Mood Music - Billie Jean by Michael Jackson (Warning: Video contains extremely awesome moonwalk)
As you may have heard, the Yankees rotund ace, CC Sabathia, is an AL Cy Young contender. Here is a case being made for CC, and here is a case being made against CC being the winner.
A snippet from the case being made for CC, from the Boston Herald's (huh?) Bob Klapisch:
A slider here or there will miss a corner or one of those smart-bomb fastballs that whisper over the black will drift through the heart of the strike zone. It happens, but not very often.
Other than these fleeting glimpses of imperfection, Sabathia is otherwise destroying the American League at a rate that could (and should) earn him the Cy Young Award. The Yankees’ ace not only threw an eight-inning one-hitter in the Yankees’ 5-0 win over the A’s on Thursday, he allowed only three batted balls to leave the infield while ignoring the near-100 degree temps.
How good was he? Jorge Posada was convinced Sabathia "had no-hit stuff," which raised a more compelling question: what mortal thrives when it’s this hot?
And a snippet from the case being made against CC, from BleacherReport.com:
His wins are pretty, but he certainly hasn't been the best pitcher in the American League. The 7.67 runs the Yankees give him in support per game have certainly helped his Win-Loss numbers. Sabathia has given up five earned runs in three of his decisions where he either got a no-decision or win, because the Yankees offense bailed him out.
This is the main complaint that is leveled about CC's performance. His win total is inflated because the Yankees have such a dynamic offense, and in more team-neutral categories, like ERA, there have been a few pitchers who have been better. If it's up to me to decide, as of right now, the AL Cy Young Award winner would be Felix Hernandez, but I'm afraid I don't get a vote (yet).
The importance of Kerry Wood and Boone Logan.