Ivan Nova IS the Rookie of the Year

Jeremy Hellickson goes 13-10 for the Tampa Bay Rays, a 2nd-place team that needed an absolute miracle to make the Playoffs.

Ivan Nova goes 16-4 for the New York Yankees, a 1st-place team.

And Hellickson gets Rookie of the Year? And Nova only finishes 4th?

What the hell is the matter with these voters?

I posted that on Facebook last night. And a fellow Yankee Fan responded with this:

In this age of Saber-freaking-Metrics, Mike, the facts are that Hellickson's ERA was slightly lower than Nova's (by about half a run), struck out more batters and (no fault of his, the Yanks did this)sent him to AAA for about a month. To me, that doesn't mean much anyway!

I know he's only trying to explain their reason, and not necessarily agreeing with with it.

But...

Sabermetrics.

Oy.

Herman Edwards demands an explanation for this bullshit!

Because, and I don't care what sport it is, you don't play to get the fanciest statistics.

HELLO? YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!

And Ivan Nova was better at winning games than any rookie in all of baseball in 2011!

And anybody who says otherwise does not understand sports -- let alone baseball.