s with 139 and finished with 13 errors, a .966 fielding percentage and 4 stolen bases in 161 games. 

The 21-year-old Trout batted .326 with 30 homers and 83 RBI’s in 22 less games (total of 139). He also had a splendid .988 fielding percentage with just four errors and ran like the wind with 49 stolen bases. 

Granted, Trout is the better all-around player and is the obvious rookie of the year, but Cabrera’s bat was so dominating it overrides the other categories. 

The eyeball test confirmed that Cabrera should get the nod. 

My other award winners:

 

·        NL MVP: Catcher Buster Posey of the Giants, who led the majors with a .336 average.

·        NL Cy Young: R.A. Dickey of the Mets (20-6 with a 2.73 ERA).

·        AL Cy Young: David Price of the Rays (20-5 with a 2.56 ERA).

·        NL Manager of the Year: Davey Johnson of the Nationals.

·        AL Manager of the Year: Bob Melvin of the A’s.
(Note: Melvin and Buck Showalter of the Orioles actually deserve to share this award)

***

I realize some fans find it difficult to understand the logic in playing 162 games and then having a one game wild card playoff to determine who advances to the best of five division series. 

The one wild card game should technically be called a play-in game rather than a true playoff game, but semantics aside, the Braves and Rangers only have themselves to blame for their quick exit. 

Yes, Atlanta was shafted with an awful infield fly call in the 8^th inning of the 6-3 loss to St. Louis, but the Braves were beaten because of three crucial infield errors and they failed to respond to the pressure of playing before the home crowd. 

Texas gets less sympathy as they choked at the end, losing that entire 3 game series at Oakland that cost them the division and went further in the tank losing at home to Baltimore 5-1 in an elimination game. 

Major league baseball accomplished its goal of adding a total of two playoff teams and placing more emphasis on winning the division. The Braves and Rangers did not win their division and paid the price. 

Sure, some tinkering with the playoff format can be looked at, but fans are interacting about the game and whether that discussion is positive, negative or neutral, the most important aspect is that baseball is indeed relevant. 

From the Quote Rack: 

 

Drew Brees broke the record held by Johnny Unitas by throwing a touchdown pass in 48 consecutive games. Inspired, Mark Sanchez went out Monday night and extended his own streak to one.

The San Francisco Giants had Alex Smith throwing out the first pitch for the first game of the playoffs. Maybe it’s as well that the Baltimore Orioles eliminated the Texas Rangers. With Tony Romo throwing someone could get hurt. 

Contributor Janice Hough of Palo Alto, Californiawww.leftcoastsportsbabe.com

 

Curt Schilling may have to sell the bloody sock he wore in helping the Red Sox win the world series in 2004 in order to pay off debts of his bankrupt video game company. It’s just a good thing the iconic symbol from the win wasn’t a sweaty jock.

Comedy writer Jim Barach  (http://jokesbyjim.blogspot.com/) 

 

Sixteen members of a breakaway Amish community in Ohio were convicted of federal hate crimes for the forcible cutting of Amish men’s beards. I hear they were wearing Yankee caps. 

Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California

 

Tiger Woods said he stayed up all night after the Ryder Cup agonizing about the one that got away. So good to see he misses his ex. 

I am excited to see my Saskatchewan Roughriders are now on a season ending roll. The only thing better will be to see the Opinion 250 “sports expert” changing his screen saver from a Lion back to a 5-hole goal on Luongo. 

Contributor Derek Wilken of Calgaryhttp://smacksport.blogspot.com

 

Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman are filing for divorce after 30 years together. Custody of the high chairs are expected to be a major issue. 

Comedy writer TC Chong of Vancouver (http://alwaysfunny.com/) 

 

The World Custard Pie throwing championship was held recently in Kent, England. What do they call the final? Custard’s last stand?

Comedy writer RJ Currie www.Sportsdeke.com      

And in case you missed it: 

 

The NBA players union plans to file a grievance challenging the league’s new policy to fine players who engage in flopping to draw fouls. I’m no expert, but I don’t think the players have a leg to stand on. 

Comedy writer Marc Ragovin of New York

 

 Hartley Miller is the sports director for radio stations 94X and the Wolf@97fm. He also writes for the PG Free Press. Send along a quote, note, or anecdote to hmiller@94xfm.com.

Follow him on twitter: @Hartley_Miller