Making This Short List Is Half the Battle

The Midseason Awards, or Here’s An Incentive Bonus Concept Waiting to Happen . . .

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

American League: 1. Manny Ramirez, Boston; 2. Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle; 3. Bret Boone, Seattle.

National League: 1. Luis Gonzalez, Arizona; 2. Sammy Sosa, Chicago; 3. Paul Lo Duca, Dodgers.

Comment: Both Ramirez and Gonzalez have shots at the first Triple Crown since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 and are literally carrying their teams offensively. Suzuki gets a slight nod over teammate Boone because of his catalytic leadoff role on a team with baseball’s best record. The Dodgers are feeding off Lo Duca’s spark and may have done it earlier if a certain executive who bleeds blue hadn’t thrown his weight behind the club’s Dominican lobby in supporting the since-wasted catching potential of Angel Pena.

CY YOUNG AWARD

AL: 1. Roger Clemens, New York; 2. Freddy Garcia, Seattle; 3. Joe Mays, Minnesota.

NL: 1. Curt Schilling, Arizona; 2. Randy Johnson, Arizona; 3. Greg Maddux, Atlanta.

Comment: Seemingly ageless workhorses such as Schilling, Johnson and Clemens--throwbacks to another time--may still dominate Cy Young competition, but it has also been a summer of younger and impressive new faces on major league mounds, a cyclical pitching rebound that probably has had more impact than the elusive strike zone.

The development of the 25-year-old Mays (11-5, 3.02 earned-run average), for instance, in a rotation that includes Brad Radke and Eric Milton helps explain how the Twins have gone from last to first in the AL Central, while the ongoing maturation of the 25-year-old Garcia (10-1, 3.18) in a rotation that includes Aaron Sele and Jamie Moyer helps explain the Mariners.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

AL: 1. Suzuki; 2. David Eckstein, Angels; 3. Alfonso Soriano, New York.

NL: 1. Albert Pujols, St. Louis; 2. Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia; 3. Tsuyoshi Shinjo, New York.

Comment: It’s a little silly classifying Suzuki as a rookie, given his seven batting titles in Japan, but it is his first year in the U.S., and precedent was established when Hideo Nomo and Kazuhiro Sasaki won the award. With J.D. Drew on the disabled list, Mark McGwire in and out of the lineup and Jim Edmonds in a prolonged slump, Pujols has been the one constant for the Cardinals during a summer in which Suzuki, Rollins and Pujols have also emerged as MVP candidates and rookie Ben Sheets could ultimately win the NL’s Cy Young award.

MANAGER OF THE YEAR

AL: 1. Tom Kelly, Minnesota; 2. Jimy Williams, Boston; 3. Lou Piniella, Seattle.

NL: 1. Tie, Larry Bowa, Philadelphia, and Don Baylor, Chicago; 3. Jim Tracy, Dodgers.

Comment: Although the Mariners have produced such a runaway that Piniella’s leadership and influence in reshaping how his homer-happy team of the Kingdome goes about it in spacious

Safeco Field may be overlooked, it’s impossible to ignore how the Twins, Phillies and Cubs have gone from last to first. What was the commissioner saying about competitive disparity?

EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR

AL: Pat Gillick, Seattle.

NL: Jerry Colangelo, Arizona.

Comment: Addressing the loss of Alex Rodriguez just one winter after he’d made the moves that allowed the Mariners to compensate for the loss of Ken Griffey Jr. and reach the playoffs as the league’s wild-card team, Gillick signed Jeff Nelson to strengthen an already strong bullpen, caught lightning with the signing of second baseman Boone and profited from ownership’s Japanese roots and 2000 success with closer Sasaki through their $26-million investment in right fielder Suzuki.

Colangelo, Arizona’s managing general partner, generally leaves roster moves to General Manager Joe Garagiola Jr. (a candidate himself through his reconstruction of the Diamondback bench) but it was Colangelo who went to a core group of 10 veterans and influenced them to defer about $17 million in guaranteed salary, easing the club’s cash flow problems and possibly fostering a feeling of partnership.

Colangelo also agreed to swallow the last two years on Buck Showalter’s contract and hire Bob Brenly as manager, burning the voluminous Showalter rule book and relaxing the managerial reins on an older team that now leads the West.

THE REAL ALL-STARS

AL: 1B Jason Giambi, 2B Boone, SS Rodriguez, 3B Troy Glaus, OF Ramirez, Juan Gonzalez and Suzuki; C Ivan Rodriguez, DH Edgar Martinez.

NL: 1B Todd Helton, 2B Jeff Kent, SS Rich Aurilia, 3B Pujols, OF Luis Gonzalez, Sosa, Barry Bonds; C Lo Duca.

Comment: The managers created more controversy with their selections of the reserves for Tuesday’s game than fans did in voting for the starters. In fact, the fans might have done their best job, which doesn’t mean they had it entirely right.

The view here is that Giambi should have been voted ahead of John Olerud as the AL starter at first base and Glaus ahead of Cal Ripken Jr. at third.

In the NL, Pujols should have gotten the nod over Chipper Jones at third--which would have required a write-in landslide since the Cardinal rookie wasn’t on the ballot--and Lo Duca earned the catching vote over Mike Piazza on comparative statistics.

All-Star game aside, of course, the midseason awards serve no other purpose than to fill a column. For that, the writer is grateful, no matter how the recipients react.