I won't throw stats at this - they were done to death last month - but the fact is, Altuve had a great year, and he led Houston to the Series - and even though that's not supposed to count, why kid ourselves? It's like the judge instructing the jury to discount the murder confession - plus, the feel-good fix was always in: America loves "the little guy" along with the ginned-up notion that sports teams "heal" regional catastrophes. Altuve is going to win, and that's fine. Because time at the MVP summit - like Altuve himself - is short.
Here are the last 20 AL/NL MVPs:
2016: Mike Trout/Chris Bryant
2015: Josh Donaldson/Bryce Harper
2014: Mike Trout/Clayton Kershaw
2013: Miguel Cabrera/Andrew McCutcheon
2012: Miguel Cabrera/Buster Posey
2011: Justin Verlander/Ryan Braun
2010: Josh Hamilton/Joey Votto
2009: Joe Mauer/Albert Pujols
2008: Dustin Pedroia/Albert Pujols
2007: A-Rod/Jimmy Rollins
Two names - Pedroia and Rollins - are highlighted. Over the last 10 years, they are the only middle infielders to win the MVP. Considering the constant parade of emerging stars at SS and 2B - (after all, 2B is the position of Joggie Cano) - I find this surprising. But neither has repeated an MVP-caliber season, and I hereby suggest that the season-long wear and tear on middle infielders - coupled with the celebrity fanfare of winning the MVP - makes winning multiple awards almost impossible.
Secondly, I think we should be privately relieved if Judge does not win the MVP. He'd have nowhere to go but down. Winning ROY is nice - )he must still beat the great Babe Benintendi - who hit a monstrous .271!) but history is littered with sophomore slumps. I like the idea of Judge still having something to prove. And if you check that above list, sluggers seem to have a far better chance of repeating.
It's been a long time since the Yankees had finalists in the MVP, the ROY and the Cy Young (Luis Severino.) Judge is 25. Sevy is 23. They could both be in the mix next season. Holy shit. They could be here a long time.
Saw this on a comment post over at RAB, figured you'd love it
ReplyDeleteSterling call on an Otani homer?
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Benintendi hit .271. Will someone please buy duque a used copy of The Hidden Game of Baseball so that he can begin to lead this blog out of the statistical Dark Ages?
ReplyDeleteHere's the link, duque. You're obviously a stubborn reactionary about this--you could at least read some of the relevant classic literature in this field before disgorging any more antedeluvian babble:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Game-Baseball-Revolutionary-Statistics/dp/022624248X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1510105960&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Hidden+Game+of+Baseball&dpID=41ag2LtLScL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch
In fact, this book should be required reading for the whole blog--for any baseball fan.
Oh--one more thing, duque. One of your favorite unwarranted terms of obloquy is "Gammonites." Two things on this:
ReplyDelete1. Your own brand of baseball analysis is far more trite and conventional than than of Gammons, whose writing long ago began to incorporate some of the insights of advanced analysis that now form the core of the most successful baseball front offices and that has immeasurably elevated the tone and level of discussion among TV and print analysts--for the most part. The main point is that it's ridiculous to dump Gammons into the common run of daily newspaper hacks like Kevin Kiernan and John Harper. Some--like Gammons and Joel Sherman, to name only two--rise above that pack in shrewdness and erudition.
2. Second, his name is not Gammon but Gammons. So your epithet should read "Gammonsites," not "Gammonites." This of course is a step backward in euphony, but in your obsessive denigration of the man I think you at least owe it to him to get his name right.
Stat-Boy (Stupid Little Bat-Boy): Why the hell, since you are sooooo erudite, and the rest of us sooooo antedeluvian, do you even bother lowering your sorry self to (dis)grace our humble blog?? Why don't you go start your own damned blog - - and convince some hapless sponsors to back your particular brand of derogation and vitriol??
ReplyDeleteWe would love to see that - - and YOU would see which blog gets the readership. LB (No J)
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