The Golden Sombrero presents MLB Look-alikes: Jason Giambi and Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson)

National League:

West: Arizona

Central: St.Louis

East: Philadelphia

Wild Card:  Atlanta

Wild Card: Cincinnati

NLDS: Arizona def. Atlanta (5 games); St. Louis def. Philadelphia (5 games)

NLCS: Arizona def. St. Louis (6 games)

NLCS MVP: Justin Upton

Awards:

NL Rookie of the Year (hitter): Yonder Alonso

NL Dark Horse Rookie of the Year (hitter): Zack Cozart

NL Rookie of the Year (pitcher): Drew Pomeranz

NL Dark Horse Rookie of the Year (pitcher): Julio Teheran

NL Reliever of the Year: Craig Kimbrel

NL Dark Horse Reliever of the Year: Joel Hanrahan

NL Comeback Player of the Year: Hanley Ramirez

NL Dark Horse Comeback Player of the Year: Buster Posey

NL Strikeout King: Clayton Kershaw

NL Dark Horse Strikeout King: Josh Johnson

NL Cy Young: Clayton Kershaw

NL Dark Horse Cy Young: Cole Hamels

NL Batting Champ: Joey Votto

NL Dark Horse Batting Champ: Troy Tulowitzki

NL HR Champ: Ryan Braun

NL Dark Horse HR Champ: Dan Uggla

NL MVP: Joey Votto

NL Dark Horse MVP: Matt Kemp

American League:

West: Texas

Central: Detroit

East: Tampa Bay

Wild Card Winner: New York

Wild Card Winner: Anaheim

ALDS: Detroit def. Texas (5 games); Tampa Bay def. Anaheim 4 games)

ALCS: Detroit def. Tampa Bay (6 games)

ALCS MVP: Austin Jackson

AL ROY (hitter): Jesus Montero

AL Dark Horse ROY (hitter): Yoenis Cespedes

AL ROY (pitcher) Matt Moore

AL Dark Horse ROY (pitcher): Tom Milone

AL Comeback Player of the Year: Carl Crawford

AL Dark Horse Comeback Player of the Year: Adam Dunn

AL Reliever of the Year: Jordan Walden

AL Dark Horse Reliever of the Year: Greg Holland

AL Strikeout King: Justin Verlander

AL Dark Horse Strikeout King: David Price

AL Cy Young Winner: Jered Weaver

AL Dark Horse Cy Young Winner: CJ Wilson

AL Batting Champ: Jacoby Ellsbury

AL Dark Horse Batting Champ: Jhonny Peralta

AL HR King: Jose Bautista

AL Dark Horse HR King: Eric Hosmer

AL MVP: Jacoby Ellsbury

AL Dark Horse MVP: Michael Young

2012 World Series:

2012 World Series: Detroit def. Arizona (7 games)

2012 WS MVP: Miguel Cabrera

The Golden Sombrero presents MLB Look-alikes: Russell Martin and Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams

Justin Verlander revived a decades-old dugout tradition Sunday afternoon by giving teammate Don Kelly the ‘ol “hot foot.”

Perhaps Verlander just felt the need to bring Kelly down to earth after the career .236 hitter (.628 OPS) was spotlighted by the New York Times as the only active major leaguer to have played innings at each defensive position around the diamond.

The hot foot has been in pranksters’ repertoires since at least the 1980s. The Mets blog Hot Foot credits former Miracle Mets Roger McDowell and Howard Johnson with originating the trick.

Here’s an explanation of their technique in this clip from “1986: A Year to Remember.”

That's me - amazed in the summer of 2006 that I had just netted the autograph of my all-time favorite backup catcher: Vance Wilson.

Backup Catcher Edition

What has Vance Wilson been up to in his post playing days?

Vance Wilson now manages the Kane County Cougars.

Even for baseball fans of the hardest core,  that’s a seldom-asked question. Why would anyone ask about the former Met and Tiger catcher, forever a backup, who never played in more than 96 games in any of his eight years as a player?

But I had to smile today when I discovered that Wilson has stayed in baseball, now as manager of the Kane County Cougars (Low-A, Kansas City Royals).  (Though I was disappointed in myself for failing to realize I was in his midst at a Cougars game in May.) Because for reasons I still don’t completely understand, Wilson was my all-time favorite player.

Maybe it was because he was the true unsung hero on his teams. Not just a under-appreciated catcher, but an unheralded backup catcher. He could come into games late and produce results – a hard-to-do task after a full day sitting on the bench.

Though his sporadic playing time rarely allowed him to get into a rhythm, he had a solid .250 career batting average, and he threw out a whopping 40 percent of would-be base-stealers. That’s awesome.

But even better, the guy I inexplicably called “Vance the Pants,” provided me with one of my all-time favorite baseball memories.

On a sunny summer day before a Tigers-White Sox game in 2006, Wilson was signing autographs down the left field line. I ventured down a few rows at Comerica Park to see if Wilson would sign the Paul Konerko foul ball I had gloved during batting practice.

There wasn’t much of a crowd around Wilson, so the task was easy. I handed him the ball and, emboldened by what seemed like a once in a lifetime chance to chat, said: “Vance, this is going to sound really weird, but you’re my favorite player.”

“Kid, you’ve got problems,” Wilson said, handing me back a newly-inked baseball that had just become a prized possession.