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Wednesday, November 29, 2006
St. Louis Cardinals' fans are still upset that Albert Pujols wasn't named the 2006 NL MVP. I suppose the fortune of being the team with the worst regular season record to win a World Series just doesn't scratch the itch after Thanksgiving. Of course, the conspiracy theories like sportswriters are out to get the fair city of St. Louis abound, which becomes a problem when it is a repeated too often. Suddenly, smart people begin saying dumb things like, "Baseball writers have snubbed St. Louis players forever!"
The above lament is ridiculous because a couple of Cardinals that have won the MVP were terrible choices -- hello, Frankie Frisch. Yes, Pujols was screwed out of the MVP in 2006 as documented here. However, it was hardly the worst slight, so Cardinals' fans need to start moving on, especially since the Cards' players have been the benefactors of some odd voting.
Year MVP WS Win Shares Leader
1985 McGee 36 Raines (39)
McGee had an outstanding season, but Raines was noticeably better. However, Raines played for the third place Expos while McGee played for the first place Cardinals.
Year MVP WS Win Shares Leader
1979 Hernandez 29 Schmidt/Winfield (33)
Hernandez, on a third place team, was Co-MVP with Willie Stargell, who was the patriarch of the "We Are Family" Pirates. Winfield was third in voting despite playing on a team that lost 93 games while Schmidt was 13th in voting on a team that won 84 games, which makes one wonder if the writers had recently discovered cocaine at the time theycast their votes.
Year MVP WS Win Shares Leader
1967 Cepeda 34 Santo (38)
Santo was on a third place team; Cepeda on a pennant winner.
Year MVP WS Win Shares Leader
1964 Boyer 28 Allen (41)
Mays (38)
Santo (36)
Boyer was an indefensible pick -- far worse an injustice than Howard over Pujols. Dick Allen was Dick Allen, but even with the lack of love he received from the voters, there were other picks much better than Boyer.
Year MVP WS Win Shares Leader
1934 Dean 37 Ott (38)
Win Shares shortchange starting pitchers, plus a difference of one Win Shares isn't necessarily definitive of whom had the better season. Even though Dean had less Win Shares than Ott, this was a defendable choice.
Year MVP WS Win Shares Leader
1931 Frisch 21 Berger (31)
Winning an MVP with just 21 WS over 154 games is a complete joke.
Year MVP WS Win Shares Leader
1928 Bottomley 30 Waner (34)
Year MVP WS Win Shares Leader
1926 O'Farrell 23 Waner (28)
Waner was denied twice because he didn't play on a first place team like the Cards' players who won the award.
So 1964 and 1931 were indefensible selections that the Cards benefited from while 1979 was certainly questionable. There were some other years that Win Shares rated other players significantly "better" than the Cards' MVP winners, but Win Shares alone shouldn't determine the MVP. Still, Cardinals' fans should shut their mouths now.
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The Curse Of Frankie Frisch
The above lament is ridiculous because a couple of Cardinals that have won the MVP were terrible choices -- hello, Frankie Frisch. Yes, Pujols was screwed out of the MVP in 2006 as documented here. However, it was hardly the worst slight, so Cardinals' fans need to start moving on, especially since the Cards' players have been the benefactors of some odd voting.
Year MVP WS Win Shares Leader
1985 McGee 36 Raines (39)
McGee had an outstanding season, but Raines was noticeably better. However, Raines played for the third place Expos while McGee played for the first place Cardinals.
Year MVP WS Win Shares Leader
1979 Hernandez 29 Schmidt/Winfield (33)
Hernandez, on a third place team, was Co-MVP with Willie Stargell, who was the patriarch of the "We Are Family" Pirates. Winfield was third in voting despite playing on a team that lost 93 games while Schmidt was 13th in voting on a team that won 84 games, which makes one wonder if the writers had recently discovered cocaine at the time theycast their votes.
Year MVP WS Win Shares Leader
1967 Cepeda 34 Santo (38)
Santo was on a third place team; Cepeda on a pennant winner.
Year MVP WS Win Shares Leader
1964 Boyer 28 Allen (41)
Mays (38)
Santo (36)
Boyer was an indefensible pick -- far worse an injustice than Howard over Pujols. Dick Allen was Dick Allen, but even with the lack of love he received from the voters, there were other picks much better than Boyer.
Year MVP WS Win Shares Leader
1934 Dean 37 Ott (38)
Win Shares shortchange starting pitchers, plus a difference of one Win Shares isn't necessarily definitive of whom had the better season. Even though Dean had less Win Shares than Ott, this was a defendable choice.
Year MVP WS Win Shares Leader
1931 Frisch 21 Berger (31)
Winning an MVP with just 21 WS over 154 games is a complete joke.
Year MVP WS Win Shares Leader
1928 Bottomley 30 Waner (34)
Year MVP WS Win Shares Leader
1926 O'Farrell 23 Waner (28)
Waner was denied twice because he didn't play on a first place team like the Cards' players who won the award.
So 1964 and 1931 were indefensible selections that the Cards benefited from while 1979 was certainly questionable. There were some other years that Win Shares rated other players significantly "better" than the Cards' MVP winners, but Win Shares alone shouldn't determine the MVP. Still, Cardinals' fans should shut their mouths now.
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12/3/06 6:56 PM
If your team wins the World Series, you can't complain about anything until Memorial Day of the following season.
Why get exorcised about an MVP selection? What does it mean to the team's or the player's fans? It's usually a bonus to the player, but other than that, who cares?