May 17, 2007

A baseball coach in this area still holds a grudge against the sports staff at this newspaper for what he perceived was a &#8220monumental snub” when we gave the 2002 Vicksburg Post Offensive Player of the Year award to a running back instead of a prominent quarterback.

A soccer parent hinted that it was a grave injustice this year when one player earned this newspaper’s top award over another.

It happens every year in every sport. It will continue to happen as long as awards are handed out.

The common answer is we voted on it, one athlete received more votes, deal with it. The sun will rise again in the morning and the snubbed athlete will find a way to carry on. Somehow.

So it would be time for me, the one who fields most of the angry phone calls, to announce a mighty big snub not perpetrated by this newspaper.

The Ferriss Award finalists were announced Monday. Ole Miss shortstop Zack Cozart, Mississippi State’s Edward Easley and Belhaven’s Thomas Royals will travel to Cleveland, and one will leave as the best player in Mississippi.

The award is voted on by coaches and scouts, not media members. The award presentation is scheduled for Monday at 7 p.m. on Mississippi Public Broadcasting.

So how could the voters overlook Ole Miss’ Justin Henry?

Henry, a junior, is hitting 66 points higher than Cozart. He has 16 more hits, six more triples, has a higher slugging percentage, has walked more and struck out less. Henry’s on-base percentage is 65 points higher than his teammate, he has stolen six more bases and committed five fewer errors.

Both are juniors with very good chances of leaving school at the end of this season for greener pastures of professional baseball. Both are keys to any hopes the Rebels have of making noise in the postseason. Numbers don’t lie, though, and the fact is Henry’s numbers are far superior to Cozart’s.

Cozart is a three-year all-American and should be considered. However, the award has had four finalists in the past and there should be four now.

The other finalists sport ridiculously impressive numbers. Royals hits .421 with 51 RBIs, 91 hits and 25 doubles.

Easley, a rocket-armed catcher, leads the Bulldogs in hits, runs scored, home runs and RBIs. All three are worthy finalists.

And so is Henry.

This should come as little surprise to him, though, because it was he, the quarterback of the Vicksburg Gators, who got snubbed in 2002 by this newspaper.

He was the best player in the county then, and frankly our sports staff made an error. It has happened in the past and will happen in the future.

On Monday, he was snubbed again by the voters of the Ferriss Award.

I wonder if the coach who still hangs on to a grudge five years later will hold similar feelings toward the voters of the Ferriss Award?

If he does, I might just join him.