The New York Yankees are World Series champions! They ended their 9-year drought and have not won a pennant since. Around the league, the Yankees led the majors in wins with 103, and the Angels, who have had some really successful regular seasons, had another great one with 97 wins. The last season of the first decade of the 21st century, was certainly an exciting one.
1.) Tim Lincecum, San Fransisco Giants: Back-to-Back Cy Young’s
Tim Lincecum was the biggest name in baseball for a few seasons, with 2009 being a big reason why. The “Freak” was unorthodox, had a weird delivery, and a long, surfer hairstyle. He also was a dominant force for the Giants, who was about a season away from having a dynasty of their own. Lincecum threw 4 complete games (2 of them shut outs) and struck out 261 batters. Timmy had near identical stats from the season before, and both of those years ended with Cy Young hardware.
2.) A.J. Burnett, New York Yankees: League Leader in Walks and Wild Pitches
Burnett had a handful of impressive seasons during his career. None of them came as a Yankee. Burnett left Florida and headed north, where he was not horrendous, but was not a dominant reason that they won the World Series. During the regular season, Burnett was the wildest pitcher in baseball, leading the majors in walks (97) and wild pitches (17). To give credit where it is due, Burnett did get a Win in the World Series (and a blowout loss).
3.) Mark Reynolds, Arizona Diamondbacks: 229 Strikeouts
Not a bad season, if he was a pitcher. In 2009, Reynolds was in year 2 of what would wind up being 4 straight seasons of leading the league in strikeouts. Reynolds was known as a true 2 outcome hitter, home run or strikeout. It was a bittersweet year for Reynolds, who managed to hit an impressive 44 home runs, which would amount to his career high. It was also his 2nd straight year of leading the National League in errors. So the worst defender, and the worst contact hitter in baseball, in a season where he put up career highs in home runs and RBIs. It is an interesting game.
Leave a Reply