Inside Pitch

Vote for the NL Cy Young

I thought Zack Greinke was a fairly obvious choice for AL Cy Young but the NL is no open-and-shut case. It gets announced Thursday at 2 and it's a tough call. You can read MLB.com's summary here. There are a bunch of names in there but I really think it comes down to three: The St. Louis duo of the Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright and San Francisco ace Tim Lincecum.

Linceum (15-7, 2.48 ERA, 261 K) won it last year when he was 18-5 and was brilliant again. Carpenter (17-4, 2.24, 144) once again looked like he did in the 2005-06 range and Wainwright (19-8, 2.63, 212) has established himself as an ace three years after ending the World Series as an untouchable rookie closer.

I really like Carpenter in this one. He was 12-1 from June on and his one-hitter Sept. 7 in Milwaukee was one of the most dominant games I watched all season. He's had an amazing run back from Tommy John surgery and this would definitely be the capper. I don't have an official ballot in this race but mine would read 1-Carpenter 2-Lincecum 3-Wainwright.

Make your pick below.

---Mike Harrington

(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

poll by twiigs.com

Girardi got this vote

I was one of the 28 voters for this year's American League Manager of the Year award, which was given to Los Angeles' Mike Scioscia today. The Baseball Writers Association of America requests we keep our votes secret until the winner is announced and now I can let the cat out of the bag: I had Joe Girardi first,  Scioscia second and Ron Gardenhire third.

There is certainly a lot of anti-Girardi sentiment along the lines of he's supposed to win big with all that talent. But 103 wins are 103 wins, folks. And A-Rod was gone for 38 games. And the Yankees were struggling along until June but Girardi didn't panic. He mixed in the Brett Gardners of the world and allowed the clubhouse to change with the more light-hearted personalities of Nick Swisher and A.J. Burnett.

Girardi also relaxed his personality as well. Uptight like he was in Florida wasn't going to work in New York. It didn't work well in 2008. His personal evolution was certainly a key factor in the Yankees' run.

Scioscia did a great job in Anaheim, particularly in the wake of Nick Adenhart's death. And he's had an amazing run the last eight years. No problem whatsoever with him winning the award. Gardenhire kept the Twins together until they could finally overtake the Tigers. Another great job with a small-market team that might become even more dangerous with all the revenue from a new ballpark starting next year.

---Mike Harrington

(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

It's awards time: Pick the AL Cy Young

Andrew Bailey of the A's and Chris Coghlan of the Marlins were named American and National League rookies of the year, respectively, today by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Hmmm. If I had a vote, I had Detroit's Rick Porcello ahead of Bailey in the AL and the duo of Philly's J.A. Happ and Pittsburgh's Andrew McCutchen ahead of Coghlan in the NL.

Voting for all awards was done prior to the postseason. Writers generally vote for one category. This year, I was a voter for American League Manager of the Year and it's requested we not reveal our ballots until the award is announced (it will be on Wednesday). So I'll fill you in then.

In the meantime, be sure to keep watch here for polls on the upcoming awards. On Tuesday at 2, the AL Cy Young Award will be announced and that will be interesting.

If I were voting, my ballot would look like this: Zack Greinke (left), CC Sabathia, Mariano Rivera. I'm contradicting myself a little because I would pick Happ over McCutchen on the basis he helped his team,  so I should probably vote for one of the Yankees over a Royal.

 But Greinke's numbers were truly spectacular (MLB-best 2.16 ERA, 242 strikeouts as part of a 16-8 season) and I'm not as concerned about his won-loss record. There are cases to be made for guys like Sabathia, Rivera, Felix Hernandez, Justin Verlander, Scott Feldman and Roy Halladay but I go for Greinke. How about you?

---Mike Harrington

(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

(Photo: Associated Press)

poll by twiigs.com

Coaching carousel

Back from a post-World Series vacation and keeping an eye on the smoldering hot stove, which will heat up next month at the Winter Meeetings in Indianapolis. Here's some moves in the dugout I found interesting: 

---New Indians manager Manny Acta made three more additions to his staff today, including the hiring of former Bisons pitching coach Scott Radinsky as his new bullpen coach. Acta went with an outsider, Steve Smith, as his third base/infield coach, a post some thought could go to Torey Lovullo. The first base coach slot is still open and Lovullo probably has a chance for that.

---One I missed during the chaos of the Series: The Orioles named Jeff Datz, former Bisons manager and deposed Indians bench coach, as their new bench coach under Dave Tremblay. Here's more from Datz on how the interview process went down.

