SAN JOSE (AP) - The funny part is, it wasn’t even close.

“When I tallied the votes, it was pretty clear... the will of the owners and the will of the computer didn’t exactly match,” said Johannesburg owner Rick Gregg following the announcement of the first ever Weaverball Owner Awards.

Tehran’s Lou Gehrig took eighteen of nineteen first place votes, giving him 131 points to be named the owners' unofficial pick as Inferno League MVP.

“It’s great to know I have respect among the league’s owners, especially since I play in Tehran. I think that’s the best career decision I could have made, staying with the Knights.”

Gehrig became the first person in Weaver League history to win the Triple Crown in both the Inferno and Blizzard leagues. He hit .358, knocked in 141 runs, and set a Weaver League record by slamming 67 home runs… all in just 140 games!

“It was a great season for Lou,” Tehran owner Andrew Lamorie said. “And hopefully he’ll have an even better season in 2013.”

The computer selection for the award was New York’s Willie Mays. The Weaver owners scoffed at that selection, and Mays could do no better than fifth in the voting. His teammate, Rogers Hornsby, came in second. Honolulu’s Al Rosen finished third, and Ryan Klesko of Cozumel picked up one first place vote, but finished fourth.

In the Blizzard League, the vote was a minor surprise. Owners agreed with the computer’s assessment that shortstop Sendai Ashikaga, who played just one month in Long Beach, was nevertheless the league’s MVP. He picked up 11 first place votes, and 98 points.

Ashikaga won because there was no clear-cut candidate behind him. Gabby Brumley, Rich Becker, Todd Walker, and Mel Ott all finished first on at least one ballot. The Capybaras’ Brumley ended up in second place with 73 points, and Havana’s Becker finished third despite four first place nods.

“Hey, I’ve finally got my ring. It’s OK if they don’t think I’m the most valuable because we won, and that’s most important.”

Becker’s Havana teammate, Vida Blue, was a runaway winner of the owners' unofficial pick for Blizzard League Cy Young award. Like Gehrig, he picked up eighteen of nineteen first place votes.

“I deserved it! I mean, come on… 24 and 5, plus a ring in my first year? How could you vote for anyone else?”

Well, one owner did. Mike Castro of Long Beach picked up the other first place vote, but finished third. Sicily’s Ed Walsh came in second.

In the owners' IL Cy Young race, the result was the same as the official results have been for seven of the last eight years… Smokey Joe Wood takes home another trophy. It was just another season for the best pitcher in Weaver League history… 27-5, with a 1.16 ERA.

Bombay’s Jim Palmer picked up two first place votes and finished a distant second. Amity’s Andy Pettitte was the consensus third-place winner.

Johannesburg’s Joe Bell is the owners' unofficial pick as Inferno League’s Rookie of the Year, and his teammate Jerry Slappey held off Honolulu’s Darryl Vandagrift for second place. Vandagrift had a solid year, hitting 27 home runs and stealing 42 bases. He was the computer’s choice for Rookie of the Year. But Bell’s .287 average (and, to be sure, Johannesburg’s remarkable 90-win season) won over the owner vote.

Nowhere near as close a race in the Blizzard League, where Rio’s Leon Frey received seventeen first place votes and ran away with the voting. Tokyo’s Slim Davis came in second, and the computer’s choice, Carney Stillwell (also a Capybara) finished third. Voters were impressed more by Frey’s 2.85 ERA than Stillwell’s .224 average.

Johannesburg’s Rick Gregg and Havana’s Edwin Mercado are the owners of the year. Mercado, who assembled the World Champion Cigars, ran away with the Blizzard League vote. Edmonton’s J.J. Wurz did pick up four first place votes to come in third, and Sicily’s Anthony Stellato got enough votes to finish second.

Gregg, who was in charge of the voting, insists there was no wrongdoing in the count.

“I have all the ballots, and you can examine them yourself” he told this reporter. “I do want to thank my fellow owners for recognizing the job we’ve done to build the Steelmen into a contender… really, for the first time in franchise history.”

Gregg barely beat out Amity’s Max R, who led the White Sharks back to the playoffs in his first year with the club. Max finished just six votes back of Gregg, and the difference can be attributed to first place votes. Gregg had nine, Max had six. Cozumel’s Greg Wardlow finished a distant third.