So who exactly were the two genius minds who completely left Josh Beckett off their Cy Young ballots? Surprise, surprise- one of them is a Yankees writer from New York, and the other is from the venerable USA Today.
In one corner, we have Mark Feinsand, who is in just his first year as the Yankees beat writer for the New York Daily News. This was also his first time voting for the awards. What a shocker, right? And in the other corner, we have Jorge Ortiz, the baseball writer for USA Today. Man, I was really hoping both of them would be New York guys so I could easily write them off.
Both of these guys voted Sabathia-Carmona-Lackey (in that order). Both left Beckett off of their ballots. And both now, after seeing post-season play, regret their votes.
"If they gave me a Cy Young ballot on Nov. 1, I would have voted Josh Beckett first and left the other two spots blank, because nobody would have been close," Feinsand said.The milk is already spilt, guys- ain't no use trying to cry and weasel your way out of those picks now."You feel a little foolish after what happened in the postseason," Ortiz agreed.
"Look," Feinsand said. "I went to BU. I have a lot of friends in Boston. The last month of the season, one of my good friends up there tried to convince me to put Beckett on my ballot. I looked over the numbers carefully, and decided Sabathia, Carmona, and Lackey were more deserving. The ballot is supposed to be secret, but I told my friend I left Beckett off. So when the playoffs started and Beckett did what he did and Sabathia struggled, my friend called me up after every game and said, 'So how do you like your Cy Young candidate now?' "Yankees fan who lived in Boston (they always seem to be the most bitter kind), is a first-year voter AND a first-year beat writer, had friends who tried to point out the error of his voting ways and he STILL manages to somehow, curiously, be one of only two guys who left Beckett completely off his list? There is so much fun ammunition there I don't even think I know what to do with it.
on November 14, 2007 3:11 PM
Oh, of course one of them went to BU. I am so embarrassed. Props to that guy's friend for bothering him about it after every game! At least they admit they made a mistake. It does make it that much better, that everyone knows Beckett really is the best.
And Michael, we all realize it's based on regular season performance. But come on--Beckett had an excellent season. His ERA was very close to Sabathia's, and he won 20 games ffs. To leave a pitcher like that off the ballot entirely seems a bit strange to me.