The Daily Yankeeland - 10/28

Needless to say the conclusion of the World Series was put off until Wednesday night due to more crappy weather in Philly. And even that is in doubt, with a 20-30% chance of rain all day and a game time temperature expected to be 33 degrees.

Yahoo's Jeff Passan takes Bud Selig and MLB to task.


Meanwhile back on the Yankees, and ex-Yankees beat...

Brian Cashman spoke to MLB's Anthony DiComo about Joba Chamberlain's DUI arrest.

Ken Davidoff sat down with former Yankees coach Don Zimmer to discuss the surprising success of the Rays.

Mike Mussina's agent Arn Tellem says his client still has not decided whether or not to continue his career.


And around the rest of MLB:

The Cubs hot corner man Aramis Ramirez has won the Hank Aaron Award.

Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols garnered the Roberto Clemente Award.

The Angels picked up their 2009 options on Vlad Guerrero and John Lackey.

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A-Rod up for Meangingless Award

Hank Aaron, still the all-time home run champ - but that's a story for another day, has an award named after him by MLB. Only it has no meaning. That being said, Alex Rodriguez is one of the 5 finalist in the AL.

Here's the deal. Fans will vote online from today, September 18, thru September 30th. And that's it. In addition to A-Rod, Manny Ramirez, Ichiro, Vlad Guerrero, and Magglio Ordonez are the AL finalists. Just how did Manny get in there?

The NL 5 are Chipper Jones, Ken Griffey Jr., Jose Reyes, Prince Fielder, and Albert Pujols. No David Wright, you say. No Ryan Howard. No Jimmy Rollins. Just how are these finalists picked?

MLB and the damn fans have struck again. 1 player was selected from each team and the fans voted on it. The top vote-getters are your finalists.

Now back to the buffoonery. The award was created in 1999 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Hammerin' Hank breaking Babe Ruth's all-time HR mark. The inaugural awards were given to Manny Ramirez and Sammy Sosa, based on combined HRs, hits, and RBI. All good.

From 2000-2002 the award was selected by a panel of MLB broadcasters. In '03 it became a split vote (70/30) between broadcasters and fans. And from 2004 to the present it has strictly been fan voting.

So good job MLB. You took an award commemorating one of the greatest feats in baseball history and made it a completely meaningless popularity contest.

Official MLB Press Release

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