lucylily's blog: "ght"

TORONTO -- Jose Bautista doesnt think starting pitchers should qualify for MVP awards. The Toronto Blue Jays slugger spoke out after Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander took the American League MVP award on Monday ahead of Bostons Jacoby Ellsbury and Bautista. "Theres nothing in the criteria that says a pitcher cannot receive the award," said Bautista on a conference call. "But at the same time, theres a couple of items that should eliminate a pitcher from receiving the award from the get go." In particular, Bautista was critical of the amount of time starting pitchers play compared to fielders who are in the lineup on a daily basis. "When one of the first items in the criteria for the MVP award states that the player should be on the field for the most amount of games for their own particular team and knowing that us position players have to be out there 150 plus times over ... I dont know, 30, 32, 33 times that a pitcher has to go out there, in my eyes thats pretty much an elimination right there," said Bautista. Verlander received 13 of 28 first-place votes and 280 points in voting announced by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Ellsbury came second with four firsts and 242 points, followed by Bautista with five firsts and 231 points. "It doesnt make a difference to me if Verlander of Ellsbury wins," said Bautista. "The bottom line is that I wasnt chosen but, at the same time, I know that he (Verlander) had a great season and I feel excited for him, that he was able to get the award. Congratulations to him. Added Bautista: "Im not knocking on Verlander or the year that he had." Verlander is the first starting pitcher to win an MVP in 27 years. He was given the Cy Young Award as the leagues best pitcher on Nov. 15 after winning 24 games in 34 starts with a 2.40 earned-run average and 250 strikeouts. He also threw a no-hitter in Toronto on May 7. Bautista wasnt alone in his criticism of a pitcher winning the MVP. Jim Ingraham of The Herald-News in Ohio did not have Verlander on his ballot. Sheldon Ocker of the Akron Beacon Journal voted Verlander eighth. Ingraham thinks pitchers should not be eligible for MVP awards. "Id wrestled with this for a long time. If I was ever going to vote for pitcher for MVP, it would be him this year," said Ingraham, who was one of Bautistas first-place votes. "He hasnt appeared in 79 per cent of their games, any starting pitcher really doesnt appear in 79 per cent of his teams games in a year." Ingraham compared baseballs MVP to other sports to underscore his point. "Would you vote for an NFL quarterback for MVP if he only appeared in three of his teams 16 games, which would be 21 per cent? So thats part of it," Ingraham said to The Associated Press. "Another part of it is I think theyre apples and oranges. The guys that are in there every day, theres a grind to a season that a starting pitcher doesnt, I dont think, experience the way the everyday position players do playing 150, 160 games." Other pitchers to win MVP and Cy Young in the same year were Brooklyns Don Newcombe (1956), Los Angeles Sandy Koufax (1963), St. Louis Bob Gibson and Detroits Denny McLain (1968), Oaklands Vida Blue (1971) , Milwaukees Rollie Fingers (1981) and Detroits Willie Hernandez (1984). Bautista won the ALs Hank Aaron Award as the leagues best offensive player and a Silver Slugger as the best hitter at his position. He finished 2011 with a .302 batting average, 43 home runs and 103 RBIs. The 31-year-old Jays slugger was the only player who earned a vote that was not on a team in the playoff picture in October. "I dont see how only guys that are on playoff-bound teams should be considered for the award," said Bautista. "The name of the award is MVP not MVP for playoff teams, but, thats just the way I look at it." Despite his obvious disappointment, Bautista tried to keep the MVP snub in perspective. "I play the game to win on a daily basis and hopefully accumulate enough Ws at the end of the year to get into the playoffs and win the World Series," said Bautista. "I dont put on a uniform that says Blue Jays on the front on a daily basis to garner personal accolades, thats not what Im about. "Even though theyre nice -- its nice to be recognized by the league and by the writers -- its not what I go out on the field every day for." ------ With files from The Associated Press. www.thebrownsjerseysshop.com/Womens-Bernie-Kosar-Nike-Jersey . In the second quarter, Luol Deng was walking to the locker room even before his three-pointer from the corner swished through the net at the halftime buzzer. www.thebrownsjerseysshop.com/Womens-Montario-Hardesty-Nike-Jersey . Yet, sometimes it takes the biggest challenge to fight through a winless stretch.  