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When I decided to do this award I approached it as a kind of "let's see how it evolves as it goes." I've gotten a few PMs about what exactly this award is. Let me try and explain my thought process on this award.
The BLB has awards for the best hitter, best pitcher, best rookie, best GM, best fielders by position, and best hitters by position. These awards represent the best players in the entire league.
The Rex Knight Award was created by me more as a team MVP award. I know opinions differ on what exactly the term "Most Valuable Player" means and that's the whole point of this award. Different opinions on the meaning of those words.
I could have named the award the Jim Newlin Award which I seriously considered. Instead, I chose Rex Knight. Sure Rex Knight was a superstar and not a role player like Newlin. Naming the award after him doesn't make sense to some. Anyone who saw Knight's entire career develop saw that he indeed was a superstar. However, he was a superstar who contributed in many different ways to his team. He hit, he played defense, he stole bases. He was a diverse talent who also was rare because he played for many teams. Each team he went to he filled a different role... a need. He improved the sum of the parts with his play.
That's what this award is about. It's not about the most valuable player in the league. It's about the player who brought the most value to their team.
Voting for this award is not an exact science. You can take data and metric approach to voting. You can look at hard numbers, or you can look at numbers and sprinkle in some personal non-quantifiable opinion in there too.
Voting depends on how you view a Most Valuable Player to a team.
The BLB has awards for the best hitter, best pitcher, best rookie, best GM, best fielders by position, and best hitters by position. These awards represent the best players in the entire league.
The Rex Knight Award was created by me more as a team MVP award. I know opinions differ on what exactly the term "Most Valuable Player" means and that's the whole point of this award. Different opinions on the meaning of those words.
I could have named the award the Jim Newlin Award which I seriously considered. Instead, I chose Rex Knight. Sure Rex Knight was a superstar and not a role player like Newlin. Naming the award after him doesn't make sense to some. Anyone who saw Knight's entire career develop saw that he indeed was a superstar. However, he was a superstar who contributed in many different ways to his team. He hit, he played defense, he stole bases. He was a diverse talent who also was rare because he played for many teams. Each team he went to he filled a different role... a need. He improved the sum of the parts with his play.
That's what this award is about. It's not about the most valuable player in the league. It's about the player who brought the most value to their team.
Voting for this award is not an exact science. You can take data and metric approach to voting. You can look at hard numbers, or you can look at numbers and sprinkle in some personal non-quantifiable opinion in there too.
Voting depends on how you view a Most Valuable Player to a team.
With all that said, here are your nominees for 2017:
SS Dave Nelson
SS Dave Nelson
It's not even September but the MVP of the Pilots is clearly IF Dave Nelson. I think even if he was to miss the rest of the season, he'd still be our most valuable player for the entire year. The Pilots had some good pitching performances but considering that Nelson was far and away our best fielder, our best hitter and a positive clubhouse influence, he's easily our most valuable.
Selected 1st overall in the expansion draft, we basically built our entire franchise around Dave Nelson and he has been better than advertised. As of today, he is 2nd in the BLB amongst all infielders in WAR at 4.6 behind Los Alamos' Geoff Yonke. Amongst all BLB position players he ranks 4th. He set the tone for the Pilots out of the gate by winning IL Batter of the Week and IL Batter of the Month in April when he hit .431 with an incredible 1.436 OPS. It's no coincidence that April has been our best month record wise (13-7). If he had come out flat, this season could be completely different. The Pilots have been one of the best teams in the IL since the first week of the season and haven't looked back. If Nelson didn't have that monster month, and the Pilots started say 7-13 instead, pieces would have been traded away not added, and we would not be in contention.
At the plate, he is our team leader in 2B, RBI, R, BB, AVG, OBP and OPS. He leads most of the hitting categories by a wide margin. In the IL he ranks 3rd in SLG, 3rd in OPS, 3rd in wOBA, 3rd in ISO, 2nd in XBH and 1st in 2B. The switch-hitter is a threat in every lineup and has hit either 2nd, 3rd or 4th majority of the time. He's also been very clutch, doing most of his damage when it matters most. His close/late split is .294/.392/.608/1.000 and inning 7-9 .328/.412/.672/1.084.
In the field, he has rotated from SS to 2B, and recently to 3B, filling in wherever I can fit the best lineup around him. At 2B, his 5.62 RF is 2nd in the BLB to Syracuse's Gian Nero. At SS, his 4.94 RF is 2nd in the BLB to Maine's Roman Heiber. Both numbers lead the IL. He's a major factor in heavy groundballers like SP Felipe Vega, SP Jamie Stidham, SP Dave Dunham, SP Jonathan Arnholt, RP Ted Self, RP Shane Ferguson, RP Fernando Ocampo and CL Robby Scriber all having career years in their 30's.
