Carlos Guillen - you have DIBS

At one point or another, perhaps you've noticed the list of websites under the DIBS banner on the sidebar here. (Unless you happen to belong to DIBS, in which case you already know about this stuff.) To paraphrase from the press release at Tigers Central, "DIBS" stands for "Detroit Independent Baseball Scribes" and is a grouping of independent blogs and websites that cover the Detroit Tigers. The community was the brainchild of Brian Borawski, Bill Ferris, and Ryan Sosin, who wanted to gather the various fans and writers producing independent sports coverage online.

In its second year of existence, the ranks of DIBS has grown, as many more sites and blogs popped up to cover the growing appetite for Tigers-related material. For instance, Sweaty Men Endeavors. I didn't start this blog until fall of 2005 (um, Happy Blog-iversary to me?), toward the end of another disappointing baseball season. Besides the fact that SME hit the scene with approximately 1/6 of the schedule remaining, I just didn't write much about the Tigers. I was all about the football. But during the winter, Billfer extended the hand of community and friendship and I gladly embraced it. (That is to say, I shook it. Figuratively. Over e-mail.)

Anyway, that's a really long-winded introduction to the point of this post, which is that each of the DIBS members got together and nominated their choices for Tigers Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, and Breakout Player of the Year. And since the Tigers had that nice World Series run, a selection for Post-Season Performer was also made. Here are the winners:

DIBS Player of the Year: Carlos Guillen

I believe that Guillen received first-place votes from everyone except... me. Yeah, I voted for Kenny Rogers. I know he's not an everyday player, but I thought Rogers made the biggest difference on this 2006 team, giving the team - especially the pitching staff - the guidance and leadership it'd been sorely lacking. But it's not like I'd argue with Guillen. He was the Tigers' best everyday player.

DIBS Pitcher of the Year: Kenny Rogers

Closer vote than I might have predicted here. Justin Verlander got his fair share of first-place votes, too. Joel Zumaya also received one.

DIBS Breakout Player of the Year: Justin Verlander

Also something of a close vote here, with Zumaya and Curtis Granderson getting some votes. I voted for Zumaya, which seems kind of silly with Verlander winning the AL Rookie of the Year award. But I was trying to look at the term "breakout" a bit more literally, and though Zumaya was considered a top prospect in the Tigers' organization, he really seemed to come out of nowhere and became the player everyone wanted to see. We got a taste of Verlander and Granderson in 2005.

DIBS Post-Season Performer: Kenny Rogers

Almost unanimous here, except for the one first-place vote going to Sean Casey. Hard to argue, since Casey was seemingly the only one who brought his bat to the World Series. But Rogers taking the mound at Comerica Park this post-season was a sure thing.

I'd like to thank Billfer for inviting me into what has become a damn fine collection of bloggers and webmasters. I think we've all raised the level of discourse surrounding the Tigers, and made writing a hell of a lot of fun. And as I've written here before, meeting several of the other DIBS members at a Tigers game in September was some of the most fun I had this season. I hope we get to do it again next year. A tip of the hat to everyone involved.