While the team refuses to use injuries as an excuse, they continue to hit the team it seems almost every game. With Max Pacioretty being the latest casualty, it takes one of the better performing forwards to start the season out of the line-up. http://www.thebrownsjerseysshop.com/Womens-Shawn-Lauvao-Nike-Jersey . Ryan Suter helped Minnesota keep Chicagos high-powered attack in check, and the Wild still lost Game 1 to the Blackhawks. www.thebrownsjerseysshop.com . Kluwe announced the news on Twitter shortly after meeting with Vikings GM Rick Spielman, a move that had been expected ever since the team spent a fifth-round draft pick on punter Jeff Locke at the end of last month.www.thebrownsjerseysshop.com/Womens-Phillip-Taylor-Nike-Jersey . The Pacers came into the Big Apple on Sunday and won Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, 102-95. Indiana has stolen the home-court advantage from the Knicks, but that doesnt mean the Pacers are taking Tuesdays game lightly.BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins took out the frustration on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Two days after losing their composure in a loss to Carolina, the Bruins had their best offensive game of the season in a 6-2 victory Thursday night that gave the Maple Leafs their first regulation loss. Zdeno Chara, Milan Lucic and Tyler Seguin had a goal and two assists each and the Stanley Cup champions scored two power-play goals, matching their total for their first six games. "Obviously, weve been a little frustrated and it showed at the end of the Carolina game," Lucic said. "What weve been able to do well as a team is weve always been able to turn that emotion into a positive and thats what we were able to do here tonight." The Bruins, who had 11 goals entering the game, rebounded from the 4-1 loss to the Hurricanes on Tuesday night. Rich Peverleys goal with 9:01 left had cut Carolinas lead to 2-1 before Boston lost its momentum by taking several ill-advised penalties. Coach Claude Julien shook up his lines and the move paid off as the Bruins outshot the Maple Leafs 43-28. "It was a good thing because no one really had too much chemistry," Seguin said. "Tonight everyone kind of just focused on (his own) game and what they have to do in taking accountability and I think thats why we were successful." The Bruins won for the second time in five games and had two power-play goals for just the second time in 41 regular-season games. The Maple Leafs, playing their first road game of the season, had a predictable letdown from their last game, a 4-3 shootout win over the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday night. "When they scored (their) first goal the air went out of the balloon," Toronto coach Ron Wilson said. "We just didnt have our legs." David Steckel gave Toronto (4-1-1) the lead 7:29 into the game before the Bruins (3-4) scored three times in less than eight minutes to take a 3-1 lead after the first period. Nathan Horton and Chara scored on power plays and Chris Kelly connected with 2:11 left in the period. Lucic, Patrice Bergeron and Seguin scored in the third. Torontos Mikhail Grabovski finished the scoring Phil Kesssel, a former Bruin, entered with NHL-leading totals of seven goals and 12 points but was held scoreless for the first time in 16 regular-season games.dddddddddddd Seguin was taken with the second pick of last years draft obtained in the trade for Kessel. Steckel started the scoring with his first goal of the season on a 30-foot shot from the slot that deflected off the left leg of goalie Tim Thomas as he lay on his back. Barely three minutes later, at 10:32 of the first period, the Bruins tied it on Hortons second goal after backup goalie Jonas Gustavsson, playing for the first time this season, stopped Charas 50-foot shot but left the rebound for Horton to put in the net on a power play. "We know they were going to come out hard so I was prepared for a lot of shots," Gustavsson said. Chara scored his first goal on another power play, at 16:05, on a pass from the blue line from defenceman Andrew Ference, who tied his career high with three assists. Less than two minutes later, at 17:49, Ference assisted on Kellys second goal, starting the play with a pass to Lucic, who skated up the left side and across the goal line. He then passed it in front of the net where it bounced before Kelly lifted a backhander over Gustavsson. Toronto had the best scoring chance of the second period when Grabovski, coming out of the penalty box, got the puck at the red line and broke in alone. But Thomas made the save at 8:43. "I didnt bang my stick to give my (defencemen) any warning so I kind of helped cause the breakaway," Thomas said, "so I had extra motivation to stop that breakaway." The Bruins made it 4-1 at 2:08 of the third period when Seguin passed from the right circle across the slot to Lucic, who shot into the open side of the net for his first goal. Patrice Bergeron got his first goal and Seguin scored his second before Grabovski beat Thomas at 12:33 of the third period. Notes: The Bruins were 2 for 24 on the power play before Thursday. ... C David Krejci returned after missing four games with what the Bruins called a core injury. ... Thomas broke a four-game losing streak against Toronto. ... Dion Phaneuf got his sixth assist for Toronto. ' ' '