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Some things to read while falling short.
Today's top stories are all awards, as the Brewers announced Carlos Gomez as their nominee for the 2013 Hank Aaron Award yesterday. It's given out annually to the best offensive player in each league. Follow that link to vote for the honor, which will be handed out during the World Series.
Meanwhile, at some point today the Milwaukee chapter of the BBWAA will announce their postseason awards for the 2013 Brewers. @MikeVassallo13 has a reminder of the five categories: MVP, Most Valuable Pitcher, Top Newcomer, Unsung Hero and Good Guy.
If this vote is any indication, Carlos Gomez should win the MVP vote by a landslide. He's opened up a commanding lead in the voting for the #1 spot on our 2013 MVBrewers list, but you still have a few hours left to cast your vote if you haven't already.
Today in opposing views: The Brewer Nation filled out a Brewer awards ballot and has Jonathan Lucroy winning the MVP.
Donovan Hand probably won't take home any awards this winter, but he did pitch reasonably well in his first 31 MLB appearances, including seven starts. Justin Schultz of Reviewing the Brew gave him a B grade for his debut season.
Hand's future with the team probably depends heavily on how the Brewers decide to handle their bullpen this winter. In a guest post at Disciples of Uecker, Jonathan Judge largely left the bullpen alone while painting a scenario where the Brewers could contend in 2014.
In the minors:
- The Arizona Fall League opens today when the Surprise Saguaros take on Peoria at 2:35 Central time. Tom Froemming of Grading on the Curve has a preview of the Brewer farmhands taking part in the prospect league.
- Baseball America unveiled their list of the top 20 prospects from the 2013 Florida State League yesterday, but no Brevard County Manatees made the cut. The AA Southern League list is expected to be unveiled today.
- Chris Mehring of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers has a look at the nine former Rattlers who made their MLB debuts this season, including seven 2013 Brewers.
Around baseball:
Astros: Hired former Cardinals minor league coach Brent Strom as their new pitching coach.
Blue Jays: Hitting coach Chad Mottola and first base coach Dwayne Murphy will not return for 2014.
Diamondbacks: Pitching coach Charles Nagy is not expected to return for 2014.
Twins: Pitcher P.J. Walters has rejected a minor league assignment and is now a free agent.
Meanwhile, yesterday might have been the best postseason day of the year as three potential elimination games came down to the wire. The Cardinals and Rays narrowly avoided the end of their seasons while Juan Uribe's eighth inning home run sealed the Braves' fate in their 4-3 loss to the Dodgers. Uribe's homer came after a failed attempt to sacrifice, leading to this Vin Scully quote:
"Isn't it amazing what somebody will do when he can't bunt." — Vin Scully
— Adam Darowski (@baseballtwit) October 8, 2013
With that said, that might not even have been the day's most notable home run. Jose Lobaton extended the Rays' season with a walkoff homer in the ninth at Tropicana Field to beat the Red Sox. That series continues tonight with the Rays' fourth elimination game in eight days. (h/t @JaymesL)
Matthew Leach of MLB.com was in St. Petersburg for last night's game and ranked it as the second best playoff game he ever watched live, putting it one spot ahead of the Brewers' win in Game 5 of the 2011 NLDS. A remarkable finish went a long way to make up for the fact that the two teams needed four hours and 19 minutes to play nine innings. That's almost a full hour longer than any of Monday's other games.
It's pretty amazing that the third best game of the day came in Pittsburgh, where Cardinals pitcher Michael Wacha carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning in a 2-1 win over the Pirates. @joe_block notes that the Cardinals used three pitchers in the game, all rookies.
Today In Brewer History was off this morning, but we do have one bit of history: nullacct has a look at pitcher Pete Ladd as the face of the 1985 Brewers.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to make room in my garden.
Drink up.