Granted, the AP is obligated to just report what happens in sports. It's not like they're paid sums of money to analyze or offer opinions on things. But I'm still bored enough to write about this.
Rollins won the National League MVP award Tuesday, edging Matt Holliday in a close race after propelling Philadelphia to its first playoff berth in 14 years with his speed and steady all-around play.
Yes, and after Matt Holliday propelled Colorado to a 14-1 record in their last 15 games, giving the Rockies their first playoff berth in 12 years with his hitting and being very good at baseball.
"I don't know what they look at," Rollins said, "but being a shortstop, that's No. 1. Defense is first. Defense is always first."
Ahh...that makes sense. There's no award currently in exisitence in baseball that rewards players of each position for being the best defensive player. So they just give the MVP to the best defensive player. That's how baseball works, right? Rollins would know more than me.
Rollins batted .296 with 30 homers, 94 RBIs and 41 steals from the leadoff spot, helping Philadelphia rally from a big September deficit to win the NL East. He led the league in runs (139) and triples (20), becoming the second consecutive Phillies player to win the MVP following Ryan Howard last year.
"I was like, if he can win it I can win it. The only thing he can do better than me is hit home runs further than me," Rollins said.
Things Ryan Howard does better than Jimmy Rollins: hit home runs, walk, get on base, not hit into double plays, drive in runs, work deeper counts, and for what it's worth, strike out.
Holliday, the NL championship series MVP, hit .340 with 137 RBIs -- becoming the third player since 1967 to lead a league in both categories. He also had 36 homers and topped the NL in hits (216), total bases (386) and doubles (50).
Sounds like this guy is pretty good.
The first player in major league history to have 30 homers, 30 doubles, 30 steals and 20 triples in one season, Rollins was durable, too. He became the first NL shortstop in 34 years to play in every game.
Okay. I'd be willing to bet Brad Wilkerson in 2003 was the only player to ever have 78 runs, 135 hits, 34 doubles, 4 triples, 13 stolen bases, and 13 tears per game shed from playing for the Expos. He won the MVP right?
And when the Phillies needed him most, he was at his best. Despite being booed vigorously in New York all season, Rollins batted .346 with six homers and 15 RBIs against the Mets. That helped the Phillies go 12-6 in the season series, winning the final eight meetings with their NL East rivals.
Jimmy Rollins was second in the MLB only to Alex Rodriguez in New York Boos ignored per plate appearance. He had a Boo Negation Index of 13.4. (A-Rod's was an unprecedented 147.9!)
Fielder also was impressive. In his second full season in the majors, the 23-year-old first baseman led the league with 50 homers -- becoming the youngest player to reach the plateau.
He ranked second in slugging percentage (.618) and batted .288 with 119 RBIs, but his MVP candidacy probably was hurt when the Brewers blew their NL Central lead and missed the playoffs.
"I can't imagine hitting 50 if I was 43 and had every advantage in the world," said Rollins, a switch-hitter generously listed at 5-foot-8, 174 pounds.
Why not? I thought it was common knowledge that 43-year olds hit 50 home runs with ease. Am I misreading this?
New York Mets third baseman David Wright finished fourth in the balloting and Howard came in fifth. Braves slugger Chipper Jones, the 1999 winner, was sixth and Padres ace Jake Peavy, who won the Cy Young Award unanimously last week, finished seventh.
It's unfortunate that players such as Miguel Cabrera and Hanley Ramirez (who by the way led the NL in VORP, second in the majors only to A-Rod) don't get mentioned because they play for a terrible team. But it's understandable. This is the Most Wins for Team Played For award, not the Most Valuable Player or anything.
New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez won the AL MVP on Monday, his third.
The honorable mention at the bottom of this site goes to: that selfish choker A-Rod. He didn't do anything worth writing about.
3 comments:
Yeah, you forgot that Holliday posted all those numbers in fewer at-bats than Rollins
A rookie mistake. Forgive me, I was young.
The reason why A-Rod's BNI was so high was because New York fans came to Boston games to boo him on the road, too.
Post a Comment