Mist Calling

PHOENIX -- As we've laid out a rather forceful case for Brandon Webb's Cy Young Award credentials, Diamondhacks has been underwhelmed by lack of same from the local professional reporting corps.

We certainly dont want reporters blindly allied with the home team, but we do expect journalists to pursue a healthy allegiance with facts, in an effort to produce truthful impressions and crystalize public perception. Instead, what we tend to find in the local papers and online, are lazily researched articles that reinforce established, superficial impressions - and do little justice to Webb.

Here's two examples of the lukewarm coverage:

From The Republic's normally reliable Bob McManaman, entitled " Webb, Carpenter battle for Cy Young till end ":

The pitching statistics between Webb and Carpenter, the 2005 Cy Young winner, are virtually identical.

One writer with an NL Cy Young vote told The Republic he is waiting until the final game because "it's just too close to call.

And our favorite: 

The biggest difference might be that Carpenter is pitching for a winning team.

With the Diamondbacks out of the postseason picture, Webb's final starts won't include pressure-packed dependency.

To be fair, McManaman's effective love letter to the Cards' ace was filed before Carpenter's latest and greatest meltdown, and Bob appears to finally be putting at least one foot on the Webb bus today, but we still find his comparitive analysis seriously lacking. All things considered, is it really a hardship for Carpenter to pitch on a winning team, in a pitcher's park, against demonstrably weaker opposition all year long? Poor fellah - all that "pressure packed dependency", dontchya know. And then there's carefree and *** Brandon, apparently so very lucky to pitch for a last place team, in a bandbox, against some of the league's stiffest competition. Why, it's no wonder he leads the league in Wins and ERA with all those advantages.

Then there's this rubbish from diamondbacks.com, remarkably filed after last night's games:

Webb, who finds himself locked in a neck-and-neck battle with the Cardinals' Chris Carpenter for the National League Cy Young Award, wound up with a no-decision, but still may have strengthened his case for the award.

May have strengthened his case? Neck and neck after last night?

If diamondbacks.com is to be believed, Webb (23 quality starts), is fortunate to be mentioned in the same sentence as the Combustible Cardinal(19 QS), let alone be granted the by now obvious tag of most deserving CYA recipient.

Contrast these milquetoast conclusions with those of Rich Draper, the Giants' beat man covering the same game. His sister recap concentrates on Matt Morris and Moises Alou, which is perfectly fine. Apart from a Mike Stanton quote about the high caliber of Brandon's stuff, here's Draper's sole Webb reference:

Arizona's Brandon Webb, the NL's top candidate for the Cy Young Award with a 16-7 record, held the Giants to only three hits over seven frames, including Pedro Feliz's third-inning double.

Simple enough. Brandon is not "neck and neck", or even a top CY candidate. He's the top candidate. Period.

Perhaps Draper understands about season long park effects and strength of schedule? Or maybe he's watched Carpenter sink like a fiery zeppelin out of the Cy Young runnning?  Maybe he's spent more than 10 minutes researching the contextual issues?

Thanks to Draper and others, Giants fans see Webb as clearly as a sunny day on the bay.

Relying on Phoenix reporters, however, one wouldn't have the foggiest.

McManaman's 9/26 preview

diamondbacks.com 9/26 postgame

Giants beat writer 9/26 recap

McManaman's 9/27 article