Well, whether this is a bunch of hooey like the Gold Glove awards or not, the Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award winners for 2007 have been announced:

National League:

• C – Russell Martin, Dodgers
• 1B – Prince Fielder, Brewers
• 2B – Chase Utley, Phillies
• 3B – David Wright, Mets
• SS – Jimmy Rollins, Phillies
• OF – Carlos Beltran, Mets; Matt Holliday, Rockies; Carlos Lee, Astros
• P – Micah Owings, Rockies

American League

• C – Jorge Posada, Yankees
• 1B – Carlos Pena, Devil Rays
• 2B – Placido Polanco, Tigers
• 3B – Alex Rodriguez, Yankees
• SS – Derek Jeter, Yankees
• OF – Vladimir Guerrero, Angels; Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners; Magglio Ordonez, Tigers
• DH – David Ortiz, Boston

The selections are made by major league managers and coaches, who are not allowed to vote for players on their own teams. The specially designed award, a three-foot high trophy engraved with the name of the winner and those of the other winners in his league, will be presented some time during 2008 to each player by a representative of Hillerich & Bradsby Co., which manufactures the Louisville Slugger bats that are the official bat of major league baseball.

Chuck Tanner, the manager of the Pirates “We Are Family” championship team of 1979, has been named a senior advisor to new Pirates’ GM Neal Huntington.

The term “senior advisor” is an apt one since Tanner is 79 years old. He had been working for the Indians as a scout, and before that had been a special assistant to the GM in Milwaukee.

Tanner first broke into baseball in 1946 as an outfielder in the Milwaukee Braves’ farm system and managed in the major leagues for 19 years, serving four different clubs – the White Sox, A’s, Pirates, and Braves..