I wish I had more to say in this column, but I don’t. A bit of honesty is needed: the past month of my life has been so impossibly busy that I’ve found myself missing more Sox games than I’ve seen, and writing a great deal less than normal. So, this will be short but sweet.
I took a lot of heat on these pages last year for my undying belief that Alex Rodriguez deserved last year’s MVP more than David Ortiz. He was, quite simply, the better player; maybe his greatest moments didn’t occur at the most opportune times, but his performance in 2005 was astounding. I still stand by that opinion, no matter how much heat it nets me.
This year, though, it’s a different kind of competition for the MVP. To my mind, there are only two viable candidates, and both of their hats bear a red B. Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz have been pacing each other all season, and each is closing in on what could be considered, when its said and done, the best seasons of their respective careers.
The numbers speak for themselves. Ramirez, at the beginning of yesterday’s game, had an OPS of 1.057 – the 4th best of his career, coming in a “post-steroid” season where the average AL offensive player is worse than they were in seasons past. He leas the AL in OPS, ranking 3rd overall in OBP and 2nd in SLG. He entered play yesterday with the 2nd best RC/27 in the AL, behind only Travis Hafner; in terms of pure RC, his only competition was Ortiz himself – both at 94.2. Evey facet of his game is at its height this season: only 5 players have seen more pitches per AB than Ramirez, and none – barring perhaps Jim Thome – have done as much damage with them. Manny has hit 45 homers twice in his career, and is on pace to do so again in 2006; in nether of those seasons has Manny put up rate stats like those of his 2006 campaign. And yet he’s somehow done all of this without ever seeming to get hot. A week-long tear, and we could be talking about this season as the crowning achievement in Manny’s long and storied career.
Ortiz, meanwhile, is without question in the middle of his greatest season. Despite all the heroics, Ortiz’s best OPS – 1.001 in 2005 – didn’t approach the heights that other hitters of his reputation have achieved. This season, however, he’s obliterating his past marks with a 1.022 OPS, fueled primarily by a career-best .629 SLG. Ortiz is on pace to hit nearly 60 HR, and is essentially a lock – barring injury – to break Jimmie Foxx’s all-time single-season Boston HR record of 50, set in 1938. All that alone would put him in the conversation a an MVP candidate; add to it his unerring ability to put the team on his back and run seemingly once per homestand, and he becomes once again a leading candidate.
One of these two men should win the American League’s Most Valuable Player Award. Regardless of who takes home the hardware, however, we should all take a moment ad think about how incredibly lucky we are as fans to be able to watch these two men hit 162 games a year. They are the heart of this ballclub, in every possible way. They are probably the greatest tandem of hitters since Gehrig and Ruth. They’re entertaining, endearing, and energizing stars, and they represent the very best talent in Major League Baseball. No matter how this season unfolds, remind yourself that you saw this, and be grateful.
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And yet, Jeter is mentioned as the forerunner. Disgusting.
Oh, but how can you not pick the Yankee Captain for MVP, Evan? Jeter may win the batting title, and he has those intangibles and the calm eyes, and the Yankees have been crippled by injuries and he stepped up his game and carried the team through adversity and into further October glory, just like a team leader should. And he doesn’t wear a gaudy C on his uniform either, because he doesn’t want to ever appear “above” any one player on his team. He’s a real gamer, the heart and soul of the Yankees, and we peons will never know the true depths of his talents and leadership abilities. Don’t you think it’s time he finally won an MVP award? It’s practically his divine birthright after all the years he’s spent going underappreciated and unrespected by the mainstream media.
…I think I just made myself sick writing that.
In all seriousness, though, thanks for this post, Andrew. Manny and Ortiz have spoiled us these past several years, I think. I often find myself wondering how I’ll describe them to the next generation of Sox fans, because what they do simply boggles the mind. The raw power they both have is astounding in itself, but the consistency is what really gets me. Manny’s had nine (?) straight years of 30 or more homers, and Papi always seems to deliver the big hit when we need it. They are nothing short of amazing.
