The Perranoski Prizes
Who is Ron Perranoski? In 1963, the top five in te National League MVP voting looked like this:
Sandy Koufax 237 votes
Dick Groat 190
Hank Aaron 135
Ron Perranoski 130
Willie Mays 102
The rest of his career was quite impressive, too. Of course, the other lefty on his team drew most of the attention, but Perranoski, the reliever for Koufax and Drysdale, was every bit as critical to that championship team.
Thus I’m pleased to announce the Perranoski Prize as a supplement to Wampum’s Koufax Awards. This isn’t an effort to diminish, borrow glory from or intrude on those awards. Have you ever tried counting the nominations left in comments there? It’d be hard even if every nominator was crystal clear about their intended nominations, but more than a few require interpretation.
It’s an extraordinary task that MaryBeth and Dwight and Eric have undertaken each year. Hundreds of nominees must be tabulated and in some categories, I wouldn’t be surprised if over a thousand occur, such as best new blog. Though many have asked for more categories, I well understand why they limited it to 12 this year. It’s a ton of work.
After communicating with them, I got the green light to proceed, to alleviate that. The Perranoski Prize thus serves to relieve Koufax to close the game. (I’d be in favor of letting this one rotate to different websites each year, too, to emphasize that the centerpiece will always remain Wampum’s awards.)
They’ll have 12 categories; we’ll have 8 categories. (Update: I forgot one, so now there’s 9, with the Walt Kelly Best Toon Blog added) Remember, all besides the Drysdale and Humanitarian awards are supposed to be for bloggers considered left of center or progressive.
Best Designed Blog
Whether it’s the sheer beauty of the design, the readability and layout, or some other features that you like, this is the place to honor the aesthetic and functional aspects of your favorite designs.
Best Art or Photoblog
The written content may be equally important or not. But it’s the quality of the art, the photography, or the photoshopped graphics that rewards the visitor regularly. Not the place for moving images.
Best Moving Image Blog
The blog that’s created the best of one or more notable moving image presentations, which may be in any video format, Flash, or similar moving image.
Walt Kelly Best Toon Blog
Bloggers who write editorial toons or comics deserve their own category, named for the creator of Pogo.
Best Technical Achievement Blog
Perhaps it’s their blogging about blogging, or about blogging apps. Perhaps they created a blogging platform. Or created a great plug-in. Or a great app like an aggregate RSS reader or comments system. It could be an improved version of something previously created. But whatever they created, it permitted blogging to be advanced in some way, and it began in 2004.
Get your geek hats on for this one!
Best Humanitarian Blog
While this has an element of ‘expert’ to it, it’s expertise that has specifically advocated for or advanced the human condition. So a law blogger might deserve it for their work to end capital punishment - online and/or offline. Or an eco-blogger might desrve it for advancing the understanding of global warming. Maybe the blogger raised funds for a cause. Maybe they are recognized by their peers for research in a specific area. Maybe they’ve advanced or promoted music therapy for developmentally delayed kids.
You define the contribution with the nominee. It can be an individual, a group blog, or a group of blogs working together on a project. Also please note: since the point here is progessiveness in the advance of a humanitarian outcome, political ideology doesn’t matter. So a winner here could be an identified conservative or libertarian. The key is whether humanity has benefited.
Don Drysdale Award
Once again, there’s someone right of center in their politics whose blogging has been more than sheer vitriole. They’ve raised awareness and added to the debate and you could enjoy having them over for cocktails without fear that a fistfight would result. And note, this can be an individual, a group or even a humor blogger. (In the latter case, if PJ O’Rourke blogged, he’d make a great nominee). You might disagree with them most of the time but they raise good points or otherwise keep you entertained.
And again, please note what they did to deserve this honor.
Best Investigative Research Blog
Some blogs have prosaic writing or sharp-edged snark, but some are known as much or more for their work digging out the details of a news event (or several), or of things past. As an individual or as members of a group blog, these researchers have brought essential information to light through their research or their investigative journalism skills.
So with your nomination be sure to highlight one or more things they contributed. And if it was three members of a 5-member group blog that did it, name those key members.
Hall of Fame Award
In baseball, it takes many years of work and several years of retirement to be eligible. But there’s already more bloggers than all the pro baseball players that ever lived, so a shorter time frame is essential.
