Given that Aaron Miles’ Fastball started in January, this is our first year participating in the annual Cardinal Blogger Awards. And while these are our choices for the awards, you also have the chance to vote — just click here to reach the fan ballot. While you’re there, vote for us!
Award 1 — Cardinal Player of the Year
Miranda: Lance Berkman. Huge addition to the team. Great leader. Relaxed the clubhouse. Great hits. Good defense at times. Played where he was needed including at first base when Albert was injured.
Chris: Lance Berkman. He brought a needed spark to the team, both on and off the field, and contributed his biggest hit of the year in Game Six of the World Series.
Tara: Lance Berkman. Really, who would have expected this? But without him occasionally taking the team on his back, the playoffs never happen. Not only did he contribute consistently from a numbers perspective, but the energy and excitement he brought to the clubhouse was irreplaceable.
Award 2 — Cardinal Pitcher of the Year
Miranda: Chris Carpenter. He had a rough start to the year. But when the team needed him the most, he stepped up. And BIG! He proved he was the ace of this staff. I do enjoy his intensity!
Chris: Chris Carpenter. Leaders like CC lead, both by word — such as the much-discussed team meeting he called after the Cards had been swept by the Dodgers on Aug. 24 — and by action, which he demonstrated over and over again in September and especially October.
Tara: Chris Carpenter. How could I go any other way here? He had to take on a bit of a different role this year, but he took his job as the workhorse very seriously. He didn’t get a lot of run support many times, but he still ate up innings. Plus, when he wasn’t on the mound, he was in the dugout doing his thing as co-head cheerleader (that title was shared with Adam Wainwright!) His end-of-the-year performances cemented his legacy with the Cardinals and earned him this vote!
Award 3 — Regular Season Game of the Year
Miranda: Sept. 24 vs. Chicago (Marmol meltdown)
I fully admit, I’m usually out during the games on Saturday afternoons. But something drew me to stay in and watch this game. At points, I was wondering what the eff I was doing. But I stayed and was I ever glad I did! It was such an exciting game at the end. The only time this year I was excited at a play made by Tyler Greene! Ryan Theriot was clutch against his former team. A Cub melted down and threw wild, driving in the winning run! My heart was racing as I am sure was everyone else’s!
Chris: Sept. 28 at Houston (Carpenter shutout on the last day)
On an absolutely incredible night of baseball overall, the Cardinals game was the least suspenseful of the four that had playoff implications. But CC stepped up and took care of the pitching side of the game with a two-hit shutout.
Tara: Sept. 28 at Houston (Carpenter shutout on the last day)
All of the nominated games are worthy, but this was just such a perfect display of dominance. When they made it to that game with the postseason on the line and Carp headed to the mound, I had no doubt. But that performance on that night … perfection.
Award 4 — Postseason Game of the Year
Miranda: World Series Game Six. Did you really think I would answer differently? David Freese’s walk-off homer still makes me smile! The game was the season in a nutshell … Despite being down, they NEVER gave up.
Chris: World Series Game Six. No question, and nothing more more needs to be said. We all saw it and will never forget it.
Tara: World Series Game Six. Predictable? Yes. but really, there’s nothing that even compares. I still can’t comprehend everything that happened that night, but I can’t help smiling just thinking about it. What a night!!
Award 5 — Surprise Player of the Year
Miranda: Lance Berkman. He slimmed down and worked hard!
Chris: LB. No one was sure what to expect after his 2010, and he was a most welcome — as well as valuable — surprise.
Tara: Allen Craig. I could make an argument for each of these guys. But Craig’s production in his limited chances was impressive. Before the knee injury he was really coming into his own. And even if he didn’t win an award courtesy of MLB after his late-season and postseason contributions, he deserves one!
Award 6 — Disappointing Player of the Year
Miranda: Ryan Franklin. We started the season knowing he was our closer. And BOOM! Kudos go to Colby as most disappointing as well. He could never be successful in STL. And now, after going to Toronto and not being very good … who knows if he’ll be successful, period.
