November 10, 1997

1997 Internet Baseball Awards™ Results

Your ballots have been counted, and the results are in

by Greg Spira

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The following is the results of the sixth annual Internet Baseball Awards™, as voted on by denizens of the Usenet rec.sport.baseball newsgroups, Baseball Prospectus readers and many other cyberspace baseball fans.

This year, for the first time, the Awards were conducted primarily thru a Web ballot, though e-mail ballots were still accepted. This changeover was hugely successful, as we received ballots from approximately 300 voters - that's easily a record - and over 85% of the ballots came thru the Web.

The point system for the balloting was as follows:

• Player of the Year Ballots: 14 points for 1st place votes, 9 points for 2nd place votes, 8 for 3rd, etc., down to 1 for 10th.
• Pitcher of the Year Ballots: 10 points for 1st place votes, 7 points for 2nd place votes, 5 for 3rd, 3 for fourth, and 1 for fifth. (This is the one award where our point system differs from the BBWAA point system, since we use a longer ballot.)
• Rookie of the Year Ballots: 5 points for 1st place votes, 3 for second place votes, and 1 for third.

This year's awards were helped along by the fine folks at the Baseball Prospectus, most especially David Pease, who designed the web site for the ballot. All of us associated with the Awards greatly appreciate the work of the voters, especially the ones who take the time to fill out complete and thoughtful ballots (and that is the great majority).

NL PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

For the second year in a row, the NL Player of the Year race was the closest of the Internet Baseball Awards, as Dodgers catcher Mike Piazza repeated his victory of last year over a strong challenge from Rockies outfielder Larry Walker. Walker had a tremendous year, even in the context of playing half his games in Coors Field, but Piazza's efforts for the Dodgers, which resulted in one of the greatest offensive seasons for a catcher in major league history, won the favor of the voters. Piazza has now finished among the top 3 in Internet NL Player of the Year voting each of his 4 full seasons in the majors. Barry Bonds finished third, continuing his streak of having finished in the top 4 in all 6 years of Internet NL Player of the Year balloting. Jeff Bagwell, who finished fourth, has established himself as another perennial Internet NL Player of the Year contender. Meanwhile, Todd Hundley managed the interesting feat of finished in tenth place for the second year in a row. And last year's BBWAA NL Player of the Year winner Ken Caminiti (who finished a very close second in Internet voting), finished nineteenth.

(NOTE: B = BALLOTS, P = POINTS)

Player            1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10   B     P
Mike Piazza       161  61   19   12   7    1    6    0    3    3    273   3119
Larry Walker      79   121  34   14   11   8    1    3    5    1    277   2695
Barry Bonds       15   43   87   56   32   6    10   6    3    4    262   1975
Jeff Bagwell      8    22   66   77   39   28   10   14   2    2    268   1839
Craig Biggio      7    11   24   33   48   41   28   14   17   6    229   1307
Pedro Martinez    1    9    12   21   32   29   40   29   7    12   192   948
Tony Gwynn        1    2    14   17   32   34   28   31   27   26   212   910
Greg Maddux       2    0    10   21   21   34   26   27   26   10   177   798
Ray Lankford      0    0    3    11   18   20   29   22   18   11   132   538
