With less than 1 week to go, the 7th season of the GMDS is about wrapped up.
It is time for the post-season awards in no particular order...
Most improved - Jerusalem Runnin' Rabs, Ken Zwiebel. Ken and his
Runnin' Rabs showed a nice improvement over their dreadful inagural season. Ken
clearly had no where to go but up after finishing with a league record worst 14
total points and 118.5 pts out of first in 2003. However, he had a vision
promised change and did improve his team by ~45 points to gain respectability.
The next question, are the Rabs ready for the next step. Honorable mention
Beerman. If it weren't for a 2nd half collapse, Beerman, truely one of GMDS
nicest guys, would have walked away with the award.
Best Manager - KIMO, Kimo. It's tough to make an argument against
the league's most controversial owner after this year's performance. Though Kimo
definitely should share some of the award with best-bud Beerman for salvaging
the latter 1/3 of the draft during which time a drunken, stuporous, and quite
nauseated Kimo gave Las Vegas citizens a reason to be greatful the draft only
comes once a year. Despite spending a mere $14 on pitchers not named Mariano
Rivera and Matt Mantei and relying on a core starting rotation of Chris
Carpenter, Woody Williams (aka "Kimo's Woody"), Klevim Escobar, and of
course a rag-tag mix of spot starters, Kimo finished with a stagerring 60 pts in
pitching, good for 3rd most in the league. His brash and in-your-face attitude
probably costs him some of the much deserved praise, but that's Kimo.
Dr. Jekyl-Mr. Hyde - October Fury, Burr Loew. A tale of 2 seasons.
With a team led by the struggling Chipper Jones, Aubrey Huff, Randy Winn, Mark
Teixeira, Corey Patterson, and Placido Polanco all struggling mightily in the
1st half and barely kept afloat by Jeff Kent and the godsend Ben Sheets the
season looked bleak as the team was in 14th place in late June. The team was
mocked by league members and the owner distraught. However he stuck to his guns
and showed loyalty it the players, except for Jose Contreras who was later
released and felt to be doping in the clubhouse. Maybe by acts of gratitude for
unbreakable faith in its players or possibly divine intervention from above (or
below) the Fury steadily climbed the standings in the 2nd half passing 10 teams
and finishing a respectable 5th.
Surprise Team - Thunder Road Tramps, Jeff Zwiebel. A lot of people
would chant GRINDLEY, and with good argument. Obviously, Dave did a fantastic
job as 1st place is not far from his grasps though whether Dave's emotionally
battered, sleep-deprived, and caffeine fueled body can make it to October 4th is
another question. But after the draft Grindley clearly had a top 5 team without
any imagination. Jeff's Tramps however, at least by my evaluation, looked like
he could challenge 'lil brother for the cellar. Rotolab in fact predicted a 12th
place finish. Jeff has thrown these predictions out the window and shown he is a
great competitor.
Anika Kournikova Award - West Bridewater Buddah-Bellies, Mike Rec.
Though it's safe to say none of us will ever mistake Rec for the Russian
blonde-bombshell, he did do quite an impersonation. With all that talent amassed
on the Buddah-Bellies anything less than a championship would have been
considered a disappointment, Well then, how does 7th place sound?!?! Though Rec
did suffer from a lot of off the field personal strife, his team was never
really in the race. I am sure he'll look back at what could have been.
Brian Mueller Award - NY Grey Hate, Rishi Vohora. In our first
season without Founding Father and ever so inactive owner come July, Brian
Mueller, perhaps Rishi felt it was necessary to honor the fallen comrade. The
activity level clearly was not there for most of the season and is readily
apparent in the stats: The Hate have 5912 ABs or >500 less than the next
lowest team, Newbie Badgers, and 21% less than current league leader, NY
SnappleBoyz. This simply will not allow a team to compete. Hopefully young
Vohora will find his way to daily transactions, subscribtions to Extra Innings,
and a refueled fire for rotisserie baseball or, I fear, he may be lost to the
Dark Side forever.
Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year - Thunder Road Tramps, Jeff Zwiebel.
Rick Maddock's Angry Pups put up a nice 1st half but when it came to crunch
time, Jeff looked like a seasoned veteran. No further discussion needed.
George McFly Doormat Award - Newbie Badgers, James Mycroft. After
finishing 13th in 2003, ahead of only the expansion Slugs, the Badgers now have
the basement all to themselves. Newbie is counting on his young talent to be the
pillars of the future. If so he could build a dominant team much like the A's,
Twins, or Rangers (up and coming). However fruits of his labor have not yet
become apparent which leads some owners to question whether we have the
reincarnation of the Washington Senators, Boston Braves, or St. Louis Browns on
our hands.
Carpenter needed - Quixotian Windmills, Chris Kwan. After a
promising 3rd place finish in 2003, the Windmills were confident going into 2004
but unfortunately they draw comparisons to the current Mariners team. An aged
team with an apparent thin group of keepers and help from the farm system
including the highly-touted Nate McLouth at least 2 years away, a simple nail
and hammer will not do. This rebuilding project will require the full capenter's
tool belt possibly a wrecking ball to dismantle and rebuild this once promising
franchise.
Team of the Year - NY SnappleBoyz, David Grindley. Was there any
doubt? Dave is a 5 year member of the league whose self-decribed only goal in
life is to win the GMDS trophy and/or beat Kwan. He has always been a tireless
competitor . The fact that he leads the league in ABs shows his competitive
spirit on a daily basis. He has traded, traded, and traded some more in addition
to finding great keepers and having a very successful draft which has vaulted
him to the upper echelons of the league. He clearly had a vision and built the
foundations of a champion, so it should come as no surprise that with 7 days of
competition left, Dave has a 7 point lead and has his eye on the GMDS trophy.
Gammonsonian Diamonds Owner of the Year (GDFLOOTY) - Owner yet TBD. Make
your vote count.