Any one of several ways can qualify one here:
1) Though it’ll take you some research, it could be any blogger who’s received a combined total of three Koufax awards, but the awards must have been won in at least two different years (winning three in one year won’t provide eligibility). And since this year’s winners aren’t known yet, there’s only been two years of awards previously (2002 and 2003), so the list of eligibles is probably very short currently under this criteria. Or…
2) The nominee has retired from blogging. While they blogged, they were known for their excellence, even if they never previously won a Koufax. Note: if a retiree wins on this criteria and later returns to blogging, they must cede the award. Or …
3) The nominee was known for their excellence. But they’ll blog no more because they’ve died. And note: even a well-regarded commenter who’s passed away can be eligible here.
4) When you make your nomination for one of the three criteria above, please define why they deserve to be a Hall-of-Famer, so people years hence will understand.
5) Unlike any other category the inductees will be the top three finishers in the balloting.
The Rules for nominating and voting
1) You may nominate more than one per category.
2) Please be clear about which award you’re nominating for. Saying “they deserve to win in every category’ is insufficient; you must name the categories. If you plan to make nominations in every category, here’s a list you can copy/paste to ease your task:
Best Designed Blog
Best Art or Photoblog
Best Moving Image Blog
Walt Kelly Best Toon Blog
Best Technical Achievement Blog
Best Humanitarian Blog
Don Drysdale Award
Best Investigative Research Blog
Hall of Fame Award
And where applicable, please add a brief explanation of why each nominee you make deserves to win that category.
3) Make your nominations in comments or by email to: kahlil[at]despammed[dot]neocom (I’m kidding; that should be dot-com, not dot-neocom)
Please note the email address, because we’re planning some upgrades to our site next week which may take us offline for a day or two. But the email should continue to function.
Schedule
Wampum will continue to take the lead here. Two days after their nominations close, they’ll close for the Perranoski Prizes. Two days after they list their finalists and voting commences, we’ll post ours. We’ll close voting and report results two days after Wampum, as well. Update: Dwight is closing his nominations tomorrow at 5 pm. As we got started late, we’ll keep nominations open through Wednesday, 29 December at midnight EST time, then will otherwise maintain the schedule described above.)
As a final note, this is and will remain an adjunct to Wampum’s awards. So they always retain first rights at choosing categories. So they might decide next year to use some or all of these categories as Koufax Awards, and that’s fine. If there’s any categories left, there can be Perranoski Prizes in subsequent years. And which blog hosts them should require their consent; like Carnival of the Vanities, maybe it’ll rotate to someone new each year. Remember: relievers don’t get to decide the rotation, they simply go out and perform.
The 2004 Perranoski Prize nominations are officially open. If the holiday spirit’s with you, please hit The American Street flag in the sidebar and toss a few bucks in the Paypal account. We may need it for any added bandwidth costs that accrue from this, and it’s time for us to pay for our hosting next year, anyway.
December 21st, 2004 at 6:29 pm
Best Photo Blog: Hunkabutta. Be sure to check her archives for her photos of Japan.
December 21st, 2004 at 6:31 pm
There’s a distinctive Dodgers slant to these awards.
December 21st, 2004 at 6:41 pm
Linkmeister; I know. Odd, too, since I was a Mickey Mantle fan. But that commie Dwight started it. He’s probably one o’ them hippie freak Georgia lawyers, or he woulda chosen an Atlanta Brave lefty.
December 21st, 2004 at 7:04 pm
The Mighty Mick batted lefty… and rightie too, come to think of it… Imagine had he not played his career hurt because of that prick Dimaggio’s dogging on an outfield fly… Man, oh man…
Best photo blog coyote’s bark
December 21st, 2004 at 7:38 pm
Dimaggio dogging it? That doesn’t sound right; he usually covered a lot of ground gracefully.
But that’s like asking if Ruth would be better sober. Mebbe, mebbe not. Maybe the painkillers helped Mick play all-out.
December 21st, 2004 at 7:45 pm
Geeze, Kevin, if you wanted a southpaw reliever without the Dodger problem, you could have gone after (for example) the Tugger, or the Sparky, or the Rags, or the Franco, or the Jesse … hell, why not the Fat Tub O’Goo?