Todd Hundley      0    1    1    1    9    11   8    14   15   21   81    258
Curt Schilling    0    4    1    2    4    5    8    14   10   16   64    217
Chipper Jones     1    1    2    1    2    6    9    10   21   7    60    203
Jeff Blauser      0    0    1    3    2    1    10   15   20   12   64    183
Andres Galarraga  0    1    2    1    3    5    7    8    8    6    41    149
Charles Johnson   0    1    0    0    1    10   5    7    7    16   47    136
Denny Neagle      2    1    0    3    2    1    1    2    3    5    20    96
Moises Alou       0    0    1    1    4    4    2    4    3    10   29    95
Kenny Lofton      0    0    2    0    1    4    7    3    4    2    23    89
Ken Caminiti      1    1    0    0    1    3    3    3    4    9    25    82
Raul Mondesi      0    1    0    0    0    3    6    6    5    6    27    82
Edgardo Alfonzo   0    0    1    1    2    0    4    3    5    3    19    65
Darryl Kile       0    0    0    0    1    1    5    2    7    9    25    60
Jeff Kent         0    0    1    0    2    4    1    2    2    2    14    56
Mark McGwire      1    1    0    1    0    1    2    1    2    8    16    58
J.T. Snow         1    0    0    1    0    2    1    0    5    4    14    49
Scott Rolen       0    0    0    0    0    2    0    1    6    9    18    34
Bobby Bonilla     0    0    0    1    0    2    0    1    4    0    8     28
Kevin Brown       0    0    0    2    0    0    2    1    0    2    7     27
Gary Sheffield    1    0    0    0    1    0    1    0    0    0    3     24
Jason Kendall     0    0    0    0    1    1    0    2    1    3    8     22
Mark Grace        0    0    0    0    1    0    2    0    2    2    7     20
Shawn Estes       0    0    0    1    1    0    1    0    0    0    3     17
Eric Karros       0    0    0    0    1    0    1    1    0    1    4     14
Javier Lopez      0    0    0    0    1    0    1    0    1    2    5     14
Jeff Shaw         0    0    0    0    0    0    0    2    0    3    5     9
Mark Grudzielanek 0    0    0    0    0    1    0    0    1    0    2     7
Wally Joyner      0    0    0    0    1    0    0    0    0    1    2     7
Barry Larkin      0    0    0    0    0    1    0    0    0    0    1     5
Bill Spiers       0    0    0    0    0    0    0    1    0    2    3     5
Kevin Young       0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    2    0    2     4
Robb Nen          0    0    0    0    0    0    1    0    0    0    1     4
Ryan Klesko       0    0    0    0    0    0    1    0    0    0    1     4
Vinny Castilla    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    1    0    0    1     3
Alex Fernandez    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    1    0    1     2
Billy Wagner      0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    1    0    1     2
Delino Deshields  0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    1    0    1     2
Chan Ho Park      0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    1    1     1
John Olerud       0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    1    1     1
Jon Nunnally      0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    1    1     1
Mike Lansing      0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    1    1     1
Rich Loiselle     0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    1    1     1
Sammy Sosa        0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    1    1     1
Shawon Dunston    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    1    1     1
TOTAL             281  281  281  281  281  269  267  250  249  243  2683  16268 

