Daily Dirt: Will Goldschmidt or Arenado be the National League MVP?

Daily Dirt for Sunday, Aug. 21, 2022

Barring some natural disaster, one of two Cardinals sluggers is going to be the MVP in the National League. Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 375 of The Daily Dirt.

1. As promised on Saturday, we (and by we, I mean me) project today who the major individual award winners will be in the National League:

• MVP: If the MLB season ended today, I’d be leaning toward Paul Goldschmidt of the Cardinals as choice 1A, with teammate Nolan Arenado a solid 1B choice. Both are impressive offensive forces and above-average in the field, and if you prefer Arenado over Goldschmidt, I certainly wouldn’t protest. If both Goldschmidt and Arenado stumble down the stretch, Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers will likely be awarded the big iron. Semi-darkhorse picks would be Austin Riley of the Braves and Trea Turner of the Dodgers.
• Cy Young Award: Sandy Alcantara of the Marlins is the best pitcher in the National League, but he plays for the Marlins, which means he pitches in virtual anonymity. In addition, the Marlins are not exactly media darlings … which brings us to two teams that are — the Dodgers and Mets. Tony Gonsolin is the ace of a Dodgers team that might win 110 games, and Edwin Diaz is the premier reliever in the league and pitches in New York City. Right now, I’m leaning toward Gonsolin, who will likely win 20 games in an era where that is quite an achievement. Oh, did I mention he pitches for the mighty Dodgers?  
• Rookie of the Year: It’s not exactly a bumper crop, but I think Spencer Strider and outfielder Michael Harris — both of the Braves — are the frontrunners.
• Breakout Player (this should be an official award, by the way): Gonsolin would win this honor, too. He has emerged from being a valuable spare part to a bona fide ace.
• Reliever of the Year: It’s Diaz all the way. Everyone else is pitching for runner-up honors, especially since Josh Hader (now of the Padres) and Taylor Rogers (once with the Padres, now with the Brewers) have both imploded.

2. About a month ago, the mashed.com website published an extensive study that presented what it said were the most popular flavors of Jell-O, presumably based on sales. Ranker.com also did a study, based on online voting. The following are the top 10 from both: 

Mashed.com Top 10

• 1. Strawberry.
• 2. Sugar-free Strawberry.
• 3. Cranberry.
• 4. Peach.
• 5. Island Pineapple.
• 6. Cherry.
• 7. Apricot.
• 8. Strawberry-banana.
• 9. Watermelon.
• 10. Sugar-free lemon.

Ranker.com Top 10

• 1. Lime.
• 2. Berry Blue.
• 3. Raspberry.
• 4. Strawberry.
• 5. Cherry.
• 6. Orange.
• 7. Black Cherry.
• 8. Watermelon.
• 9. Wild strawberry.
• 10. Peach.

3. We’re starting a new feature today, showcasing three little-known facts from pop music history. Here’s today’s medal winners:

• Gold medal: Otis Redding was the first artist to reach No. 1 after his death. Redding died in December 1967, three months prior to “Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay” reaching No. 1 in early March 1968.
• Silver medal: Cher owns the longest span between her first No. 1 song and most recent No. 1 effort — 34 years. Cher teamed with original partner Sonny Bono to reach No. 1 with “I Got You Babe” in 1965, and then failed to get back to the top spot again until 1999 with “Believe.”
• Bronze medal: James Brown, also known as “The Godfather of Soul,” holds the Billboard record for most Hot 100 songs (99) with no No. 1’s.

Steve Thought O’ The Day
That tidbit about Cher was rather interesting. So is the fact the lady is 76 years old and still going strong.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. His favorite flavor of Jell-O is “all of the above.”