Most Missed Poster
ramp101 – He provided a welcome outsider’s view when the Reds were teetering between contender and pretender. Of course, that was back when his own Marlins were doormats. As they climbed in the standings, the rampster didn’t have time for us anymore.
After the off-season they’ve had, we’ll presumably be seeing lots of our old friend for the foreseeable future.
Best Avatar
paintmered – I’m not sure where that little guy is galloping off to, but it sure looks like he can’t wait to get there.
Best Moniker
Danny Serafini – There are Neil Diamond songs that are so stupid I laugh hysterically whenever I hear them. Between his Mexican League pedigree, his promises of 15-win seasons, and his Japanese League sayonara, Danny boy is Forever in Blue Jeans.
Most Valuable Poster
SteelSD – He’s Yoda, patiently explaining for the thousandth time that hate leads to the dark side, and then posting three-year park-adjusted splits that prove it. Few combine the passion, eloquence, and evidence to make a claim, back it up, and sway the skeptics. He does it all day every day.
The Hank Aaron Award
westofyou – Fans gripe that the MVP Award should be paired with a Best Hitter Award. Writers remind said fans that such an award already exists, and it’s named after the HR king. WOY brings a wealth of statistical data to the party, but that’s giving him short shrift. He also has an unbelievably deep storehouse of knowledge about the history of the game, and a great appreciation for the interplay between the past the present.
Most Clever
creek14 – Your quips keep me in stitches. They say laugher is the best medicine, and that’s good, because these stitches really hurt.
Best Armchair GM
M2 – The GM has to see the big picture, know all the players, know all the other guys’ players, be able to define a strategy, articulate it to the masses, and sell it to the unwashed. In short, he needs to be smart, articulate, dynamic, pragmatic, charismatic, and spell my name right on the check. I think this is the most important position in the organization, and I’d give it to M2 in a heartbeat.
Best Nuxhall Impersonation
RFS62 – Joe is the conscience of this organization, and RFS is the conscience of RedsZone. Usually warm and friendly, occasionally stern, he’s the barometer for how a day, or a thread, is going.
Best Discussion
Some say DunnHater arrived with a bit of an agenda. All I know is that DH/BF swooped in and led discussions so full of flawed premises and circuitous logic that they led to wide-ranging discussions about OBP, OPS, slugging, conservation of outs, RC/27, lineup construction, and any number of other fundamental tenets of baseball theory. To read these threads and learn what is shared in them by so many Zoners is to begin to appreciate RedsZone as a graduate course in fandom conducted in a playground sandbox at recess.
Funniest
BCubb2003 – Another shoutout for Random Thoughts. The saddest tragedies give audiences brief moments of levity between the gaps when sorrow turns to anguish. RedsZone is kind of like that sometimes.
Most Positive
GAC – You want to believe, no doubt about it. Heck, you wanted to believe nobody would score on Danny Graves, and if that’s not blind devotion, I don’t know what is.
Most Negative
REDREAD – I hope that in nominating him for this award, he accepts it as a badge of honor. He’s been saying for years that the worst would come to pass, and he’s been right at every turn. If there were someone in the Reds organization who had the juice and the guts to say the things REDREAD has said over the years, we may not be in this mess. But there’s not and we are.
Nicest
KittyDuran – What a kind, caring, giving person. (Both on the field and off./gg) I’m inclined to believe there are less than six degrees of separation between her and noted nice guy, The Mayor.
Best Moderator
Chip R – Prolific. Fair. Funny. Everything you want in an overseer.
Best Newcomer
Caveat Emperor – Great first year! You made an immediate splash and kept right on swimming. You’re a fine addition to our band of…whatever we are.
The Old Red Guard Award
I learned a lot in the posts that broke down last year’s off-season acquisitions, polled the assembled masses on their thoughts, and ran detailed analyses of what 2005 might look like. In some ways they were case studies in optimists/pessimists and stats/scouts. But there are some pretty in-depth discussions in there, too, all backed by solid numbers and statistical modeling. Interesting threads that portended full-fledged nightmares.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Boss Hogg – It’s tempting to give this to one of the really ancient posters, like Krono or Raisor
, but none of this would have been possible without Boss, and this year in particular has helped to drive that fact home.
Most Tired Topic of the Year
“You can't judge DanO because you’re not a GM; also, you don’t know what kind of offers he got.”
All-Stars
Joseph – Newbie-turned-mod; always impressive.
ochre – Already was a mod, and a fine one at that.
letsgojunior – Not a mod, but a prolific poster and outstanding individual.
traderumor – Your transformation from doe-eyed follower to table-pounding revolutionary is a testament to the power of RedsZone.
Puffy – I don’t loath you.
MWM – You know his story.
TeamCasey – Too many posts about players’ butts, but otherwise pretty cool.