Baseball has held on to a tradition of giving out separate awards for both of its leagues, despite the fact that the American and National Leagues are more integrated than they ever have been before - really, they're separate conferences, as opposed to distinct leagues. None of the other major leagues do this - and really, the NHL would look pretty silly if it suddenly decided to give out two Hart Trophies each year.

But whatever; I don't mind tradition, and normally I go through the annual process of picking my winners in each league, just like thousands of other fans. But I won't do that this year, because every attempt I've made so far at making these choices has been deeply unsatisfying, and not worth the effort. So this year, I'm going to chew two pieces of gum, grind them together into one, and blow one big awards bubble.

MLB 2008 MVP Award:
1. Albert Pujols
2. Joe Mauer
3. Manny Ramirez
4. Dustin Pedroia
5. Lance Berkman

MLB 2008 Cy Young Award:
1. Cliff Lee
2. Roy Halladay
3. C.C. Sabathia
4. Tim Lincecum
5. Johan Santana

MLB 2008 Rookie of the Year:
1. Evan Longoria
2. Geovany Soto
3. Mark Aviles

MLB 2008 Comeback Player of the Year Award:
1. The Moose

MLB 2008 Manager of the Year Award:
I fear that I am going to regret putting the terms "Joe Maddon" and "Manager of the Year" together in the same sentence for the rest of my life.

The MVP should be a slam dunk. Albert Pujols had arguably the best season of his career; he was Willie Mays, or Stan Musial, or Honus Wagner, and you don't belong in the MVP discussion unless you're at the same level.

The rest of the National League is a mixed bag. Lance Berkman and Chase Utley both had fine years, but they also both kinda disappeared in the second half. I will try not to hold the Mets' failure against David Wright or Jose Reyes - although Wright's lousy season with RISP, and decidedly non-Gold Glove defence, works against him. Sluggers like Ryan Howard, Ryan Braun, and Carlos Delgado all had good years - but none hit well enough to overcome their liabilities.

Hanley Ramirez once again had impressive numbers, made some improvements defensively, and his team spent a surprising amount of time in first place. Chipper Jones was a force at the plate, has developed into a pretty good defensive player - but missed a chunk of time with injuries.

And of course, there's Manny, who hit pretty well with the Red Sox and made a solid contribution to their postseason run, then performed spectacularly well with the Dodgers. And he wasn't the only guy who switched teams and put up big numbers; both Mark Teixeira and Jason Bay finished the year with over 30 homers, 100 RBI.

In the AL, if you've ever wondered what it was like to watch Mickey Cochrane in his prime... well, now you can watch Joe Mauer, and that's probably as close as we're likely to get. Great offence, great defence behind the plate, and all with an incredibly young, overachieving team; the AL MVP seems to be a coin toss between him and Pedroia, who started a little slowly, but was an absolute monster at the plate and in the field the final four months.

Two strong candidates, Carlos Quentin and Ian Kinsler, had their seasons ended prematurely by injuries. Josh Hamilton was a favourite early in the season, and finished with fine numbers - but Grady Sizemore was the best centre fielder in the league. A-Rod had a typical season for him, among the best in the league but not quite MVP quality. Justin Morneau and Kevin Youkilis had strong seasons, but neither was the best player on his own team.

C.C. Sabathia had a rotten April, but quickly got better, then was spectacular after his trade to the Brewers; he also become the first pitcher this decade to throw ten complete games in a season. Roy Halladay might have had the best season of his career, while Tim Lincecum had a tremendous breakout season with the Giants. Johan Santana didn't get much help from the rest of his teammates, but pitched very well during the year, and as usual was spectacular down the stretch.

But it was Cliff Lee's year. One of the joys of this season will be to look back, and remember the shock of watching Lee's April unfold:

And although logic suggested that at some point he would eventually turn back into a pumpkin, he never did.

Other wonderful things that we will remember about this season: the beginning of the Evan Longoria Era, and Mike Mussina finally nailing the 20-win season that appeared to no longer be a possibility. Next thing you know, Peter O'Toole will win an Oscar or something.

Finally, an All-Star squad for 2008:

CA Joe Mauer
1B Albert Pujols
2B Dustin Pedroia
3B Chipper Jones
SS Hanley Ramirez
LF Manny Ramirez
CF Grady Sizemore
RF Ryan Ludwick
DH Aubrey Huff
SP Cliff Lee
RP Mariano Rivera