SnoTap's First Half National League Awards

I am pretty confident every blog across America has their own awards for the season, but I have to add SnoTap's to the mix. There are some standard awards with a couple different ones in there as well. Check out the American League version that came out this morning.  

NL MVP
Troy Tulowitzki SS, Colorado Rockies - Obviously, I want to give the award to one of the Milwaukee Brewers whether it be Jonathan Lucroy or Carlos Gomez, but it has to be Tulowitzki. He is the league leader in home runs, WAR by a full win mind you, batting average, OPS over 1,000 (Only one in the National League), Slugging Percentage and On-Base Percentage which is stunning .435. It is not out of the realm of the possibilities for Tulo to get the first National League Triple Crown since Joe Medwick in 1937 when he did with St. Louis.

NL Cy Young:
Adam Wainwright P, St. Louis Cardinals - Hear me out, I believe at the end of the year, Clayton Kershaw will be the winner of the Cy Young, but if we are talking about first half, Wainwright deserves the award as his statistics are spread over 19 games versus 14 for Kershaw who battled injury for the first two months. Wainwright allowed only 28 runs during the first half of the season and a WAR of five, the highest for National League pitcher. Kershaw's numbers are damn silly, but for the first half, Wainwright deserves the Cy Young.


NL Rookie of the Year: 
Billy Hamilton CF, Cincinnati Reds - I could make a compelling case for Jacob deGrom of the Mets and I think Gregory Polanco and Kolton Wong (Somehow still a rookie) might be there at the end of it. But Hamilton deserves it thus far. He is the glue that makes Cincinnati go. Hamilton already has 38 stolen bases hitting .285 and leads all rookies in both doubles and triples. It also seems like he only gets better as he scuffled a bit to start the season, but Hamilton has been red hot as of late hitting .407 in the last seven days.

NL Surprise Team:
Milwaukee Brewers - There is the hometown team making an appearance. It had to be the Brewers honestly. Many of the teams that are vying for playoff spots have been there before in the past couple of years. Milwaukee is back to prominence after two years of struggling especially early on in the season. Brewers are hurting right now losing eleven of their last 13 games, but still, no one expected them to lead the National League Central.

NL Disappointing Team: 
Arizona Diamondbacks - The expectations were not there for Arizona like they had been in years past, but truthfully, no one expected them to be this bad. They are 16 games under .500 with a startling run differential of -71. They also have been very immature with their actions against Ryan Braun earlier this year which should surprise no one. Arizona finally needs to start focusing on prospects and start selling pieces of the team not named Paul Goldschmidt.

NL Breakout Player: 
Henderson Alvarez P, Miami Marlins - Miami looks to have a solid front-line pitching staff for the future with Jose Fernandez and Alvarez. He is the ripe age of 24 and came over to Miami in the Toronto Blue Jays mega deal. He had a decent campaign in 2013 with a no-hitter at the end of the year, but he is excelling in his first full season as a Miami starter. He allowed only 35 runs thus far this season yielding to a WAR of 2.7. Marlins are set up real nicely.

NL Regressing Player: 
Ryan Howard 1B, Philadelphia Phillies - I know what you are saying, Ryan Howard has been regressing for years. But this is his first full season in the last two years therefore some people might think Howard would have a rebirth. Nope, that didn't happen at all. Howard is hitting a measly .220 with an OPS of .381 and a negative WAR. It is fair to say Howard is done for his career. Maybe he comes back in five years and has one more big year, but it's not happening for awhile.

Most Overplayed Storyline:
Yadier Molina-Jonathan Lucroy riff - I am sick and tired of this garbage. The attack ad was funny then St. Louis blew out of proportion making it a national story. After that, Molina gets hurt and the Cardinals fanbase shines again when Wainwright struggled in the All-Star Game giving up three runs with Lucroy behind the dish. I am done and over with it, let's move on.

Bold Prediction
The bottom will fall out on San Francisco - There are eight teams vying for five spots meaning one or two of them are going to fade off into an abyss. I have a feeling San Francisco is going to be one of them. They had a horrible second part of the first half. On June 8th, San Francisco had a 42-21 record, since then, they have only won 10 games. Five weeks and only 10 games won.

Charlie.

Running Diary of Cardinals Fans Mad at Jonathan Lucroy

In the last couple days, St. Louis Cardinals and their fanbase haven't been happy with the Milwaukee Brewers ad campaign for Jonathan Lucroy to make the All-Star Game. The whole thing went viral with a ton of tweets from angry Cardinals fans. But ESPN affiliate in St. Louis gave us video of Cardinals fans watching the video in real-time and reacting. I have to say, it is one of my favorite videos I have watched in a long time. Therefore, I had to do a running diary of the two minute video. (H/T @BradWeimer for finding this glorious video)  



.14 - Sarah Palin!  Real topical politician buddy. Acceptable answers would have been Lindsey Graham, Elizabeth Warren, Marco Rubio, Diane Feinstein. Watch the news once a century.  

.18 - That man was a laugh of someone you never double cross. Pretty sure he is putting out a hit for Lucroy.

.20 - His buddy trying to settle him down a little bit with a 'Oh it's the Brewers, what do you expect?' Like dude, it's just a video, no big deal.  

.23 - How do you not know there is a FOX Sports Wisconsin?  Like how do you think we get our baseball games? We gather around the radio like the 1940's?  Also sweet sweat stains or beer spills from your 16 oz Bud Light tallboys. Only thing worse than a 12 oz Bud Light is a 16 oz one.

.29 - This man whom shouldn't really be rocking stripes in any way shape or form. He puts out a challenge to Brewers fans like he is a professional wrestler, or a war will be started between the two cities.

