 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
We asked a panel of DMBL pitching greats who they think should win the Ben McDonald Award, presented annually to the league's top pitcher.
If you are going to consider a reliever, though, you have to start with Phoenix's Troy Percival (4-2, 34 SV, 1.96 ERA, 9.6 R/9), who won the Eck with 69 relief points. Percival tied for the league lead in saves and tied for second in save percentage (.872)... Last year's Eck winner, Mariano Rivera (5-7, 34 SV, 2.03 ERA, 9.0 R/9), finished second with 66 points, shared the save title with Percival and also tied him for second in save percentage (.872)... The aforementioned Wagner (5-5, 32 SV, 1.63 ERA, 10.8 R/9) posted the best ERA of any reliever with at least 20 IP and finished third in saves and relief points (63) and fourth in save percentage (.842). Others for consideration: Arkansas's Trevor Hoffman (1-0, 16 SV, 3.00 ERA, 10.7 R/9) went 16-for-18 in save chances and allowed just 6 of 30 inherited runners to score. He would've led the league in save percentage (.889) but didn't have enough opportunities to qualify... The dynamic duo of Keith Foulke (8-4, 18 SV, 2.74 ERA, 10.4 R/9) and Arthur Rhodes (5-4, 13 SV, 2.77 ERA, 10.4 R/9) gave Newark one of the league's best bullpens and helped them win their second straight World's Championship... Brooklyn's Vladimir Nunez (11-5, 8 SV, 3.61 ERA, 11.8 R/9) led the league in relief wins and was tied for third in fewest inherited runners allowed to score (.184), was fifth in appearances (79) and eighth in winning percentage (.688)... Wanaque's Antonio Alfonseca (10-1, 2 SV, 3.21 ERA, 11.4 R/9) would've ranked second in the DMBL in winning percentage (.909) if he qualified; he also finished third in games (82) and fourth in holds (18). Rod Beck was named 1994's top relief pitcher, going 12-6 with 11 saves, a 3.04 ERA and 113 K in 118.1 IP. He retired after finally winning a World Series ring with Newark in 2001, having pitched for four teams over a DMBL career that spanned from 1993 to 2001, racking up nearly 500 IP, 34 wins and 57 saves.
Pitching Leaders
After a forgettable DMBL debut in 1999 with Philadelphia (4-8, 5.73 ERA), Miguel Batista was pitching mop-up for Columbia's Triple-A squad when an injury to wonderkind Mark Buehrle got him three starts -- and he was awful, going 0-2 with a 9.75 ERA. But he got another chance in mid-June after the team gave up on Terry Adams (1-8, 6.06 ERA), and Batista turned around his season and perhaps his career around by finally mastering a new pitch: The knuckleball. Batista claimed a regular turn in the rotation by pitching 17.1 consecutive scoreless innings and winning seven straight starts; by the end of the season, went 10-4 with a 2.89 ERA and 11.6 R/9. He did get plenty of help, however: The team scored him 5 runs per game, and the bullpen didn't allow any of his 17 inherited runners to score. Batista also lasted just over 5 innings per start, and just 9 of his 18 games were quality starts, so he didn't qualify for the leaderboard in most categories. Nevertheless, Batista's brilliant half-season is one of the most amazing turn-arounds in league history. Last year, Brad Penny went 0-3 with a 7.02 ERA during his rookie campaign, came out of spring training as an afterthought at the end of a rotation that featured four perennial McDonald Award candidates. But the 24-year-old Penny (16-6, 3.02, 12.7) stepped up to rank third in the DMBL in ERA, tie for third in quality start percentage (.688) and HR/9 (0.7), and finished fifth in winning percentage (.727); he also was named to the All-Star team and as the team's third starter in the post-season. His days as a "no name" pitcher are likely over. Newark pitching coach Mike Grace was a minor league journeyman with one great year in the sun (15-10, 3.91 ERA and the World Series MVP in '97), so it's no surprise that his specialty is retooling old warhorses. This year, two Triple-A veterans found success under Grace's tutelage: John Thomson (18-6, 3.91 ERA, 11.2 R/9) tied for first in complete games (9) and shutouts (2) and was third in winning percentage (.750) and innings (234.2), tied for sixth in wins, and was ninth in R/9; John Burkett (16-8, 3.75, 10.8) tied for fifth in R/9, but did his best work in the post-season, going 3-0 with a 1.93 ERA and was named the World Series MVP. In two years as a starter, Octavio Dotel went 16-12 with a 5.92 ERA and 1.68 WHIP, splitting his time between Triple-A and the majors. Out of minor league options and his with his "prospect" label officially expired, Dotel was banished to bullpen duty -- and he responded with one of the most dominating performances of the season. Appearing in a league-leading 90 games, Dotel went 9-4 with 24 saves, 7 holds, a 2.51 ERA and 11.5 R/9, struck out 173 batters in 140 IP and tied for fourth with 57 relief points. Two other former starters -- Newark's John Smoltz (2-1, 3 SV, 2.98 ERA, 10.4 R/9) and Tijuana's Jeff Fassero (6-4, 27 SV, 3.32 ERA, 12.3 R/9) -- also enjoyed successful conversions to the bullpen, and there's already talk in Tijuana of trying the same experiment with failed phenom Eric Gagne next year. Although not a true rookie in 2001 -- he'd been eligible for the DMBL five years earlier, but had never signed -- Fernandez made a huge splash in his first DMBL season by going 18-6 with a 3.41 ERA, despite pitching for the woeful Harrison Rats. He finished second in the McDonald Award voting by just two points -- meaning if he'd picked up just one more fourth-place vote, he'd have won it. Still several years away from free agency, the 33-year-old Fernandez held out the entire 2002 season rather than play for the league minimum contract he signed in spring training last year.
