Willie Mays "The Catch" Graphic

Courtesy of Justin Bopp, a graphical depiction of Willie Mays' famous catch. Click through to see the full graphic. It's awesome.

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Notes: Andrew Baggarly, Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval

• Can't believe I hadn't known this: Giants beat-writer Andrew Baggarly is writing a book on the 2010 Giants. I recommend you pre-order it now, as it will definitely be a must-read. 
• Tonight, Buster Posey received his Rookie of the Year Award at the BBWAA Awards Dinner. [picture]
• Pablo Sandoval is going to be in the Pepsi Home Run Derby in Venezuela..I'll keep you guys posted on it. 
• Sam Miller of the Orange County Register made a pretty cool graphic illustrating the reactions of Jays fans and Angels fans following the Vernon Wells for Mike Napoli & Juan Rivera trade. 
• If you're into sabermetrics, go check out the first-ever Beyond the Box Score podcast!
• The New York Times has a nice write-up on the Giants' return to New York. Also included: a cool picture of Buster Posey and Willie Mays together. 
• As of Sunday, 22 days till pitchers and catchers report!

Willie Mays is AWESOME.

Notes: Blyleven v. Morris, Trevor Hoffman, Willie Mays

A fresh batch of morning notes for you...

• I know, I know. I've had enough of the Hall of Fame debates too. But I stumbled upon this, and it's simply too fantastic not to post. Bert Blyleven > Jack Morris + Mariano Rivera. 
• Trevor Hoffman made an interesting comment about the 300-save milestone. I pretty much agree with everything Craig Calcaterra says in response. 
• I've secured a Padres blogger for the third installment of Ten Questions: Q&A. So far I've talked with a Dodgers blogger and a Rockies blogger, and if you haven't yet read those, I highly recommend you do: informative, interesting, fun reads. (The fourth and final installment will of course be a Diamondbacks blogger, but I have plans to continue the Ten Questions: Q&A with other names in the Giants/baseball world...)
• I was trying to think of an idea for a relevant application of WAR grids in analysis of the Giants, but Paapfly nailed it perfectly. Check out his post -- How Sabean and the Giants go to WAR.

Lastly, check out this Willie Mays interview with Charlie Rose (h/t Baseball Reflections). Not too long ago, I posted a video of Willie Mays on the Daily Show, an interview which I loved. You should definitely go check that one out, too...

BBA Awards Update: Walter Johnson Award

Roy Halladay

So far, the following BBA Awards have been announced:

Willie Mays Award:

NL - Buster Posey

AL - Neftali Feliz

Connie Mack Award:

NL - Bud Black

AL - Ron Washington

Goose Gossage Award: 

NL - Brian Wilson

AL - Rafael Soriano

Walter Johnson Award:
NL - Roy Halladay
AL - Felix Hernandez


HALLADAY, HERNANDEZ OVERWHELMING WINNERS OF WALTER JOHNSON AWARD


2010 was often referred to as “the year of the pitcher.” However, not all pitchers are created equal.

The Baseball Bloggers Alliance announced today that Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay was the unanimous selection for the National League Walter Johnson Award, receiving all nineteen first place votes. In the American League, Seattle’s Felix Hernandez was almost as dominant, garnering all but four of the first place selections from the BBA membership.

Halladay, who came over to Philadelphia in an off-season deal with Toronto, wasted no time getting comfortable in his new league, posting an 2.44 ERA, striking out 219 batters, winning 21 games, and throwing a perfect game to boot. While only the regular season was considered for voting, he also became only the second player to throw a post-season no-hitter when he faced the Reds in the National League Divisional Series. Halladay received 133 points, well ahead of the runner up, St. Louis’s Adam Wainwright, who received 66.

Hernandez’s win was statistically more impressive, due to more ballots being cast in the American League and a wider range of pitchers receiving votes. His 2010 season, where he put up a sparkling 2.27 ERA, a 1.06 WHIP, and struck out 232 in just under 250 innings pitched, led voters to bestow upon him 137 points, with second place being New York’s CC Sabathia, who received three first place votes and 62 points over all.

The complete voting results are as follows (first place votes in parenthesis):

American League
Felix Hernandez, Seattle (18) 137
CC Sabathia, New York (3) 62
David Price, Tampa Bay (1) 57
Cliff Lee, Seattle/Texas 41
Jered Weaver, Los Angeles 22
Jon Lester, Boston 18
Clay Buchholz, Boston 14
Francisco Liriano, Minnesota 13
Trevor Cahill, Oakland 5
Justin Verlander, Detroit 5

National League
Roy Halladay, Philadelphia (19) 133
Adam Wainwright, St. Louis 66
Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado 52
Josh Johnson, Florida 43
Tim Hudson, Atlanta 16
Tim Lincecum, San Francisco 7
Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles 2
Mat Latos, San Diego 2
Heath Bell, San Diego 1
Yovani Gallardo, Milwaukee 1

You can keep up-to-date with the Baseball Bloggers Alliance Awards by clicking on the
"BBA Awards" tab on this website. 

Day Off...

As the Giants rest, enjoy this Willie Mays interview...

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