.42 - The Brewers aren't a threat?  Oh, that's right, they have been leading the National League Central for over 70 days. My bad.

.48 - Nice #HOTTAKE on Molina there guy, but not a crybaby?  I present this as evidence.



  And this....



.51 - SHOUTOUT TO EVANSVILLE, INDIANA!!!!!!!!

.57 - That's one of the most obscene things you have ever seen in your life?  Gosh, you must not get out enough bud or not watch a ton of porn. One of the two.

1:01 -  What does this guy possibly want reversed exactly? Molina is in the lead for catcher of the National League. This isn't a challenge call, my man.

1:08 - FOX Sports Midwest (I didn't know that existed! What?!?!?!) wanted to do a response ad which would have been awesome, but naturally, St. Louis threw a wet blanket over it.

1:14 - I am honestly shocked it took us 74 seconds for someone to call the Cardinals organization 'classy', I really am.

1:19 - Proper way is building up the players... Jonathan Lucroy is a homegrown talent for Milwaukee. I have no idea what this guy is talking about.

1:23 - In the basement?  Your baseball team has been looking up to the Brewers for the last 70 or so days, dude. But keep living in fantasy world where the toilets are gold and everything tastes like candy.

1:27 - Honestly?  The guy with the Chive shirt and Cardinals jersey is probably right. Lucroy has quite the mountain to climb here with how popular both St. Louis and San Francisco are in the United States.

1:32 - FAT MACKELMORE TOUGH GUY ALERT!!!!!

1:47 - Yes, this is a mudslinging campaign. Lucroy is secretly running for President. I think this guy has us figured out, you guys.

1:59 - FAT MACKELMORE IS OUT FOR BLOOD. Not very 'classy' of him to want to kick Lucroy's ass.

-Charlie.

SnoTap Thing of the Day: Lock In Luc

This has been out for a couple days now, but Milwaukee Brewers made a campaign for Jonathan Lucroy to be a starter at the All-Star Game in July.  They made it into an attack ad like we annoyingly see every two years from various politicians. This is against Yadier Molina and the St. Louis Cardinals in which they ask 'Why do you want to vote another St. Louis Cardinals player into the All-Star Game?'  It is also great to have the noise of the crying baby with the picture of Molina as we all know he is a crybaby. This is a really smart ad by the Brewers because most people hate the faux 'Best Fans In Baseball' type attitude St. Louis presents with their fanbase. Hopefully, this will increase the votes for Lucroy.

CLICK TO WATCH THE VIDEO BECAUSE BLOGGER IS BEING AN IDIOT. 

Charlie. 

Don't Waste Time Worrying About MLB All-Star Game Starters

A wise man once said 'MLB All-Star Game starters are a popularity contest."  That wise man once said that to me a couple weeks ago. The second week of voting came out, and Brewers officially have no starters currently. Ryan Braun sits sixth, Jonathan Lucroy third, Jean Segura third, Aramis Ramirez third and Carlos Gomez fifth. There was some outrage last week, and it is continuing this week. This is one thing where people really shouldn't look too far into it, and fans shouldn't take it personally if their players do not become starters.

In all honesty, two of these players are clear All-Stars after the first two months of the season and it is Gomez and Lucroy. They have both played great this season. Everyone knows it whose watching Milwaukee this season. But this is all about the casual fans and teams featuring very public fanbases. As for Gomez, the national media made him out to be a bat-flipping hot head with one regional Sports Illustrated cover. This is how things go with a small market baseball player without much national appeal. It is such a tired thing to say but if Gomez played in Los Angles or New York, he would be a top vote-getter without question.  

Lucroy is playing like one of the best players in baseball, but he is in a tough spot. Catchers are premium position in the National League with some of the biggest names in baseball. San Francisco has Buster Posey. St. Louis has Yadier Molina. Atlanta has Evan Gattis.. oh shit wait that doesn't make sense. Yes, it is a joke Gattis is even in this discussion with Lucroy, Molina and Posey, but it is due to the large public fanbase of Atlanta around the whole South. It is not about the votes inside the ballpark. Some fan tweeted a Milwaukee radio personality outraged about all the ballots on the ground at Miller Park Monday night. Those votes are minuscule compared to what's being done on the Internet.

The best part about the month of June is the Brewers will be traveling for a great deal of it. If they continue their strong play and show opposing teams fanbases what they are missing on a nightly basis maybe the votes will increase for the non-public Brewers like Lucroy and Gomez.  Starting an All-Star Game is special, but at the same time, it really doesn't matter after the introduction. Most of the players get into the game plus there are so many replacement players, it is really hard to have a true blue snub for the All-Star Game especially when it comes to the offense players on the roster. Pitchers can be another story since a portion of them are not selected by the fans. 

If you really want to point where the flaws run deep in the voting system is Aramis Ramirez is the third-leading vote getter at third base. Granted, the third base options are weaker than a freshman high schooler's bird legs, but still, Ramirez has barely played in a month. It is all off name recognition thus why the Brewers aren't seeing more guys as top vote-getters. Ramirez is nowhere near an All-Star this season, but his name is one many fans know across the country hence why he is getting votes.

These things also have a slow build to them. If a player keeps playing well, the other fanbases start noticing whether it be due to fantasy baseball or something like FanDuel. Both Gomez and Lucroy will make a push towards the top with Braun maybe coming close to taking the top two outfield spots. Right now, the Brewers will have three or more All-Stars. They keep playing well that number should swell greater. This is nothing to waste energy on. 

Charlie.