Some 2003 Awards

By Paul Wysard

As we turn the Labor Day corner into the home stretch of the current campaign, it might be of interest to reflect and project in areas of special recognition.

MIP
Unless you've been hunting in Kamchatka, fishing in Alaska, or hiking on Easter Island during the past two weeks, you're probably well aware of what Barry Bonds has been doing. In half-a-dozen games (he missed the rest in bereavement in the passing of his father) he: hit a game-winning homer against the Braves, repeated the drama two nights later, launched a go-ahead roundtripper of off Randy Johnson, and, finally, ripped a two-run ninth inning single to sink the D'Backs once again. This astounding player will probably win his 6th MVP, but the writers' jury is still out as young Albert Pujols is carrying the Cardinals with huge numbers and 4- and 5-RBI days.

But if Bonds does not end up as the MVP, he certainly is the MIP -- the Most Impactive Player. I know... there is no such word, but it nevertheless describes him as well as any other. We keep hearing other players say, "Barry changes the game." When he is playing -- not only in Pac- Bell -- there is an electricity, a buzzing tension, on the field and in the stands. When he is out of the lineup, the atmosphere is ordinary, even bland, and all of this palpable through television as well. Most of us never saw Ruth, but we have seen Barry Bonds, and each and every day that becomes more and more special.

The Pete Reiser Trophy
You're showing your age, as is this contributor, if you remember "Pistol Pete." When we think of 1941, the focus is, most deservedly, on Ted Williams' .406 and the 56-game hitting streak of Joe DiMaggio. We may not see either ever again, but there was a young player in the other league who put together a season of superior performance and promise. 22-year-old Pete Reiser, centerfielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers, led the NL with .343, 38 doubles, 17 triples, and 117 runs scored. Next to Williams, who was a year older, Reiser appeared to be the best under-24 young player in the game. The next year was also outstanding -- .310 with the most stolen bases(20) -- but that 1942 season began to reveal a problem and the problem was that Reiser rarely approached a fence or wall he didn't hit. A head injury took him out of 30 games and many to this day believe those 30 absences cost the Dodgers the pennant, which was lost to the Cardinals by two games. "Pistol Pete" was an all-out player who chased every ball with abandon, and he paid a heavy price for that style.

After World War II military service, he returned in 1946 with another league-leading 34 steals, but missed another 30 games with a smashed ankle. It was more of the same in 1947, .309 but out of the lineup for 40 games with a serious concussion. In 1948, a series of injuries kept him off the field 90 times, and his career was clearly near its end. Over the next several years, he drifted to the Braves, Pirates and Indians, each franchise hoping for a final burst of his talent. It never happened as his body had nothing left.

Which brings us to 2003, and the awarding of trophies to players whose careers are eerily similar to Reiser's, players with exceptional skills who are continuously hurt. The hardware must be presented to the Cardinals' J.D. Drew. Since showing the ability to be a strong regular player in late 1998, Drew has played in as many as 135 games only twice, out of more than 50 in 1999, 2001, and 2003, in which he has just come off the DL. This man has shown he can hit, hit with power, and run, but the franchise has lost patience and the media is saying there will be attempts to trade him in the off-season.

The dubious prize also goes to Geoff Jenkins of the Brewers. He is a lot like Reiser, going all-out, with several shoulder injuries as results of diving for balls. This year, he is at .296, 28, 95, and he has hit at those rates before, so here is someone who could be a .300, 35, 110 contributor (at least), but he missed over 50 games in 2001 and over 90 in 2002. Now it is a broken thumb which has just put him on the DL for the rest of this year.

The game is cruel, and it will continue to victimize certain talented folks as long as it is played, but each and every case is still a crying shame.