Baseball season - surprises/disappointments?
 

With the regular season over, what are some of the biggest surprises/disappointments thus far?

SURPRISES:
Barry Bonds: We know he's good, but oldest first-time batting champ ever?
Alfonso Soriano: As a Yankees fan, I'm glad this guy's on his way to being a superstar. An unreal season.
Twins: Good for them - Torii Hunter is a star, and it just goes to show that homegrown talent can still win (even if it was a bad division)
Eric Gagne: Turned into a nasty closer, one of the best in baseball.
Jason Jennings: A rookie who had a great season pitching for the Rockies - this kid could be a hell of a #1 starter for a few years.
Jason Simonotacchi (sp?) - from the Italian national team to being a very good starter for St. Louis.
Chris Hammonds: Went from out of baseball to possibly finishing the season with an ERA under 1. One of the best set-up men in baseball.

DISAPPOINTMENTS:
Red Sox: I hate them, but come on, with a batting champ and two twenty-game winners, how do you not make the playoffs?
Mike Hampton: Maybe they should just have him hitting full-time. Coors Field doesn't make THAT much of a difference, does it? Went from solid seasons to two absolutely horrible ones.
Sean Burroughs: Hopefully a tough rookie year was an abberation.
Gary Carter not making the Hall of Fame: Come on, what does a guy have to do?!

I'll post more as I think of them - what's everyone's take on the season?

Collin

I've always heard that if an argument has to be made about a player, they don't belong in the hall of fame. "It's the hall of fame, not the hall of the really good" says Jim Rome. So maybe that's why.

From the NL West....
Can be a blessing/disappointment from depending on your feelings about the Arizona D'Backs...

Luis Gonzales out of the post-season - Are the D'backs screwed? They faultered a bit at the end of the season, almost losing the title to the Giants....
<Hummmpphh>

I'm a big Giants fan, so very happy to see them clinch the wild card... and excited for the Angels- it's been a while :)

Which is why I thought Ozzie Smith should not have made it.

The biggest surprises to me were...

- Boston not making the post-season
- Gagne and Smoltz's successes as closers
- Braves winning by close to 20 games... Ithought it would be more competitve
- Mets way out of contention
- No more having to hear from the red sox team physician Peter Gammonds during the playoffs because the red sox are done for the year

The curse of the Bambino Lives on!!!!!!!!!!

disappointments: the cubs, who just fired their interim GM, and the chi sox

I just can't latch on to a Chicago team. Go Cards.

Albert Pujols of the Cardinals. In both of his first two seasons as a pro- over .300 average, 30 HR & over 100 RBI's. He's the first player in major league history to do so. Now bring on the Diamondbacks!

I don't think "screwed" is the word for it . . . although with Schilling looking like ass his last couple starts, they can't be considered serious contenders for the title, IMO.

That said, I think they'll beat the Cards in short-series ball - neither team plays much offense, with both absolutely punting the 3-5 spots in the rotation (Simontacchi isn't that good kids) as well as multiple line-up spots.

Rolen needs to be absolutely gigantic for the Cards to come out of the series - remember, Miguel Bautista was nasty in the postseason last year, and most likely will get a start against someone weak for the Cards . . .

Neither of those teams beats the Braves, though - the DBacks are severely handicapped at the plate and the Cards don't throw the ball well enough. Bullpens can win (or lose) playoff games - just ask the Yankees (or the 89 A's) - and the Braves have the nastiest bullpen I can ever remember.

Overall - I'd predict the winner of the Oakland/NYY matchup wins the series (assuming it gets there), but that almost invariably means neither will win the first-round series.

I'll be rooting for the A's in the AL (old Bash Brothers nostalgia, since the Sox are gone), and the Giants in the NL (since my best bud is a huge G's fan, although I hate Barry - Ewing Theory potential?).

RC, who predicted pre-season that the Mets finish last in the NL East . . . look up the thread

I'm kind of disappointed the 'spos didn't make more of a run at the braves....but with no relief pitching i geuss they could only go so far.

Good point - this guy is underrated, doesn't get a lot of attention. He and Vlad Guerrero could be the best two players in the National League for years to come.

Collin

I love Guerrero, and Pujols is nasty - but he's at least 3 years older than advertised (according to team officials), making him the nearly the same age (this was most likely his 'age-25' season) as Vlad et al. I also think these guys come very underrated: (NL only)

-Brian Giles (2nd highest EqA in NL, behind Bonds . . . more on this at the bottom)
-Lance Berkman (higher EqA than Pujols, Helton, Sheffield . . . )
-Pat Burrell (breakout season, classic #4 hitter)

None of these guys really gets his due - it'll be interesting to see how they age. The best thing to ever happen to Pujols was signing Scotty Rolen to an extension, to give him someone hitting behind him - just ask Jeff Kent, it can make all the difference in the world.

PS - if you look at the statistical analysis of the thing (adjusted EqA, RARP), Giles ranks 4th in the majors - behind only names like Bonds, ARod, and Thome. In my opinion, he is the most underrated player in baseball - plus he's probably the funniest (shares title w/ Zito), so that works out too.

OK I'm done dude, peace

editted to add:
-all statistics courtesy of Baseball Prospectus

Re: Baseball season - surprises/disappointments?
 

I hear you. They lost to some teams they should have beat up on. The curse must be real.

Re: Re: Baseball season - surprises/disappointments?
 

Yet again..... theres always next year. I wonder when the yankees will start to fade?