My dad got to enjoy 3 Reds World Championships by the time he was my age. So far, I've only gotten to enjoy one. Step it up Redlegs!
Just heard on the radio that one of the Cleveland writers left Verlander off his ballot, and the other had him 8th.
"Reality tells us there are no guarantees. Except that some day Jon Lester will be on that list of 100-game winners." - Peter Gammons
As long as Ellsbury, Granderson and Bautista can win the Cy Young, I'm fine with this
Hoping to change my username to 75769024
I had to update this Sporcle quiz I created:
http://www.sporcle.com/games/jametz/PitcherMVPs
“In the same way that a baseball season never really begins, it never really ends either.” - Lonnie Wheeler, "Bleachers, A Summer in Wrigley Field"
The Baseball Emporium - Books & Things.
The Baseball Bookstore
http://tsc-sales.com/
http://tscsales.blogspot.com/
http://silverscreenbooks.com/
I know some say pitchers only pitch every fifth day and shouldn't win the MVP....
But if we are quantifying things, how many pitches is a starting pitcher involved in a year versus say a first baseman? Point being, despite only playing every 5 games, when a pitcher is on the mound he has a greater effect on the game than anyone else on the field. To what extent is certainly debatable.
David Robertson got an MVP vote, Michael Young got a 1st place vote.
"Reality tells us there are no guarantees. Except that some day Jon Lester will be on that list of 100-game winners." - Peter Gammons
I have no problem with Verlander winning it at all. In my opinion, he deserved it...regardless if the pitchers have the Cy Young or not.
Not a problem at all with it.
I don't have a problem with a pitcher winning the MVP. But I do have a problem with Verlander winning this one. The problem is, Verlander was outstanding this year, but he wasn't Pedro 99/00 type good, nor was he Maddux 94/95 type good. Verlander wasn't clearly better than the position players on the ballot, so I take issue there.
"I prefer books and movies where the conflict isn't of the extreme cannibal apocalypse variety I guess." Redsfaithful
I agree.
IIRC, years ago Bill James calculated how many batters Rod Guidry faced during his epic 1978 season as compared to how many at bats Jim Rice had in that, his MVP winning season. Guidry's batters pitched to was about the same number as Rice's at bats.
I don't think a modern closer/relief pitcher, making about 60 appearances a year, all of one inning, deserves consideration for the MVP award but I have no problem with a starting pitcher, who faces as many batters a season as a batter has at bats, being considered.
"Hey...Dad. Wanna Have A Catch?" Kevin Costner in "Field Of Dreams."
Verlander deserved this award. The guy had an awesome year.
The last five Detroit MVP winners have all been pitchers.
Last edited by muddie; 11-21-2011 at 05:39 PM.
Pedro Martinez didn't deserve the award in 1999 because he was a pitcher. In my opinion, a precedence was set when they voted Ivan Rodriguez the award based on that standard of judgement.
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