---Also today: Ex-Met Wally Backman, exiled to independent ball after a misdemeanor assault charge and DUI ended his four-day stint as Diamondbacks manager in 2004, was hired by the Mets to manage Class A Brooklyn in the New York-Penn League

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Elsewhere, have you seen the new national AT&T ad featuring a fictional Bison getting called up? The ad was filmed in Lake Elsinore, Calif., and not at Coca-Cola Field but it prominently features "Buffalo" on the player's jersey and his phone. Why the Bisons? AT&T has long been one of the team's top national partners. Check it out here:

---Mike Harrington

(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

Torey Talk: Hear Lovullo's press conference in Cleveland

Buffalo Baseball Hall of Famer Torey Lovullo had his official interview with the Indians today for the manager's post and then met the Cleveland media to discuss his candidacy. Lovullo is banking on his familiarity with the organization as one of his major attributes.

"When I walked out of there, I was excited," Lovullo said of the interview. "For the first time really with this group, I got a chance to express myself and some of my philosophies."

Lovullo is in a quartet of candidates that includes Manny Acta, Bobby Valentine and Don Mattingly for the post to replace Eric Wedge. Angels bench coach Ron Roenicke has just climbed into the mix and so may ex-Rockies manager Clint Hurdle.

Click the arrow at the left side of the box below to listen to the audio from Lovullo's session with the media. (The first 35 seconds or so are sound tests. Watch for the loud beep the first three seconds).

---Mike Harrington

(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

10.23lovullo

 

Torey's time to talk in Cleveland

The Indians' managerial search continues and Buffalo Baseball Hall of Famer Torey Lovullo, left, has his interview Friday. The Tribe has already talked to ex-Washington skipper Manny Acta and former Mets manager Bobby Valentine was in Cleveland Thursday. Dodgers hitting coach Don Mattingly is still on the docket.

No secret to longtime readers that I'm a huge Lovullo booster. But the fact is I can't see how the Indians could possibly hire him at this time. It seems more like a token interview for Lovullo's eight years of service as a Tribe minor-league manager. He was terrific in Class A and Double-A and pretty mediocre in Triple-A with four straight non-playoff seasons (three in Buffalo, one in Columbus). Eric Wedge, meanwhile, got the top job in 2003 coming off two bangup seasons in Buffalo, including a 91-win campaign in 2001. Don't think Indians fans want to go the minor-league route again.

But the big-name route can be rife with potholes too. Mattingly would sell tickets but he's never managed. Valentine would sell tickets but his interview Thursday sounds downright bizarre. He admitted to not knowing a lot about stats such as OPS, which are bible to the folks running the Tribe. And admitted to other sins as well.

"I don't know as much about Cleveland as someone interviewing for their manager's job probably should," said Valentine. "I could have crammed for the last six days, read every article and called every friend to get every bit of information just in case one of guys asked me who the starting third baseman is going to be next year. I didn't do it.

"I can tell you that I don't know about the American League. I don't know about the Central. I don't know about the Indians. But I sure as hell am willing to learn, and spend 28 hours a day if necessary, to know everything that I could possibly know."

Game over if I'm running the Tribe. At least come prepared, dude.

There's talk of maybe the Tribe reaching out to Clint Hurdle. Acta would be a popular choice with the team's Latin players but good luck selling his dreary tenure with the Nationals. All this with the backdrop of Cliff Lee vs. CC Sabathia in the World Series Wednesday night. Tough times in Cleveland

And putting it even more in perspective: Thursday was the 12th anniversary of the Tribe's last World Series home win, the 10-3 victory over the Marlins in Game Four of the '97 Series that evened things at two wins apiece. The gametime temperature was 38 degrees (coldest ever in Series play) and there were snow flurries. Jerry Sullivan and I were sitting in the auxiliary press box in right field. By the second inning, we were inside watching it on TV. Brutal conditions but a neat memory of a completely different time for the Tribe.

---Mike Harrington

(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

Time for Yankees to seal the deal

It's Game Five of the ALCS tonight in Anaheim and the Yankees need one win to wrap up their I-95 World Series matchup with the Phillies. Better they do it tonight than prolong things to Saturday night back in the Bronx. As Mike Vaccaro's column in today's New York Post points out, the Yankees were a combined 9-0 in 1996, 1998 and 1999 in games where they had a chance to clinch a series en route to winning the World Series (they were 2-1 in 2000).

They need to finish this series now. A big reason? Everyone will spend the next two days revisiting 2004 if the Angels win tonight.

