2008 Japan MVP and Best Nine

Know what’s a heartbreaker? Seeing the Central League MVP and Best Nine announcements and seeing that a third of the Best Nine, the MVP, and the best pitcher in the CL are all Giants, then realizing that that would be true of the Swallows had Tokyo been willing to pay a bit and offer multi-year contracts to the best hitter and, arguably, the best pitcher in Japan.

Oh, the humanity.

Rami-chan, Seth, whatever we shout at you while you’re playing, the truth is that seeing you in those hideous uniforms, that nasueous orange, well it (sob), it rips a little piece of our hearts out every time because you (weep), you were ours and we wanted to keep you. Really we did. It wasn’t our fault. (Boo-hoo-hoo-hoo.)

You guys are traitors and should probably be hanged, but you get exonerated by the fact that we have disloyal owners.

On the bright side, Tokyo’s stellar centerfielder, Norichika Aoki, made his fourth Best Nine. Our congrats to him.

All of that aside, the Central postseason awards went to:

MVP: Alex Ramirez, Yomiuri Giants

Best IX:

P: Seth Greisinger, Yomiuri Giants
C: Shinnosuke Abe, Yomiuri Giants
1B: Seiichi Uchikawa, Yokohama BayStars
2B: Akihiro Higashide, Hiroshima Carp
3B: Shuuichi Murata, Yokohama BayStars
SS: Takashi Toritani, Hanshin Tigers
OF: Alex Ramirez, Yomiuri Giants
Norichika Aoki, Tokyo Yakult Swallows
Tomoaki Kanemoto, Hanshin Tigers

Pacific League postseason awards:

MVP: Hisashi Iwakuma, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

Best IX:

P: Hisashi Iwakuma, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
C: Tooru Hosokawa, Saitama Seibu Lions
1B: Alex Cabrera, Orix Buffaloes
2B: Yasuyuki Kataoka, Saitama Seibu Lions
3B: Takeya Nakamura, Saitama Seibu Lions
SS: Hiroyuki Nakajima, Saitama Seibu Lions
OF: Atsunori Inaba, Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters
Takumi Kuriyama, Saitama Seibu Lions
Rick Short, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
DH: Tuffy Rhodes, Orix Buffaloes

Free agents started the negotiating season yesterday (click the link to see NPB Tracker’s write-up.)