The aftermath from New York Yankees fans has been immense after many perceive that C.C Sabathia and most recently, Robinson Cano were snubbed for league awards.
C.C Sabathia lost out to King Felix for the American League Cy Young Award, that was strike one. Now Robinson Cano, who is widely regarded as one of the best second basemen to play the game finished a distant third to Josh Hamilton for the AL MVP, that was strike two. The third off season strike for Yankee fans may come if the team loses it’s captain Derek Jeter.
Cano had a fantastic season. He batted a .319 average, with 29 home runs and 109 RBIs, which are astronomical numbers for a second basemen. Cano was also awarded a Gold Glove for the season. But the gripe among Yankee fans is the fact that Josh Hamilton missed significant portions of the season with injuries to his ribs, which essentially froze his stats. Cano himself dipped to a batting average of .299 in the second half, but the argument stands as to whether Hamilton himself dodged any such slump by missing a over a month in the second half due to injury.
It seems the baseball writers didn’t think Hamilton’s missed time was significant. His numbers certainly were, Hamilton batted a league leading 359 average, with 32 homers and 100 runs batted in. He also led the majors in slugging percentage at .633 and on-base plus slugging percentage at 1.044. Many bettors who passed on Hamilton because of the missed time, are kicking themselves.
Of course by now, everyone knows Hamilton’s story of being addicted to nearly every vice under the sun. As a former first overall pick for the Rays, Hamilton’s redemptive rise back to the top of the pack is certainly a feel good story for the MLB, which needs it’s own redemptive rise as ratings for the 2010 World Series were less than stellar.
