Tuesday, November 15, 2005

The Sympathy Vote

Now I know there are some Cardinals fans around here so before they jump all over me and try to shit down my throat, I will say that I think Albert Pujols is a great player. He’s certainly the best player in the National League and is definitely 1 or 1A in any conversation regarding the best overall player in the game. That being said, I think Pujols won the 2005 National League MVP on the sympathy vote. He had been a runner-up so many times to Barry Bonds that people just had to give it to him. I’m not saying he doesn’t have the stats to back up the award – he had a great season. I’m not saying he isn’t a likeable enough person to justify a sympathy vote – he’s certainly more likeable than Andruw Jones. It’s just that I don’t think he earned the award this year.

Statistically speaking, Pujols had the best all-around season in the National League. The problem is, I don’t think that is what the MVP is all about. I think the MVP shouldn’t just be the “best batter” award (we already have that with the Silver Slugger and the Hank Aaron awards). I think the MVP should take other factors into consideration – issues of impact and “clutchness” as well as team adversity, team strength, placement in the standings and other stuff along those lines. Sure, you have to meet a certain statistical standard to even be considered, otherwise you’d have guys like Chris Burke winning MVP’s because they hit one more meaningful homer than, say, Jeff Bagwell or Morgan Ensberg. But once you weed out the crowd and you get down to your final candidates, you have to go beyond stats. You have to look at a player’s contributions to the team beyond numbers.

Am I opening myself up to conversations of “well, that means David Ortiz should’ve won the MVP over ARod!”? – you bet I am. As a Yankee fan, I’m happy that one of our own won the award. I think it was well-deserved. But I also would’ve understood if Ortiz had won and would’ve found it perfectly legitimate.

The fact is that despite all of Pujols’ impressive stats and his easy-to-root-for personality, Andruw Jones meant more to the Braves than Albert Pujols meant to the Cards. I know that might sound strange but its true. Given the crappy state of the NL Central, the Cards probably would’ve won their division even if Albert had gone on the 15-day DL at some point. The same cannot be said of Atlanta’s chances. They played in the best division in baseball and Andruw going down for an extended period of time would’ve sunk the Braves. Andruw carried the Atlanta Braves on his back all summer long. He had no protection in the lineup, he played alongside a half-dozen or more rookies and he steered his team to their 14th straight division title. To me, that is unbelievable. To hit 51 homers on a team like that? Sure, Rolen missed the whole season and Edmonds wasn’t 100% this year but Pujols still hit in a better lineup, in a more hitter-friendly park, on a better team that was expected to win. Jones took a team that was written off and delivered them to October’s doorstep.

To penalize Andruw Jones for being a lazy fat-ass who has squandered his natural talent in pursuit of the perfect cheeseburger isn’t fair. I don’t believe that Andruw Jones will ever have a season like this again, one where he hits meaningful homers and carries his team to the top of the heap. He earned his MVP in my mind and he should’ve been awarded it accordingly. Remember this: if Albert Pujols never wins an MVP because each and every year there is someone better, that’s not anyone’s fault. It happens. It’s not the writers’ responsibility to handicap the field and decide that this is the year they correct past mistakes or squeeze in an award before Bonds or another player comes back.

At the end of the day, I don’t think Pujols’ victory is legitimate. I think it’s a case of the writers sticking to their pre-season predictions, not wanting to be wrong, not wanting to do the right thing.

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