The Golden Sombrero presents Rookie Card Corner: Troy Tulowitzki 2005 Bowman Chrome

Fun Fact: Tulo was also a ridiculously good basketball player in high school, averaging 22.6 points per game and earning All-State honors as a senior.

On Saturday morning Clint and I were back at it on The Baseball Show, offering our thoughts on all of this past week’s signings, as well as other notable headlines.

Some of the many things that we discussed:

• Adam Dunn: Clint’s favorite player and my the White Sox new 1B/DH

• A.J. Pierzynski, Paul Konerko, and the Chicago White Sox

• The great career of Andruw Jones and what could have been…

• Adrian Gonzalez; the newest member of the Boston Red Sox

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Stan Musial Award (MVP)

National League:
First Place Vote – Joey Votto (Cincinnati)
Second Place Vote – Carlos Gonzalez (Colorado)
Third Place Vote – Albert Pujols (St. Louis)
Fourth Place Vote – Adrian Gonzalez (San Diego)
Fifth Place Vote – Troy Tulowitzki (Colorado)
Sixth Place Vote – Aubrey Huff (San Francisco)
Seventh Place Vote – Jason Heyward (Atlanta)
Eighth Place Vote – Roy Halladay (Philadelphia)
Ninth Place Vote – Jay Bruce (Cincinnati)
Tenth Place Vote – Ryan Zimmerman (Washington)

American League:
First Place Vote – Josh Hamilton (Texas)
Second Place Vote – Miguel Cabrera (Detroit)
Third Place Vote – Evan Longoria (Tampa Bay)
Fourth Place Vote – Paul Konerko (Chicago)
Fifth Place Vote – Robinson Cano (New York)
Sixth Place Vote – Delmon Young (Minnesota)
Seventh Place Vote – Carl Crawford (Tampa Bay)
Eighth Place Vote – Jose Bautista (Toronto)
Ninth Place Vote – Joe Mauer (Minnesota)
Tenth Place Vote – Adrian Beltre (Boston)

What started off as a slow season for the Chicago White Sox shortstop, Alexei Ramirez, now seems destined to end on a much more encouraging note.  Last week, after writing an article on why the White Sox were still worth watching despite being eliminated from the postseason, I realized that I had made a crucial and regrettable omission.

Perhaps I’ve seen a few too many Troy Tulowitzki highlights over the past month, or maybe I’ve just come to expect Derek Jeter to annually churn out MVP-like seasons.  But I had no idea that the production among this year’s American League shortstops was so low.  Needless to say, it was an unexpected surprise to learn that Alexei Ramirez is having the best offensive season among A.L. shortstops and seems likely to win his first Silver Slugger Award.

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I have always considered the stealing of home to be one the most exciting plays in baseball.  Maybe it’s because I grew up watching “The Sandlot,” and had Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez embedded into my memory at an impressionable age, but there’s just something about the accomplishment that makes you rise out of your seat on the couch with anticipation, just as if you were in a seat at the park.  It’s one of those plays that happens so unpredictably fast, that it’s over before anyone knew it even began.

Yet, when Colorado Rockies rookie Chris Nelson stole home in the eighth inning of Thursday’s victory against the Cincinnati Reds, I found myself seated, and more than anything, confused about what had just happened.  A rookie, stealing home—the 1^st of his career, nonetheless—in a tie game, in the heart of a pennant race.  Excweese me? Bacon Powder?

But now, days later and after watching far too many replays, I can’t help but believe that Nick Masset set himself up failure.

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