Well, the season is over. It’s a sad time where fans of 24 teams cry. I’m not doing a post game thread but I do want to point out a few things.

The Batting King

Hanley Ramirez is the National League’s Batting King, taking the first batting title by a shortstop since Dick Groat won it in 1960. He’s only the 4th NL shortstop to win the batting crown (which can be seen badly pixelated on his head), the others being Groat and Hall of Famers Arky Vauhgan and Honus Wagner. It was the first in franchise history and his batting average was also the highest in franchise history. He also ended the season 6th in OBP, 11th in SLG, and 6th in OPS.

Chris Coghlan: Rookie of the Year

Chris Coghlan ended the season with the 5th in batting average, 12th in OBP, 30th in SLG, and 22nd in OPS. Pretty good for a rookie, especially a natural 2nd baseman. More over, amongst rookies, he ended up 1st in BA, 1st in OBP, 2nd in SLG, and 1st in OPS. And he’s had an incredible second half that put him in the race. In the second half he was 1st in BA, 5th in OBP, 14th in SLG, and 9th in OPS. I think he’s obviously the best choice for Rookie of the Year amongst position players. Obviously his main competition will be Phillies’ pitcher J.A. Happ (and to a lesser extent Braves’ Tommy Hanson). Happ has definitely had a hell of a year, but he slowed down a bit in the end of the season and is no longer in the top 10 in ERA (partially thanks to CC going 2-2 off him today). He’s not in the top 10 in anything substance in the NL but he does have the edge on being on a large market team and helping his team land in the playoffs. I could write and entire post on why CC should be the Rookie of the Year (and might), but we’ll see how the media does it soon enough.

Ross Gload and Wes Helms: The Princes of Pinch Hit

All year long the unsung heroes of this team were the core of the bench, the veterans Ross Gload and “Uncle” Wes Helms. Not only did they provide leadership and mentoring to the younger players on the team, which both Chris Coghlan and Brett Carroll attribute to the success this year, they were undoubtedly the best pinch hitting core in the league this year and earned themselves a spot in the record book today. When Ross Gload got a pinch-hit single in the 8th, that made the combined total between him and Helms to 38. Not only was that the most in the majors, that tied the major league record of pinch-hits by two teammates. The last two teammates to do that were Ed Coleman and Roy Pepper of the 1936 St. Louis Browns.

Fredi to become Gone-zalez?

Last night rumors came out about the Marlins Front Office talking to former Mets manager Bobby Valentine, which many thought were empty rumors due to no words their of dissatisfaction with Fredi Gonzalez, who earlier signed a contract extension to keep him here through 2011. Then, after today’s game, more reports came out that Fredi’s job might be in jeopardy, with Marlins President David Samson saying that his job was going to be “evaluated”, due to owner Jeffrey Loria‘s “disappointment” that they didn’t make the playoffs. Look, many people have a problem with Fredi’s managing style but just about no one things he should be fired due to missing the playoffs when Loria refused to open the purse strings to address obvious holes at 3rd base, the rotation, and in the back of the bullpen.

Well, the season’s over. As the offseason moves on make sure to keep checking out Fish Guts for all your offseason news. We also will be putting back retrospective articles on the season during October while wishing we were doing it during November.