His dominating personality trait is his very high intelligence. "Intelligent players have a positive effect on other players in the clubhouse, and can influence in-game decisions and player development." We haven't had a single clubhouse issue this season and only three players have a "good" morale, two "very good" and everyone else is "great." Nelson has played a big part of that as one of only two very high intelligent players, with OF Zachary Oldham.
He's also been healthy so far. The 35-year-old missed a good chunk of last season with multiple injuries but this year has only suffered through four days of back stiffness, which he still played all four games. He was an All-Star and he celebrated his 2,000th BLB hit a few weeks ago. He's also extremely popular giving Seattle one of the largest fan interests in the entire league.
The season isn't over... the final standings are far from determined... the stats have yet to be counted... but no matter what happens going forward, consider Seattle's Dave Nelson.
LF Jimmy Collins
Selected 1st overall in the expansion draft, we basically built our entire franchise around Dave Nelson and he has been better than advertised. As of today, he is 2nd in the BLB amongst all infielders in WAR at 4.6 behind Los Alamos' Geoff Yonke. Amongst all BLB position players he ranks 4th. He set the tone for the Pilots out of the gate by winning IL Batter of the Week and IL Batter of the Month in April when he hit .431 with an incredible 1.436 OPS. It's no coincidence that April has been our best month record wise (13-7). If he had come out flat, this season could be completely different. The Pilots have been one of the best teams in the IL since the first week of the season and haven't looked back. If Nelson didn't have that monster month, and the Pilots started say 7-13 instead, pieces would have been traded away not added, and we would not be in contention.
At the plate, he is our team leader in 2B, RBI, R, BB, AVG, OBP and OPS. He leads most of the hitting categories by a wide margin. In the IL he ranks 3rd in SLG, 3rd in OPS, 3rd in wOBA, 3rd in ISO, 2nd in XBH and 1st in 2B. The switch-hitter is a threat in every lineup and has hit either 2nd, 3rd or 4th majority of the time. He's also been very clutch, doing most of his damage when it matters most. His close/late split is .294/.392/.608/1.000 and inning 7-9 .328/.412/.672/1.084.
In the field, he has rotated from SS to 2B, and recently to 3B, filling in wherever I can fit the best lineup around him. At 2B, his 5.62 RF is 2nd in the BLB to Syracuse's Gian Nero. At SS, his 4.94 RF is 2nd in the BLB to Maine's Roman Heiber. Both numbers lead the IL. He's a major factor in heavy groundballers like SP Felipe Vega, SP Jamie Stidham, SP Dave Dunham, SP Jonathan Arnholt, RP Ted Self, RP Shane Ferguson, RP Fernando Ocampo and CL Robby Scriber all having career years in their 30's.
His dominating personality trait is his very high intelligence. "Intelligent players have a positive effect on other players in the clubhouse, and can influence in-game decisions and player development." We haven't had a single clubhouse issue this season and only three players have a "good" morale, two "very good" and everyone else is "great." Nelson has played a big part of that as one of only two very high intelligent players, with OF Zachary Oldham.
He's also been healthy so far. The 35-year-old missed a good chunk of last season with multiple injuries but this year has only suffered through four days of back stiffness, which he still played all four games. He was an All-Star and he celebrated his 2,000th BLB hit a few weeks ago. He's also extremely popular giving Seattle one of the largest fan interests in the entire league.
The season isn't over... the final standings are far from determined... the stats have yet to be counted... but no matter what happens going forward, consider Seattle's Dave Nelson.
LF Jimmy Collins
This youngster is an elite defender, excellent lead off running the bases and bat the leather... He's just amazing. No brainer here.
SP Adrian Pulido
SP Adrian Pulido
The Bulldogs nominate: Adrian Pulido.
The 34 year old hurler is having the best season of his career. A consummate leader on and off the field, Pulido has a 2.20 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 12-7 win-loss record.
He won't win Pale Ale with the season Lippert is putting together, but he should get consideration for the Rex Knight with how he's kept us in the running all year with a number of great performances.
SP William Eddy
Kansas City nominates William Eddy. We didn't have a lot of bright spots this season but Eddy was exactly what we were hoping for when we drafted him #2 overall in the expansion draft.
CF Jamie O'Hearn
The 34 year old hurler is having the best season of his career. A consummate leader on and off the field, Pulido has a 2.20 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 12-7 win-loss record.
He won't win Pale Ale with the season Lippert is putting together, but he should get consideration for the Rex Knight with how he's kept us in the running all year with a number of great performances.
SP William Eddy
Kansas City nominates William Eddy. We didn't have a lot of bright spots this season but Eddy was exactly what we were hoping for when we drafted him #2 overall in the expansion draft.
CF Jamie O'Hearn
The Millers are proud to select Jamie O'Hearn as this years candidate for the Rex Knight Award.
