Royals manager Tony Pena never marched in front of his players, grabbed a bullhorn and announced that they would make the playoffs in 2003.
It was more subtle.
“It’s hard to instill confidence in a team,” Kansas City catcher Brent Mayne said. “You can’t tell a guy he’s great. It boils down to doing well. You have to win.”
True, but it’s hard to win if you don’t believe you can. And somehow, some way, Pena convinced his Royals that a year after losing 100 games, they would contend for the top prize in the American League Central.
It didn’t matter that Sports Illustrated had just ranked the Royals 28th among the majors’ 30 teams, ahead of only Detroit and Tampa Bay.
Pena would say his team was capable of winning 100 games.
And he’d tell his young players that he believed in them.
“It’s hard to say if it would be different if we had Lou Piniella or someone,” Mayne said. “Bottom line, we have good chemistry, and Tony definitely doesn’t get in the way.”
Pena, a former catcher who played 31 games for the White Sox in 1997, is clearly deserving of the American League Manager of the Year Award.
In his first full season on the job, the Royals are in first place in the AL Central. They’ve done it with a no-name pitching staff and despite injuries to Mike Sweeney and Carlos Beltran, their best two hitters.
Most valuable player
Bret Boone, Seattle. Manny Ramirez and Nomar Garciaparra split Boston’s vote. Carlos Delgado and Vernon Wells are putting up cartoonish numbers for a Blue Jays team that has taken a dive in the standings.
The Yankees’ Jason Giambi should not be ignored. He has overcome a terrible start to lead the league in homers and walks.
But Boone gets the call here. His run production (87 RBIs, 80 runs scored) has kept the Mariners in first place in the West. He’s also a top-notch second baseman who goes to his right as well as anyone in the league.
Rookie of the year
Angel Berroa, Kansas City. Hideki Matsui has 80 RBIs and Rocco Baldelli has 131 hits, but Berroa has been the AL’s best–and most valuable–rookie.
Berroa’s errorless streak is at 45 games since June 17 (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text). He’s hitting .318 (89-for-280) over his last 79 games.
The 25-year-old shortstop came to Kansas City from Oakland in the 2001 deal involving Johnny Damon.
Cy Young
Esteban Loaiza, White Sox. This would be an easy choice if the season ended today.
Loaiza is 14-5 with a league-low 2.30 earned-run average.
The last time Loaiza finished a season with an ERA this low was 1991, when he was pitching for Bradenton, a Rookie League team.
White Sox MVP
Magglio Ordonez is the popular pick, but Loaiza is the right one.
Ordonez was baseball’s best hitter (.429, seven homers, 24 RBIs) in July, but his numbers were ho-hum for the season’s first three months.
Ordonez isn’t even the top RBI producer on the South Side. Carlos Lee is.
Without Loaiza and his 20 quality starts, the Sox wouldn’t be playing meaningful games in August. They’re 16-7 in his starts and 44-47 on all other days.
