Presenting The 2009 She-Fan Awards, Part 2
Last night, I handed out the symbolic gold fan to the recipient of the first She-Fan Award, which recognizes a person or persons who contributed to the Yankees winning their 27th World Championship. Yankees players and coaches are ineligible, but beyond that? Anything goes. Congratulations once again to Dr. Marc Phillipon, the winner of the 2009 She-Fan Award for Best Surgeon.
And now, I’d like to move on to the award for the member of an opposing playoff team who most helped the Yankees take home the championship trophy. This award spotlights a player from the Twins, Angels or Phillies who, through bad luck, nerves, a flu bug or just plain ineptitude, gave the Yanks an opportunity to win a playoff baseball game.
The nominees for Best Enemy are…
– Joe Nathan, Minnesota Twins
Nathan came in to relieve in the ninth inning of Game 2 of the ALDS and served up a tying homer to A-Rod to send the game into extras.
– Jose Mijares, Minnesota Twins
Mijares surrendered the walk-off homer to Tex in the 11th inning of Game 2 of the ALDS. The Yankees ended up winning that one 4-3 and took a 2-0 lead in the series.
– John Lackey, Los Angeles Angels
In Game 1 of the ALCS, Big John walked Melky twice. The second time he threw the ball away for an error on a botched pickoff move at first.
– Chone Figgins and Erick Aybar, Los Angeles Angels
Yes, it was cold at Yankee Stadium in Game 1 of the ALCS, and Aybar was wearing an Elmer Fudd cap with ear flaps. But he and Figgy let Matsui’s bloop “single” drop between them to put the Yanks up 2-0 in the game.
– Brian Fuentes, Los Angeles Angels
In Game 2 of the ALCS, the Angels’ closer gave up a homer to A-Rod in the bottom of the 11th inning to tie the score at 3-3 and turn the game into an epic battle.
– Maicer Izturis, Los Angeles Angels
The above game ended in pie for the Yankees in the bottom of the 13th when Melky grounded to Izturis, who threw wildly to first and allowed Hairston to score the winning run from second base. The game took 5 hours and 10 minutes and was an instant classic.
– Scott Kazmir, Los Angeles Angels
The lefty not only surrendered four runs in four innings in his start in Game 4 of the ALCS, but while relieving in the eighth inning of Game 6 he committed a throwing error on Melky’s attempted sacrifice, allowing Cano to score and put the Yanks up 4-2.
– Brad Lidge, Philadelphia Phillies
Lidge came in to relieve in the ninth inning of Game 4 with the score tied at 4-4. He lost a nine-pitch at bat when Damon singled and famously stole second and third. He hit Tex with a pitch, and allowed a double to A-Rod and a single to Posada. (No, he wasn’t as sharp as last year.) The Yanks held on to win 7-4.
– Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies
Howard struck out 13 times in the series. Enough said.
– Pedro Martinez, Philadelphia Phillies
Pedro not only gave up a homer to Matsui in Game 2 of the World Series, but he served up another one to Godzilla in Game 6, as well as a two-RBI single. Matsui was definitely Pedro’s daddy.
(Note: I’m not including base-running blunders by Nick Punto, Carlos Gomez, Bobby Abreu, etc. I had to stop somewhere.)
So now, without further ado, the winner of the 2009 She-Fan Award for Best Enemy goes to….
***** Brad Lidge *****
While Pedro Martinez was certainly the sentimental favorite and the duo of Figgins/Aybar sent a message that the Angels were mistake-prone, it was Lidge’s meltdown that allowed the Yanks to take a 3-1 World Series lead on the road and enabled them to close out the series at home in Game 6. Congratulations, Mr. Lidge. Enjoy your award.
P.S. Just wanted to pay my respects to Yankees legend Tommy Henrich. He passed away today at the age of 96. Rest in peace, “old reliable.”
Confessions of a She-Fan 
hilarious and spot on! you rock!
i’m already jones-ing for P&C report and florida.
congrats to jeet for the SI spotlight!
(aka da scold)
Monica, let me know when you’ll be in FL. I’m hoping to go to spring training in mid-March after a speaking gig there on March 13.
Is this the Bill Buckner Award? (Poor Bill, I do feel bad for him.)
