 |
| ||||||
After a wild, back and forth World Series in Season 31, Atlanta managed to come out on top, making them the back-to-back World Champions. It was not an easy road, however, as they had a tough 5-game series in the Divisional Series Round against Charleston. After a sweep of San Francisco in the NLCS, they headed to the World Series against fellow top seed, Santa Fe. After Atlanta took game 1 by a 13-4 margin, Santa Fe stuck back in Game 2 with an 18-7 shellacking of their own. Atlanta took 2 out of 3 on their home field to go up 3-2 and took a 5-run lead into the 9th inning of game 6, only to see it evaporate with a 6-run rally from Santa Fe to take the series to a Game 7. In Game 7, the lead changed hands several time throughout the game, with Santa Fe leading 9-7 after 7 innings, only to surrender 2 in the 8th and 1 in the 9th without any answer from their own squad, giving Atlanta the 4-3 series win. What an incredible series it was, congratulations to both teams on great seasons, it's shame either team had to lose.
Here's a quick run down of this season's award winners:
Most Valuable Player
American League - Randy Adams, San Juan -.313 AVG 60 HR 179 RBI
Adams took home the AL MVP by a fairly wide margin by putting up amazing power numbers and driving in an insane amount of runs. This is his 1st MVP win, and he also took home his first Silver Slugger award this season as well. It's a surprise he hasn't won more awards with his elite bat, although being a DH may have hurt him there. Nonetheless, the award is well deserved for putting up one of the best offensive seasons in recent Cobb World history.
National League - Hank Sherman, Columbus -.340 AVG 37 HR 88 RBI 28 SB
The former #1 overall pick of the Season 26 draft has lived up to the expectations involved with being the top choice, by delivering with an MVP award in his first full season in the majors. He has elite hitting skills, which should keep him in the running for many more awards for seasons to come, especially since he is only 23 years old.
Cy Young Award
American League - Pat Nakajima, Tacoma -19-9 3.05 ERA 183 K
The 22 year-old Japanese hurler took the AL Cy Young by taking the mound for 42 starts this season, and putting up quality numbers. This is also Nakajima's first full season in the Majors after an early call-up last season, and his 1st Cy Young win. Nakajima was signed for a whopping $40.1 million bonus in Season 27, and has shown that he was worth the large investment.
National League - Gill Cochrane, Atlanta - 23-8 2.71 ERA 266 K
Cochrane took home the Cy Young award by a sizable margin in the NL, and looking at his numbers it's not hard to see why. Putting up 23 wins for the World Champions will usually get you some votes. Cochrane signed a 5 year, $110 million contract with Atlanta this past offseason and it was obviously well worth it. Winning the Cy Young is an every 4 seasons ordeal for Cochrane, as he took home a pair of AL Cy Youngs in Seasons 23 and 27, making this his 3rd win. I'm sure Atlanta is hoping for another win before Season 35 though!
Congrats to all the owners with award winners, and again to Atlanta and Santa Fe for putting on a great show in the World Series. Thanks to everyone for making Season 31 great, see you back for Season 32 after a hopefully very quick rollover! Don't forget to renew if you haven't already!
