And the Winner is Felix

Charlie Klein

One thing that has really been grinding my gears lately is all of the talk about how C.C. Sabathia is a lock to win this year's AL Cy Young Award for the league's best pitcher. I have never doubted Sabathia's talents, which are immense, nor have I ever denied that he has been having a great year. But when it is so painfully obvious that there is a better pitcher out there, it just seems like an act of ignorance to give him the award.

So who is this better pitcher? Quite simply, it is Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners. You might cry foul, saying how could you pick him! He plays for your favourite team! While that may be true (I do own a Felix t-shirt and wear it regularly), numbers do not lie ladies and gentlemen.

Felix Hernandez: (12-11), 2.35 ERA, 220 K's, 233.2 IP, 5 CG, 1.07 WHIP.

C.C. Sabathia: (20-6), 3.05 ERA, 183 K's, 224 IP, 2 CG, 1.18 WHIP.

While Sabathia has a definite edge in terms of wins, it is pretty obvious that in every other relevant pitching category that Hernandez has been the better pitcher this season. Especially when one takes into account that one player (Hernandez) plays for one of the worst teams in baseball this season while the other (Sabathia) plays for a division leader which has five players with over 20 homeruns this season.

Wins are fast becoming an irrelevant statistic in the evaluation of a pitcher's talent, and rightfully so. Let's say for the sake of argument that I did not post each player's record or name and left the rest of the statistics up for you to read. Which pitcher would you argue is better? It would have to be Hernandez.

Certain writers and fans alike prefer to look at wins because that's the way pitchers have always been evaluated. They do not trust new age statistics like WHIP (walks hits per innings pitched) which actually do a much better job of measuring a pitcher's dominance than his win-loss record. Whether a team wins or loses a game has more to do with the team's overall performance than that of a pitcher. If Hernandez played for a team with the offensive output of the Yankees, he would easily have at least twice as many wins this season. The relationship between wins and a pitcher's talent appears to be merely correlative and not causational.

Buster Olney, whose opinions on baseball I usually respect, declared that Sabathia is his choice for A.L. Cy Young. For the first time, I found myself in disagreement with Olney. Even some of the most die-hard Yankees fans I know agree with me that Hernandez is more deserving of the award. If it goes to Sabathia this season, the Cy Young is on the verge of becoming the Gold Glove Award, one which becomes a popularity contest and whose evaluation does not go beyond fielding percentage.

While I understand the hesitation inherent to giving a pitcher the Cy Young when he has only won 12 games, there really should not be any if he leads the league in strikeouts and ERA. All hail King Felix.

How Berba Got His Groove Back

Charles Klein

If you watched Manchester United for the first time last Sunday when they played Liverpool, you would wonder who this guy Berbatov was and why you had not heard his name before. United's number nine notched a treble of goals including the early favourite for Premier League goal of the season to secure all of the points for the Reds of Manchester.

If you have been following Manchester United for a long time, you might wonder why it took so long for the enigmatic Bulgarian to put it all together. As a supporter myself, I have defended Berbatov continually throughout his first two seasons with the club (aside from a few weeks at the end of last season), claiming that while he may not score 20 goals a year for United he was still a very valuable asset.

The silky Bulgarian certainly did underwhelm the United faithful in his first season with the team, only scoring seven goals during a season in which the team still experienced great success (a Club World Cup, a Carling Cup and winning the league for the 18th time). Fans were not pleased with their 30.75 million pound man and were perhaps quite right to feel that way. Most blamed Berbatov and his hefty fee for the departure of Carlos Tevez the following summer.

And last year Berbatov continued to frustrate the Stretford End only scoring 12 goals and notching five assists. Wayne Rooney led the team in goals and appeared to play better on his own than with Berbatov. Many believed that the Bulgarian had played his last match in a United shirt against Stoke City, but the manager and his teammates still believed in him.

Flash forward to last Sunday and one can see a remarkable difference in Berbatov's play and output. He has six goals already this season and appears to be a different player. Or does he? One thing I have noticed this season is that he seems to be a more willing runner for the ball than in the past two seasons. Additionally, Berbatov looks like he is trying harder to get the ball back once he loses it. As Rasheed Wallace once said "Ball don't lie" and Berbatov is proving it this season.

For once he looks like a more natural fit in the United setup than Rooney does. And that my friends really says something. He and Nani appear to be on the same wavelength, setting each other up nicely for scoring opportunities. In the same way that Nani experienced a revitalisation in the last few months of the previous season, Berbatov appears to be on a similar road to redemption. And while Rooney appears to be off the pace United will need their 30.75 million pound man to continue to play like one.