Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
November 17, 2008
Pujols Wins MVP

Albert Pujols wins the NL MVP award, taking both the most first place and second place votes.

Pujols, who previously won the award in 2005, was the only player whose name appeared on all 32 ballots submitted by two writers in each league city. He was listed first on 18 ballots, second on 10, third on two, fourth on one and seventh on one for a total of 369 points, based on the tabulation system that rewards 14 points for first place, nine for second, eight for third and on down to one for 10th.

It's a very interesting vote, with Howard finishing second, and Brad Lidge receiving two first place votes but finishing eighth. Outside of Pujols and Howard, there was no real consensus. Manny Ramirez finished fourth, which is pretty amazing considering he was in the league for just two months. Sabathia finished sixth, again the voters recognizing the impact of a short term player. For the second year in a row, I'm surprised at the lack of support for Hanley Ramirez.

A question arose as to my earlier post, as to why I left Berkman off the ballot when I thought he played better than Ryan Howard. The answer was simply that Berkman was just another first baseman having a great year. Down ballot, I like to recognize accomplishments. So Howard leading the majors in home runs goes down there, as does Manny's two incredible months with the Dodgers, and Tim Lincecum's Cy Young season. I think there can be some subjectivity to the MVP ballot, especially down ballot.

Congratulations to Albert Pujols on his second win. If Barry Bonds hadn't been around early in the decade, we might have seen four or five wins by now.


Posted by David Pinto at 02:21 PM | Awards | TrackBack (0)
Comments

The way I look at it, is if I can take one player from this year and him him exactly duplicate this season, who would I take first?
This is more of a "player of the year" type thinking I admit....but isn't that the same thing as having most value?

Posted by: Boomer at November 17, 2008 02:45 PM

Who do I send my irate letter to in order to complain about that green background on the BBWAA website?!?

Posted by: NoPepperGames at November 17, 2008 04:58 PM

First off, I would like to thank you for an informative post. The debate about who would win the NL MVP award was heating up towards the end of the season and, to be honest, it really seemed like Ryan Howard was going to win it because of his huge late-season numbers and the fact that his team won the division (NL East) and was going to the playoffs for a second straight year. I know that Howard's numbers were not all pretty, especially his .251 batting average and his 199 strikeouts. But, nonetheless, he still led the majors with 48 home runs and 146 RBI. Also, as I mentioned before, it almost seemed like Howard single handedly carried his team through much of August and September, coming up with huge hits almost every game. The combination of his power numbers, his September surge and his team making the playoffs, I feared MVP voters might give too much significance to any particular statistical category or the fact that his team had a chance to play on into October. It seems my fears were unwarranted, however, as Albert Pujols won the NL MVP award.
I think it was much deserved, as Pujols put up his usual spectacular numbers, piling up 37 home runs and 116 RBI, all while hitting .357 (the second highest average in the majors). Also, although his team did not make the playoffs, they were in the race and reasonably competitive for most of the season. I think Pujols was the correct pick because he is such an impact player at the heart of the St. Louis lineup. Although St. Louis developed some offensive firepower with the likes of Ankiel and Ludwick, Pujols supporting cast was not as strong and Howard plays in a home ball park notorious for favoring hitters. I am never sure how much bearing the team's end standing has on MVP voting, but I believe as long as the team is competitive for most of the season, the best player from that team should always receive some consideration. In this case, it was the best player in the league, if not the entire majors.
My question for you is, do you agree with selection of Pujols as MVP? You say in your post, "I'm surprised at the lack of support for Hanley Ramirez". While the young Marlins were surprisingly good in many ways, their drop off towards the end of the season contributed to a lot less press coverage for Ramirez. He put up very good numbers, with a high OBP and lots of runs, home runs and stolen bases (though not as many as in years past). What do you think he needs to do different to get more consideration? If Florida had made the playoffs, do you think he would THEN have received a reasonable amount of consideration since the numbers are there?

Also, if you have the chance, I maintain a baseball blog at andrewotoshi.blogspot.com and would greatly appreciate any feedback.

Posted by: Andrew Otoshi at November 18, 2008 10:00 AM

The true NL MVP is the GM who strained the most and still resisted signing Barry Bonds. The first year of baseball A.B. was quite refreshing.

Posted by: Leco at November 18, 2008 03:27 PM
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