Buck Showalter deserves to be the National League Manager of the Year winner for 2022. It’s important to note that with a week to go in the season because if the Mets wind up finishing behind the Atlanta Braves the loud and spoiled New York fans will probably be calling him a loser. Brian Snitker will always be deserving, and Oliver Marmol has done a great job with St. Louis but Showalter has guided a team that perpetually has done two things: get over rated because of their spectacular but oft injured pitching and then struggled to break .500.

There are several candidates in the American League: Brandon Hyde of Baltimore, Scott Servais of Seattle, Terry Francona of Cleveland, and , as always, Dusty Baker of Houston. I’ll go with Francona because the Guardians will be the biggest underdog in the playoffs for good reason and their leader is so positive he could probably sell encyclopedias even today.

Shohei Ohtani is a great choice for American League Most Valuable Player except for the fact that the Newport Beach Angels are so damned lousy. His pitching and batting numbers are both all-star quality, but there’s this guy in New York who has been saving Aaron Boone‘s job all season. Plus Aaron Judge is a really nice fellow even if he does wear the pinstripes. It’s a crowded field for MVP in the National League, even if you limit your selections to people who play their home games in Los Angeles. I will pick Paul Goldschmidt for his work this year and also as a lifetime achievement thing. By the way, the Cardinals’ three wheelchair players, Yadier Molina, Albert Pujols, and Adam Wainwright are my sentimental choices to mess up the Dodgers’ big plans.

Rookie of the Year, American League: Julio Rodriguez, who has made the Seattle Mariners both interesting and, finally, good. In the National League. it has to be Michael Harris II of Atlanta.

Now for some special awards voted on by Baseballanarchy exclusively.

Mensa Club Lifetime Reject Award: Fernando Tatis Junior.

Best Role Model For Aspiring Athletes: Max Scherzer

Best Argument For the Pitch Timer: Camilo Doval and Jose Urena (tie)

Best Example of Corporate Cluelessness: Rob Manfred

Best candidate for Early retirement: Replay Review

We’ll Miss You Very Much So Stay Close: Yadier Molina

Now I have to go and tend to my injury. There were 38 college football games available for viewing yesterday and, as part of my cultural deep studies program, I recorded all of them. I had to use 17 borrowed televisions and a half dozen of whatever those recording devices are called, but I got them all, including San Jose State at Wyoming. However, I believe that I sustained a concussion. Nobody took a knee, so we’re good.