Braves’ Jones, Red Sox’s Martinez Get MVP Calls

The envelopes please. . . .

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

National League--1. Chipper Jones, Atlanta; 2. Jeff Bagwell, Houston;

3. Matt Williams, Arizona.

American League--1. Pedro Martinez, Boston; 2. Manny Ramirez, Cleveland; 3. Rafael Palmeiro, Texas.

Comment--There was more to Jones’ season than a clutch September, but he epitomized MVP down the stretch as the Braves, who put 13 players on the disabled list and lost five for the season, won an eighth consecutive division title.

The AL is double trouble. It’s difficult enough trying to decide if Martinez or Nomar Garciaparra, Ramirez or Roberto Alomar, Palmeiro or Ivan Rodriguez are MVPs of their own teams, let alone the league. I don’t like the idea of a pitcher winning it, but Martinez carried the rotation-less Red Sox to the playoffs. He gave up 2 1/2 runs per game less than the AL average, and the Red Sox were 25-5 in his 30 appearances.

Complaints? Take a number.

CY YOUNG AWARD

NL--1. Randy Johnson, Arizona;

2. Mike Hampton, Houston; 3. Kevin Brown, Los Angeles.

AL--1. Martinez; 2. Mike Mussina, Boston; 3. John Wetteland, Texas.

Comment--Johnson won a modest 17 games because the Diamondbacks scored one run or none in seven of his starts. He otherwise led the league in earned-run average, strikeouts, innings and complete games.

Martinez? See above.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

NL--1. Preston Wilson, Florida;

2. Warren Morris, Pittsburgh; 3. Scott Williamson, Cincinnati.

AL--1. Carlos Beltran, Kansas City;

2. Chris Singleton, Chicago; 3. Carlos Lee, Chicago.

Comment--Limiting the rankings to a top three doesn’t reflect another plentiful rookie harvest. The pitchers, in addition to Williamson, should have their own recognition. Among them: Oakland’s Tim Hudson, Seattle’s Freddy Garcia, Toronto’s Billy Koch, Texas’ Jeff Zimmerman and the New York Mets’ Octavio Dotel.

MANAGER OF THE YEAR

NL--Bobby Cox, Atlanta; AL--Jimy Williams, Boston.

Comment--Please. I realize what Jack McKeon has done with the Cincinnati Reds, but this is the appropriate year to finally recognize Cox as manager of the ‘90s. He’s not only taking the injury-riddled Braves back to the playoffs, but doing it with the best record. Oakland’s Art Howe would be a justifiable choice in the AL, but Williams is going to the playoffs as AMA man of the year in recognition of what he had to stitch together.

EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR

NL--Jim Bowden, Cincinnati; AL--Billy Beane, Oakland.

Comment--Small markets live. The Reds may take their $33-million payroll to the playoffs. The A’s came close at $30 million. The Dodgers almost hired Bowden, who showed what they missed. His preseason acquisitions of Greg Vaughn, Denny Neagle and Mike Cameron were pivotal, and his midseason trade for Juan Guzman added rotation depth in the second half.

COMEBACK OF THE YEAR

NL--Steve Finley, Arizona; AL--John Jaha, Oakland.

Comment--It isn’t that Finley was coming back from a major injury, but his 14-homer, .249 season in San Diego represented a major power drop-off and the continuation of a three-year slide in his batting average. The center fielder worked with fitness guru Marv Marinovich, the father of Todd Marinovich, during the off-season and has rebounded with a 34-homer, 103-RBI campaign.

Jaha epitomizes the comeback category. His 1997 and ’98 seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers were wiped out by injuries. He had no offers other than a minor league contract with the A’s. He responded with an all-star campaign, recapturing his 1996 Milwaukee groove of 34 homers and 118 RBIs by hitting 35 homers and driving in 111 runs.

THE PLAYOFF POWER RANKINGS

NL--1. Atlanta; 2. Arizona;

3. Houston; 4. New York Mets.

5. Cincinnati.

AL--1. Cleveland; 2. New York Yankees; 3. Texas; 4. Boston.

Comment--Parity reigns in both leagues. There is no clear-cut power. Cleveland and Texas have the best offense, Atlanta the best overall pitching, Arizona, Atlanta and the Yankees the best balance, and the Reds and Mets the best reason to be exasperated. The Reds had a playoff spot clinched before losing Friday and Saturday to the hapless Milwaukee Brewers. The Mets had a playoff spot clinched before a seven-game losing streak during the final two weeks.

Pitching, of course, is key in the playoffs. Johnson and Martinez can dominate a short series, but the addition of the division series has put greater emphasis on overall depth--particularly because wild-card and best-record competition have forced teams to continue extending their top pitchers through 162 games.

The Braves can stretch to five quality starters and probably bring more heat and versatility out of the bullpen than any of their previous playoff teams despite the loss of Kerry Ligtenberg, Rudy Seanez and Odalis Perez.

The Yankees can match Atlanta in rotation quantity but have fallen far short of 1998’s 114-win form and face serious questions about David Cone’s durability, Roger Clemens’ velocity and the consistency of Andy Pettitte and Hideki Irabu. They would be no sure thing to survive a first-round battle with the Rangers.

In fact, while Cleveland had an alarmingly bad regular-season record against the Yankees, Rangers and Red Sox, the feeling here is that they will simply plunder their American League competition before a basically three-man rotation of Bartolo Colon, Charles Nagy and Dave Burba seeks emergency arm surgery.

The Braves will beat the Indians in a six-game World Series that will end right about Halloween, which could be appropriate.

Atlanta, that Southern belle, can celebrate with a costume ball.