July 13, 2012–The Baseball Bloggers Alliance today named Hardball Talk lead blogger Craig Calcaterra as the winner of the 2012 Joe Posnanski Award, honoring the top internet writer of the year.  Besides being the lead voice at Hardball Talk, the baseball blog of NBCSports, Calcaterra can also be found interacting with his readers via his Twitter account.

The Writer of the Year Award was created by the BBA to honor those writers who, beyond being exceptionally great at their craft, have taken to the internet in a full and vigorous fashion.  Voters were instructed to take into account not only the writing abilities of the nominees but also their online presense, whether via blog or other media, as well as how they interact with their followers and fans.

“It seems only appropriate to honor Craig Calcaterra, as he could be seen as ‘living the dream’ for many bloggers,” said outgoing BBA president Daniel Shoptaw.  “Calcaterra quit lawyering, began blogging and quickly rose to a place of prominence.  What blogger wouldn’t want to follow in those footsteps?”

Voters were allowed to vote for three of the five nominees, casting a first, second and third place ballot.  Those ballots were tabulated based on a 5-3-1 point scale.

Calcaterra received 276 points, which included 32 first-place votes from the 119 ballots cast.  Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports was runner-up with 245 points and Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus third with 209 points.  Dave Cameron of FanGraphs (208) and Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (194) rounded out the ballot.

The Baseball Bloggers Alliance was formed in the fall of 2009 to encourage cooperation and collaboration between baseball bloggers of all major league teams as well as those that follow baseball more generally.  You can follow the BBA on Facebook and Twitter or contact them at baseballbloggersalliance@gmail.com

It’s time once again to fill out the votes for the United Cardinal Bloggers end of the year awards.

Most awards ballots are anonymous, but not the UCB. In order for a ballot to be counted, you have to post it for the world to see. Guess that keeps us honest, huh?

For the first time you, our fans, get a chance to vote. Head over here and fill out your very own ballot and help show the great people of the internet your love for i70baseball.

Enough stalling, here is the Cardinal and Blogger landscape as I see it:

Cardinal Player Of The Year
Lance Berkman

The Big Puma did it all this year and made an entire city fall in love with him all over again. He put together an impressive season, put another solid bat into the lineup, and even gave the team a bit of a discount to retain his services. No longer “Fat Elvis”, Puma Time arrived in full force in 2011.

Cardinal Pitcher Of The Year
Chris Carpenter

The focus here is the fact that this is the pitcher of the year, not a specific half. Carp put together a solid year by the end of it all and was really the bulldog and ace of this staff when they needed one. He was a leader of this team when the team needed a leader and somewhere along the lines took my advice and held this team together.

Regular Season Game Of The Year
September 28 at Houston (Carp throws a shutout on the last day)

More for the day than the game, this was far and away the best single day in my baseball memory. All over the country the game was contested in highly competitive games with playoff implications and the Cardinals found themselves right in the middle of it all.

Post Season Game Of The Year
World Series Game 6 – Two Rallies With One Strike Left

There really are no words to describe this game. The greatest Cardinal victory that I have ever witnessed. Thank you, David Freese.

Surprise Player Of The Year
Kyle Lohse.

Seriously, I have been the leader of the charge to dump Lohse and his salary (and that manscape beard) at the earliest convenience. By the time the dust settled, he led the team in wins. Again, Kyle Lohse led the 2011 Cardinals in victories. Before you Sabermetric stat heads jump all over me, I don’t care, wins are still important to me.

Disappointing Player Of The Year
Colby Rasmus.

I admit it very openly, I am a fan of Rasmus. Even as a fan, you get tired of saying “this is the year”. Everything in my baseball knowledge pointed to this being a year for Colby to break out. That either shows that I have very little baseball knowledge or that this kid has daddy issues far beyond what even Freud could understand.

Cardinal Rookie Of The Year
Daniel Descalso.

I love me some Danny D. Kid showed some resilience this season, played a strong enough hot corner to be a finalist for the gold glove, and showed some heart. If he does not get serious consideration for the second base job next season, I have to wonder why.

Pre Season Acquisition Of The Year
Lance Berkman.