AL PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

Baseball watchers have been waiting years to see Ken Griffey Jr. put together his first Player of the Year season, and 1997 proved to be that year as Griffey chased Roger Maris' home run record, lead the Mariners to the AL West division championship, and played the best baseball of his already illustrious career. After four previous finishes in the top ten, Griffey slugged his way to the 1997 Internet AL Player of the Year award. In second place, mighty Frank Thomas continued his streak of finishing in the top six every year this vote has been held thanks to his continually awesome offensive performance. Roger Clemens became the highest ranking pitcher ever in Internet AL Player of the Year voting, finishing with the second highest total of first place votes and third overall. Jim Thome, who finished in fifth place, is the only other player besides Thomas to finish in the top ten of this award each of the last 3 years (though Edgar Martinez has stayed in the top 11 during that time). Last year's Internet AL Player of the Year winner, Alex Rodriguez, finished in twenty-first place, while last year's BBWAA AL MVP winner, Juan Gonzalez, finished thirteenth. Meanwhile, with his sixth place finish, Nomar Garciaparra becomes the highest charting rookie ever in Internet AL Player of the Year voting. And with his eleventh place finish, Mark McGwire becomes the first player to finish among the top 25 in Internet Player of the Year voting in both leagues in the same year.

Player            1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10   B     P  
Ken Griffey Jr.   190  53   13   4    2    0    1    0    1    3    267   3290
Frank Thomas      25   78   71   31   15   15   5    6    3    3    252   2049
Roger Clemens     39   49   38   31   11.5 8    13   12   9    7    218   1732.5
Tino Martinez     3    45   27   16   21   12   14   11   12   13   174   1087
Jim Thome         1    6    19   35   30   33   22   16   8    6    176   968
Nomar Garciaparra 1    5    14   23   29   29   20   28   12   13   174   852
Dave Justice      0    9    24   22   25.5 22   16   16   16   10   161   846.5
Randy Johnson     2    6    13   37   23   17   20   11   12   11   152   816
Edgar Martinez    1    1    8    11   19   17   12   11   12   16   108   484
Bernie Williams   0    3    3    14   15   15   21   4    14   13.5 103   451.5
Mark McGwire      1    3    8    11   6    7    7    3    10   11   67    321
Randy Myers       2    0    6    3    7    7    4    7    8    7    51    234
Juan Gonzalez     0    2    3    2    8    8    6    7    5    10   51    209
Ivan Rodriguez    0    1    5    3    6    5    8    7    4    12   51    204
Rusty Greer       0    0    1    2    5    9    8    11   12   15   63    201
Tim Salmon        0    0    4    3    2    6    7    11   13   4    50    186
Sandy Alomar Jr.  0    1    1    2    7    7    10   6    4    4    42    178
Mo Vaughn         0    1    1    3    4    9    5    7    4    7    41    163
Manny Ramirez     0    0    0    0    3    6    7    9    9    6    40    127
Chuck Knoblauch   1    1    0    1    4    6    3    4    6    6    32    126
Alex Rodriguez    0    0    1    2    5    2    5    8    6    3    32    121
Brady Anderson    0    3    1    2    1    3    6    2    4    2    24    110
Rafael Palmeiro   1    0    2    1    4    1    4    4    1    2    20    98
Jim Edmonds       0    0    1    1    2    2    7    6    5    4    28    97
Roberto Alomar    1    1    3    1    0    1    1    2    5    5    20    84
John Valentin     0    0    0    1    2    2    2    8    7    5    27    80
Paul O'Neill      0    0    1    2    2    1    2    4    5    4.5  22    73.5
Jeromy Burnitz    0    1    0    0    1    0    4    4    3    2    15    51
Mariano Rivera    0    0    0    2    0    0    2    2    4    3    13    39
Tony Clark        0    0    0    0    0    0    3    4    4    7    18    39
Brad Radke        0    0    0    0    3    2    0    2    1    2    10    38
Doug Jones        1    0    1    1    0    0    1    1    0    1    6     37
Mike Mussina      0    0    0    2    1    1    1    1    1    0    7     34
Andy Pettitte     0    0    0    0    1    1    3    2    1    2    10    33
Bob Higginson     0    0    0    0    0    1    1    3    3    2    10    26
Matt Stairs       1    0    0    0    0    0    1    0    1    3    6     23
Derek Jeter       0    1    0    0    0    0    0    2    2    1    6     20
Jay Buhner        0    0    0    0    1    0    2    0    1    2    6     18
Jay Bell          0    0    0    0    1    0    0    1    2    4    8     17
David Cone        0    0    0    0    1    0    0    1    2    0    4     13
Jimmy Key         0    0    1    0    0    0    0    1    0    0    2     11
Joey Cora         0    0    0    0    1    0    0    0    2    1    4     11
Will Clark        0    0    0    1    0    0    0    0    0    0    1     7
Justin Thompson   0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    2    2    4     6
Cal Ripken Jr.    0    0    0    0    1    0    0    0    0    0    1     6
Brian L. Hunter   0    0    0    0    0    1    0    0    0    0    1     5
Chad Curtis       0    0    0    0    0    1    0    0    0    0    1     5
Harold Baines     0    0    0    0    0    0    0    1    0    0    1     3
Damion Easley     0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    1    0    1     2
Jeff Fassero      0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    1    0    1     2
Dan Wilson        0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    1    1     1
Jeff Cirillo      0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    1    1     1
Reggie Jefferson  0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    1    1     1
TOTAL             270  270  270  270  270  258  254  246  238  238  2584  15638

AL PITCHER OF THE YEAR AWARD:

Roger Clemens easily won his third Internet AL Pitcher of the Year Award - though his first in five years - by winning the first place votes of 90% of the voters. Clemens joins Barry Bonds and Mike Piazza as 3 time Internet Award winners, behind only Greg Maddux, who has won 4 Internet Awards. Randy Johnson, who won this award in 1995, grabbed 80% of voters' second place votes as he ran away with second place. Andy Pettite finished third for the second year in a row. The top vote-getting reliever, Randy Myers, finished fourth. Last year's winner of both the BBWAA and Internet AL Pitcher of the Years, Pat Hentgen, finished twelfth.