I feel bad for all these guys as well, except maybe Pedro. After he shoved Don Zimmer, I printed out a Pedro with a red circle and a line through it (like the “no smoking” sign) and wore it.
Lidge was a good choice. Shouldn’t he have been covering third so Damon couldn’t advance?
It was fun to relive some of the playoffs with this post. I’m still pinching myself that the season is over and the YANKEES ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS!
Melissa
To me, the Figgins/Aybar mix up was priceless. Not because both were staring at the sky admiring the stars “oh look, the big dipper”, but the fact that before hand the announcers drilled it into our heads on how fundimentally sound the Angels are in the field.
I say you splurge on this award. Give it to EVERYBODY ON THE LIST!!!!!
PS – You forgot to add the Angels and Phillies skippers in there. One for taking Lackey out when he was pitching great. And the other for leaving Pedro in as well as constantly throwing Lidge in.
Well, it will be the only award Lidge gets for 2009, so I guess he should be thrilled…LOL And yeah, I wanted to smack Howard for all the K’s…but what can you do? That’s the price we pay for the homers I guess. :O(
Jenn
http://philliesphollowers.mlblogs.com/
Lidge? Isn’t he more worthy of the “biggest loser” award? LOL. I feel ya, Jane. Thing is, you guys BEAT all those enemies. Wait til ya find someone you can’t beat… that takes the enemy moniker to a whole new level. And I agree with “the freak” in that Scioscia is Yankees’ public enemy number one (these days anyway).
–Jeff
http://redstatebluestate.mlblogs.com/
http://mtrredstatebluestate.com
Jane,
Of course the She Fan wards have those technical merit awards going on before the actual awards presentation.
In that segment, I would think LIdge would win at least two more awards.
The first being the” Makes us smile” award given to the opposing player who made the Yankees smile when he took the mound in 2009.
And then he might win the “Tea Kettle” award for the player who seemed to combust under pressure and whistle like a tea kettle.
But in your first two installments, you havew honored some valuable people to the 2009 climb to the Yankee summit.
Looking forward to me and more……..just no Adam Lambert or Lady Gaga………….okay?
Rays Renegade
http://raysrenegade.mlblogs.com
Sorry, Jane for being incommunicado on twitter. But I am still following the blog as best I can. I’m insanely busy right now, but wanted to send you a note that i love these awards. BTW, a few yrs back I was in birmingham, alabama at the mercedes dealership and prominently positioned was the $250K one. I asked does anyone buy this here? And they said, yes, this one is a special order for an orthopedist in town who works on all those professional athletes. Now I know which one…
Can’t wait to see your regular season awards. I think that for next year, you should have the “Castillo Award” for the “quality” player that f-cks up in the most inexplicable way.
Lidge needs to visit Lucy and her 10¢ psychiatric help booth.
http://www.paullebowitz.com/
http://princeofny.blogspot.com/
I decided on Lidge, Melissa, because I really think the series turned on that game. (Yes, he should have been covering third.) If we’d lost that one, things could have gotten a whole lot stickier. It was an interesting exercise going through all those playoff games and trying to figure out which opposing players helped us out!
Mike, that’s exactly why I had Figgins and Aybar as the runners up to the award: because we had been hearing how fundamentally sound the Angels were and when they let the ball drop it sent a signal that they were vulnerable in a way nobody expected. And it happened in Game 1, so I thought it was significant. I didn’t include managers or coaches. That’s another award!
I included Howard in there, Jenn, because those strikeouts were such a break for the Yankees. He could just as easily have been smacking homers, like Utley did. And Lidge? Well, maybe he’ll get it together next year. 🙂
I don’t see Scoscia as the Yankees’ public enemy #1, Jeff. I really don’t. He made some blunders of his own in the ALCS. And while the Angels have dominated the Yankees in the past, I think those days are over. I hope so anyway.
I love the tea kettle award, Renegade. LOL! Feel free to use that one on your blog. It’s too good to waste. So you think there should be a She-Fan Award Show? Interesting idea. Maybe I could book the Kodak Theater in LA. But if not Adam Lambert or Lady Gaga, then who? Jay-Z and Alicia Keys?