Chris: Colby Rasmus. After his 2010 season and even his first month or so in 2011, it seemed like Colby was finally becoming the player he was supposed to be. And then things started to fall apart … dramatically. And I think trading him will still pay dividends next year and beyond, because I don’t think he’ll ever become that player he was supposed to be.
Tara: Ryan Franklin. Not much to say here, really. He never looked right. Never got it going. And he simply couldn’t make it better. It was painful to watch.
Award 7 — Cardinal Rookie of the Year
Miranda: Daniel Descalso. The young man is just awesome! Playing where he was needed, making spectacular plays and the clutchest of hits. Why I am having to enter him as an “other” is beyond me!
Chris: Allen Craig. Despite missing time due to injury, his batting average never fell below .300 once it reached that level in May and he had a knack for coming up with clutch hits — especially in the World Series. All that while playing every position except shortstop, catcher and pitcher. Also, though not listed on the ballot, Fernando Salas definitely deserves consideration as well.
Tara: Daniel Descalso. Since I already voted Allen Craig for one award, I’m going to follow Miranda’s lead and add a write-in vote for Dirty Dan! To step in for David Freese the way he did, then to fill in wherever he was asked, and to do it all in a way that made you forget he was a rookie? Well done, DD!
Award 8 — Pre-Season Aquistion of the Year
Miranda: Lance Berkman. See Awards 1 and 5!
Chris: LB, of course, for all the reasons I’ve already given.
Tara: Lance Berkman. *See Player of the Year answer.*
Award 9 — Mid-Season Aquisition of the Year
Miranda: Zepper. Simply because in the NLCS, Zep was the one person to shut down Prince Fielder. That was freaking beautiful. I am glad the Cardinals will have him for a little while! I could enter in some chick comments about him too, but I’ll spare you!
Chris: All four were definitely valuable in September and October, and especially Dotel and Rzepczynski in the postseason. But Furcal is my top choice, and simply because of the defense he provided. The offense was a nice bonus, as was the occasional homer.
Tara: Edwin Jackson. Although the other three may have come up more valuable in the postseason, Edwin Jackson was arguably the strongest starter of the last month for the Cards. He was frustrating at times, but he did what we needed out of his spot in the rotation.
Award 10 — Most Anticipated Cardinal
Miranda: Shelby Miller. I want to see if the hype is real! Also, kudos to Matt Adams and John Gast!
Chris: Though I had the opportunity to see him pitch throughout 2010 for the River Bandits, I’m anxious to see what Shelby Miller can do once he does make it to the big leagues — when he’s ready.
Tara: Shelby Miller. Again, predictable, but honest. I can’t wait to see what he does as he matures (on and off the field).
Award 11 — Best Individual Cardinal Blog
Miranda: C70. Interesting take and nice perspective!
Chris: C70 At the Bat. Daniel does a great job — it’s a lot of work to publish regularly like he does, and it’s always good and interesting. I appreciate his look at the numbers before each series too.
Tara: C70 At the Bat. Daniel does it all, consistently and creatively. And, somehow, he keeps up with all of his UCB duties as well!
Award 12 — Best Team Cardinal Blog
Miranda: Aaron Miles’ Fastball, of course! I would tell you why we are the best, but that would be really self-serving, now wouldn’t it! I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Chris, Ann, Emily, Michael and Tara on this site. And the added bonus of all the Aerys ladies and the other opportunities associated with that have been a plus too! Go check out Aerys Offsides sometime if you are in a football mood! (Ooops! That was really self-serving, huh?)
Chris: Aaron Miles’ Fastball. I’m proud of the work all three of us do. We work hard, we have fun and we write all the time because we love sharing our love of the Cardinals and baseball.
Tara: Aaron Miles’ Fastball. Shamelessly, I love what we do at AMF. We may be the new kids on the block, but I’m proud of the content we put out every day.
Award 13 — Best Professional Cardinal Blog
Miranda: Bird Land. Derrick is pretty great!
