A Minnesota BBWAA guy spits up-- AN ACTUAL PLAYER GETS BETTER INK

Now the 2nd wave of BBWAA back-room politico has come out with an article in praise of a closer not named Mariano. See, BBWAA guys, especially those from Minnesota, have been in complete control of information you and I get about baseball players for a long time. That's over with as of now, and they're of course spitting up about it.

• The big difference with them is they still vote for AL and NL post season awards worth millions of dollars to them and others. Many news outlets no longer allow their writers to vote. With a dimished pool, it's easier nowadays to skew the results by using guys guaranteed to vote a certain way, as I explained in detail about the 2006 AL MVP and the 2005 AL Cy Young awards.

A number of managers and players have voluntarily, without prompting and without necessarily being aware their words would be acknowledged or recorded, mentioned their high opinion of Mariano Rivera. I'm talking about people in the game. Recently, Jonathan Papelbon's spontaneous praise caused Rivera's name to be mentioned multiple times in the press.

• This flummoxed BBWAA members, as they specifically keep Mariano's name out of the papers unless he gives up a run or something equally horrible. Now, the BBWAA guys WHO ARE NOT IN THE GAME BUT JUST MANIPULATE DATA AND PERCEPTION TO FILL THEIR PERSONAL AGENDA, are coming out with articles to try and push Papelbon's words out of the public mind.

In other words, they want to change reality. WORLD FAMOUS CELEBRITY AND Minnesota whiner Jim Souhan is near the top of the list of sputterers. The sub-title of his article draws your attention to his guy, Joe Nathan, to convince you that Papelbon isn't the only one who wants to be the best.

• "The most impressive thing about the closer is not just his effort to become the game's best, but that he's getting better."

Souhan, nobody said Nathan wasn't any good or that he wouldn't get better.

• By Jim Souhan, Star Tribune

Last update: March 29, 2007 – 10:33 PM

Souhan gives a brief history of Nathan, then says, he, SOUHAN, KNOWS BETTER THAN ALL THE PEOPLE WHO ARE ACTUALLY IN THE GAME OF BASEBALL:

• "Today, Joe Nathan might be the best closer in baseball."

Planting the seed for any future awards. Then Souhan gives the BBWAA approved method of dealing with Rivera: IGNORE HIM IF AT ALL POSSIBLE. IF FORCED TO ACKNOWLEDGE HIM, DISMISS HIM QUICKLY.

• "The Yankees' Mariano Rivera is the gold standard of his generation, but he's 37, and Nathan, 32, put up better numbers last year."

(BUT...According to Jim Souhan's cherrypicked stats, etc. Anyone can manipulate stats, so I'm leaving out the ones he chose). Then, THE 'TOTAL SAVE STAT' WHITEWASH. THE COMPILERS OF BS. THEY THINK YOU DON'T CARE THAT THERE'S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A 1-OUT SAVE AND A 5 OR 6 OR 9 OUT SAVE OR WIN BY A CLOSER.

• "Since Nathan became a closer in 2004, he's earned 123 saves." (etc.) THEN!!! he says, " and Hoffman is 39 and, like Rivera, couldn't match Nathan's dominance last year."

WHAT? NO SUBSTANTIATION EXCEPT MENTIONING HOFFMAN'S AGE AND THAT THE 2 OTHER GUYS WEREN'T AS "DOMINANT." DOMINANT IN WHAT? THE TOTAL SAVES STAT DOESN'T DETERMINE DOMINANCE. IT'S JUST A PHRASE USED TO HIJACK POST SEASON PITCHERS' AWARDS.

• JIM'S NEXT BIG PROOF: He "surveyed a few baseball executives and scouts on Thursday. The consensus: Nathan is among the top three closers in the game, along with Rivera and the Angels' Francisco Rodriguez, and no other closer can combine Nathan's dominance, pitch selection, durability, relative youth and potential to get even better."

Jim, you started out with no surprises, and ended up with a bunch of confetti.

• "The Twins' strongest component while winning four of the last five AL Central titles has been their bullpen. Without Nathan, the bullpen would quickly become a weakness."

DOES SOUHAN GET PAID FOR THIS OR JUST FOR AWARDS? His next proof, the Twins pitching coach reveals Nathan does great in fantasy rankings... WOW, how incisive.

• "I was looking at a fantasy baseball ranking, and Nathan was the No. 1 guy to pick up," said pitching coach Rick Anderson. "I think that's because of his consistency and durability. He takes such good care of himself. He's got himself a new personal trainer, which I think is the big difference."

"Nathan spent last winter in the Twin Cities, working with Corey Eckhoff at Velocity Sports Performance in Champlin."

• Souhan gives a few more stats, a little more Nathan history, which is nice, then campaigns for his guy again, maybe the best closer in baseball today."

Maybe he is or maybe he's good in a certain limited type of situation (as the guys on Baseball Tonight glowingly said today). It really doesn't matter, because he works for a politically correct billionaire's team.

Jim Souhan can be heard Sundays from 10 a.m.-noon on KSTP AM 1500. • (Wow) jsouhan@startribune.com.