MVPapi
I'm ending the debate right now, the 2005 American League MVP is Sox slugger David Ortiz. He doesn't make pin point throws across the diamond, or flash the leather. All he does is hit, and hit he has. If you've talked to me in the past two months, my candidate for AL MVP was Vlad. Sure his numbers are down this year as a result of the time he missed while on the DL, but when it comes right down to it, the Angels would have been lucky to even have been be thinking Wild Card without Vlad's services.
The other logical candidate in the AL is Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees. Nobody can dispute what he's done this season. He hasn't missed a game all year and he's only commited 11 errors. A-rod has hit 47 home runs, and driven in 120 runs all at a .320 clip. But that might be where the accolades end. Sure he's had four multi homer games this season. And who could forget the historic night way back in April where A-rod had 3 homers and drove in 10 of the 12 Yankee runs. But his multi homer games haven't exactly been clutch, in all four of the games, the Yankees have scored at least 12 runs. Not exactly nail biting situations.
So what are Papi's credentials? Well I'm glad you asked. He's hit .298 with 47 homers and a major league leading 146 RBI's. The numbers themselves are comparible to A-rod's, but the situations in which Papi performs are pressure cookers to say the least. Ortiz has turned himself into the most feared hitter in baseball. When teammate Manny Ramirez missed a few games over the summer, Sox fans found out what would happen when opponents didn't have to pitch to Ortiz, they didn't.
Not only is he a feared hitter, he comes through in the clutch. In the month of September Papi has 11 homers, best in the bigs, and 28 RBIs, second in the AL (A-rod has 7 HRs and 24 RBIs, Vlad has 6 and 19 respectively). And of the 47 homers that Ortiz has hit this season, 20 of them have either tied the game for the Sox, or given them the lead. Read that line again, its no lie.
Though his gaudy home run total looks good to voters, they should realize that Papi is more than just a home run hitter. Thursday night the Sox were down to the Blue Jays 4-3 in the bottom of the 8th inning. With the Yankees and Indians both having already won their games, Thursday night's contest was an absolute must win. Enter David Ortiz. He led off the 8th with his 47th homer of the season, which, yeah, tied the game up at 4. After his homer, the Sox put runners on the corners with no outs, only to go into the ninth with the game still knotted up. Enter again, David Ortiz. With runners on first and second, and the sellout crowd chanting "MVP! MVP! MVP!" Papi came through again with a base knock into left center field. Two at bats in the final two innings of a must win game, two hits, two RBIs and a win when his team needed it the most.
I guess what it comes down to is what you think the award is all about. If you go by the name, MVP, it should go to the Most Valuable Player. If you're looking for an award for best statistics, look at the AP's player of the year award. Papi might not wear a "C" on his chest, or keep a young staff together better than anyone in the league, but ask any Sox player where they'd be without Ortiz, and they'd probably tell you this weekend would be all about pride, not a playoff spot. Without Schilling as the ace and Foulke as the closer this year, the Sox are still going into the final series of the season with playoff hopes alive. Manny has been hot and cold this season, and every other position except for catcher (thankfully) has been banged up at some point this season. The one rock in the middle of the order has been David Ortiz. Besides the consecutive games in which Millar and Varitek hit walk off homers earlier in the year, it seems that everytime the Sox have needed a big hit, Papi has been there. It seems that every time there was a mob of Red Sox players surrounding home plate to congratulate the hero, its been Papi coming down the third base line. It was true against Anaheim in last year's ALCS, and its true this season, Big Papi is the MVP of the league, leather or no leather.
The other logical candidate in the AL is Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees. Nobody can dispute what he's done this season. He hasn't missed a game all year and he's only commited 11 errors. A-rod has hit 47 home runs, and driven in 120 runs all at a .320 clip. But that might be where the accolades end. Sure he's had four multi homer games this season. And who could forget the historic night way back in April where A-rod had 3 homers and drove in 10 of the 12 Yankee runs. But his multi homer games haven't exactly been clutch, in all four of the games, the Yankees have scored at least 12 runs. Not exactly nail biting situations.
So what are Papi's credentials? Well I'm glad you asked. He's hit .298 with 47 homers and a major league leading 146 RBI's. The numbers themselves are comparible to A-rod's, but the situations in which Papi performs are pressure cookers to say the least. Ortiz has turned himself into the most feared hitter in baseball. When teammate Manny Ramirez missed a few games over the summer, Sox fans found out what would happen when opponents didn't have to pitch to Ortiz, they didn't.
Not only is he a feared hitter, he comes through in the clutch. In the month of September Papi has 11 homers, best in the bigs, and 28 RBIs, second in the AL (A-rod has 7 HRs and 24 RBIs, Vlad has 6 and 19 respectively). And of the 47 homers that Ortiz has hit this season, 20 of them have either tied the game for the Sox, or given them the lead. Read that line again, its no lie.
Though his gaudy home run total looks good to voters, they should realize that Papi is more than just a home run hitter. Thursday night the Sox were down to the Blue Jays 4-3 in the bottom of the 8th inning. With the Yankees and Indians both having already won their games, Thursday night's contest was an absolute must win. Enter David Ortiz. He led off the 8th with his 47th homer of the season, which, yeah, tied the game up at 4. After his homer, the Sox put runners on the corners with no outs, only to go into the ninth with the game still knotted up. Enter again, David Ortiz. With runners on first and second, and the sellout crowd chanting "MVP! MVP! MVP!" Papi came through again with a base knock into left center field. Two at bats in the final two innings of a must win game, two hits, two RBIs and a win when his team needed it the most.
I guess what it comes down to is what you think the award is all about. If you go by the name, MVP, it should go to the Most Valuable Player. If you're looking for an award for best statistics, look at the AP's player of the year award. Papi might not wear a "C" on his chest, or keep a young staff together better than anyone in the league, but ask any Sox player where they'd be without Ortiz, and they'd probably tell you this weekend would be all about pride, not a playoff spot. Without Schilling as the ace and Foulke as the closer this year, the Sox are still going into the final series of the season with playoff hopes alive. Manny has been hot and cold this season, and every other position except for catcher (thankfully) has been banged up at some point this season. The one rock in the middle of the order has been David Ortiz. Besides the consecutive games in which Millar and Varitek hit walk off homers earlier in the year, it seems that everytime the Sox have needed a big hit, Papi has been there. It seems that every time there was a mob of Red Sox players surrounding home plate to congratulate the hero, its been Papi coming down the third base line. It was true against Anaheim in last year's ALCS, and its true this season, Big Papi is the MVP of the league, leather or no leather.
posted by Trevor at 12:28 AM
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