The 2007 MLB Bully's

With the conclusion of the 2007 MLB regular season, Noce and myself have come up with awards to recognize the most valuable players: the Bully's. Not only do we get to include our stupid blog title, but it actually makes sense - for the entire year, these guys bullied their way to supremacy. Think of a bully you had in your life, once. Did he look like A-Rod? No? Mine neither. Anyways, without further ado, here they are:

N.L. MVP: Jimmy Rollins
Runner-up: Matt Holliday.

Jimmy embodies the style of the Phillies play, which has gotten them into the postseason for the first time since Mitch Williams and his mullet were cursed in 93'. He had his best year as in the majors in his seven-year career, setting personal highs of AVG, HR's, RBI's, 3B's, hits, runs, SLG. and TB. While Matt Holliday has had a monster year and deserves praise, J-Roll raised the bar and takes home the Bully.

N.L. CY YOUNG: Jake Peavy
Runner-up: Aaron Harang.

The description for this one can be found under the post Peavy for Cy Young, His Liver for Cirrhosis. P.S. He just finished another bottle of Jager...Jobu needs a refill.

N.L. ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: IT'S A TIE - Troy Tulowitzki, Ryan Braun

We're not a big fan of ties here at Chicago Bull, but we couldn't decide on a winner. Noce wanted TT, I said Braun. Both guys deserve it, so we felt this was the way to go.

N.L. ROLAIDS RELIEF MAN: Jose Valverde
Runner-up: Carlos Marmol

Valverde was a champ this year, plain and simple. Marmol gets the runner-up with his disgusting 1.43 ERA considering all the messes he had to clean up for the Cubs. Not to mention his 96 K's in just 69.1 innings pitched. The guy has a nastier slider then White Castle.

N.L. COACH OF THE YEAR: Charlie Manuel
Runner-up: Clint Hurdle

This was another close call. The reason we went with Manuel instead of Hurdle is simply the fact that he had nowhere near the expectations on his club.

A.L. MVP: Alex Rodriguez
Runner-up: Magglio Ordonez

This was the biggest no-brainer.

A.L. CY YOUNG: Josh Beckett
Runner-up: C.C. Sabathia

Another easy pick. Only 20-game winner this year was rock solid throughout.

A.L. ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Dustin Pedroia
Runner-up: Delmon Young

Another close race, but here's why we take Pedroia over Young. Pedroia's fielding pct. (.990) is incredible, and his at-bat per strikeout pct. (12.4) was second in the A.L. In short, the guy was awesome in the field, and put the ball in play. Although Young had 21 more hits and 43 more R.B.I's, he led the A.L. in grounding into double plays. Plus, Pedroia has never thrown his bat at an Ump, so he's got that going for him.

A.L. ROLAIDS RELIEF MAN: Bobby Jenks
Runner-up: J.J. Putz

Homer call you say? We'll let you decide. But 41 batters retired in a row is ridiculous, and considering he recorded 40 saves on a 72 win team, that's also very impressive. Joe Borowski led the A.L. in saves and heart attacks, and finishes third.

A.L. COACH OF THE YEAR: Joe Torre
Runner-up: Eric Wedge

No person should ever have to face the amount of bullshit that Joe Torre deals with every year managing the Yankees. Yet somehow, even when the team starts off slow, Torre keeps them going, and they keep getting it done in the end despite terrible starting pitching.