Joe Mays (16-15, 3.43 ERA, 10.2 R/9) got off to a good start with Brooklyn (3.03 ERA, 9.5 R/9 in 154.2 IP), but went just 11-10 thanks to a miserable offense that gave him just 3.0 runs per game. Dealt to the Iron Fist, Mays got more support, but unraveled a bit (5-5, 4.26, 11.5). Overall, he finished second in R/9, fourth in innings (231.0), tied for fifth in H/9 (7.7), sixth in ERA and tied for ninth in quality start percentage (.636). A founding member of the Carolina Mudcats franchise, Mike Mussina (14-12, 3.61, 11.3) went 9-9 with a 3.76 ERA and 11.6 R/9 over the first two-thirds of the season, then was shocked to get the news that he'd been dealt to the Hoboken Cutters. Feeling betrayed, the Moose finished the season even stronger, going 5-3 with a 3.26 ERA, 10.7 R/9 and racking up 64 Ks in 69 IP. Overall, Mussina finished tied for fourth in quality start percentage (.667), fifth in strikeouts (207), sixth in innings (227.0) and 10th in R/9. Also consider Felix Rodriguez (4-5, 29 SV, 2.21 ERA, 8.6 R/9), who split his season between Brooklyn and Newark. "F-Rod" led the league in save percentage (.879) and finished tied for third in fewest inherited runners allowed to score (.184), fourth in saves and tied for fourth in relief points (57). 'El Sid' went 62-39 with a 3.23 ERA in five big league seasons, famously splitting his great 1994 season between Sacramento (15-3, 1.75 ERA, 1.10 WHIP) and Austin (7-2, 2.28 ERA, 0.95 WHIP). True to form, he now splits his time as head coach of the Tijuana Banditos and pitching coach of the Columbia Rattlesnakes.
Columbia's Mark Buehrle (18-9, 2.32 ERA, 9.2 R/9), put up some of the league's best numbers despite pitching for one of the league's worst teams, and wound up starting the All-Star Game for the Morris Division. The 76-86 Rattlesnakes, with the DMBL's second-worst offense, gave him just 3.8 runs per game -- tied for third-lowest in the league. In fact, the offense scored him one run (or none) in 8 of his 9 losses! The league's third-worst bullpen didn't help either, allowing nearly 42 percent of his inherited runners to score, and closer Jeff Shaw directly cost Buehrle three wins by coughing up late leads. Despite it all, Buehrle still led the league in ERA, R/9 and quality start percentage (.806); tied for first in shutouts (2); was second in BB/9 (1.2); third in slugging percentage allowed (.353); tied for third in H/9 (7.6); tied for fifth in complete games (5); tied for sixth in wins; and tied for ninth in innings (224.2). Joel Pineiro (21-5, 2.76 ERA, 10.7 R/9) had a combined no-hitter in March, but his rookie campaign only got better. Over the second half, Pineiro was huge, going 11-2 with two shutouts and a 1.81 ERA, including a streak of 25 consecutive scoreless innings. For the year, he led the league in H/9 (6.7) and slugging percentage allowed (.319) and tied for first in wins, shutouts (2) and HR/9 (0.6), was second in ERA and winning percentage (.808), fourth in R/9 (10.7), and tied for fifth in quality start percentage (.667). Also making strong first impressions: Hoboken's Danys Baez (6-2, 2.81, 10.4, 4 SV, 16 holds); Honolulu's Roy Oswalt (11-12, 3.53, 12.0); Stanhope's Erik Hiljus (15-8, 4.14, 12.8); Vancouver's Victor Zambrano (8-4, 2.97, 9.4, 107 K in 100 IP). Big Ben lasted five years after his brilliant rookie campaign, pitching for five different teams, but no one could harness the raw talent he displayed in 1991. He took one last turn in Arkansas's rotation in 1998, going 3-1 with a 3.82 ERA, then retired. He's now a special adviser to the commissioner's office.
