Some Baseball Musings on the Last Day of the 2021 Regular Season

Despite some possibilities for drama, there won't be any Game 163 for any teams. (There was late-inning drama in two of the relevant AL games today, and that is why there won't be any of these extra games.)

We (i.e., the Dodgers) have a win-or-go-home Wild Card 'playoff' against the Cardinals on Wednesday. I'll have it on silent at first while I am participating as a panelist in the UCLA math department job-application panel (which I suggested to our department head that we should do, and thankfully we're doing it), and then I'll have sound on for most of the game once the panel is over.

Trea Turner ended up winning the NL battle title handily. I have trouble picking an MVP, because I think the Padres going into the tank will hurt Tatis Jr.'s chances. That said, I still think he merits it, although if we're going to do pure performance after the Padres fall, maybe Juan Soto ultimately was somewhat better overall? The NL Cy Young award is hard to predict, as a lot of votes will get split. Right now, I think it will be Walker Buehler by a nose over Scherzer, Burnes, and Zack Wheeler. Urías will get some down-ballot votes, but despite the gaudy win totals, the other pitchers I mentioned (and some I have not) have been better them him. Jonathan India will when the NL ROY.

In the AL, Ohtani is the MVP. I think Gerrit Cole is a slightly better Cy Young choice than Robbie Ray, who many announcers seem to think is the heavy favorite. He's a good choice, but I think that Cole has been slightly better. Randy Arozarena is technically still a rookie, but I think I need to look more closely at some of the other viable options as well.

Finally, reports of Joey Votto's demise appear to have been greatly exaggerated (although he has changed his hitting style).