honor role

Things turned sour for Lance Lynn in the postseason. The right-hander from Ole Miss made two lackluster starts in the National League Championship Series, which his St. Louis Cardinals lost to San Francisco. He also gave up a walk-off home run in the NLDS against Washington. But put all that aside. Lynn’s regular season stats were stellar: 18-7 record, 3.78 ERA, 180 strikeouts in 176 innings. He made the All-Star Game in his first full big league season. He played a prominent role for a playoff team. And he earned the 2012 Cool Papa Bell Award, given here for the best performance by a Mississippian (native or college alum) in the majors. Lynn won out over some strong competition. Mississippi State product Jonathan Papelbon had another good year, his first in Philadelphia: 38 saves, 2.44 ERA. MSU’s Mitch Moreland hit .275 with 15 homers for Texas. Ole Miss alum Seth Smith hit .240 with 14 homers for Oakland. Ex-Rebels star Zack Cozart hit .246 with 15 homers and played solid defense for Cincinnati as a rookie shortstop. Meridian Community College product Cliff Lee had a 3.16 ERA and 207 K’s (with just six wins) for the Phillies. Still, Lynn’s 18 wins puts him over the top. He joins Chris Coghlan (2009), Roy Oswalt (2010) and Lee (2011) as winners of the Bell award.