This Year In Baseball’s Oddity Award

As this blog is called the odd blog, it is only fitting that I should break down TYIB’s Oddity Award. But first a little order of business:

Zack Greinke wins Cy Young Award!

What did I tell you? My lobbying for him waaay back in April must have some effect, because he won in a landslide. (http://theoddblog.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/04/vote.html – the hyperlink thing is busted) All those Yankee fans who bet me that CC would blow Greinke out of the water, I accept cash, checks, and all major credit cards. (That would be… zero people)

But seriously, I can’t think of anyone more deserving of this award than Greinke. You’ve all heard that social anxiety spiel, and it’s really a great story. But I just love the way this guy talks. He’s all business in the interview I saw. It’s November, four days before he gets married (congratulations to Greinke in more ways than one) and over a month since the season ended and all he’s focused on is baseball, how he won the award, and what he can do to duplicate the feat- or improve on it. That’s what I picked up off of the interview. He also allegedly (I can say anything as long as it says allegedly before it) likes World of Warcraft, though that comes from a ninth grade English teacher- not exactly a credible source. Moving on…

This Year in Baseball’s Oddity Award

I’m here to break down who you should vote for:

Nominee 1: The bees in San Diego. I believe I have covered this, and it is certainly very odd. Enough to make it this year’s winner? I don’t know. My oddness ranking: 8/10.

Nominee 2: Milton Bradley loses count: Chicago Cubs right fielder loses count of the number of outs in the inning and throws the ball in the stands. If I were the fan that caught that, I would burn it in representation of that long World Series drought. This isn’t odd however; it’s just stupid. My oddness ranking: 3/10

Nominee 3: Luis Castillo botches pop-up: This isn’t odd at all! He just lost the pop-up. I did it all the time in my little league games! Plus, the Yankees won as a result. This looks like a load of East-Coast bias right here. My oddness ranking: 1/10

Nominee 4: Won for the birds: Yeah, I’ve broken it down right here on the Odd Blog. Ball hits bird, ball and bird go in opposite directions, and neither lands in Coco Crisp’s glove. Argh! This makes me so mad. The birdman gets 5/10 for spite.

Nominee 5: Dad bare-hands foul: Not fowl, foul- I’m still seething from that last nominee- however, this one is awesome. A one-handed, bare-handed catch. Not something you see everyday. I’ll give this one 8/10 as well.

Nominee 6: Stuck in jersey: They always put one of these up every year. It’s not that odd, last year there were even two of them. 4/10 for overuse.

Nominee 7: Girl rejects foul ball: This one has been all over. Somebody catches a foul ball, gives it to his daughter, who throws it back onto the field. 2/10 for being used way too much this year.

Nominee 8: Teddy gets run over: Teddy didn’t get run over, he got body-checked! I suspect a little fowl foul play in this must-see video. Must see- if you like watch former presidents run a very slow race. 7/10

Nominee 9: Lucky boy snags two fouls: This boy was definitely lucky; he caught two foul balls, both while they were still in the air. Amazing! But since I don’t have this kind of luck, I’m giving him a 6/10

Nominee 10: Mr. T sings it loud: I didn’t even watch the video, it didn’t seem all that odd to me. 0/10

Well, there you have it. I’m voting for either the bees or the bare-handed foul ball. It’s up to you which one you decide, but hopefully this has made it easier. Coming up next post, I rant about parity. It’s a must-read (read?) event.