collins (greenville nc): People seem to think Greinke will win the Cy this year, which seems to...

collins (greenville nc): People seem to think Greinke will win the Cy this year, which seems to indicate that the voters are getting more sophisticated. Do you think the same is happening with the HOF? (I wonder if 3000 hits will continue to be automatic HOF, if the writers get smarter.)

Jay Jaffe: Incrementally more sophisticated, and in Greinke's case I think it owes a lot to the work of Joe Posnanski, who for my money is the best sportswriter in America and one of the most widely read and respected. As a KC-based writer, he's covered Greinke during his entire career, and as somebody who does a very nice job of explaining the stathead side of things to a wide audience, he certainly did a great job of drawing attention to the facets of Greinke's great season even when the win total looked unimpressive.

Jaffe @ BP

22 days ago royalsreview 9 comments 0 recs |

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I'd have to have the same opinion as Jaffe@BP

Sabathia would have won it this year if there hadn’t been an orchestrated campaign by JoePo to get Greinke’s season noticed. The early SI cover helped, and his continuing to write especially this fall to show just how far ahead he was had quite an impact I think. I expect the vast majority to vote for Greinke at #1, King Felix #2, and Sabathia #3, and Felix and CC will both get some 1st place votes. I would be absolutely shocked if Greinke was unanimous. The sportswriters will indeed have come a long way if that happens.

by AxDxMx on Oct 29, 2009 2:52 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

Posnanski

should get a share of Zack’s Cy Young bonus should it come to pass. He made it cool, enlightened, and politically correct to support Zack in the mainstream and redefined conventional wisdom for this one case (and also Mauer’s MVP case). But I expect the writers to be as neanderthal as ever in things like say, the ROY voting, that didn’t receive the same heightened level of attention in the press. Ex. Jon Heyman at SI, non-sabermetrician who cited Greinke as a no brainer for Cy, picked Porcello as ROY based on, you guessed it, wins.

by swing and a miss on Oct 29, 2009 3:24 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

Every time I think of John Heyman I picture Paul Heyman

are they related?

I actually haven’t watched wrestling in years

I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at Driveline Mechanics.

Can't get enough of me? Check out my Twitter feed.

by devil_fingers on Oct 29, 2009 5:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

And since I don't know either, I picture John Hodgman

He’s the PC guy if anyone doesn’t know.

by AxDxMx on Oct 29, 2009 6:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

'Round these parts,

Heyman is referred to as Tooly McToolface, the mayor of Toolville.

Or, at least, I refer to him as that…

Carry on.

by DarthYoshi on Oct 29, 2009 7:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

When do votes need to have been turned in by?

Is it the end of the regular season?

BOOM! ROASTED!

by GoBabies!! on Oct 29, 2009 6:02 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, it was before any of the playoff games IIRC

though I think it was the day of the 1 game playoff for the AL Central.

by AxDxMx on Oct 29, 2009 6:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thats what I figured

But for some reason, I was thiking that there was some “controversy” (It may not have even been in Baseball, it may have been another sport) where the clear cut best Regular Season Performer, lost to someone b/c the other guy was in the playoffs & dominated, and the votes didn’t need to be in until after the playoffs started…

I could just see that happening w/ CC & Zack this year (if the votes didn’t have to be in by the beginning of the playoffs)

BOOM! ROASTED!

by GoBabies!! on Oct 29, 2009 6:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs