MLB week in review: Ichiro, Matsui top '09 highlights reel

CHICAGO--The 2009 major league season is officially in the books, so it's an opportune time to hand out awards spanning the good, bad and ugly in the regular season and playoffs.

Without further ado, let's open the envelopes:

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Regular Season MVP: This is the first, and easiest, category--it's gotta be Ichiro.

The Seattle Mariners star solidified his eventual nomination into the Hall of Fame by leading the major leagues with 225 hits while finishing the season with the second-highest batting average (.352) in the game.

Ichiro also became the second-fastest player in major league history to record 2,000 hits, and he established his own record for totaling 200 or more hits in nine straight seasons.

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Postseason MVP: Hideki Matsui in a landslide.

While leading the New York Yankees to their record 27th World Series championship, Matsui batted a staggering .615 with three home runs and eight RBIs while leading New York over the Philadelphia Phillies in six games.

Matsui saved his best performance for the final game of the World Series, hitting a home run, double and single while driving in six runs in the Yankees' 7-3 clinching victory on Wednesday.

After the Yankees knocked off the defending champion Phillies, Matsui was voted World Series MVP, becoming the first Japanese-born player to win the honor.

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Comeback Player of the Year: This one also goes Yankees designated hitter Matsui, who was thought to be at the end of the line with two bad knees.

Not only did Matsui show he could still swing the bat at age 35, he helped lead the Yankees to another World Series title with 28 home runs and 90 RBIs in the regular season to go along with a solid .274 average.

While his future in New York is still in doubt, the free-agent eligible Matsui showed he can be a big contributor for a major-league team in 2010.

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Postseason Flop: Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda is going to need a lot of time to get over his dismal outing in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Making his first appearance since Sept. 28 due to a bulging disk in his neck, Kuroda lasted just 1 1/3 innings in an 11-0 loss to the Phillies, allowing six runs on six hits while throwing just 39 pitches.

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Best Regular-Season Pitcher: He was moved to the bullpen in September when his innings started piling up, but Kenshin Kawakami was a solid starting pitcher in his first season with the Atlanta Braves.

Blame his 7-12 record on a lack of run support; Kawakami had a sparkling 3.86 ERA.

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Best Regular-Season Relief Pitcher: Just call Boston Red Sox left-hander Hideki Okajima "Mr. Consistent." For the third straight season, the 33-year-old reliever pitched over 60 innings out of the bullpen, and Okajima had a perfect record (6-0) this season while again ranking among league leaders with 24 holds.

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Best Rookie: Let's give it to another Boston Red Sox pitcher--Junichi Tazawa.

After bypassing professional baseball in Japan and jumping to the Red Sox, Tazawa debuted with Class AA Portland this season and quickly established himself as Boston's best minor-league starter.

Tazawa pitched in six games for Boston late in the season and was OK (2-3, 7.46 ERA), but he's only 23 years old and has a bright future.

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Most Consistent Hitter: Kosuke Fukudome still hasn't put up huge numbers with the Chicago Cubs like he did for the Chunichi Dragons, but he batted .259 with 11 home runs and 54 RBIs this season after batting .257 with 10 HR and 58 RBI in 2008.

The 32-year-old outfielder also led the Cubs with 93 walks and a .375 on-base percentage this year.

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Most Frustrating Season: There was plenty of competition is this category, but Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka is the winner.

A year after going 18-3 with a 2.90 ERA, Dice-K spent most of the season on the disabled list with shoulder fatigue.

The right-hander was 4-6 with a 5.76 ERA in 12 starts, but Matsuzaka was able to return in mid-September and help the Red Sox advance to the postseason.

Matsuzaka didn't pitch during Boston's first-round playoff loss to the Los Angeles Angels.

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Scariest Injury: On Aug. 14, Los Angeles Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda suffered a concussion when he was hit in the head by a line drive off the bat of Arizona's Rusty Ryal.

Kuroda dropped to the ground and it initially appeared that his career might be over. Fortunately, the 34-year-old pitcher avoided a serious injury, and Kuroda was back on the mound three weeks later.

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Most Disappointing Season: Catcher Kenji Jojima's future with the Seattle Mariners appeared to be in doubt after he batted .247 with nine home runs and 22 RBI in 71 games.

Jojima twice landed on the disabled list this year and fell out of favor with first-year manager Don Wakamatsu.

When the season ended, Jojima decided to opt out of the final two years of his contract with the Mariners, costing him $15.8 million (1.4 billion yen).

He recouped a bit of his losses though: Jojima then signed a four-year $21 million deal with the Hanshin Tigers.

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Biggest Surprise: Ichiro has been one of baseball's greatest hitters for years, but he never had a game-winning hit before this season.

Ichiro had three walk-off hits this year, including a two-run homer in the ninth inning against New York Yankees all-star closer Mariano Rivera.

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Good And Bad Award: Kei Igawa became the all-time wins leader (27) for Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season.

That's a nice achievement, but it's not exactly what the New York Yankees had in mind when they signed Igawa to a $46 million contract that runs through 2011.

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Scot Gregor covers Major League Baseball for Chicago's Daily Herald.(IHT/Asahi: November 10,2009)