What'd I tell ya? *g*
Didn't I tell ya that Bart would be this year's AL Cy Young winner? :P Of course, we were completely snubbed on the Gold Gloves... AK, Ersty, OC and Bengie all deserved them. AK's starting to look like the Susan Lucci of baseball. He's been passed over so many times in so many deserving seasons. And if the proposed deal to snag Manny Ramirez for Ersty in a 3-way trade happens to go through, you will NOT want to be around me, I guaranfuckintee it. How they could even be considering that is beyond me. Ersty's the captain of this team, he's our rock and our cheerleader, and if he goes... I can't even imagine it.
Anyhoo, back to the good news. *g*
11/08/2005 5:51 PM ET
Colon named AL Cy Young winner
Angels right-hander easily outdistances runner-up Rivera
By Mike Scarr / MLB.com
Doing the tough jobs has served Bartolo Colon well throughout his life, and the hard work paid off Tuesday when he was honored with the American League Cy Young Award.
Colon was a clear-cut winner in voting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America as the right-hander was named on all 28 ballots with 17 first-place votes and 11 second-place votes to easily outdistance Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera. Twins left-hander Johan Santana finished third.
Rivera secured eight first-place votes with Santana getting three. Cliff Lee, Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland and Kevin Millwood rounded out the voting.
"I'd like to thank Arte Moreno and the Angels organization for giving me the opportunity and having the confidence in me," Colon said via conference call. "I'd like to thank everyone in the country and everyone in the village and my father."
Walking the hills and helping his father in his hometown of Altamira in the Dominican Republic engendered a strong work ethic in Colon. As a dominating Major League pitcher, Colon has combined those lessons with a deep-seated passion for pitching and supreme talent to earn the right to call himself the best.
And it isn't just the BBWAA that has singled out Colon for leading the AL with a 21-8 record.
Colon, who won his first Cy Young and became the first Angels pitcher so honored since Dean Chance in 1964, has also been named the AL's top pitcher by The Sporting News and fellow players, who voted him a Players Choice Award.
"I'm very happy that the work and the year that he had is being recognized with this honor," manager Mike Scioscia said. "Unless you saw him work each day and the pain that he went through, you didn't realize the effort that he put forth. It is tremendous for our organization and for our team. We would not have achieved what we did without what he brought."
Colon's 2005 campaign was not without some cost. A sore lower back plagued him over the last month of the regular season and a shoulder injury forced him out of the first round of the postseason and then prevented him from facing the White Sox in the ALCS, in which the Angels were eliminated in five games.
Colon left during the second inning in Game 5 of the ALDS against the Yankees with a strain to the back of his right shoulder. The move was pre-emptive as the organization would like their ace to remain healthy through at least the duration of his contract, which expires at the end of the 2007 season.
He has not begun throwing a ball yet, but members of the Angels training staff have visited Colon to conduct tests on his shoulder. He added that his back is fine.
The Angels expect he will be fully recovered for Spring Training, but Colon has also been named to represent the Dominican Republic in this spring's inaugural World Baseball Classic. Colon said he wasn't ready to consider his role, but hopes to appear.
"It is going to be contingent on how his workouts go and how his rehab goes," Scioscia said. "We'll see how he progresses through the winter."
The 2005 season was Colon's finest in the big leagues. He tied Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter for the Major League lead in wins and his 3.48 ERA was eighth lowest in the AL. Colon was fourth in the league with a .724 winning percentage while also placing among league leaders in strikeouts and innings pitched.
Colon had posted a 20-win season once before in his career, but never with the same team. The right-hander won 20 games in 2002, but that was split between Cleveland and Montreal, for whom he won 10 games each. His previous single-team high in wins was an 18-5 mark in 1999 with the Indians, matched when he went 18-12 in 2004, his first year with the Angels.
The 21 wins for Colon this season was the first 20-win season by an Angels pitcher since Nolan Ryan went 22-16 in 1974.
Colon proved he was the staff ace all season and was equally effective in the first half of the season as the second half. He posted an 11-5 record with a 3.42 ERA before the All-Star break and a 10-3 with a 3.55 ERA mark after the break.
"He has an incredible work ethic and an incredible training regimen to not only get ready, but to keep it going through the season," Scioscia said. "His ability to turn his fastball into three different looks is really the key to how he performs. He has the ability to combine his velocity and command into a unique package and that puts him in an elite group of pitchers."
The 32-year-old went 11-2 after an Angels loss and was at his best in August, when he posted a 5-0 record with a 1.72 ERA in six starts. It was after that stretch that Colon began to consider his candidacy for Cy Young, but he didn't fully believe it until he outdueled Garland in Chicago on Sept. 10 for his 19th win.
Still, speculation centered on Rivera as having the superior season and the idea haunted Colon during the first few weeks of the offseason. But it is Colon with this year's honor and he gives some of the credit to Rivera.
"He has taught me to hold the cut fastball," Colon said of the pitch that is considered one of the best in baseball. "He has also taught me how to be a complete pitcher. I also want to thank Pedro Martinez. The two of them have taught me how to be a pitcher over the last few years."
Colon also credited his former manager with the Indians, Mike Hargrove and his time with the White Sox organization in teaching him how to pitch deep into games. That and his upbringing allowed him to put it together in a successful Cy Young campaign.