This award should be a landslide. There were a few of us that kept a positive attitude about Berkman when he was signed, but I don’t think anyone expected that John Mozeliak got that good of a deal.

Mid Season Acquisition Of The Year
Octavio Dotel.

I really did not give Dotel much of a chance coming over and viewed him as draft pick compensation at the end of the year. Now, I find myself hoping the Cardinals find a way to keep him for another season. He was money down the stretch and got the Cardinals out of some tight spots that this bullpen could have never been trusted with before his arrival.

Most Anticipated Cardinal
Shelby Miller.

The tall Texan has a great opportunity ahead of him and it may be coming in 2012. Until then, I will keep checking the minor league box scores every five games to see how well he performed yet again.

Best Individual Blog (Written By One Person)
On The Outside Corner

I may be a little biased here as Bob Netherton also writes for i70baseball. But, honestly, it is impossible to read Bob’s site without learning something. I consider myself a historian of this game and I love the tradition and history it provides. Bob captures that in new ways every single post and that is not easy to do.

Best Team Cardinal Blog (Written By More Than One Person)
Pitchers Hit Eighth

Last year, PH8 and i70 split the votes and were co-holders of this award. I have been a fan of Nick and his crew for quite a while and considered it an honor to be mentioned with them. I still do. From the funny and spot-on analysis of Dennis to Nick’s straight forward and poignant posts, once you sprinkle in some April Fool with Josh and a little bit of Andrew, the site is a must read daily.

Best Professional Cardinal Blog
Bird Land

One of my hardest choices as I have a lot of respect for Derrick Goold and Matthew Leach. In all, I think Goold does a great job of giving the fans what we want to hear about, even if it is not the biggest story of the day.

Best Rookie Cardinal Blog
Birds On The Bat 82

It is not the most catchy name, but the site (and it’s author) have earned my respect this year. Here’s hoping there is many more years of some 1982 love.

Post Of The Year
Diamond Diaries – 9 Years Later

I am a sentimental guy and I’ll be damned if stories of Jack Buck and Darryl Kile don’t get me every time. Angela Weinhold (another of i70′s own) did an amazing job of capturing the moments from nine years ago that rocked the very foundation of Cardinal Nation.

Best UCB Project
Roundtables

Twice a year this group of blogs exchanges ideas throughout discussions started with simple questions in the roundtables. It is one of my favorite projects I have ever been a part of.

Most Optimistic Cardinal Blog
Diamond Diaries

Honestly, I do not remember a time when the girls of Diamond Diaries ever gave up on this team this year. We were all ready to mail it in at some point, but they kept the faith throughout.

Best UCB Podcast
Conversations With C70

“You are listening to my Daddy’s show!” may be the best intro I have ever heard on a podcast.

Best UCB Twitterer
gr33nazn

That’s “Green Asian” for those of you that did not know (I didn’t for a long time). Dennis from Pitchers Hit Eighth brings the funny to 140 characters or less better than anyone I know. He is right there with a quip or an anecdote for most anything and is always there with some encouraging words for real life.

Best Fake Cardinal Twitter Account
None

Sorry folks, I just don’t do the fake accounts. The squirrel and tortoise annoyed me all post season and most of the other stuff is pure drivel. I’m abstaining form this one.

That’s my ballot. Hope everyone enjoys, feel free to comment below, and don’t forget to go vote yourself.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
Follow him on Twitter here.

Every year, the group known as the Baseball Bloggers Alliance places their ballots for various awards to be announced at the end of the season. This year, Bob Netherton and I will be placing the votes for the St. Louis Chapter of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance in the category of Manager Of The Year. The award is officially titled The Connie Mack Award, so named because of the winningest manager in baseball history.

For me, this year’s group of skippers came down to a few criteria. Who did more with less? Who found ways to win games that were not meant to be won? It was not about taking a team that was supposed to win and winning (Sorry Charlie Manuel). It was about taking a team that had been written off (even on a game-to-game basis – everyone should be beating the Astros right now) and doing something unexpected. So without further ado, here are my top three choices for the Manager of the Year.