December 21st, 2004 at 8:13 pm
Best Investigative Research Blog
eRiposte
(For coverage such as:
1. http://www.eriposte.com/philosophy/fundamentalism/stevenscreek.htm
2. http://swiftvets.eriposte.com/
3. http://vote2004.eriposte.com/
December 21st, 2004 at 9:21 pm
The Perranoski Prizes
Kevin Hayden of the American Street is hosting blog awards known as the Perranoski Prizes. Those prizes are named after Ron Perranowski, who was the best relief pitcher for the Dodgers during the Koufax era. One purpose of the Koufax…
December 21st, 2004 at 9:33 pm
I think the Perranowski Awards are a great idea. We can’t have enough of giving lefty bloggers some love. Here are my nominations:
Best Designed Blog
Kip of Long Story, Short Pier. I love the look of his blog and having a comment appear when the cursor is held over a hyperlink is just cool.
Best Art or Photoblog
Wood’s Lot< ?a>. Lots of good writing and great books (a page a day) but the pictures are just fabulous.
Walt Kelly Best Toon Blog
Alas, A Blog. Barry’s toons are just great.
Best Humanitarian Blog
For me, this one is no contest. She raised money during the Blogathon for Cure Autism Now. She led the fight to prevent the enactment of the Lilly Protection Act. She ran for a state legislative seat to make Maine a better place. She invited me to write at her blog. The Best Humanitarian Perranowski should go to Marty Beth Williams of Wampum.
Don Drysdale Award
My choice for the best right of center blogger is the always thoughtful Dan Drezner.
Best Investigative Research Blog
Josh Marshall
Hall of Fame Award
Atrios, Hesiod, and Billmon are obvious choices.
December 21st, 2004 at 11:01 pm
Grins. N, I’ve finally got you making a mistake! Both Orosco and Forster played for the Dodgers at various times during their careers!
December 21st, 2004 at 11:03 pm
I don’t get around enough, so I’ll cast a vote for the one category I can comfortably select for:
Investigative: Josh Marshall @ TalkingPointsMemo
December 21st, 2004 at 11:24 pm
Don Drysdale Award ————— Daniel Drezner
Best Investigative Research Blog - Joshua Marshall
December 22nd, 2004 at 4:48 am
I would nominate Alas, a Blog for the best cartooning one but you already have it. So I will nominate Abu Aardvark. As for the drysdale, please consider Arthur Silber at the Light of Reason, a libertarian. He’s not a conservative really, but he is definitely not a lefty. His posts are beautifully written. I think the blog regarding OSHA, I think it is called “confined spaces” is the best research I have ever seen but it’s single issue.
I don’t have people in mind for the others but thanks for doing this and supporting Wampum’s great efforts.
December 22nd, 2004 at 6:23 am
Anna, multiple nominations is how the finals list is compiled, so I’ll count your nominations of Barry, Abu Aardvark, Art Silber, and Jordan Barab.
December 22nd, 2004 at 6:40 am
A commenter (oyster) left these noms on my site:
Design: The Talent Show
Photo: South Knox Bubba
Best tune: Get your war on
Best Humanitarian: Under the Same Sun
Drysdale: Norbizness
Investigative: Talking Points Memo
HOF: TPM
I’ll note that thus far nobody picked up on my hint to nominate Dohiyi Mir for best Photoblog. Ah well…
December 22nd, 2004 at 6:56 am
Hoorah! Another award I’ll never win!
I’ll try to put in my nominations over the holiday, when I have time to think about it…
December 22nd, 2004 at 8:15 am
My nominations.
December 22nd, 2004 at 8:55 am
The Perranoski Prize
Kevin Hayden has announced a new set of blog awards called The Perranoski Prize, which is intended as a complement…
December 22nd, 2004 at 9:04 am
Don Drysdale Award - Dan Drezner and
Belgravia Dispatch http://www.belgraviadispatch.com/
Best Investigative Research Blog - Josh Marshall, Laura Rozen (War and Piece) http://www.warandpiece.com/
December 22nd, 2004 at 10:30 am
Best Photo Blog: Ipso Photo
December 22nd, 2004 at 10:31 am
Best Designed Blog: Chepooka - hands down.
Best Humanitarian Blog: Passion of the Present Sudan coverage
Best Investigative Research Blog: BlackBoxVoting.org Bev has her faults, but she was on this from the jump and has kept on it.
December 22nd, 2004 at 10:52 am
I’m not sure how I even remotely came close to being nominated in the Drysdale/right-of-center category (#15), but beggars can’t be choosers. I’ll even start citing David Brooks favorably if it helps.
