Pitchers statistics

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.

The Usual Suspects

By Keyser Soze
OK, so it's not fun to watch the same guys win the big awards year after year. Tom Hanks must be running out of acceptance speech material. The producers of The West Wing have so many Emmy Awards they're giving them away this Halloween. But even if you've won it before, you deserve to be recognized and celebrated for your achievements, don't you? The accomplishments of these established stars are all the more impressive considering that they've been able to sustain their success at such a high level for season after season! Let's take a look at the big name hurlers and how they fared in 2004.

Any discussion of "the usual suspects" for the McDonald has to start with Arkansas's rotation, which has four former winners -- Kevin Brown (1999), Roger Clemens (1993), Pedro Martinez (1999-2000) and Curt Schilling (2003). Pedro had another terrific season, going 14-6 with a 3.30 ERA, 12.2 R/9 and 223 K in 213.0 IP, but Arkansas's best shot at a McDonald might be the guy who won it last year: Schilling, who went 18-6 with a 3.83 ERA, 10.9 R/9, and 215 K in 204.2 IP. Brown (13-13, 4.72 ERA, 12.8 R/9) and Clemens (9-9, 4.14 ERA, 12.3 R/9) were solid but not vote-worthy.

But the glory of Arkansas's awesome rotation may be fleeting, as three hurlers on another Morris Division squad each has a serious claim to the McDonald Award this season. Tim Hudson is only 27 years old, but this was his fifth full season in the DMBL -- and the third in which he's been a serious contender for the McDonald Award! Hudson led the DMBL with a microscopic 2.08 ERA -- 54 earned runs in 234.0 IP. How close is a 2.08 ERA to the all-time record of 1.909 (57 ER, 268.2 IP), set by Sid Fernandez way back in 1994? With 20.2 more scoreless innings, Hudson would have set a new league record with a 1.908 ERA. In addition to ERA, Hudson also led the league in winning percentage (.850) and quality percentage (.879); tied for first in HR/9 (0.4); was second in lowest slugging percentage (.326); tied for second in shutouts (2); was third in R/9 (10.8); was fifth in innings pitched (234.0); and was tied for sixth in wins (17). Another Mudcat, 26-year-old Roy Halladay, was impressive last season (15-9, 3.47 ERA, 1.34 WHIP) but perhaps even better this year (18-7, 3.62, 1.11). And 25-year-old lefty Barry Zito, who won the Pat Listach Rookie of the Year Award in 2001 after going 13-6 with a 3.47 ERA -- and finished fifth in the McDonald Award balloting after posting a 3.08 ERA in 216.1 IP last year -- is likely to get plenty of support from the voters after going 18-4 with a 3.96 ERA, 13.3 R/9 this season.

Columbia's Miguel Batista has quietly been one of the league's best pitchers over the last three seasons. Despite a 7-11 record, Batista had a respectable 4.07 ERA and 12.8 R/9, and was 10th in QS% (.594). His secret is to keep the ball in the park (.379 SLG, 0.8 HR/9)... Veteran Mike Mussina went 13-11 with a 4.43 ERA, 11.9 R/9, splitting his season between Hoboken (9-8, 4.54 ERA, 12.1 R/9, .435 QS%) and Stanhope (4-3, 4.16, 11.2, .700)... Hillsborough's Matt Morris went 13-5 with a 3.76 ERA and 11.8 R/9 for the league's worst team.

The 2002 McDonald Award winner, Mark Buehrle, likely won't get any votes after a mediocre campaign for Columbia this year (12-13, 4.36 ERA, 13.5 R/9). But he had a terrific year compared to three-time winner Greg Maddux (6-14, 4.67 ERA, 12.0 R/9). And let's not even talk about the 2001 winner, Randy Johnson (0-2, 25.07 ERA, 4.93 WHIP). 