3. Tony LaRussa (St. Louis Cardinals) – Believe it or not, this is not a hometown pick. I am not a LaRussa fan, and I make no qualms about saying so. The man overmanages at times, yet finds ways to win. He is the third most winningest manager of all time, and will probably pass up John McGraw in the next season, should he return. But this award is not about longevity. It is about this year.

LaRussa’s Cardinals did more than anyone would have predicted they could this year. Their march to the postseason really did not begin in earnest until September, as they found themselves 10.5 games out of the race (wild card and divisional) during the week of August 24. They lost an ace in Adam Wainwright before the season began. Superstars Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday both suffered injuries that landed them on the shelf throughout the season. Guys that few out of the Midwest had heard of named Jon Jay and Daniel Descalso led the team in games played. Yet this team prevailed, made a historic comeback, and found their way into the playoffs. Tony might make me nuts, but he must be doing something right.

2. Clint Hurdle (Pittsburgh Pirates) – The Pirates had been complacent in the cellar of the National League for 18 years entering the 2011 campaign. Most people probably could not name 3 players off of the Pirate’s roster. The definition of a young team – Hurdle had only two players on his roster over the age of 30 this year. Yes, you read that correctly. Thirty. This team was doomed from the start.

Then something remarkable happened. Hurdle’s club put together a 47-43 first half. On July 19, game number 95 on the season, the Pirates were up a half game on the Milwaukee Brewers, a season high seven games over .500, and shocking the baseball scene. It was not going to last, according to pretty much everyone, but the Pirates held out longer than anyone thought they would. Hurdle had a young team, but he brought out the best in them, and if the team can stick together for a few years instead of trading them away for aging veterans, they could surprise again next year.

1. Kirk Gibson (Arizona Diamondbacks) – Last year, the Diamondbacks lost 97 games, finishing 27 games back of the eventual World Champion San Francisco Giants. Gibson, that of postseason fame himself, took over the reins of the team at roughly the halfway mark of that largely forgettable season. This season, Gibson brought in the A-Team for his coaching staff. Don Baylor, Alan Trammell, Matt Williams and Charles Nagy, among others, are all roaming the halls and dugout steps of Chase Field. Former coaches and managers in their own right, All-Stars whose playing days are not all that distant, now all together in one dugout. Every time you looked into that dugout, you wondered how Gibson got all those guys in one place.

This year, on the backs of a strong pitching staff led by starter Ian Kennedy and reliever J.J. Putz, the Diamondbacks shocked the National League West, running away from the division and finishing 8 games ahead of the Giants and the rest of the pack. Gibson made moves that other coaches would not make, used a regular lineup of players aged 23-30, and earned the respect of the rest of the National League in the process. Gibson might just be starting out his managerial career, but he is off to a good start.

Angela Weinhold covers the Cardinals as well as edits for i70baseball.com and writes at Cardinal Diamond Diaries. You may follow her on Twitter here or follow Cardinal Diamond Diaries here.

Every year, the group known as the Baseball Bloggers Alliance places their ballots for various awards to be announced at the end of the season. This year, it is my pleasure to place the votes for the St. Louis Chapter of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance in the category of Rookie Of The Year. The award is officially titled The Willie Mays Award.

The National League this year has shown some diversity amongst the teams. Highly competitive races came down to the last few weeks of the season, highlighted by three teams and the men that guided them. In my mind, the top three managers to be considered for the award are listed here….

3 – Jaime Garcia, St. Louis Cardinals
I will probably catch some heat around Cardinal Nation for not placing Jaime higher in consideration for this award. Truth be told, he put together one of the most impressive seasons of a rookie pitcher in recent memory. That being said, the team, as a preventative measure, shut Garcia down in the early part of September for the remainder of the season. After costing him two or three more starts, the team also made it very hard for voters to seriously consider him in post-season award conversations.

Even after the team had shut him down, Garcia would finish with 13 wins in 28 starts and a 2.70 earned run average. He struck out 132 batters, walked only 64, and even threw a complete game shut out, just for good measure. A “dark horse” candidate for this award in the early part of the season, it seemed that Garcia was overlooked by everybody in baseball that was not following the St. Louis Cardinals. Garcia will not take the award home this season, but being considered in the top three is an accomplishment in its own right.

