Awards for the best, and worst, of 2004

The end of the MLB regular season has finally come, and that means it is time to hand out the awards to the best, and worst, players of the year.

This year seemed to be "The year of the Geezer," and my picks for AL MVP, NL MVP, AL CY Young and NL Cy Young all are over the age of 36.

However, the best part about baseball is they still get to act like little kids.

Here are my awards for the 2004 Major League Baseball season:

AL MVP: Gary Sheffield

This was a very close race between Gary Sheffield, Manny Ramirez and Vladimir Guerrero, but I am going to have to give the nod to the old guy.

This past winter the Yankees pick up Gary Sheffield as a free agent as an afterthought.

The Yankees had already made the big deal for Alex Rodriguez, and everybody thought Sheffield was a nice role player for the team.

Well, Rodriguez wasn't the Rodriguez of previous years. He didn't carry the team like everybody expected him too.

Combine that with Derek Jeter's offensive woes, and Jason Giambi's absence from the line-up with health problems, and you have yourself a losing Yankee team, right?

Wrong! Sheffield took the team on his back and carried them to the best record in the American League.

Sure, Rodriguez had a good run, and Jeter turned the corner halfway through the season, but Sheffield was the one constant the entire year.

He hammered out 36 homers, which leads the team, drove in 121 runs, which leads the team, and scored 117, which leads the team.

He also is second on the team with a .291 batting average.

What is even more impressive is that he has been putting up all of these numbers on the best team in baseball with a muscle tear in his right thumb. Sheffield willed his team to the playoffs and that is why he deserves the MVP honors.

NL MVP: Barry Bonds

This might as well call this the Barry Bond's Award.

Bonds will be winning his unprecedented seventh MVP award this year, no other player has won more than three, with absolutely no competition.

He is putting up numbers that nobody else in the history of baseball, let alone this season, has ever dreamt of doing.

The old adage goes, "Good pitching will always beat good hitting."

That should be revised to say, "Good pitching, will beat everybody but Barry Bonds."

His On Base Percentage is a ridiculous .610, which means 61% of the time he comes up to the plate he gets on base.

He walked a record breaking 238 times, 118 of which were intentional, which is also a record.

He hit 45 home runs, in only 372 official at-bats, compared to a measly 41 strikeouts.

Also, he was second in the league with 129 runs.

Oh yeah, I forgot, he also won the batting title with a .363 batting average.

He is the greatest offensive threat in the history of baseball.

NL BUST: Sammy Sosa

The main reason the Cubs did not make the playoffs this year was simple -- Sosa had a horrible year.

The power hitting Sosa did knock 35 over the wall, which is low by his standards, but only drove in 80 RBIs, the first he hasn't topped 100 in over 10 years, as the clean-up hitter.

Beyond that, Sosa only batted an abysmal .253, which is his lowest average since 1997.

It started to get so ugly that manager Dusty Baker had to drop him down to the sixth spot in the line-up.

Maybe the corked bat incident of last year has taken the pop out of his bat, or maybe it can all be related to the backbreaking sneeze, all I know this isn't the Slammin' Sammy Chicago was relying on to make it to the postseason.

AL BUST: Scott Spiezio

The Mariners signed this guy in hopes of adding another veteran bat to a line-up stocked with old guys.

Just like the rest of Seattle's line-up, he must have given his hitting powers to the hitting machine, Ichiro Suzuki.

The Mariners gave this guy 2.5 million to produce, and he has done everything but that.

Over the past two years Spiezio averaged a .275 BA, with 14 homers, 83 RBIs and 75 runs for the Anaheim Angels.

He was the main reason the Angels were able to comeback and beat the Giants in the 2002 World Series.

The rain must have gotten to him, because this year he was awful.

He batted .215, with 10 homers, and 41 RBI's, while scoring a lowly 38 runs.

Definitely not the kind of player the Mariners were looking for to make an impact.

AL CY YOUNG: Curt Schilling

Finally, Schilling won't have to compete with Randy Johnson for the award.

Schilling has been the stopper for the playoff bound Boston Red Sox.

The guy has put up uncanny numbers all year.

He is in the top 5 in eight major pitching statistics.