Back From The Dead

By the Ghost of Darryl Kile
Pitching every fifth day for the Great Manager in the Sky, I've learned a lot about baseball. For example, did you know that Cincinnati's Ken Ash once won a game that he was in for exactly one pitch? In 1930, Ash came in as a reliever in a 5-2 game, with two on and nobody out, facing Chicago's Charlie Grimm. Grimm grounded into a triple play, and in the bottom of the inning Ash came out for a pinch hitter. The Reds rallied for four runs and Ash got the 6-5 win. Interesting, huh? Eh, maybe not. Ash has the locker next to mine and it's the only thing he ever talks about, "Hey, did I tell you about the time in 1930..." Yes, yes Ken, you did. Sheesh. I mean, the guy's been up here for 25 years, you'd think he'd have some new stories to tell by now. What was I saying? Oh yeah, baseball. If there's one thing I learned over my 10-year, six-team DMBL career, it's how to make a comeback. Hell, I even pitched in 2003, after I'd been dead for a year! That's a heckuvalot more interesting than getting a win on just one pitch, isn't it?

Anyway, I'm not the only guy to have made a miracle comeback in the DMBL. Lots of former stars -- and even some former bums -- have had terrific seasons, just when it seemed every pitching coach in the league had given up on them. Heck, I went 28-18 in two seasons with the Sugar Bears, after going 14-28 in the six seasons before that. Let's hear it for the guys who came out of nowhere to put up big numbers in '04!

Some sticklers might say that Stanhope's Wilson Alvarez didn't exactly "come out of nowhere" to put up great numbers, since his last season in the DMBL was pretty good (14-11, 3.87 ERA in 198.2 IP). But remember, his last season in the DMBL was 2000! Alvarez, now 33, was one of the DMBL's up-and-coming stars 10 years ago, when he went 11-11 with a 5.35 ERA and 162 Ks in 185.0 IP for the Louisiana Lightning. And he had a great year for the Sugar Bears in 1998, going 18-6 with a 4.48 ERA. But after missing three consecutive seasons due to arm troubles and an eating disorder, the chunky southpaw burst back onto the scene this season with an outstanding campaign for the Mighty Men (17-6, 3.52 ERA, 13.2 R/9, 182 K in 202.0 IP). Other guys who surprised pundits with strong '04s were Columbia's Livan Hernandez, who went 18-9 (4.24 ERA, 12.2 R/9 in 246.1 IP) after going 20-33 with a 5.62 ERA, 1.63 WHIP over his previous six DMBL seasons; another Rattlesnake, Sidney Ponson (11-16, 3.69 ERA, 11.8 R/9, .636 QS%), who had been 23-26 with a 5.64 ERA, 1.62 WHIP in his first four DMBL seasons; Tijuana's Javier Vazquez, who was 15-6 with a 3.42 ERA, 11.1 R/9 (.758 QS%) after going 29-40 with a 5.26 ERA in four previous DMBL seasons; Honolulu's Jason Schmidt led the league with a 10.1 R/9, was 13-11 with a 3.54 ERA and .742 QS%, and was lights out in the first two rounds of the playoffs (3-0, 1.89 ERA, 8.1 R/9), after going 36-54 with a 5.32 ERA over the first six years of his career.

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.) In 2003, Columbia's Mark Buehrle became just the second rookie to win the DMBL's top pitching award, though somehow, he didn't win the Rookie of the Year Award. Go figure. Anyway, there are a lot of young pitchers -- rookies and non-rookies -- who could make a splash by winning "my" award this year.

Arkansas's C.C. Sabathia, 22, led the league with 19 wins, though his other numbers were very ordinary (4.78 ERA, 14.0 R/9, .469 QS%); Carolina's Carlos Zambrano, 22, in his second DMBL season after an inauspicious debut last year (1-4, 5.58 ERA), went just 11-13 but did post a 3.14 ERA, 11.2 R/9 and .606 QS%, with 170 K in 218.0 IP; Newark's Eric DuBose, a 27-year-old rookie, went 15-5 (4.05 ERA, 12.5 R/9, .563 QS%); Honolulu's 25-year-old Roy Oswalt was 13-13 with a 4.02 ERA, 11.8 R/9; Philly's Johan Santana, a 24-year-old lefty, went 13-8 with a 3.67 ERA, 11.8 R/9, and 181 K in 171.2 IP, while teammate Mark Prior -- who is still just 22 years old -- went 11-7 with a 3.89 ERA, 11.1 R/9 and 218 K in 187.1 IP; Phoenix's Brandon Webb, a 24-year-old rookie, was 9-8 with a 3.79 ERA, 13.4 R/9; Westwood's Odalis Perez, 26, was 8-9 (3.87 ERA, 13.4 R/9, .615 QS%), the second straight season in which he posted a losing record despite strong numbers. Last year, Perez went 10-11 despite posting a 3.60 ERA, 11.4 R/9, .625 QS%.