Player                  1      2      3      4      5      B      P
Roger Clemens           253    15     2      2      3      275    2654
Randy Johnson           14     230    15     9      1      269    1853
Andy Pettitte           2      4      67     44     19     136    534
Randy Myers             2      10     51     26     30     119    453
Brad Radke              0      5      36     31     23     95     331
Justin Thompson         2      0      26     39     35     102    302
Mike Mussina            0      7      24     32     37     100    302
David Cone              0      1      20     18     23     62     184
Mariano Rivera          0      1      14     15     24     54     146
Doug Jones              2      0      4      17     12     35     103
Jamie Moyer             0      0      5      4      5      14     42
Kevin Appier            0      0      3      5      12     20     42
Pat Hentgen             0      1      2      5      7      15     39
Jimmy Key               0      1      1      3      5      10     26
Scott Erickson          0      0      3      2      5      10     26
Chuck Finley            0      0      1      2      1      4      12
David Wells             0      0      1      1      0      2      8
John Wetteland          0      0      0      2      1      3      7
Jeff Fassero            0      0      0      0      4      4      4
Jason Dickson           0      0      0      1      0      1      3
Armando Benitez         0      0      0      0      1      1      1
Matt Karchner           0      0      0      0      1      1      1
Todd Jones              0      0      0      0      1      1      1
Willie Blair            0      0      0      0      1      1      1
TOTAL                   275    275    275    258    251    1334   7075

NL PITCHER OF THE YEAR AWARD:

Pedro Martinez, who lead the NL in ERA and finished second in strikeouts in 1997, beat out pitching master Greg Maddux's challenge to win his first Internet NL Pitcher of the Year Award. Maddux, who himself lead the league in RA, adds his second place finish to his three Internet Pitcher of the Year victories and his third place finish last year (plus his one Internet NL Player of the Year Award). As for the rest of the Braves fab four starting rotation, Denny Neagle finished fifth, Tom Glavine (the 1991 winner of this award) finished eighth, and John Smoltz, who won the BBWAA version of this award last year, finished eleventh. Last year's Internet NL Pitcher of the Year Award winner, Kevin Brown, finished sixth. Curt Schilling, who lead the league in strikeouts and provided one of the few bright spots in a long season for the Phillies, finished in third place. Rod Beck just edged out Jeff Shaw by one point as the leading point getter among relievers.

Player                  1      2      3      4      5      B      P
Pedro Martinez          207    58     7      7      1      280    2533
Greg Maddux             65     188    20     7      3      283    2090
Curt Schilling          7      22     98     51     38     216    905
Darryl Kile             2      0      79     67     56     204    672
Denny Neagle            6      13     32     57     54     162    536
Kevin Brown             0      3      35     46     49     133    383
Shawn Estes             2      2      7      16     27     54     144
Tom Glavine             0      0      5      10     13     28     68
Rod Beck                2      1      1      2      1      7      39
Jeff Shaw               0      1      0      6      13     20     38
John Smoltz             0      1      1      4      5      11     29
Ismael Valdes           0      1      2      2      5      10     28
Alan Benes              0      0      1      4      2      7      19
Chan Ho Park            1      0      0      1      4      6      17
Billy Wagner            0      1      0      1      1      3      11
Alex Fernandez          0      0      1      0      2      3      7
John Franco             0      1      0      0      0      1      7
Rick Reed               0      0      0      0      7      7      7
Andy Benes              0      0      1      0      1      2      6
Matt Morris             0      0      0      1      2      3      5
Mike Hampton            0      0      1      0      0      1      5
Trevor Hoffman          0      0      1      0      0      1      5
Mark Wohlers            0      0      0      1      1      2      4
Robb Nen                0      0      0      1      0      1      3
Shane Reynolds          0      0      0      1      0      1      3
Antonio Osuna           0      0      0      0      1      1      1
Bobby Jones             0      0      0      0      1      1      1
Francisco Cordova       0      0      0      0      1      1      1
TOTAL                   292    292    292    285    288    1449   7567

NL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR:

Phillies rookie third baseman Scott Rolen easily held off the most talented NL rookie class in a decade to win the NL Internet Rookie of the Year award. The wide range of skills Rolen showed both offensively and defensively enabled him to beat out a long list of successful rookie pitchers and everyday uberprospects. Matt Morris, the Cardinals rookies pitcher who lead his team in innings pitched and ended the season with a strong 3.18 ERA, finished in a solid second place. 5 other rookie starters and 1 rookie closer finished in the top ten: postseason hero/story Livan Hernandez in third, Pirates bullpen ace Rich Loiselle in sixth, Reds phenom Brett Tomko in seventh, Astros starter Chris Holt in eighth, and Phillies surprise Garrett Stephenson in ninth. Meanwhile, the two most hyped rookies in the preseason, Andruw Jones and Vladmir Guerrero, ended up in third and fourth place respectively after somewhat disappointing (for different reasons) years.