He's been the heart and soul of our team all season, he's developed into the team leader of the Pittsburgh Millers, he's a beacon for our city, and hope for the future. While we believe that he should be considered for the Stout Slugger, since we don't have control of that, we'd like to nominate the 23 year old from New York, New York for this MVP award.
C Ray Voodoo Davila
He's been the heart and soul of our team all season, he's developed into the team leader of the Pittsburgh Millers, he's a beacon for our city, and hope for the future. While we believe that he should be considered for the Stout Slugger, since we don't have control of that, we'd like to nominate the 23 year old from New York, New York for this MVP award.
C Ray Voodoo Davila
Voodoo Davila's performance in 2017 earned him a repeat claim to the Rex Knight Award.
Once again, he provided incredible performance at the plate and behind the plate.
He places among the league leaders in on-base percentage, on-base plus slugging, runs created, home runs, and walks.
He ranks atop all the BLB in wins above replacement, as he did last year when he won the Rex Knight Award.
Davila even improved his performance behind the plate, throwing out a career-best 54.5% of attempting base-stealers. He's helped steady a big group of young pitchers.
He's clearly the best player, the most valuable player on a Guides team that clings to a playoff spot as of this writing. Without his contribution, the club would be near the bottom of the standings rather than playing meaningful baseball in October.
Whether you're looking for offense, defense, value to the team, or all of the above, Voodoo Davila is your guy.
Vote Voodoo Davila for the 2017 Rex Knight Award.
LF Stu Stark
3B Ed Trujillo
Once again, he provided incredible performance at the plate and behind the plate.
He places among the league leaders in on-base percentage, on-base plus slugging, runs created, home runs, and walks.
He ranks atop all the BLB in wins above replacement, as he did last year when he won the Rex Knight Award.
Davila even improved his performance behind the plate, throwing out a career-best 54.5% of attempting base-stealers. He's helped steady a big group of young pitchers.
He's clearly the best player, the most valuable player on a Guides team that clings to a playoff spot as of this writing. Without his contribution, the club would be near the bottom of the standings rather than playing meaningful baseball in October.
Whether you're looking for offense, defense, value to the team, or all of the above, Voodoo Davila is your guy.
Vote Voodoo Davila for the 2017 Rex Knight Award.
LF Stu Stark
The Muckdogs nominate Stu Stark. His work ethic and leadership are second to none and he is adored by our fans.
Not only has he kept Batavia afloat all season long, after the trade deadline saw players leave town Stark has turned up his game. In August he hit .295/.344/.661 with 13 HR's and in September he's hitting .393/.477/.643.
Overall his numbers for the season are .300/.351/.600/.951 with 47 HR's and 120 RBI's. He's also posted a +6.9 ZR in LF and has a 6.5 WAR.
Not only has he kept Batavia afloat all season long, after the trade deadline saw players leave town Stark has turned up his game. In August he hit .295/.344/.661 with 13 HR's and in September he's hitting .393/.477/.643.
Overall his numbers for the season are .300/.351/.600/.951 with 47 HR's and 120 RBI's. He's also posted a +6.9 ZR in LF and has a 6.5 WAR.
3B Ed Trujillo
Philly nominates 3B Ed Trujillo.
He'll never light up a stats sheet (9HR, 0 SB, paltry .319 OBP) and doesn't hit lefties, but he plays solid to plus defense at a super important position and is a steady presence in the 2 hole of our lineup when a RHP is on the mound (.287 | .323 | .416 | .739).
OPS by month
.716
.719
.731
.727
.715
.714
Again, not flashy by any stretch, but that consistent production is a steadying force in the top of the lineup.
He's young (26), but he's a leader in our clubhouse as he's taken a much more prominent role on the roster and in the organization during his second full year in Philly. Probably one of the better spent 3rd picks of ours in recent memory.
SP Todd Martin
He'll never light up a stats sheet (9HR, 0 SB, paltry .319 OBP) and doesn't hit lefties, but he plays solid to plus defense at a super important position and is a steady presence in the 2 hole of our lineup when a RHP is on the mound (.287 | .323 | .416 | .739).
OPS by month
.716
.719
.731
.727
.715
.714
Again, not flashy by any stretch, but that consistent production is a steadying force in the top of the lineup.
He's young (26), but he's a leader in our clubhouse as he's taken a much more prominent role on the roster and in the organization during his second full year in Philly. Probably one of the better spent 3rd picks of ours in recent memory.
SP Todd Martin
At 34 years old Todd Martin posted the best numbers of his career. 13 years into a solid but unspectacular career, Martin started 28 games posting a record of 14-4 for a young and diverse Scorpions pitching staff. His 2.79 ERA was one of the best in the IL. Without Martin, the Scorpions would have had difficulty making the playoffs after a disastrous injury to star Dave Honea.
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