Honorable mention should go to Vancouver's Ben Sheets. The 24-year-old righthander -- who wasn't a rookie, having pitched one game for Carolina in 2002 -- won his first 10 starts this year (2.72 ERA, 1.12 WHIP), but got pounded regularly after that, finishing the year with some disappointing numbers (14-10, 5.56, 1.39). And the first overall pick in this year's draft, 21-year-old Dontrelle Willis, gets an "A" for effort after surviving a brutal rookie campaign (4-16, 6.05 ERA, 16.0 R/9, .300 QS%). It can only get better!

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.

Screw You All

By Jeff Shaw
No reliever has ever won the McDonald Award. Ever! And if Newark's John Smoltz didn't win it last year -- when he set the DMBL records for saves (45), relief points (94), save percentage (.938) and ERA by a reliever (0.61). What else can a closer do? If Smoltz didn't get it last year, how can we even make a case for another reliever this year? In 2000, Vancouver's Billy Wagner also got screwed, despite setting what were then the league records for saves (41) and relief points (86). And we can't forget the all-time screw job: 1991, when the Iron Fist's Dennis Eckersley went 15-4 with a 1.13 ERA and a 0.77 WHIP, and got passed over for the award by Ben McDonald (17-8, 2.69 ERA, 1.22 WHIP). At this point, what reliever would even want this award? We'll be satisfied with the glory associated with one of our own -- the Dennis Eckersley Reliever of the Year Award. And for a second straight year, that honor -- figured by calculating relief points (twice your wins plus twice your saves, minus losses and blown saves) -- goes to Smoltz. So keep your stinking McDonald Award. As much as Smoltz (8-6, 34 SV, 2.21 ERA, 9.7 R/9, 87 K in 85.1 IP), Tijuana's Eric Gagne (12-1, 22 SV, 1.47 ERA, 7.5 R/9, 148 K in 97.2 IP), Arkansas's Byung-Hyun Kim (7-4, 33 SV, 2.51 ERA, 10.9 R/9, 138 K in 194.0 IP); Columbia's Matt Mantei (4-4, 29 SV, 1.32 ERA, 10.8 R/9, 70 K in 68.1 IP) or Harrison-Stanhope's Shigetoshi Hasegawa (6-1, 12 SV, 2.66 ERA, 10.0 R/9, .156 IRS%) deserve it, we don't want it!

Previous McDonald Award Winners
year	pitcher	team	W-L	ERA	WHIP	IP	H	BB	K
2003	Curt Schilling	ARK	19- 6	2.90	1.01	254.1	217	40	263
2002	Mark Buehrle	COL	18- 9	2.32	0.98	224.2	189	31	124
2001	Randy Johnson	NWK	18-10	3.58	1.41	221.0	227	85	308
2000	Pedro Martinez	ARK	22- 7	2.51	1.10	251.1	225	51	347
1999	Pedro Martinez	ARK	20- 7	3.10	1.20	223.2	199	69	225
(tie)	Kevin Brown	ARK	20- 7	3.26	1.24	243.0	245	56	255
1998	Greg Maddux	VAN	26- 4	2.49	1.07	260.0	246	33	188
1997	Greg Maddux	VAN	22- 4	3.30	1.16	267.2	240	41	176
1996	Greg Maddux	VAN	23- 7	2.70	1.04	260.0	238	32	226
1994	Sid Fernandez	S/A*	22- 5	1.91	1.05	268.2	199	84	176
1993	Roger Clemens	AUS	18- 5	2.32	1.23	233.0	234	52	186
1992	Nolan Ryan	AUS	19- 4	1.94	1.22	227.0	154	123	301
1991	Ben McDonald	ARK	17- 8	2.69	1.22	227.2	199	79	118
*Fernandez split the 1994 season between Sacramento and Austin.