Baseball Bloggers Alliance - 2016 American League Awards

 Yesterday I posted my National League votes, today I reveal the ones for the American League.

Connie Mack Award (Manager of the Year)
1. Jeff Bannister

2. Terry Francona

3. Scott Servais

I REALLY wanted to give this award to Tito. It would be very fitting with Dave Roberts getting the National League one, but I couldn't ignore facts. The Indians had five pitchers make 25 or more starts. The Rangers had two, and one of them had a losing record. They won the division by 9 games with a Pythagorean record that had them expected to win 82 games. I kept hearing that they weren't that good of a team, and their record was just smoke and mirrors -- and Jeff Bannister's influence, I guess.  The third choice was tough. Not a lot to pick from, I don't think any of the AL East playoff team managers really distinguished themselves this season.  Scott Servais made big strides in first year at the helm of the Mariners, and based on that he gets my last checkmark.

Baseball Bloggers Alliance - 2016 National League Awards

Every season I am entrusted with  a vote towards the the Baseball Bloggers Alliance annual awards.  As a Boston Chapter member, in past years I only voted for the AL awards. You can see how I voted previously here (and here, here, and here). But this year I get to have a say in the National League as well,  which I will share with you today.  In my next post, I will reveal my AL ballot along with fuller explanations for why I voted for whom I did.

The final results should be posted soon on the BBA site.

Connie Mack Award (Manager of the Year)

1. Dave Roberts

2. Dusty Baker

3. Don Mattingly

Why you Should Listen to your Opponent's fanbase

I'm copying most of this from a rant I posted on my other blog where I was really making a thinly-veiled political observation. But I used only baseball examples, so I thought with a few tweaks it was appropriate here:

An echo chamber is a place where ideas gain strength through repetition. A great place to find like-minded friends who all agree with you and reinforce your opinion. You have some slight belief in something, and before you know it, you are 100% convinced that it is inarguably correct based on all the feedback you hear. It can be a great place to boost your ego with so many people who share your worldview and make of those who like the other team.  But, it has its drawbacks. And they can have grave consequences.

The first time I became aware of this phenomenon, was when I learned of other people’s opinions of Tim McCarver.