Last year's award winner, Randy Johnson (19-8, 3.49 ERA, 11.0 R/9) may have had an even better campaign in '02: He had more wins and a higher winning percentage while allowing fewer runs and fewer baserunners. This season, Johnson led the league in strikeouts (297) and K/9 (11.9); tied for third in H/9 (7.6); was fourth in lowest slugging percentage allowed (.367) and tied for fourth in wins; was seventh in winning percentage (.704); was eighth in ERA and R/9; and tied for ninth in innings (224.2). The league's only three-time winner -- and he did it with a three-peat -- Greg Maddux looked like his glory days were long behind him: On June 1, he was a rather pedestrian 6-5 with a 4.72 ERA. But Mad Dog saved his season with a strong second half, going 9-4 with a 3.22 ERA, with quality starts in 14 of 16 games, to finish at 15-9 with a 3.97 ERA and 11.4 R/9. Maddux led the league in BB/9 (0.9) and K:BB (5.71) and was fifth in innings (229.0) and tied for fifth in quality start percentage (.667)... His teammate, Al Leiter (15-11, 3.59, 11.6), tied for first in HR/9 (0.6) and shutouts (2) and was 10th in ERA. Pedro Martinez (21-2, 3.07 ERA, 10.5 R/9) won the award two years ago and shared it in '99, but this may have been his most impressive season yet. He set the league record in winning percentage (.913) -- in fact, the Golden Falcons lost just four times in his 32 starts! Over the second half, Martinez was huge, going 14-1 with a 2.32 ERA and 118 Ks. He was first in winning percentage and tied for first in both wins and shutouts (2); was second in strikeouts (259), quality start percentage (.719) and slugging percentage allowed (.352); third in R/9, K/9 (10.7) and K:BB (4.89); and tied for fourth in ERA. The other two guys in the Arkansas rotation, both former McDonald Award winners, weren't slouches either, Kevin Brown (19-7, 3.07, 10.9) tied for third in quality start percentage (.688) and was fourth in winning percentage (.731), tied for fourth in ERA and wins, and was seventh in R/9... Roger Clemens (20-8, 3.44, 12.5) ranked third in wins, sixth in winning percentage (.714), seventh in ERA and strikeouts (187), tied for seventh in complete games (4) and was eighth in quality start percentage (.645). Although he's never won the award before, Curt Schilling has come close before and this year will likely come close again. Schilling (18-9, 3.82 ERA, 10.8 R/9) was the Golden Falcons' iron man, leading the league in innings (242.2) and tied for first in complete games (9). He also ranked second in K:BB (5.56), third in Ks (228), tied for third in BB/9 (1.5), fifth in K/9 (8.5), tied for fifth in R/9, tied for sixth in wins, and tied for 10th in winning percentage (.667). Other established stars who had strong campaigns: Carolina's Tim Hudson (13-12, 3.84 ERA, 11.9 R/9) and Barry Zito (8-7, 4.43, 13.9); Honolulu's Freddy Garcia (12-9, 3.67, 11.5) and Mark Mulder (17-8, 4.81, 12.4); Newark's Eric Milton (18-11, 3.88, 11.4). Nolan Ryan was 33-11 with a 2.66 ERA in three DMBL seasons. A two-time All-Star, Ryan won the 1992 McDonald Award after going 19-4 with a 1.94 ERA, striking out 301 in 227 IP. He's still "pitching" -- as a celebrity spokesman, endorsing Advil, Southwest Airlines, Wrangler Jeans and, of course, OmahaSteaks.com.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The experts polled are not affiliated with the DMBL, yet they are more than happy to offer their expertise. Other questions answered by the experts can be found in our Press Box Archive. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No Relief in Sight
No reliever has ever won the McDonald Award, and maybe
that's for the best: After all, no starting pitcher
has ever claimed the Dennis Eckersley Award, presented
annually to the league's top reliever. In fact, many
say no reliever should win the award after the
fiasco of '91, when that scrub rookie McDonald was
named the league's top pitcher despite the Eck's
brilliant season (15-4, 10 SV, 1.13 ERA, 0.77 WHIP).
And let's not forget the 2000 season, when Pedro
Martinez was handed the award despite a
record-setting 86 relief points by Billy Wagner
(6-4, 41 SV, 2.46 ERA, 120 K in 80.3 IP). You ask me,
no self-respecting reliever would accept this award
after this much disrespect. As usual, the starters get
all the glory while the relievers do all the work.
No Name? No Problem!
Have Gun, Will Travel
The Young Ones
I guess everybody remembers that I won the very first
Most Valuable Pitcher award. But, as they say, 'did
you know' that I won it during my rookie campaign?
(Editor's note: It was the league's inaugural
season, so everyone was in one sense a 'rookie', but
McDonald was a true rookie in that 1991 was his first
year of DMBL eligibility.) I'm still the only
rookie to have ever won the prestigious award, but
that could change this season as two freshmen are
among the league's top candidates.
Voting for the Veterans
I was 44 years old when I won my McDonald Award back
in '92, so don't blame me if I pull for the
old-timers. You can't talk about dominating pitchers
without looking at these guys, who would love to take
another McDonald Award with them on their way to the
DMBL Hall of Fame on Route 10 in East Hanover.