Sorry to hear you’ve been swamped, Ilene, but I hope it’s all good. Funny story about the Mercedes that was destined for Dr. James Andrews. He could probably afford one car for each celebrity patient. I thought about doing a Best Enemy Award for the regular season, but it would mean going through 162 games and looking for Castilllo-type misplays. Still, it could happen. Stay tuned.
LOL, Paul. I have a feeling he’ll bounce back next year – even without psychiatric help.
Goodness…so many worthy candidates! Tempting to give one out to a member of each team, but I think that your final choice was accurate. I’d humbly suggest an “Honorable Mention” in the Verbal category to Mr. Jimmy Rollins, for boldly predicting Phillies in 5, “six if we feel charitable.” I’ve always loved that gool ol’ bulletin board material…and as obnoxious as it can sound, ol’ Reggie was onto something when he said: “It ain’t braggin’ if you can do it.” Because the opposite is SOOO true…n’est-ce pas?
There were so many worthy candidates, Dave. Initially, I had more names on the list but it got too long so I deleted them! You’re right about Rollins, but I’m saving him for another award having to do with verbal blunders. There are several contenders in that category!
Lidge also blew two saves against us in the regular season. If it was for the whole regular season, it could have been Luis Castillo. That walk-off error off the bat of A-Rod kind of jump-started him and let him have the season he had afterward.
http://bronx-awesome.mlblogs.com/
Must have been a tough choice between Pedro and Lidge, neither should have been allowed to appear in such critical games for the Phillies, I guess thats why I’m not manager….
~peter
Outside the Phillies Looking In
http://devilabrit.mlblogs.com
I don’t know how you could choose just one. It is amazing how they made the other team pay for their mistakes. Jason Werth could be mentioned as well for getting picked off first with no outs. He was probably one that you considered.
I’m not taking the sweatshirt to Boston as the husband says that would be rubbing it in their face. He is my Rude-meter even though they didn’t get beat by the Yankees in the playoffs and they tied the season series. oh well. It is really great for my walks in Colorado where probably no one will ever say anything. I’ll look forward to wearing it next summer in New York (upstate).
Laurie
Babu, I just might have to do a Best Enemy award that covers the whole season and, if so, Castillo will be one of the nominees!
Actually, Peter, I didn’t think Pedro pitched badly at all, especially not in his first start. It was Matsui who had his number during the series, but he hung in there against just about everyone else.
I thought about including Werth among the nominees, Laurie. He did get picked off, which was huge at the time. But it was a tough choice, and I had to go with the players I thought had the greatest impact in our favor. Your husband is probably right and it’s best not to wear your Yankees sweatshirt. I want you to enjoy yourself, not worry about getting yelled at!
Glad you enjoyed the nominees and my pick, Kathleen. And please tell your he-fan friend at work I’m thrilled that he’s raving about the book! I’ve wanted Sandra Bullock to play all the heroines in my novels and she came close on one of them (“Name Dropping”). But no luck in hooking her thus far. I’m not sure Kate Hudson would be too eager to do a movie about the Yankees since she won’t even admit she’s dating A-Rod!
Jane, I can’t stopping laughing at your nominees! Looking at the big dipper! LOL!! I lean towards Pedro, but Brad was a great pick. My he-fan friend at work finished your book and he raved about it! He suggested that Sandra Bullock(spelling?) play you in the movie version, as she is hot now with “The Blind Side.” I think he is on to something. Myself, I think Kate Hudson would be perfect, as she might someday be Mrs. A-Rod. Maybe you could get that “dream” interview after all (minus C-Rod)! Look forward to tomorrow’s award.
I had to discount the sentimental factor on Pedro, Rob. But I’m glad you were with me on Lidge. He helped us out a lot and I’m eternally grateful!
I wanted Pedro to win immediately, but that was mostly for sentimental reasons. I’m ok with you picking Brad Lidge, mostly because I called that he would fail in the exact way he failed.
http://www.bronxbaseballdaily.coom
haha! i can’t stop laughing that the award is a fan. a real fan. a gold fan. that is hilarious!
i hope one day i’ll get that award, even if it does mean i watched a fly ball drop in front of me, or that i threw a wild pitch and drove in a run. too funny.
-courtney
There could be a 2009 She-Fan FAN Award coming up, Courtney. You never know!
We might have a new pitcher tonight!
We might have a new pitcher tonight!