MAUER AN MVP FRONT-RUNNER?

Working hard to get my fill / everybody wants a thrill / Payin' anything to roll the dice / just one more time . . .

It's Friday, so that means fun with Hardball Times' Win Shares.

AL MVP
1) Joe Mauer, Twins 2) Jim Thome, White Sox, who won't win since he's a DH on a fast-fading team 3) Francisco Liriano, Twins.

AL Cy Young
1) Liriano 2) Johan Santana, Twins t-3) Justin Verlander, Tigers t-3) Roy Halladay, Blue Jays.

AL Gold Gloves
C Ivan Rodriguez, Tigers; 1B Richie Sexson, Mariners (The Jays' Lyle Overbay is 2nd); 2B Mark Loretta, Red Sox; 3B Mike Lowell, Red Sox; SS Michael "The Jays Traded Me For Esteban Loaiza" Young, Rangers; OF Curtis Granderson, Tigers; Vernon Wells, Jays and Torii Hunter, Twins.

NL MVP
1) Albert Pujols, Cardinals, but you knew that already 2) Carlos Beltran, Mets 3) Brandon Webb, D-Backs.

NL Cy Young
1) Webb 2) Carlos Zambrano, Cubs 3) Bronson Arroyo, Reds.

NL Gold Gloves
C Yadier Molina, Cardinals (knew the Jays signed the wrong one); 1B Pujols, Cards; 2B Orlando Hudson, D-Backs; 3B Pedro Feliz, Giants (by a hair over Scott Rolen, who will probably win on rep alone); SS Adam Everett, Astros; OF Beltran, Mets; Mike Cameron, Padres and
Juan Pierre, Cubs.
OTHER BUSINESS

• Maybe the Toronto Argonauts shouldn't have incensed Joe Theismann a while back; they might need him to play quarterback tomorrow against B.C. Damon Allen is questionable, so, the only healthy Argos QB is Eric Crouch, whose CFL experience consists of the nine passes he threw last week against Saskatchewan.
• Only in Texas would a newspaper midwife a three-part series on the history of the forward pass in football, as the San Antonio Express-News did this week. Yet it did uncover something you can throw in the face of those -- on both sides of the border -- who make light of Canadian football. The first part notes that not only did the college game in the U.S. originally have three downs and a 110-yard-long field, but when rules changes were made to open up the game in the early 1900s, "Some thought was given to widening the field." So in other words, what you see on the Canadian gridiron is much more true to what the sport's creators had in mind.

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.