There's a writer in Chicago who is throwing a tantrum over Gordon Beckham not getting more support for the Rookie of the Year Award. Some key excerpts:
Granted, the writers got it right by electing Oakland Athletics closer Andrew Bailey the 2009 AL Rookie of the Year. Bailey had a phenomenal year, start to finish and deserved the honor.But they flubbed by giving Beckham zero first-place votes and two second-place votes.
Red flags should be raised when the Sporting News - in a players' poll - voted Beckham the AL Rookie of the Year last month. Around that same time, Beckham's peers in the players' association also selected him as the top AL rookie.
Players, what do they know?
All they do is study the competition from top to bottom, face these guys on the same field and gossip like a bunch of retirees in Florida.
Given a choice between trusting the opinion of a major league player or that of a ''baseball writer'' - and that term includes sports editors, columnists, general-assignment reporters and retired journalists who rarely, if ever, get to a major league ballpark but still get BBWAA ballots - well, the players win in a landslide.
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Two ''writers'' in each AL city get a vote. And it's hard to see how they could believe Texas Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus had such a vastly superior rookie season to Beckham.
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Beckham had his struggles in the field, committing 14 errors for a .952 fielding percentage, but Andrus led all regular AL shortstops with 22 errors and had a .968 fielding percentage.
This wasn't about defense.
Beckham impressed most at the plate. Behind the numbers, he proved to be a clutch performer - a tall task for any rookie. With runners on base, Beckham hit .307. With runners in scoring position, he hit .323. And with two outs and runners in scoring position - ask any manager the importance of this stat - he hit .348.
Andrus, with two outs and runners in scoring position, hit .217. That's about what you would expect from a rookie.
Everyone, grab your torches and pitchforks and head for Chicago!!!