Chris: Bird Land. I love reading, and learning from, everything Derrick Goold writes.
Tara: Bird Land. All sorts of good information, all the time.
Award 14 — Best Rookie Cardinals Blog
Miranda: Aaron Miles’ Fastball … Yeah. We’re a pretty good group!
Chris: Yes, have to go with us for the reasons I already stated above.
Tara: Aaron Miles’ Fastball. I’ll admit, I don’t yet get around to all the UCB blogs regularly enough. But, I do know the “rookie season” we’ve put together at AMF, and again, I’m quite proud of it.
Award 15 — Post of the Year
Miranda: My David Freese letter … He read it! And he tweeted about it. How can it NOT be my favorite post this year?
Chris: While I love Miranda’s letter (and especially the fact Freeser tweeted about it) and also love my post on Chris Carpenter and Roy Halladay, Daniel’s “Happily Ever After” was a very clever — and very detailed — recap of the magical ride that was the Cardinals from late August on.
Tara: Happily Ever After — C70. Maybe I’m a sucker for a “fairy tale ending,” but this was a fantastic way to wrap up the 2011 season.
Award 16 — Best UCB Project
Miranda: Roundtables. Discussing issues, laying your opinion out there. I like participating and reading it! Good stuff!
Chris: Progressive game blog. It was interesting to read the recap of a single game told inning by inning from so many different perspectives.
Tara: Roundtables. Fascinating to see all the different ideas from this group of writers.
Award 17 — Most Optimistic Cardinal Blog
Miranda: Aaron Miles’ Fastball. While we don’t necessarily ever hold back on our opinion, we are definitely optimistic about our team. I would venture to say that in our posts (which happen every single day) we never put down our team and we were consistently optimistic that they could come back and do this thing. We never just stopped posting because things weren’t going well at points in the season. Aaron Miles’ Fastball. CONSISTENTLY. OPTIMISTIC.
Chris: This seems like an odd award. Regardless, I’m with Miranda. We were honest and we were there every single day — through the bad and through the good — and never gave up on the team.
Tara: On the Outside Corner. Going with a wildcard here. Bob’s history lessons are spectacular, but so is his ability to make every game, win or lose, just a step towards something spectacular. (Although, again, AMF should be able to make a run at this one! Never did we “throw in the towel,” but at the same time we maintained a level of objectivity in our content. We stuck with these guys all the way to the end, no matter when that might have been!)
Award 18 — Best UCB Podcast
Miranda: Conversations with C70. This is good stuff! I have enjoyed learning about folks through this podcast. Daniel does a GREAT job!
Chris: Couldn’t decide between two, so I’ll vote for both: Conversations With C70 and Pitchers Hit Eighth. Daniel’s conversations are great because it’s so interesting to learn more about the other bloggers he’s interviewed. Nick and Josh also do a terrific job with their own informative conversations and great guests.
Tara: UCB Radio Hour. I’ve had the pleasure of being a part of it. Plus, it’s nice to have the chance to hear from several other UCBers each week.
Question 19 — Best UCB Twitterer
Miranda: Oh. Definitely @gr33nazn. Can you make it through a Cardinal game without going to the ManFridge or dropping a donation in the Cuss Jar? I didn’t think so! And, the jokes are ALWAYS great with Dennis!
Chris: @C70. Always informative, and always enjoyable to tweet with.
Tara: @throatwarbler (Bob Netherton) Again, those pre-game Twitter tales and in-game comments made the season even more enjoyable!
Award 20 — Best Fake Cardinal Twitter Account
Miranda: @TortyCraig. If you don’t know, just go look at that page! Great story telling! Master Allen would approve!
Chris: @TortyCraig, by far. Very creative and very entertaining. I did always enjoy the Fake Miguel Batista one too!
Tara: @TortyCraig. Yeah, so the squirrel was fun. But no one beats Torty at his own game! (And yes, I may have possibly even gotten a little teary at this made-up-mascot’s goodbye!) Silly? Yes. But I loved it, nonetheless.
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