Internet Baseball Awards 2011: American League
It’s that time of year when we announce the winners of the 20th annual Internet Baseball Awards. The first Internet Baseball Awards balloting took place in 1991, several years before the invention of the web. Most of the voters in ’91 came from the Usenet newsgroup rec.sport.baseball. The voters selected Cal Ripken as their AL MVP, Roger Clemens as their AL Cy Young, and Chuck Knoblauch as their AL Rookie of the Year. The BBWAA voted…
Pitching to the Score
One of the game’s great chestnuts is the theory that some pitchers “pitch to the score” and “know how to win” in a way other than always allowing the fewest number of runs possible. The reverse, that some pitchers tend to give up runs more often in close games, is also a popular theory, though it’s invoked less often. This, some say, makes it worthwhile…