Pujols wins 2nd MVP

[Ball And Glove]

Well whoever voted Pujols 7th should never get to vote for any award ever again.

 

Seriously, some of the people who vote on these things are clueless. Two 1st place votes for Lidge??

 

Hey look, I found him.

 

I had an MVP ballot and voted for Howard first because he almost single-handedly carried the Phillies to the playoffs by batting .352 with 11 homers and 32 RBI in September. I like to weight my voting to teams in the playoff hunt because I think that puts more pressure on players and separates the men from the boys. There's little pressure on players having big years if their teams aren't playing for anything at the end.

 

With the Cardinals finishing fourth, I voted Pujols seventh on my ballot. I don't consider MVP to be "the most outstanding player" award and therefore don't just go by who had the best stats. I like to credit players for lifting their teams to the post-season or at least keeping them in the race until the very end.

 

I understand that the Cardinals would not have been even close to the wild-card berth without Pujols, but I still like players who elevate their game in crunch time and lift their teams to new heights. And I thought Ryan Ludwick had just as much to do with keeping the Cards in the hunt as Pujols did. St. Louis did stay in the wild card race until mid-September, but mainly because the Brewers and Mets were gagging at the time.

 

It's a subjective vote and every writer has his own preferences. That's why I voted for Sabathia second and Ramirez third because even though they played in the league only half a season they were primarily responsible for putting their teams in the playoffs.

 

Here's the way I voted:

 

1. Ryan Howard, Phil

 

2. CC Sabathia, Mil

 

3. Manny Ramirez, LA

 

4. Carlos Delgado, NY

 

5. Aramis Ramirez, Chi

 

6. Prince Fielder, Mil

 

7. Albert Pujols, Stl

 

8. Ryan Ludwick, Stl

 

9. Ryan Braun, Mil

 

10. David Wright, NY

 

I voted Fielder higher than Braun because Fielder had a much better September when the Brewers were clawing to get in the playoffs. Braun was ailing, as we discovered, and did have the homer that put the Brewers in the playoffs, but I just felt Fielder did more down the stretch.

 

This is an inexact science. With 10 names on the ballot, you could move guys around and drive yourself nuts putting them in the spot you feel is best. But that's the way I voted. In sheer offensive numbers, Pujols certainly is tough to beat, which is why it's understandable that he got so much support.

 

The fact that he voted Sabathia second is reprehensible. I guess now we know where Dale Sveum's manager of the year votes came from, huh?

 

I don't know how he could say that he punished Pujols for playing on a 4th place team and not elevating his game to take his team to the playoffs. The dude nearly had an OPS of 1.200 in September and did have an OPS over 1.200 in August. How do you "elevate" anymore than that?

 

Blog posts like this make me wish FJM were still around, or at least wish that they stuck around long enough to poke fun at the MVP balloting. I can't wait for Dustin Pedroia to win it in the AL or something.

[rocket]

they already have an award for the player who stepped up his game in september. it's called the player of the month for september award.

 

anyone who voted howard first place is a moron.

[SouthSideRyan]

Congrats to Mr Braun for finishing 3rd. Next year Mr. Braun will win it and btw CC finished 6th.

 

No he won't.

 

It's criminal that he finished 3rd this year. I don't think I balloted him.

[SouthSideRyan]

NSBB matches 7 for 7 with the BBWAA.

 

Results

 

Actual Finish in [ ]

 

1. Albert Pujols: 121 (8) [1]

2. Lance Berkman: 65 (1) [5]

2. Hanley Ramirez: 65 [11]

4. Chipper Jones: 41 [12]

5. David Wright: 37 [7]

6. Chase Utley: 35 [14]

7. Ryan Howard: 28 [2]

8. Carlos Beltran: 19 [21]

9. Carlos Delgado: 18 [9]

10. Aramis Ramirez: 17 [10]

10. Matt Holliday: 17 [18]

10. Ryan Braun: 17 [3]

13. Jose Reyes: 16 [24 TIED WITH JOSE VALVERDE]

14. Manny Ramirez: 15 [4]

15. Tim Lincecum: 6 [23]

16. Ryan Ludwick: 4 [16]

16. Nate McLouth: 4 [27]

18. Geovany Soto: 3 [13]

19. Johan Santana: 1 [14]

19. CC Sabathia: 1 [6]

19. Andre Ethier: 1 [No Votes (This was me)]

Edited November 18, 2008 by SouthSideRyan

[brewersbrewers]

If Mr Braun didn't get hurt he maybe would have finished 2nd. Mr. Braun had a great last week of the season with a walk off grand slam vs Pittsburgh and the game winning homerun vs some team . i forgot who it was, to get the Brewers into the playoffs. Pujols deserved to win it he had a great season on a ok team.

