The Detroit Independent Baseball Scribes (est. 2005) has come out with their year-end awards, but this year they’ve introduced some off-the-wall categories, because you know as well as I do that Justin Verlander is the team’s best pitcher, Miguel Cabrera is the best hitter, and Austin Jackson is the top rookie. And without further ado, here are the results:
Best On-Field Celebration: Jose Valverde (13 votes)
What Tiger fan doesn’t love the Big Potato’s dancing once he nails down a save? He’s certainly one of the biggest characters on the team, and he’s generated his share of enjoyment on the internet. “On-field celebration” made me think of walk-off home runs, so I gave Brandon Inge a second-place vote. Other Tigers who got first place votes were Inge, Joel Zumaya, and Armando Galarraga.
Best Hair, Facial or Otherwise: Phil Coke (10 votes)
Phil Coke certainly had an ever-morphing look, from mullet to normal to mohawk and back to normal. I thought the mullet was kind of fun, but the whole mohawk thing was completely stupid (not to mention unoriginal), so he did not get my vote (actually, to tell you the truth, I didn’t really think about mohawks when I was casting my votes; Coke never even entered my thought process). My first place vote went to Justin Verlander (mostly because of the facial hair, but he is a rather attractive specimen overall). I decided to have some fun with my second place vote and give it to Miguel Cabrera, because the jheri curl was the source of a lot of entertainment for me throughout the season (although I did consider giving my second place vote to either Armando Galarraga or Alex Avila, because both of them have hair that grows at an astonishingly fast rate, and this amuses me). In addition to my first-place vote for Verlander, Will Rhymes got three first-place votes, Magglio Ordoñez had two, and Johnny Damon and Joel Zumaya each got one.
Best Pitching Face: Justin Verlander (6 votes)
I think I was supposed to interpret this category as the pitcher with the most intimidating look. However, I could not get these guys’ mid-pitch expressions out of my head and I went for Justin Verlander because he looks the least weird in mid-pitch (in case you’re wondering, Armando Galarraga would definitely have been my vote for weirdest mid-pitch expressions, although Rick Porcello occasionally comes up with something strange). Still, when Verlander pitches his best, he’s got such a badass aura about him that no one can match. I gave Jose Valverde my second-place vote, because with all the dancing and getting pumped up over strikeouts, he can generate some amusing expressions. Valverde also got five first-place votes. Jeremy Bonderman and Max Scherzer each got three first-place votes, and Joel Zumaya had two.
Best Use of Social Media: Will Rhymes (17 votes)
Rhymes won this one handily, and if you don’t follow him on Twitter, you should. He’s definitely the most chatty of all the Tigers on Twitter, and what I really enjoyed was that he provided a bit of insight into facing certain pitchers during the postseason. My second place vote went to Robbie Weinhardt, although he hasn’t tweeted nearly as much recently. Weinhardt also had three first-place votes. The other Tiger on Twitter is Casper Wells, by the way. Those three need to get the rest of them online.
Biggest Surprise: Brennan Boesch (9 votes)
I understand the reasoning behind this choice. He kind of burst onto the scene in a big way and then fell from grace just as quickly. I didn’t vote for him because I was interpreting “surprise” in a strictly positive way. My vote went to Will Rhymes (and to tell you the truth, I don’t remember who my second-place vote went to). Rhymes got two first-place votes (including mine) and Austin Jackson got eight.
Best Value: Austin Jackson (11 votes)
He nearly hit .300 in his rookie season, he plays amazing defense, and he did a very nice job stepping into the role vacated by a very popular player in Curtis Granderson. And he makes league minimum right now. You could make the same argument for Max Scherzer, who got 4 votes (actually, I had Scherzer first and Jackson second, but I could easily flip them around. Miguel Cabrera had two (He’s paid $20 million but he’s worth every penny) and Brad Thomas had one (I assume someone was being facetious).
Most Valuable Tiger: Miguel Cabrera (Unanimous)
This one is a no-brainer, and Justin Verlander was the overwhelming vote for second place (including me).