December 22nd, 2004 at 11:13 am
No category for Catblogging?
How about Best Poetic Cockroach Themed Blog?
December 22nd, 2004 at 12:20 pm
Koufax Awards: Nominations Close Today
Nominations close today for the 3rd annual Koufax blogging excellence awards. If you haven’t submitted the names of your favorite blogs in at least some of the 12 categories, you have till 5:00 pm today. There is tough competition this…
December 22nd, 2004 at 8:27 pm
Best photoblog: NTodd
http://dohiyimir.typepad.com/
December 23rd, 2004 at 11:51 am
Best art/poetry blog, bloodlines, an interactive sestina of original work by Phil Boiarski, www.boiarski.com
December 23rd, 2004 at 12:11 pm
hall of fame - on the assumption he is truly retired - billmon of whiskey bar
December 23rd, 2004 at 1:52 pm
Agree with Billmon for Hall of Fame. I miss him so.
December 23rd, 2004 at 2:05 pm
Best Designed Blog - Crooked Timber
Best Humanitarian Blog - Body and Soul
Best Investigative Research Blog - War and Piece
Hall of Fame Award - Billmon
December 23rd, 2004 at 2:31 pm
Best Photoblog: Probably nobody ever heard of MasaMania, he’s a Japanese photoblogger whose English is a bit choppy. Funny, wise, etc…
December 25th, 2004 at 10:19 pm
I’d like to add my voice to the nomination of Billmon for the Hall of Fame — although better would be for him to return to blogging.
December 26th, 2004 at 9:58 am
ACSBlog works hard in the Investigative Research category to break down the law into something ordinary people can understand (some posts, admittedly, are more geared to lawyers). ACSBlog’s recent series Clarence Thomas’ America is just one example.
December 26th, 2004 at 10:18 am
Best Investigative research - An American in Romania, who does Flogging the Simian
http://www.weblog.ro/soj
December 26th, 2004 at 5:34 pm
These are some tough categories. Let’s see…
Best Design: The Talent Show, a hugely underrated blog in my opinion.
Best Art/Photo Blog: Prentiss Riddle. See this post for a good example.
Best Technical Achievement: It’s not like he doesn’t get plenty of props already, but the mere fact that the Daily Kos keeps running with all the traffic it gets is in itself a pretty stunning technical achievement.
Best Humanitarian: The fine folks at Wampum.
Drysdale: He’d probably be annoyed at being called a righty, but I’ll pick Jim Henley anyway.
Investigative research: David Neiwert.
Hall of Fame: For being the direct inspiration to start my own blog, I nominate Ginger Stampley.
December 27th, 2004 at 10:52 am
my HOF vote goes to Billmon.
landed on his site earlier this year when i just couldn’t take any more faux news and i haven’t left blogistan since. his writing is sorely missed, but i’m pleased to see names with which i became so familiar at the Whiskey Bar as i roam the net in search of some semblance of truth.
bonne annee a tous!
December 29th, 2004 at 9:02 pm
Best photoblog: DohiyiMir
Don Drysdale award: Velociman (http://www.velociworld.com)
Best designed blog: Trailer Park Girl (http://www.crossroads.net/jnazak/blog/)
December 29th, 2004 at 9:07 pm
i almost forgot
i’m such a bad blogger. i almost forgot to mention kevin hayden’s perranoski prizes! he’s doing it as a companion…
December 29th, 2004 at 9:44 pm
Nomination for Best Investigative Research Blog–
goes to www.annatopia.com for her extensive work on the Howard Dean Campaign.
This is a woman who held down a full-time job and still found the time to drag herself out of bed to put time and effort towards this candidate. She has already been interviewed numerous times about the effect that the blogosphere had on the election, and it’s about time she received some other accolades as well.
January 5th, 2005 at 7:37 pm
Big Don Nod
I just realized kc at Rogue Planet, whom I fondly scrap with on occasion, he being of the liberal persuasion, nominated me for a Drysdale Award (best right-of-center blog) at The American Street. Not a conservative site. At first I…
June 10th, 2005 at 8:26 am
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January 4th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
[…] As an adjunct to the Koufax Awards for great lefty blogs, I once complemented the Wampumteam’s effort with the Perranoski Prizes, as described here. And one of the awards within that group was partly defined as: Don Drysdale Award […]