The Injection Awards
It was a year that ended in bitter disappointment for the Red Sox and their loyal fans this season. 162 games were played and that was it, no October baseball for the second year in a row.
A lot has happened since that frightful night eight days ago; manager Terry Francona was allowed to walk away, GM Theo Epstein is speaking with the Cubs about their vacancy and Red Sox Nation is in an uproar over how the club failed to live up to their championship expectations.
But aside from all the turmoil, there were some real positives this season, including the breakthrough season of Jacoby Ellsbury and the resurgence of Jonathan Papelbon and David Ortiz. With the year complete, the staff at BoSox Injection thought it might be fun to hand out our own awards for the Red Sox this year, The Injection Awards.
A big thanks to Rick, Brian and Ryan for providing their insight and opinions. With that, here are the winners……..
Top Starter – Josh Beckett. The former World Series MVP had a bounce back year and as Rick stated “he was money for the first half of the year.” Beckett had the lowest ERA amongst the starters and has regained his “ace” status in Boston.
Top Reliever – Alfredo Aceves. This was a difficult decision as Jonathan Papelbon’s name was circulated a lot and is a close second. But in the end it was a 3 to 1 vote for Aceves as the former Yankee proved to be a consistent go to guy. Whether it was in a spot start early in the year or multiple innings of relief late in the year, Aceves was great. “If it weren’t for his impressive shut-down innings and extended outings, the Red Sox wouldn’t have even been in contention at game 162” says Brian.
Top Rookie – Josh Reddick. The first year outfielder made a huge splash when he first broke into the lineup in May and continued a torrid pace for most of the year before tailing off in late August and September. According to Rick it was Reddick’s walk off hit against the Yankees at Fenway Park the reason that Reddick gets Rick’s vote, so we’ll give him the award based on that. Ryan Lavarnway was voted ROY by both Brian and Ryan, but to break the tie we went with Rick’s logic.
Most Improved Player – unanimously this goes to Jacoby Ellsbury. After playing only 18 games in 2010, Ellsbury played in 158 this year and destroyed all of his career numbers, except for stolen bases. He became the first 30/30 player in Red Sox history to go with new career highs in home runs, RBIs, average, OBP, and slugging percentage. Oh, and he’s in the running for AL MVP. Not a bad turnaround season.
The Jack-Ass Award – this isn’t exactly a dubious award, but thought we would present it to the player who we felt was the biggest bust of the year. Kevin Youkilis got a vote from Rick for his subpar year and his constant injuries. John Lackey received credit from Brian for simply being John Lackey, aka terrible. But Brian also noted that he gives a vote to the winner of the Jack-Ass award, Carl Crawford. The former Tampa Bay Ray was brought to Boston on a monstrosity of a contract, only to hit just over .250 and a OBP below .300. To quote Ryan “I really don’t think he is mentally stable to play in Boston between the fans and the media.”
2011 Red Sox MVP – once again it was unanimous, Jacoby Ellsbury was the MVP for the 2011 Boston Red Sox. While it appeared this could be a three horse race with Adrian Gonzalez and Dustin Pedroia in the running, it was Ellsbury who continuously delivered clutch hits in September when most of the team struggled.
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