Who should be the 2001 AL MVP?

[Skipper Steve]

We had so much "fun" with the AL Cy Young, care to try this one too?

[BuzzBuzzard]

I went Giambi. Seemed to be a little bit of taking the easy way out, but he's got the numbers to support. I was also thinking ARod and Thome, but Jason's got them beat.

[satchel]

Without looking at any numbers, I went with Giambi. He's got great all-around numbers and is such a leader to that team - he must deserve some credit for keeping the kids from throwing in the towel after their awful start. There's an argument for Boone too since he put up great numbers at a defense position.

[Skipper Steve]

My take on "MVP" has always been that it should be the most valuable player - - - that's why they call it MVP and not "Player of the Year."

So, to determine who should be MVP, I always look at the top performers and then try and determine who was most valuable to their teams success.

The rub with all the Seattle and Cleveland hitters in this poll is that they negate each other. Without Boone, Seattle still had Ichiro, Cameron, Edgar, etc. - and probably could have won. You can really say that about any one of the M's hitters. Ditto in Cleveland with the Alomar, Juan Gone, Thome combo - - at least to me.

A-Rod had the best year - - but, Texas would have been just as shitty without him.

To me, the three "players" most valuable - in terms of a contribution to their team's success - - are Clemens, CC, and Giambi. Without Clemens, the Yanks do not win. Without CC, the Tribe's pitching is a joke. Without Giambi, Oakland does not make the playoffs.

Giambi is an every day player - so, he has to get the nod over the two pitchers.

I just wonder of the Sportswriters will see it the same way?

[TGwynn19]

I voted for Giambi but I think that Ichiro is a close second. I beleive that he was the missing link in Seattle and I don't see them being the great offensive team without him. He was a major disruptive force when he got on base and was the best defensive outfilder in the AL. For my money he is the most exciting player in the big leagues.

[Skipper Steve]

Interesting snip from a Bill James Chat on ESPN.com (I put the link under the thread for the Baseball Abstract in "Baseball History"):

Joseph (Petaluma,CA): Bill, who do you think truevly deserves to be AL MVP?

Bill James: Jason Giambi, but Ichiro's going to win it, and he's legit, too. But I'd vote for Giambi.

[Duque]

I wouldn't be surprised if Ichiro won, even though Giambi is infinitely more deserving (this isn't to say Ichiro isn't deserving - but if some were complaining about Clemens winning a Cy with an ERA .25-.40 more than some of his competitors, how bout Ichiro winning it with an OBP and SLG % of 100 points less than some of his competitors?)

I wonder what makes James so certain, though.

[Skipper Steve]

Originally posted by Duque
I wonder what makes James so certain, though.

He's just like Doctor bloody Bernofsky!

[mainsr]

Hey, I just checked out 2001 Internet Baseball Awards at the Baseball Prospectus website. Here's the link if you want to see it for yourself: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/ne...1109spira.html

The vote is open to the public, but because it's on the BP website, it attracts serious hardcore fans (i.e., people smarter than your average sportswriter). Here are some interesting results:
AL MVP - Giambi, Rodriguez, Boone, Alomar, Suzuki.
NL MVP - Bonds in a cakewalk. Sosa and Gonazalez far behind.
AL Cy - Garcia, Mussina, Mulder, Clemens, Hudson. (I will restrain myself by not making any comment)
NL Cy - Johnson, Schilling, Morris, Maddux, Kile.
Rookies - No surprises.
AL Manager - Piniella, Howe, Kelly, Williams, Torre.
NL Manager - Bowa, Tracey, Baker, LaRussa, Dierker

As for my vote, it was a horse race between Giambi and A-Rod. I don't go for Skip's criteria ("Nobody on really good or really bad teams need apply") because it eliminates too many players. I went with Giambi because his numbers were SO overwhelming that I think the difference between him and the typical 1B was even greater than that between A-Rod and the rest.

mainsr, can you fix your link? It's broken.

[Skipper Steve]

Originally posted by Yogi#8Fan
mainsr, can you fix your link? It's broken.

I fixed it.

[Duque]

Originally posted by Skipper Steve


He's just like Doctor bloody Bernofsky!

This took me a while to get - until I clicked on the link.

Still love the episode with the killer joke, though. Especially the German's counter-joke: "Zere vere two peanuts valking down ze strasse, unt one of them vas assaulted.....peanut. Heh heh heh."

, I know (you started it), but I went to High School with John Cleese's daughter.

Btw, I will be fascinated to see how many votes A-Rod does get.

[mainsr]

Originally posted by Duque
Btw, I will be fascinated to see how many votes A-Rod does get.

Betcha he finishes pretty far down. The BBWAA mindset is to make up weird permutations on Skip's argument about MVP vs. Player of the Year, one of which is "guys who play for lousy clubs can't be MVPs," (along with "Starters can't be MVPs" and "MVP stands for 'Most RBIs' in some obscure language"). A-Rod will finish behind Giambi, Suzuki, Boone, and at least one of the Indians triumvirate (Alomar, Gonzalez, and Thome), I predict. He ought to be giving Giambi a run for his money.

(Don't use Dawson in 1987 as a counter-argument; that was a fluke, and besides, he qualifies under the "Most RBIs" definition.)

Skip, you want to know why they call it MVP instead of Player of the Year? Because MVP sounded good at the time. People read ridiculous things into that off-the-cuff choice of words. The BBWAA decided to vote for an award, and "Best Guy This Season" didn't sound right, so they came up with MVP. That's it. The way people try to parse those three words, going into linguistic gymnastics to explain why a starting pitcher or a guy whose team sucked or a guy whose team won in a cakewalk can't be MVP, makes it seem like the words MVP rank up there with the Bible or the Constitution or some Buddhist koan as an object of creative interpretation.

[Skipper Steve]

Originally posted by Duque
, I know (you started it), but I went to High School with John Cleese's daughter.

In the US?

[Duque]

Originally posted by Skipper Steve


In the US?

Yup. If you're a wealthy actor, would you rather live in England or the US?