"The key really has been more about getting an out with one or two pitches and using my sinker or my cutter," said Colon, who described the scene at home following the announcement of the award as non-stop celebration. "I stopped being a village boy and feeling I could throw any ball through a wall. I started to mix my pitches more and add more movement and it allowed me to become a more complete pitcher."
Anyhoo, back to the good news. *g*
11/08/2005 5:51 PM ET
Colon named AL Cy Young winner
Angels right-hander easily outdistances runner-up Rivera
By Mike Scarr / MLB.com
Doing the tough jobs has served Bartolo Colon well throughout his life, and the hard work paid off Tuesday when he was honored with the American League Cy Young Award.
Colon was a clear-cut winner in voting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America as the right-hander was named on all 28 ballots with 17 first-place votes and 11 second-place votes to easily outdistance Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera. Twins left-hander Johan Santana finished third.
Rivera secured eight first-place votes with Santana getting three. Cliff Lee, Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland and Kevin Millwood rounded out the voting.
"I'd like to thank Arte Moreno and the Angels organization for giving me the opportunity and having the confidence in me," Colon said via conference call. "I'd like to thank everyone in the country and everyone in the village and my father."
Walking the hills and helping his father in his hometown of Altamira in the Dominican Republic engendered a strong work ethic in Colon. As a dominating Major League pitcher, Colon has combined those lessons with a deep-seated passion for pitching and supreme talent to earn the right to call himself the best.
And it isn't just the BBWAA that has singled out Colon for leading the AL with a 21-8 record.
Colon, who won his first Cy Young and became the first Angels pitcher so honored since Dean Chance in 1964, has also been named the AL's top pitcher by The Sporting News and fellow players, who voted him a Players Choice Award.
"I'm very happy that the work and the year that he had is being recognized with this honor," manager Mike Scioscia said. "Unless you saw him work each day and the pain that he went through, you didn't realize the effort that he put forth. It is tremendous for our organization and for our team. We would not have achieved what we did without what he brought."
Colon's 2005 campaign was not without some cost. A sore lower back plagued him over the last month of the regular season and a shoulder injury forced him out of the first round of the postseason and then prevented him from facing the White Sox in the ALCS, in which the Angels were eliminated in five games.
Colon left during the second inning in Game 5 of the ALDS against the Yankees with a strain to the back of his right shoulder. The move was pre-emptive as the organization would like their ace to remain healthy through at least the duration of his contract, which expires at the end of the 2007 season.
He has not begun throwing a ball yet, but members of the Angels training staff have visited Colon to conduct tests on his shoulder. He added that his back is fine.
The Angels expect he will be fully recovered for Spring Training, but Colon has also been named to represent the Dominican Republic in this spring's inaugural World Baseball Classic. Colon said he wasn't ready to consider his role, but hopes to appear.
"It is going to be contingent on how his workouts go and how his rehab goes," Scioscia said. "We'll see how he progresses through the winter."
The 2005 season was Colon's finest in the big leagues. He tied Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter for the Major League lead in wins and his 3.48 ERA was eighth lowest in the AL. Colon was fourth in the league with a .724 winning percentage while also placing among league leaders in strikeouts and innings pitched.
Colon had posted a 20-win season once before in his career, but never with the same team. The right-hander won 20 games in 2002, but that was split between Cleveland and Montreal, for whom he won 10 games each. His previous single-team high in wins was an 18-5 mark in 1999 with the Indians, matched when he went 18-12 in 2004, his first year with the Angels.
The 21 wins for Colon this season was the first 20-win season by an Angels pitcher since Nolan Ryan went 22-16 in 1974.
Colon proved he was the staff ace all season and was equally effective in the first half of the season as the second half. He posted an 11-5 record with a 3.42 ERA before the All-Star break and a 10-3 with a 3.55 ERA mark after the break.
"He has an incredible work ethic and an incredible training regimen to not only get ready, but to keep it going through the season," Scioscia said. "His ability to turn his fastball into three different looks is really the key to how he performs. He has the ability to combine his velocity and command into a unique package and that puts him in an elite group of pitchers."
The 32-year-old went 11-2 after an Angels loss and was at his best in August, when he posted a 5-0 record with a 1.72 ERA in six starts. It was after that stretch that Colon began to consider his candidacy for Cy Young, but he didn't fully believe it until he outdueled Garland in Chicago on Sept. 10 for his 19th win.
Still, speculation centered on Rivera as having the superior season and the idea haunted Colon during the first few weeks of the offseason. But it is Colon with this year's honor and he gives some of the credit to Rivera.
"He has taught me to hold the cut fastball," Colon said of the pitch that is considered one of the best in baseball. "He has also taught me how to be a complete pitcher. I also want to thank Pedro Martinez. The two of them have taught me how to be a pitcher over the last few years."
Colon also credited his former manager with the Indians, Mike Hargrove and his time with the White Sox organization in teaching him how to pitch deep into games. That and his upbringing allowed him to put it together in a successful Cy Young campaign.
"The key really has been more about getting an out with one or two pitches and using my sinker or my cutter," said Colon, who described the scene at home following the announcement of the award as non-stop celebration. "I stopped being a village boy and feeling I could throw any ball through a wall. I started to mix my pitches more and add more movement and it allowed me to become a more complete pitcher."