Poor showing

Jacoby Ellsbury finished third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting announced today. You could argue that his showing mirrored where the Red Sox ultimately ended up. I'm not certain, however, that Ellsbury deserved to finish that high. His showing might have more to do with his play in last year's World Series than this season. Although this year was disappointing for him, I still have high hopes.

The Phillies had no viable Rookie of the Year candidates, although Christine's preseason pick, Geovany Soto, won it in the NL. This year's winners, Soto and Evan Longoria, were about as clear-cut as you can get, but the NL voting was a travesty that won't get any attention because it didn't cost a deserving winner.

Under the vote totals is an asterisk: *(Edinson) Volquez received votes despite being ineligible as a rookie. What the (insert your favorite Chase Utley word here)? About halfway through the season, I wondered why Volquez wasn't getting any ROY buzz. So I looked it up and saw he shed his rookie status last year. Three writers, whose jobs it is to know stuff like this, couldn't be bothered to do the same.

I bet they'll overlook Cole Hamels in the Cy Young vote that is announced tomorrow. OK, postseason doesn't count, so he doesn't deserve it. He'll have to be content with his NLCS and World Series MVPs.

One Phillie who does deserve an award is Charlie Manuel, but he's getting no hype. Sports Weekly (it finally arrived Saturday) had its writers pick the awards. Where did Cholly rank? I can't tell you; they list only the top three. Yeah, Lou Piniella and Joe Torre had much better seasons.

Other news: Brad Mills is interviewing for the Mariners job. So is DeMarle Hale and Alex Cora's brother Joey. John Farrell isn't. Scott Eyre is coming back to Philly. Jimy Williams isn't. And it looks like Matt Holliday won't be coming to town.

{My theory on Williams: Maybe he thought he would be next in line for the manager's job if Manuel were ever fired. Well, it's clear that Cholly won't be fired and won't be going anywhere, so maybe Williams decided it was time to cut his losses.}

Little appetizer and other morsels

Yesterday it was Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino. Today Dustin Pedroia won a Gold Glove, his first. Actually, he knew yesterday and didn't keep it a secret. I never knew award winners were told a day ahead, and I don't know if he'll get in trouble for spilling the beans.

Thankfully, I think they still wait until hours before the official announcement to tell a player that he won the MVP. That's the main course for Pedroia this year (and the Red Sox, as Christine reminded me that they didn't get the job done this season). Today's fielding award is just a little shrimp cocktail for the littlest big hitter in baseball.

Things don't look so good for Pedroia and the Sox next year. Manny Ramirez won't consider coming back. Did I miss something? Was this even a possibility? Didn't we bend over backward last summer shipping him out of town so he could get the Dodgers' hopes up for the Phillies to knock them down? Whatever. The season ended just over a week ago, and I'm already sick of hearing from Scott Boras.

There's some talk that Manny could replace Pat Burrell in Philadelphia. I don't buy it. To quote Tony Massarotti: "One glitch: Pat Gillick, who just stepped down as Philly's GM but is staying on in an advisory role, is too smart to advocate signing a guy like Manny. (We think.)"

One glitch with that glitch theory: Gillick might be interested in winning a Stanley Cup instead.

I thought this was a slow day when I sat down to write tonight, but things are certainly getting crazy. Next thing you know, we'll be reading that the World Champs are again considering trading the farm, and Shane Victorino, for Matt Holliday. Oops.

{No way, I'm not buying that. This city loves Shane-O, and I think he loves it back. I hope management isn't dumb enough to trade him.}

A jinx more widespread than Madden's?

This week, reigning NL MVP Jimmy Rollins has missed time with an ankle injury. And World Series MVP Mike Lowell landed on the DL with a sprained thumb. I had mentioned that these two players who won an MVP award last year were injured, but I forgot that Josh Beckett, who started the season on the DL, had won the ALCS MVP.

That means counting regular season, playoff and All-Star Game MVPs, half of last year's "MVPs" have been injured through the season's first two weeks. Don't be surprised if Matt Holliday (NLCS), Ichiro Suzuki (All-Star Game) and Alex Rodriguez (AL) miss time this year.

We're indifferent to Ichiro, but Christine won't mind if Holliday goes down {non-plate-touching cheater}, and I certainly won't mind if Slappy does.

Speaking of Slappy, the Yankees won round one tonight. Pathetic performance by the offense. I must acknowledge that Chien-Ming Wang just dominated tonight. (I've always thought he's good but overrated.) Through a crackly radio broadcast in the basement, I heard the announcer say that he threw 78 pitches through the 8th, and if it weren't for a J.D. Drew home run that could have easily been caught by Bobby Abreu, there would be a no-hit attempt. J.D. Drew = the Red Sox offense, tonight and through the first 11 games. Scary.

And a good first start against the Empire for Clay Buchholz; he's starting to live up to his billing.

On a happier note:

Phils win. Good performances by Pat Burrell - a two-run home run and an RBI double - and Brett Myers, who settled down after giving up two solo homers in the first.

I'm going to miss Burrell next year. Yeah, he seems like a crank and hates the media, but I don't doubt his desire to win or commitment to the team. Whenever you see a shot into the dugout, he's right there on the top step watching the game or talking with Charlie Manuel or one of the coaches. I know he gets hammered because it seems like he doesn't get upset enough when he's playing poorly, but he gets a bum deal because he hasn't lived up to all of his contract expectations.

Plus, I'll miss seeing his bulldog Elvis in a Phillies jersey.

[Photo credit: Boston Globe]