Player                  1       2       3       B       P
Scott Rolen             214     41      12      267     1205
Matt Morris             32      88.5    22      143     448
Livan Hernandez         7       44      37      88      204
Andruw Jones            9       29      34      72      166
Vladimir Guerrero       4       17      53.5    75      124.5
Rich Loiselle           4       16.5    26.5    48      96.5
Brett Tomko             2       11      21      34      64
Chris Holt              2       7       5       14      36
Garrett Stephenson      0       4       12      16      24
Jose Guillen            2       2       5       9       21
Kevin Orie              2       1       8       11      21
Wilton Guerrero         0       5       4       9       19
Dmitri Young            1       2       3       6       14
Neifi Perez             0       1       6       7       9
Jeremi Gonzales         0       1       5       6       8
Tom Martin              1       0       3       4       8
Ricardo Rincon          0       2       0       2       6
Bob Abreu               1       0       0       1       5
John Thomson            0       1       2       3       5
John Frascatore         0       1       1       2       4
Kevin Polcovich         0       1       1       2       4
Scott Sullivan          0       1       1       2       4
Cory Lidle              0       0       3       3       3
Felix Heredia           0       1       0       1       3
Matt Beech              0       0       3       3       3
Matt Franco             0       1       0       1       3
Craig Counsell          0       0       1       1       1
Pete Rose Jr.           0       0       1       1       1
TOTAL                   281     278     270     829     2510

AL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR:

The most devastating performance in Internet Baseball Award history highlighted the American League Rookie of the Year voting, as Red Sox rookie record-setting shortstop whiz Nomar Garciaparra routed the competition by winning over 95% of voters' first place votes. (Coincidentally, the previous record setting IBA performance was in this category last year, when Derek Jeter trounced his fellow rookies.) In second place voters placed young slugger Jose Cruz Jr., the recipient of a controversial midseason trade from the Mariners to the Blue Jays for Mike Timlin and Paul Spoljaric, and the son of an underrated former major league star, Jose Cruz. Angels starter Jason Dickson finished third despite a weak finish, ahead of World Series star Jaret Wright and White Sox outfielder Mike Cameron.

Player                  1       2       3       B       P
Nomar Garciaparra       259     3       4       266     1308
Jose Cruz Jr.           3       171     44      218     572
Jason Dickson           1       41      73      115     201
Jaret Wright            2       10      39      51      79
Mike Cameron            1       12      29.5    43      70.5
Deivi Cruz              1       10      15.5    27      50.5
Scott Hatteberg         0       5       15      20      30
Scott Spiezio           0       2       9       11      15
Danny Patterson         0       2       6       8       12
Joel Adamson            1       1       0       2       8
Raul Casanova           0       2       2       4       8
Shigetoski Hasegawa     1       0       3       4       8
Glendon Rusch           0       2       1       3       7
Kelvim Escobar          0       1       4       5       7
Jorge Posada            0       1       1       2       4
Brian Moehler           0       0       3       3       3
Jason McDonald          0       1       0       1       3
Yamil Benitez           0       1       0       1       3
Brad Rigby              0       0       2       2       2
Fernando Tatis          0       0       2       2       2
Aaron Small             0       0       1       1       1
Chris Carpenter         0       0       1       1       1
TOTAL                   269     265     254     789     2395

Whew! You've gotten all the way through this year's results! For those interested, here's a brief history of previous IBA results:

        AL PoY    NL PoY     AL CY     NL CY     AL RotY    NL RotY
1996 A.Rodriguez M.Piazza  P.Hentgen K.Brown     D.Jeter   E.Renteria  
1995   A.Belle   G.Maddux  R.Johnson G.Maddux  G.Anderson  H.Nomo
1993   F.Thomas  B.Bonds   K.Appier  G.Maddux   T.Salmon   M.Piazza
1992   F.Thomas  B.Bonds   R.Clemens G.Maddux   P.Listach  R.Sanders
1991   C.Ripken  B.Bonds   R.Clemens T.Glavine C.Knoblauch J.Bagwell

This year's Internet Baseball Awards have primarily been the work of David Pease and Greg Spira, with support, sponsorship, love and warmth coming from the whole Baseball Prospectus crew and some other people named David. These award results may be excerpted from this article in any form provided credit is fully disclosed.

Please remember to tune in to the Baseball Prospectus web site (that's http://www.baseballprospectus.com) during the last 2 weeks of the 1998 regular season for the 7th Annual Internet Baseball Awards - with your participation, it can be bigger and better than ever.

Internet Baseball Awards is a trademark of Baseball Prospectus Group, LLC.