Note From The Editors: Yesterday, Pat wrote about Tim Lincecum getting snubbed by one writer in the NL Cy Young voting. Today, The Grammarphile has beef with Lou Piniella winning Manager of the year. As the awards continue to be handed out by the MLB, we'd love to hear your thoughts. If you take issue with any of the awards, or think that someone else should have won, please write a fan article stating your case. If we like it, we'll feature it on the homepage, and you will be awarded 1,000 fan points, with which you can... have some bragging rights. Thanks, and we hope to hear from you all!
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I'm all fired up right now.  I mean I'm seriously fired up, like rip-roarin', expletive-yelling, a-massive-freak-out-is-imminent kind of fired up.

Let me first say this: I agree completely with Joe Maddon being named the AL Manager of the Year.  Kudos to Maddon for getting his team of young ballplayers to the World Series.  The Rays played consistently well in the 2008 season; because of this, they took their first trip to the Fall Classic, and they played well there, too.  They didn't win, but they played well, and a lot of that is a reflection of Maddon's skill and influence.

So the manager of the AL team that lost the World Series got named AL Manager of the Year.  Understandable.  He deserves it.  Again, kudos to him.

But how did the manager of the NL team that won the World Series not get named NL Manager of the Year?

I know, I know.  This award isn't based on postseason performance.  But it's not as if the Phillies gave a shoddy performance in their regular season.  Far from it, in fact.  And it was their aggressive style of playing in the regular season, their ability to not give up, to be the team that would surprise you by being down the whole damn game and then knockin' in enough key runs to win the game that everyone thought they were gonna lose--it was this attitude and mentality, which Manuel fostered in this team, that made them winners this year.

The Phillies are a team that people have referred to as being the losingest team in baseball.  They're a team that doesn't have the huge stars like Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, or Albert Pujols.  They're a team of guys who weren't stars a few years ago but who have turned into big names recently.  Yeah, we've known for a while that Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley were good, but all of a sudden this Victorino guy's stealing bases behind your back and then mowing down your catcher as he slides into home, this young Hamels dude is sending fastballs whizzing past your head, some guy named Werth is hittin' all kinds of line drives, and this pitcher by the name of Myers is terrorizing opposing pitchers when he's at the plate because he has an uncanny knack for actually hitting the ball.

Charlie Manuel was the one to turn this team of scrappy guys into a team of World Series champions.  He motivated them to fight for first place all season, helped them to achieve it, and motivated them to be the best they could be--and it turns out that this year, they were the best in all of baseball.

How did he get aced out by a manager whose team didn't make it past the first round of the playoffs?

I get it.  The Cubs are a fan favorite.  The Cubs haven't won a World Series in, like, a million years.  The Cubs are the underdog.  And who doesn't want the underdog to win eventually?

But this year, the Cubs didn't win anything except the NL Central division title.  What good does a fantastic regular season record do you if you choke in the postseason?

While the Phillies were out there playing NLCS and World Series games, the Cubs were probably at home, lounging on their couches, drinking beer and watching the playoff games on TV.  What else did they have to do?  Their season was over. 

And again, I ask you: how did the manager of this team win NL Manager of the Year when it wasn't exactly the Cubs' year?  (If it was, they would have been the World Series champions this year.  Let me remind you again--they weren't.)

I get that this award is based on a team's regular season performance.  Fine.  But during the regular season, the Phillies started out absolutely huge (thanks to Chase Utley and Pat Burrell being totally en fuego in the early part of the season), then slumped for a little while, and then--for the second year in a row--managed to claw their way back to the top to clinch a playoff berth.  They rallied hard against the division rival Mets, who put up a darn good fight.  Just because they didn't clinch that coveted NL East title sooner or with a better record doesn't mean they didn't deserve or earn it.  They played hard, fought their way back, and earned themselves that playoff berth for the second year in a row.  In the end of the regular season, the Phillies came out on top.  And because of their regular season performance, they managed to not only get into the playoffs, but then clobber their playoff competition, and eventually come out on top of everyone.  And Manuel was the leader behind all this clobbering.

I'm particularly incensed by the comments made by Matt Snyder in this article, posted over at MLB Fanhouse.  Snyder said that the reason Piniella was picked was clearly because he led the Cubs "to the most victories the franchise has had since 1945."  While I agree that that's a fantastic achievement, the question still remains: exactly how did all these victories help the Cubs in October?  Oh, that's right--they didn't.  (That's not a knock on Piniella--he's a fantastic manager, and has been an excellent manager for a long time.  But based on the Cubs' achievements this year, did he really deserve the Manager of the Year award?  I'm not convinced.)  The Cubs weren't the only team to make it to their second consecutive postseason this year.  Can you guess which other team also was in their second conseuctive postseason this year?  (If you guessed the Phillies, you'd be right!)

Snyder--who, by the way, managed to misspell Sweet Lou's last name every time he wrote it in his article--also said (sarcastically) that he's certain Manuel was "...really worried about not winning, considering the ring and trophy he earned in the playoffs."  Wait a second.  Is he suggesting that because Manuel already got plenty of accolades this season, in the forms of a World Series ring and trophy, that somehow Manuel already received enough and, because of this, is less deserving of this award than Piniella is?

Through a season's worth of hard work, perseverance, determination, faith, and a whole lotta heart, Charlie Manuel and his Phillies earned their rings.  They earned their trophy.  After 28 years, the Phillies (and their city) earned their pride, glory, and braggin' rights.

And although Manuel wasn't given the title of NL Manager of the Year - I'm convinced he earned that, too.

NIKKI is the snarky little so-and-so behind the humor blog RED PEN, INC.  She also talks baseball over at THE BILF REPORT.