As our Peerless Leader, El Duque, points out, all you have to do to figure out what a role Yankee-hating played in this year's Rookie of the Year vote is to look at how many seasoned Japanese veterans—now including Ohtani—have been considered "rookies" while Hideki Matsui was not.
But this sort of double standard doesn't stop at the Rookie awards.
Cast your minds back, back, back to the simpler, innocent days of 1978. When the MVP of the American League went to Jim Rice over Ron Guidry.
Never mind that Guidry had maybe the best season by an American League pitcher between the heydays of Lefty Grove and Pedro Martinez:
25-3, 1.74 ERA, 16 complete games, 9 shutouts (most by an AL lefty since Babe Ruth), 248 strikeouts vs. only 72 walks, 187 hits in almost 274 innings.
Nope, nope, nope! The important thing was...Jim Rice was an everyday ballplayer!
To be sure, old Jim Ed had a monster year: .315/ .370/ .600/ .970; 25 doubles, led the league in hits (213), triples (15), homers (46), and RBI (139).
Sure, he only walked 58 times vs. 126 strikeouts—which should tell you something about the lineup around him and his, ahem, value. And where Guidry would go on to win 5 Gold Gloves, Rice played only 114 games in the outfield.
Never mind. Playing every day counts more than being a pitcher.! Got it.
Cut to the merry old days of 1986, where Roger Clemens has a helluva year for Boston:
24-4, 2.48 ERA, 10 complete games, 1 shutout, 238 strikeouts vs. 67 walks, 179 hits in 254 innings.
Hey, it's no Ron Guidry in '78 year, but it's damned impressive.
But should he have won the MVP? I mean, after all, for the team that Clemens' Sox beat out by all of 4 games, Don Mattingly did this:
.352/ .394/ .573/ .967; 53 doubles, 2 triples, 31 homers—or the exact same number of extra-base hits that Rice compiled in 1978. Donnie Baseball also scored 117 runs, drove in 113, and led the AL with 238 hits, while drawing 53 walks and striking out only 35 times.
Oh, and he also won his second straight Gold Glove.
So of course the MVP went to...Roger Clemens.
The logic is simple here. When you're a day-to-day player, you get the advantage—if you're not a Yankee. When you're a pitcher, you get the advantage—if you're not a Yankee.
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
The More Things Change...
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4 comments:
EXACTLY HOSS.
NOT TO MENTION WE NEVER HEAR ANYONE SAY "THE RED SOX BOUGHT THE WORLD SERIES, THEY HAVE THE HIGHEST PAYROLL."
THAT ONE THEY SAVE ONLY FOR US.
IT IS OUTRAGEOUS THAT ANDUJAR DID NOT WIN THE ROY AWARD.
OUTRAGEOUS.
Baseball is corrupt from practically every angle. I have more faith in used car dealers, investment bankers, and politicians.
I'm not sure how I'll feel in the Spring. Right now, bowling and curling are looking good.
As to their corruption, it reminds me of my favorite maxim: "Never underestimate the role of stupidity in human affairs."
"Andujar was not a good fielder."
"But Ohtani barely played the field at all!"
"Ohtani had a better OPS than Andujar."
"But Ohtani only played half the season!"
"Ohtani can pitch."
"But he barely pitched before getting hurt!"
"Ohtani is the rookie of the year."
"But he's not even a rookie!"
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