2010-11 DIBS members
Best On-Field Celebration: Jose Valverde (13 votes)
What Tiger fan doesn’t love the Big Potato’s dancing once he nails down a save? He’s certainly one of the biggest characters on the team, and he’s generated his share of enjoyment on the internet. “On-field celebration” made me think of walk-off home runs, so I gave Brandon Inge a second-place vote. Other Tigers who got first place votes were Inge, Joel Zumaya, and Armando Galarraga.
Best Hair, Facial or Otherwise: Phil Coke (10 votes)
Phil Coke certainly had an ever-morphing look, from mullet to normal to mohawk and back to normal. I thought the mullet was kind of fun, but the whole mohawk thing was completely stupid (not to mention unoriginal), so he did not get my vote (actually, to tell you the truth, I didn’t really think about mohawks when I was casting my votes; Coke never even entered my thought process). My first place vote went to Justin Verlander (mostly because of the facial hair, but he is a rather attractive specimen overall). I decided to have some fun with my second place vote and give it to Miguel Cabrera, because the jheri curl was the source of a lot of entertainment for me throughout the season (although I did consider giving my second place vote to either Armando Galarraga or Alex Avila, because both of them have hair that grows at an astonishingly fast rate, and this amuses me). In addition to my first-place vote for Verlander, Will Rhymes got three first-place votes, Magglio Ordoñez had two, and Johnny Damon and Joel Zumaya each got one.
Best Pitching Face: Justin Verlander (6 votes)
I think I was supposed to interpret this category as the pitcher with the most intimidating look. However, I could not get these guys’ mid-pitch expressions out of my head and I went for Justin Verlander because he looks the least weird in mid-pitch (in case you’re wondering, Armando Galarraga would definitely have been my vote for weirdest mid-pitch expressions, although Rick Porcello occasionally comes up with something strange). Still, when Verlander pitches his best, he’s got such a badass aura about him that no one can match. I gave Jose Valverde my second-place vote, because with all the dancing and getting pumped up over strikeouts, he can generate some amusing expressions. Valverde also got five first-place votes. Jeremy Bonderman and Max Scherzer each got three first-place votes, and Joel Zumaya had two.
Best Use of Social Media: Will Rhymes (17 votes)
Rhymes won this one handily, and if you don’t follow him on Twitter, you should. He’s definitely the most chatty of all the Tigers on Twitter, and what I really enjoyed was that he provided a bit of insight into facing certain pitchers during the postseason. My second place vote went to Robbie Weinhardt, although he hasn’t tweeted nearly as much recently. Weinhardt also had three first-place votes. The other Tiger on Twitter is Casper Wells, by the way. Those three need to get the rest of them online.
Biggest Surprise: Brennan Boesch (9 votes)
I understand the reasoning behind this choice. He kind of burst onto the scene in a big way and then fell from grace just as quickly. I didn’t vote for him because I was interpreting “surprise” in a strictly positive way. My vote went to Will Rhymes (and to tell you the truth, I don’t remember who my second-place vote went to). Rhymes got two first-place votes (including mine) and Austin Jackson got eight.
Best Value: Austin Jackson (11 votes)
He nearly hit .300 in his rookie season, he plays amazing defense, and he did a very nice job stepping into the role vacated by a very popular player in Curtis Granderson. And he makes league minimum right now. You could make the same argument for Max Scherzer, who got 4 votes (actually, I had Scherzer first and Jackson second, but I could easily flip them around. Miguel Cabrera had two (He’s paid $20 million but he’s worth every penny) and Brad Thomas had one (I assume someone was being facetious).
Most Valuable Tiger: Miguel Cabrera (Unanimous)
This one is a no-brainer, and Justin Verlander was the overwhelming vote for second place (including me).
2010-11 DIBS members
Kurt Mensching – Bless You Boys
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Matt Wallace – Bless You Boys
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Al Beaton – Bless You Boys
James Schmehl – Mlive.com
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Zac Snyder – Motor City Bengals
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Bill Ferris – Detroit Tigers Weblog and TigsTown
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Mike Rogers – Tigers by the Numbers and Bless You Boys
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Samara Pearlstein – Roar of the Tigers
Lee Panas – Detroit Tigers Tales
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