Antonen: O's have the brightest future in the AL East

[Tony-OH]

I don't think a writer should blindly vote hometown but I agree with Tony. I think Melvin and Buck were close enough that homerism should have been the deciding factor.

This is the key point and the point that some on here have a hard time comprehending apparently. No one is expecting the local writers to blindly support their local teams, but in this situation, where there is just as many reasons to vote in Buck then Melvin, it's a slap in the face to Buck that the "local" writer did not choose him. Antonen should not have Baltimore's vote, pure and simple. If they want to let a national writer have a vote, then by all means let them, but each local area should have an actual local writer.

[Tony-OH]

The way it is OR the way it is supposed to be done? Please don't say both, cause I don't buy that. Call it something else then, most popular manager of the year. Because the way you're defining it and the reasoning behind Tony's post smacks of homerism.

A writer should be able to vote objectively and use their own judgment in making a decision and not make one based on popularity or geography. Personally I don't find that concept hard to understand or respect.

Your comprehension is lacking if you think that's what I'm calling for. The BBWAA give each city two votes for a reason so that each city can be represented. If the vote is "neck and neck" close, the local guy should choose the local pick.

[Prayin4Reign]

Your comprehension is lacking if you think that's what I'm calling for. The BBWAA give each city two votes for a reason so that each city can be represented. If the vote is "neck and neck" close, the local guy should choose the local pick.

Hardly.

The 'local guy' should use his best judgment and vote for whom they consider the best choice. This whole geography and team vote is ridiculous.

[Ampontan]

These awards are unreliable enough without superimposing an obligation to be biased in favor of the team you cover. Journalists are supposed to avoid being biased...

Indeed, which makes any of these awards pointless (including the ones that get reported on the front page instead of the sports page). Sandy Koufax once said something about the beauty of baseball is that the numbers don't lie. Everything else is irrelevant.

And I can't help it, but that certainly is a quaint notion about what journalists are supposed to do.

[Il BuonO]

Well, I disagree. First off, the choice should have been Showalter, so any other choice was just wrong, but regardless of that fact, there is no way anyone should have thought it wasn't close. If it's close, you go with the local guy. It's not like we're talking about voting for Chen over Trout for rookie of the year. We're talking about the manager of the year which is pretty subjective and clearly Showalter had a great case over Melvin who won all of one more game than Showalter despite playing in a weaker division.

In most other years except this one you'd be correct, but the West was tougher this year. A combined winning percentage of .542 compared to the East's .519

I thought Buck did more with less but Melvin was helped out by Texas' collapse.

[foxfield]

I'm not a big fan of Mel, but I do not have a problem with his vote. It was close and an argument could be made for both guys. The idea that the local guy should have won Mel's vote because it was close or because it was owed due to who pays his salary is just wrong. I respect his choice even though I disagree with it but because it was close, how can we not look at the other side. Frankly either way an Oriole won not only in the AL but the NL too.

[wildcard]

Antonen can vote for whoever he wants but now he will pay the piper.

Buck is trying to build something in Baltimore. He has made great progress. Buck called the MOY a team award because it is won with the team making a big jump. The recognition would have helped the Orioles. I have no doubt that there are those in the O's organization that are not happy with Antonen now. A writer lives on access and information. I would not be surprised if some maybe many of the O's sources dry up now.

In business if your client is up for an award and deserving, you support him. Especially if your vote is known. Otherwise he should expect what you get in the future or rather what you don't get. Information probably flows to the other guys now. MASN support may flow to the other guys. Maybe Wall to Wall appearances dry up. Who knows where it goes from here. But I am sure there are people who are not happy with Mel.

So Mel had the right to do what he wanted. But it wasn't smart.

[Il BuonO]

He was on radio the other day and gave some very valid reasons for his choice. I was skeptical like most of the fans, but after I heard him he made a lot of sense in his line of thinking.

I don't fault him for that for one second, even though I might disagree.

Are you kidding me? Go back and look at the numbers. This wasn't a Trout vs Cabrera argument. It wasn't close. Tovar may have been a good athlete on an undermanned Twins team but his season pales to Yazstremski's. There's not one thing he could have said to justify that vote. Not one.

[El Gordo]

I really felt that Buck has earned all of our loyalty. I know Mel thinks he is a National name, but he might as well have been Jen Royle with what he did there. It was too close for that stuff. Plus, Buck losing made my wife sad.

Ding! Ding! His vote was based on personal interest. He has asperations to be national. A vote for Buck makes him a homer. It's got nothing to do with what he honestly thinks. It's the same with all of these jokers. Self promotion is the game for sports "writers"?

[Blizzard1090]

It is deep enough that they didn't give up the best guys in the Marlins deal.

Of course prospects fail all the time.

Loria doesn't care about getting the best guys,only doing a salary dump.

[wildcard]

There is so much wrong with this post that I don't know where to start. You suggest that maybe it would have been okay to vote for Melvin if the vote was secret. You must admire weasels. If people in the Baltimore organization are small enough to make things tough on Antonen because of this vote then that says a lot more about them, and it's not too flattering. The best writers and journalists are the ones who say what they think not what someone else tells them to write or do. Apparently, you don't agree. You are under some illusion or delusion that the manager of the year would have helped the organization in some way. Tell me how, cause I don't think so.

I think you just proved my point.

You didn't like what I wrote. So your reaction was to label it something distasteful.

I am sure there are those in the O's organization that do not like the way Antonen voted. He did not support the O's organization. At a minimum the O's would never want Antonen to represent the Orioles in a vote again. But the O's management reaction (like your reaction) could be much greater.

The O's compete with 29 teams every day. There are those who support them in that competition and there are those who don't. They probably like to work with those who do.

[Ohfan67]

Yeah, the Orioles organization has tremendous respect for the Manager of the Year Award. I mean just look at how much it meant to Peter Angelos in 1997.

[wildcard]

Yeah, the Orioles organization has tremendous respect for the Manager of the Year Award. I mean just look at how much it meant to Peter Angelos in 1997.

From a marketing standpoint I would imagine that the O's would like to have promoted the O's by saying they are led by the AL's Best Manager. I doubt they promote Buck as the AL's 2nd best manager.

Buck won the AL Manager award from Sporting News. He just won the same award from the Legacy Awards. Not winning it from the BBWAA kind of muddles things.

[NewMarketSean]

I don't know everyone is ready to crown the BJ's. They added a lot of good players but teams assembled quickly and with a lot of hype have failed before and will fail in the future. Sometimes you can't plug in a bunch of players and expect them to be great as a team right away. They will definitely be better but they aren't the AL Champs yet. I do agree we need to stay the course and not try to out flash our division rivals in the offseason.

[Ampontan]

From a marketing standpoint I would imagine that the O's would like to have promoted the O's by saying they are led by the AL's Best Manager. I doubt they promote Buck as the AL's 2nd best manager.

You're probably right, but then again I doubt Orioles fans need to be reminded about how good Showalter is.