[BirdWatcher]

As was widely expected, the Columbus Whalers young lefty Ace Jim Norris captured his first Pitcher of the Year award at age 25. In a testament to just how impressive the Columbus rotation was, his teammates Cody Barnhart and Luis Ramirez finished 2nd and 3rd in the voting respectively, while future HOF'er Jake Harris finished 7th and veteran Juan Olguin finished 8th. In other words, the entire Whalers rotation finished in the top 8 in Pitcher of the Year voting in the SJL!



It was the year of Obandomania and while L.A. fans were disappointed that they couldn't ride this wave to the post-season, it does end with Eduardo Obando being named the Pitcher of the Year in the MGL. Denver's Sadahige Kawasaki finished in 2nd place in spite of his underwhelming win-loss record (poor support). Steve Green finished tied for 7th in the voting and (not pictured) Erik Sloan tied with Aaron McNally (disappointing season for the man who won the award the past 2 seasons) with a single point in the voting.