2 – Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants
What Buster Posey lacked in patience at the plate, he certainly made up for with solid contact and the presence on the field of a veteran. Posey took charge of the Giants’ pitching staff while putting together a season that would make most veteran catchers proud.

Posey would come on strong, hitting 18 home runs and driving in 67 runs over the course of 2010. Add into those number his 23 doubles and Posey would post a slugging percentage of .505 while hitting an impressive .305. He would only strike out 55 times, but only walk a total of 30 times. When Posey came to the plate in 2010, he came to hit, and he did just that. If Posey can learn some patience at the plate, the Giants will be talking about this young, talented man for a very long time.

1 – Jason Heyward, Atlanta Braves
He was the favorite to win this award when teams broke camp in Spring of 2010. What Heyward did throughout the year, despite a stint on the disabled list, was not a disappointment in the slightest.

Heyward would match fellow rookie Buster Posey’s 18 home runs, drive in 72 runs and hit a respectable .277. What set him apart was his approach at the plate – though he would strike out an alarming 128 times, he would also walk 91 times, showing some patience and veteran style approach. A .456 slugging percentage and 29 doubles showed many pitchers that he was a force at the plate and moved him to the top of most ballots on the rookie award categories. In the long run, Heyward is ready for greatness in Major League Baseball, and that greatness is coming sooner rather than later.

There you have it, my picks for the Willie Mays Award for the Baseball Bloggers Alliance.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
Follow him on Twitter here.

Every year, the group known as the Baseball Bloggers Alliance places their ballots for various awards to be announced at the end of the season. This year, it is my pleasure to place the votes for the St. Louis Chapter of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance in the category of Manager Of The Year. The award is officially titled The Connie Mack Award.

The National League this year has shown some diversity amongst the teams. Highly competitive races came down to the last few weeks of the season, highlighted by three teams and the men that guided them. In my mind, the top three managers to be considered for the award are listed here….

3 – Dusty Baker, Cincinnati Reds
I know, as a Cardinal person I should not even utter his name. However, all things considered, I think you have to acknowledge the job that Baker did in Cincinnati this season with a team that most did not expect to even finish above .500. I am personally not a fan of his management style, and honestly should probably put Walt Jocketty’s name in parenthesis behind Baker’s, but all things considered he took a team that should not have been in playoff contention and turned them into division champions.

The only thing keeping Baker from climbing higher into this list is the team’s collapse down the stretch. A team that had every opportunity to bury the Cardinals and seal the division very early on, the Reds resembled the World Series Champion Cardinals from 2006 that were known for “backing into” the playoffs. The Reds capitalized more in the month of September from the Cardinals inability to win then they did from their ability to do so.

2 – Brad Mills, Houston Astros
Speaking of teams that everyone picked to lose, the Houston Astros were picked by many to challenge the Pirates for the opposite end of the division race. A very young team that had some financial problems with veteran stars, the Astros were viewed as a franchise that was in turmoil. Locked into rebuilding with very talented youngsters, the team was mired in the back end of contracts to star players that needed to be replaced.

Brad Mills took a young group of players, watched talent like Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman be traded away, and somehow put together a season that suggests that the Astros could be competing sooner rather than later for the division title. A team that most picked to finish dead last was capable of posting a record that ended a mere 10 games below .500. Mills was rewarded with an extension to his contract, showing faith in his ability to lead the players through the remainder of the rebuilding process. With Mills at the helm, the rest of the National League Central should take notice of the Houston Astros.

1 – Bruce Bochy, San Francisco Giants
There are teams that overachieved and there are teams that went above and beyond. Bochy took a Giants team that many picked to be contenders, but not playoff ready, and has led them into the playoffs and past future Hall Of Fame manager Bobby Cox’s Atlanta Braves and into the National League Championship Series to take on baseball’s latest dynasty, the Philadelphia Phillies.

Most pundits did not think the Giants were quite “there” at the begining of this season. But behind Bochy’s leadership, the team leveraged great play from rookie cornerstones and solid play from veteran leaders to put themselves in a postion to steal the Postseason away from everyone involved.

There you have it, my picks for the Connie Mack Award for the Baseball Bloggers Alliance.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
Follow him on Twitter here.