I was there for every pitch in '04 when the Yankees blew their 3-0 lead to the Red Sox and the shift in momentum was ever-so-slight when the Sox won the Dave Roberts game to get within 3-1. But when they pulled out their 14-inning thriller in Game Five, the shift was palpable. By the time we all got off the train back to New York, you felt you were on a runaway. You could feel the Sox gaining control. The Bloody Sock game then gave you that feeling of destiny in your midst.

Three hours before Game Seven, I was on the field leaning up against the railing in front of the Yankees dugout. A few feet away, venerable Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan was screaming into a microphone doing a live hit for some ESPN show. He was saying there was no way the Sox could come this far and get Aaron Booned again. The Sox were loose, chatting and joking on the field. No Yankee cracked a smile. Few said anything. Game Seven was already over before either of Johnny Damon's home runs.

The point is clear. The Angels are reeling. Keep them down. If Girardi, A-Rod & Co. truly want this 103-win version of the Yankees to be different from the past four years, they have to take advantage of opportunity in October. They've been mostly brilliant so far in going 6-1.  They need to take care of business tonight so they don't face an uncomfortable weekend.

---Mike Harrington

(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

poll by twiigs.com

The LCS picks: Mine and yours

Pretty hard to believe it's been five years since the Yankees have gone to the ALCS but that's the fact: They haven't been there since that historic choke to the Red Sox in 2004. They open Friday night in the House that Jeter Built against the Angels in what should be a fascinating series. The Yanks have power at the plate and power on the mound, the Halos have speed on the bases and heavy hearts as they play for the memory of late pitcher Nick Adenhart. Manager Mike Scioscia won a World Series in 2002 and has been a playoff regular; Joe Girardi is in his first run as a postseason skipper.

I think the series comes down to two things: The Yankees' offense and Mariano Rivera. Both teams have quality starting pitching that bears some question marks. But the Yankees have too many big bats. And Los Angeles closer Brian Fuentes tends to put a lot of men on base, a dangerous way to work against the Yankees lineup. Rivera, on the other hand, is an ageless wonder still in shutdown mode. Look at all the closer blowups in the division series. He had nary a trouble spot. I think there's going to be at least one cream-pie rally off Fuentes. My pick is Yankees in six.

In the NLCS, the Dodgers were challenged only in Game Two by the slumping Cardinals so their rotation is set for their rematch with the Phillies. Joe Torre & Co. has revenge on its mind from last year's five-game defeat but I'm not expecting this one to go much better. Manny Ramirez has been relatively quiet with Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier the big bats to watch. The Phillies, meanwhile, have that amazing middle of the order and terrific starting pitching. The bullpen is certainly iffy but if Brad Lidge pitches as he did against the Rockies, it will feel like 2008 for him again and not the nightmare that's been most of '09. The rematch is a repeat. I'm going with the Phillies in five.

So I'm going with the Yankees and Phillies in an Amtrak series. Maybe you'll take the Angels and Dodgers in a Freeway Series. Make your selections below and feel free to chat up the LCS. I'll be in New York for all games at Yankee Stadium in this round so follow our coverage in the blog, online and in the print editions.

---Mike Harrington

(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

poll by twiigs.com

poll by twiigs.com

Yankees' ALCS rotation: Three or four?

The Yankees still have time to make up their minds but Joe Girardi apparently told the New York media today on a conference call that he may in fact stick with a three-man rotation for the ALCS that begins Friday night in the Bronx against the Angels.

That would mean CC Sabathia could pitch in Games 1, 4 and 7, A.J. Burnett could go in 2 and 5 and Andy Pettitte could go in 3 and 6. It seems to be a question of using Chad Gaudin in Game 4 because Joba Chamberlain is likely to stay in the bullpen. Play Girardi's role below. What would you do?

---Mike Harrington

(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

poll by twiigs.com

Late night in NL, great night for Yankees

It was nearly 1:30 a.m. today before the Dodgers finally wrapped up their Game One victory over the Cardinals in the NLDS, a 5-3 victory that set a division series record for a nine-inning game by lasting 3 hours, 54 minutes. The main reason? The teams combined to leave 30 men on base, a record for any nine-inning postseason affair. The Dodgers stranded 16, including the bases loaded three times.

Stunningly, history says the Cardinals are in trouble. Teams losing the opener of an NLDS are just 3-25 in their series (the losers in the ALDS opener are 14-14). The three that came back to win the opening round all went to the World Series -- the '99 Braves, '00 Mets and '03 Marlins.

The biggest story from the opening day of play, of course, was the fact that A-Rod quickly snapped out of his postseason funk with two hits in the Yankees' win over the Twins. Big elephant in the room that's now been shooed away. Great job backing up his bucks by CC Sabathia as well.

---Mike Harrington

(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)