Co-MVP’s? Stranger things have happened. And the mention of Jeter makes a lot of sense. Like him or not, his numbers don’t lie. I hated even typing that!
Anything Jeter does pales in comparison to Ortiz breaking a 60 year-old record set by one of the greatest hitters in history. Or then again, maybe he “only” breaks the 40-year old record, in which case it becomes a no-brainer that he wins the MVP.
If he catches Foxx and sets the club record, wow. If he catches Maris and sets the league record, wow. Either way, Jeter doesn’t hold a candle to that unless he finishes the season with a .400+ AVG.
A (slightly older) friend of mine was talking about Ortiz the other day and compared what Papi is doing to what Yaz did in ‘67. I didn’t see Yaz in ‘67 of course, so I don’t know how valid the comparison is. But I know that I’ve never seen the like of what Ortiz is doing right now.
I say this is the year a DH finally wins the MVP. You’ve got Hafner, Ortiz, Thome, and Giambi all in the mix. The thing working against Manny & Hafner, though, is that the best part of their stellar all-around games this season has been their discipline, a quiet brand of excellence.
Jeter. My ass.
Unfortunately, the writers look at the classic stats, and that’s about it.
they’ll look at batting average. Jeter wins there and they’ll foolishly question weather a hitter batting less than .300 should win the award. Then they’ll look at RBI’s and HR’s.
Obviusly Papi will win at the latter two. But then the writers will say that that’s not Jeter’s job to drive in runs… but look how many he plated, despite that not being “his job”….
Oh…. AND HE PLAYS AN OUTSTANDING GAME OF DEFENSE!
And then they’ll say.. Papi doesn’t play defense.
Then they’ll say, “MVP is Jeter’s”.
The only way Papi will even be close, yet again unfortunately is if he finishes with 60 HR’s and 162+ RBI’s, which is very possible and absolutely deserving of unanimous MVP voting.
the writers are dumb shits though….
Liten, to be fair, Jeter is having a very good season. Not as good as like 8 or 10 other players in the AL, but really very good, and his best since 1999 (when he arguably could have won the MVP though Pedro should have).
Sam and Trotsky – that all may be ue, but to me, Manny h every bit as good an argument for MVP this year as Ortiz. I wish I kew why Many didn’t get more MVP love. He always seems to make the top 5, but never the top spot. My guess is his consistency; how can you give a guy n MVP when he goes out and does the exact same thing every single year?
I think the writers/voters simply don’t like Manny. They think he’s all those things that we’ve heard a million times about Manny.
They’ll rationalize NOT voting for him by saying his defense is atrocious without backing it up and being total hypocrites for having delivered Giambi an MVP trophy.
The writers DO like Papi though… but he’s no “Captain Intangibles” and are somehow convinced that he’s the best defensive SS in the league.
But then there was YAZ….on a team in ‘67 that was predicted to finish 9th…and every time a base hit, a double, a “catch that ball off the wall and throw him out at second base” play, Yaz was just simply YAZ. He was amazing. I was young then, really young. Watching a larger than life person. But he was amazing. Just like Papi is now. But the arm from left? Simply amazing. Yaz is and was Yaz…there will be no other. Print it.
The only problem with picking Ortiz is that Hafner is a better player at the same position. He has a higher average, OBP, SLG, and VORP.
In some ways, the MVP should correlate with the team’s success, but not too much. In Hafner’s case, sure he’s hit a ton of grand slams, but the Indians are totally out of the race. Ortiz, like 2005, is the backbone and centerpiece of the Red Sox, providing every clutch hit, and on nights like last, the entire offense. You simply cannot measure what Big Papi has meant to the Red Sox this year against any other player. Papi is the clear-cut MVP, and I think he’s going to beat out Jeter this year. Most voters have realized their mistake last season and will give Ortiz the edge.
Yeah, what Zach said. Hafner has been the best player in the league, but he plays on a bad team. Unless Hafner has a blows-you-out-of-the-water type season, you give the MVP award to the guy on a winning team.
Stats matter. But stats in the limelight matter too. Don’t ask me why, but that’s the way the sportswriters will have it. And dumbshits though they might be, they still control the voting.