He is first in wins with a 21-6 record, first in winning percentage, posting a .778 in that category, third in the league with 203 strikeouts and second in the league with a staunch ERA of 3.26, which is incredible in the league where the DH resides.

On top of that he has also thrown three complete games.

Another amazing stat, he has won every game when starting after a red Sox loss.

Now that is what I call a losing streak stopper.

He has had an amazing season, and I look for him to carry the Red Sox deep into the playoffs.

NL CY YOUNG: Roger Clemens

I'm still trying to understand why this guy retired in the first place.

For the past year the Rocket has looked like a blast from the past.

Since the All-Star break he has been unstoppable.

He has strapped his teammates on his back and launched the team into the playoffs.

Since the All-star Break he is 8-1 with a 3.27 ERA, and for the season he went 18-4 with a 2.98 ERA.

He is third in the league with 218 strikeouts, and fourth in the league in opponent's batting average, which is a miniscule .217.

However, the most impressive thing about his pitching stats is only giving up 15 homers.

That is amazing when you realize he plays in homer friendly Minute Maid Park.

Only Coors Field gives up more homers than this place.

Also, time and time again Clemens has come through with a clutch performance when the Astros desperately needed one.

His five starts in September all resulted in a win.

His line for the month of September: 4 W, 0 L, 42 IP, 27 H, 12 R, 12 ER, 1 HR, 46 K's, 12 BB, and a 2.56 ERA.

Those are Cy Young numbers.

Let's see if the Astros will be able to ride the Rocket to the World Series.

AL CY BUST: Mike Mussina

He has pitched horribly for the Yankees.

Although he does have a winning record of 12-9, it must be taken into account that he plays for the Yankees, or one of the best offensive teams in the league.

This year he has posted a 4.60 ERA, which is a full point over his career average of 3.60.

All year he has not fooled anybody with his pitchers.

Opposing batters have posted a ridiculous .275 average against him.

If it was not for the offensive prowess of the Yankees, Mussina would most likely have around an 8-14 record.

He is definitely the biggest bust in the American League, especially since he is the highest paid pitcher in the league.

Of course, we will not know his true value until he pitches in the postseason.

He has always pitched well for the Yankees in October, and maybe he will be able to redeem himself by pitching the Yankees to their 28th World Series championship.

NL CY BUST: Kerry Wood

The Cubs didn't pay him8 million this year to have a below .500 year, but he did anyways.

He definitely isn't the Kerry Wood the Cubs rode to the playoffs last year.

He has been horrible, especially down the stretch.

In his last ten starts he is 3-5, which is a big reason why the Cubs find themselves out of the playoffs yet again.

Although he did average more than nine strikeouts per nine innings, he also averaged three walks per nine innings. Walks always lead to trouble, and that is why Wood often found himself walking to the dugout after five innings.

The only competition that Wood has for this ominous award is his rotation partner, Mark Prior.

Prior got hurt early in the year and when he came back he didn't have the same stuff.

He went 6-4 with a 4.02 ERA.

What happened to the dominating duo of last year?

This year they went a combined 14-13 with a 3.9 ERA.

Their frustrating season can be directly related to the frustration Cubs fans feel about not making the playoffs.

AL Rookie of the Year: Bobby Crosby

This really isn't a surprise.

Crosby is the best rookie in the American League this year, but that is not saying much.

The only man that would have competed,

Joe Mauer, a catcher for the twins, hurt himself early in the season and only accumulated 107 at bats for the year.

Crosby played a solid shortstop for the A's, and he showed some considerable pop with the bat.

Although he only hit .239 for the season, he did belt out 22 homers, which is a ton for a rookie shortstop.

NL Rookie of the Year: Khalil Greene

He is the main reason the Padres were able to win 25 more games than they did last year.

Not only did he solidify the defense with his great glove at shortstop, but he also gave the Padres a bat at the bottom of the order.

He hit .273 with 15 homers, and 65 RBIs in the eighth spot.

Jason Bay is another rookie who was unbelievable this year, and actually, by the numbers, he should be the Rookie of the Year.

However, it must be taken into account that Greene is playing for a contender, while Bay is not, and that he is playing the most difficult position in baseball at shortstop, while Bay is a right fielder.

I think both of these guys will grow up to me great players, but as of right now Greene made a much bigger impact than Bay did.