AL MVP

Glad to see a pitcher win it.

I don't remember what year it was, but Pedro was so robbed one of the years when Pudge won it that I was beginning to wonder if another pitcher was ever going to win it.

 

Evan Grant voted for Michael Young and is taking a bollocking for it on Twitter. Evan, as you may remember, also left Dustin Pedroia off his ballot the year Pedroia won.

 

Mizzou, that was 1999, when the AL field was about the most overqualified in MVP history. Manny Ramirez had 165 RBI and finished I think seventh. Pudge did have an amazing year that year, but Pedro was ridiculous. Every day I covered a game of his, I went to the park expecting to see a no-hitter.

 

What a ridiculous, ridiculous statement. The difference in their OPS alone which, I imagine you're not familiar with is all that is needed to refute this trash.

 

Back that up. Prove it.

Oh, that's right. You can't.

You are ignoring a huge difference between the season Hernandez had and the one Verlander did. Verlander's team won its division. Hernandez's team in 2010 was terrible. Team performance is a huge factor in the MVP voting.

And no, that is not the same as his record.

 

No, little sock puppet. You are the only one making that comparison.

More importantly, the correct response to Dick's post would be to admit how incredibly wrong you were. Not that we should ever expect that from you.

I will ask again. Please take your silly bullshit back to the Jeter thread where it belongs. If you want to post on the legitimate threads, do better.

 

Which I guess means he finished tied with a bunch of other guys for DFL ... dead fucking last!

 

Also of note, Verlander led in all three Triple Crown categories.

Hernandez did not (although I'm not definite on that).

 

I'm very familiar with OPS, and aware that Bautista's (1.055) was higher than Ellsbury's (.928), primarily on the strength of his 130-plus walks.

However, I'll take Ellsbury's other tangible numbers.

Runs: 14 more than Bautista
Hits: 57 more
Doubles: 22 more
Triples: 3 more
Homers: 11 fewer
RBIs: 2 more
Steals: 30 more

He had more total bases, and more extra-base hits, while playing perfect defense (1.000 percentage) in the toughest outfield position, in a park with a huge center field.
Obviously those who cover MLB on a daily basis concurred.

 

Your contention that Bautista's season does not come close to Ellsbury's is ridiculous. You want to vote for Ellsbury, fine, but you lose all credibility when you say that Bautista's season doesn't come close to Ellsburys. He outslugged and got on base more than Ellsbury and that is not close.
2RBI, 3 triples? Come on, that is one hell of a stretch.

 

I guess we will agree to disagree. Lots of cleanup hitters have had seasons like Bautista's. Very, very, very few leadoff hitters have ever had a season like Ellsbury's.

Again, Bautista's OPS and OBS advantage is mostly the result of more walks. Not to devalue walks, but you get far more production out of 57 more hits and 30 more stolen bases than 70 or so extra walks.

And the wide edge in defense is even more of a bonus.

 

Historical comparisons to other players in similar roles are meaningless. This is for the 2011 MVP. You compare what the players did this season.

And if you are going to make a big deal out of the edge in runs scored and RBI, you also need to acknowledge that Ellsbury has the advantage of playing in a much better lineup.

I have no problem with putting Ellsbury ahead of Bautista, but I have to agree with JC. To say it isn't close is ridiculous.