[SouthSideRyan]

If Mr Braun didn't get hurt he maybe would have finished 2nd. Mr. Braun had a great last week of the season with a walk off grand slam vs Pittsburgh and the game winning homerun vs some team . i forgot who it was, to get the Brewers into the playoffs. Pujols deserved to win it he had a great season on a ok team.

 

Braun's also a mediocre at best defender in the easiest position to field on the diamond. He also hit like Alfonso Soriano this year.

 

Also: I liked the attempt at a dig, like we were going to be mad that Braun hit a HR to help the Brewers beat our B team.

[bukie]

I'm surprised there wasn't more love for Berkman, who had an absolute monster year of his own.

 

EDIT: Also, the love for Howard and Lidge "carrying" the Phillies to the playoffs completely overlooks the effort of Chase Utley, the true "MVP" of the Phillies for the year.

[SouthSideRyan]

I'm surprised there wasn't more love for Berkman, who had an absolute monster year of his own.

 

EDIT: Also, the love for Howard and Lidge "carrying" the Phillies to the playoffs completely overlooks the effort of Chase Utley, the true "MVP" of the Phillies for the year.

 

Chipper Jones continues to be the most underrated player of this generation as well. Those #s from a 3B???

[OleMissCub]

I'm surprised there wasn't more love for Berkman, who had an absolute monster year of his own.

 

EDIT: Also, the love for Howard and Lidge "carrying" the Phillies to the playoffs completely overlooks the effort of Chase Utley, the true "MVP" of the Phillies for the year.

 

Chipper Jones continues to be the most underrated player of this generation as well. Those #s from a 3B???

 

Chipper is definitely in the top 3rd basemen of all time.

 

To me you've got an easy 1-3 for 3rd baggers all-time with Schmidt, Mathews, and then Brett. After that there should be, in any order you want, Boggs, Santo, Robinson, and Jones.

[bcl412]

This just hit me. How the hell does Pujols only have two MVP awards? He's probably the best player of this generation.

[ISUCubsFan]

This just hit me. How the hell does Pujols only have two MVP awards? He's probably the best player of this generation.

 

Barry Bonds.

[Andy]

This just hit me. How the hell does Pujols only have two MVP awards? He's probably the best player of this generation.

 

Barry Bonds.

And Howard's probably-undeserved 2006 MVP.

[mul21]

This just hit me. How the hell does Pujols only have two MVP awards? He's probably the best player of this generation.

 

Stare Oids.

[Ski]

"Soto politely requested being left off the ballots; a survey of the voters indicates he would have received all ten votes on every ballot."

[Bull]

After their first 8 full seasons:

 

Gehrig: .345/.448/.644, 186 OPS+, 1610 Hits, 278 HR, 334 Doubles, 114 Triples, 1203 RBI, 1132 Runs, 849 Walks

 

Pujols: .334/.425/.624, 170 OPS+, 1531 Hits, 319 HR, 342 Doubles, 13 Triples, 977 RBI, 947 Runs, 696 Walks

 

 

Pujols is likely to retire as the second greatest first baseman of all time, perhaps even the first.

Factoring modern day competition, Pujols is better.

 

oh now you've done it

 

Is this the part where we call Ty Cobb a racist?

[Clem Fandango]

After their first 8 full seasons:

 

Gehrig: .345/.448/.644, 186 OPS+, 1610 Hits, 278 HR, 334 Doubles, 114 Triples, 1203 RBI, 1132 Runs, 849 Walks

 

Pujols: .334/.425/.624, 170 OPS+, 1531 Hits, 319 HR, 342 Doubles, 13 Triples, 977 RBI, 947 Runs, 696 Walks

 

 

Pujols is likely to retire as the second greatest first baseman of all time, perhaps even the first.

Factoring modern day competition, Pujols is better.

 

oh now you've done it

 

Is this the part where we call Ty Cobb a racist?

 

Ty Cobb is a sensationalist hack