39 homers, 40 stolen bases.

[JMK]

Must suck to be Soriano and Guerrero today huh? Especially so for Vladimir since he was robbed on saturday night by the ump, and was called out on strikes twice yesterday, both questionable. So 2 guys come within 1 measly homer of the 40/40 club just to fall short. I guess Soriano can take solace in the fact that he just exploded this year and had a fantastic year, but Guerrero must be a little disappointed considering 40 homers is usually a lock for him. Still, IMO, he's the most exciting player in baseball today. Not the best, (but in the top 3 for sure) but the player I'd pay most to see.

[Jedieb]

Soriano may never get this close again, but I don't think he's too bummed out. I expect that Guerrero will be chasing those numbers for the next 5 years. Both of those players are great to watch, but you know which one will be playing deep into the playoffs.:D

How about Pedro practically throwing away the Cy Young because he didn't want to pitch his last start. Then you've got Manny taking heat for not playing and the strikeout machine sitting out his last games. These guys need to shut up and suit up whenver they've got the chance.

[Figrin D'an]

I think Pedro handed the Cy Young to Barry Zito... I understand why Pedro decided not to pitch, but I don't really agree with it... he's a great player, and might be the most dominant pitcher in the game right now, even with Johnson and Schilling around. He seems a little cold on the personality side though... not very engauging. I mean, if you are a Red Sox fan, I'm sure you love the guy... but, as just a baseball fan in general, he's not the kind of guy that you really find yourself rooting for.

Sosa finished 1 HR shy of 50 for the season and 500 for his career... in 2 more years, we'll likely have another member of the 600 HR club...

[Jedi Master Carr]

Well I think it was better he didn't pitch if he got hurt in a game that didn't mean anything that would really piss me off, its a better to just sit and take a rest. I personally like him, he is a great pithcer, I think he is not very media friendly though and likes to keep to himself. Manny is a different situation, he is similar but can be quite the oddball sometime, still he is a heck of player, he did take the batting title.

[JMK]

That's the way I feel about Ramirez. He may strike out alot, but he did win the batting title over a perennial winner like Nomar.
As for Pedro, I'm kind of on the fence. Fans pay to come out and see him pitch, so to give up a start at the end of the season when you have a few months to recover from whatever is bothering you, well that's pretty crappy IMO. Then again, it was the end of the season, and if the game mattered at all he would have pitched.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Also I think managment could have decided it too, I know they wanted to get one of their top prospects Hancock a look for next season and I think Pedro decided to let him pitch at least I read that on the Boston Globe. Also I am sure if the game mattered he would have pitched in a heartbeat.

[JediBoricua]

Boy have the dominicans cleaned up the league this year.

In the AL
-Best Pitcher
-Batting Title
-Soriano having a dream year
-A. Rod putting up MVP numbers.

In the NL
-Samy, nuff said
-Vladimir becoming the best pound for pound player in the MLB, he has the defense, the offense and the charm.

Great year for Dominican Baseball.

[JMK]

Alot of folks would argue with you about Guerrero's charm. He has never spoken a word in either of Canada's official languages publicly until this past sunday when he said "merci".

But he is an awesome player...I'm curious to see whether or not MLB lets him stay with the Expos after next season when his contract expires. Will they let the team retain its value and keep him, or sell him to the highest bidder? If Delgado is worth 17M a year, and A-Rod 25M a year, Guerrero will fall somewhere in between if history serves as an indicator for future contracts...

[JonathanLB]

Zito is so good! Wow... I was impressed with him this year.

[jjwr]

The Pedro start thing is kinda wierd, I don't really see how it hurts his Cy Young chances though. The guy won 20 games and led the AL in Strike outs by a wide margin and led the league in ERA.

The one thing that will cost him the Cy Young(if anything) is that he plays on the same team as Lowe, they'll pull votes from each other which may push the award to Zito. Big game pitcher though, you can have one pitcher to start say game 7 of the World series? Barry Zito or Pedro Martinez? Gotta be Pedro, man can that guy bring it.

As a Pseudo Red Sox fan(well I live in New England and dislike the Yankee's) who on occasion will put their games on for background noise I've seen how much Personality Pedro has, the guy is a riot. When he's not starting the guy is like a clown in the dug-out and his interviews are always interesting. Zito...don't think I've ever heard the guy talk before.

Manny, he's a wierd one, he strikes out probably too much but still puts up very good numbers and a great clutch hitter. Him & Nomar go great together, very dangerous combo.