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Pujols Named NL MVP For Second Time
By Administrator | November 18, 2008
According to the dictionary, the word ‘transcendent’ is defined as follows: exceeding or surpassing usual limits especially in excellence.
This evening, I read a couple of newspaper / website articles which used that superlative to describe St Louis Cardinals 1B Albert Pujols. Initially, my reaction was to discount the description… but the more I thought about Pujols career to this point — and his 2008 season, in particular — the more I became comfortable with the use of that descriptor.
Transcendent.
Pujols was drafted in the 13th round of the 1999 draft (the 402nd overall pick). It is indisputable that he is accumulating statistics at historical levels for ANY ballplayer, let alone a thirteenth rounder. Even if he were a first round pick, we would have long-ago declared that he has surpassed the performance level that would normally be expected of him.
A review of the players drafted in the first round of that same draft serves as a great illustration of just what a crap-shoot the MLB entry draft has proven to be. In addition to those players who have proven to be ‘hits’ (Josh Beckett, Alex Rios, Ben Sheets, Barry Zito), there is another who has been just okay (Brett Myers), one who was a late bloomer (Josh Hamilton), and a whole bunch more who have been ‘misses’ (Josh Girdley, Rick Asadoorian, Gerik Baxter).
And then there is Pujols, who has already established himself as a future Hall-of-Famer, assuming injuries do not derail his career. He made his debut on April 2, 2001. In his eight seasons in Major League Baseball, he has accumulated career stats of .334, with 319 HR and 977 RBI… his lowest batting average in any season was .314 (2002), and his fewest HR (32) and RBI (103) totals were established in 2007.
Pujols, who also won the award in 2005, hit .357, with 37 HR and 116 RBI in winning the award despite having a career-low number of at-bats (524). He had previously finished second in the MVP voting on three separate occasions — twice to Barry Bonds (2002, 2003) and once to Howard (2006).
He is the first Dominican-born player to earn multiple MVP titles.
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Philadelphia Phillies 1B Ryan Howard finished second in this year’s balloting. He hit .251 and struck out an astonishing 199 times — a stat that obviously hurt his candidacy — but he did manage to lead the majors in home runs (48) and RBI (146). Howard, of course, was a member of the NL Eastern Division champions (and eventual World Series champs).
The results renews an old debate: what constitutes the ‘most valuable’ player in any league? Pujols won in spite of the fact that the Cardinals finished in fourth place in the division (the lowest spot for an NL MVP Award winner since Andre Dawson won in 1987 while playing for the Chicago Cubs, who finished in sixth place).
So, is Pujols really the MVP? Or is he the league’s Outstanding Offensive Performer?
In a conference call this afternoon, even Pujols acknowledged the quandary voters find themselves in as the consider the issue: “I’m happy I didn’t have to make that decision. What you do for your team. The players who take their teams to the playoffs should have some consideration”.
What do you think?
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Pujols received 18 of the 32 first-place votes cast by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America… he finished with 369 points.
Howard got 12 first-place votes (308 points).
Milwaukee outfielder Ryan Braun finished third with 139 points, with Manny Ramirez coming in fourth with 138 points.
Philadelphia closer Brad Lidge received the other two first-place votes and finished in eighth place overall (104 points).
Topics: MLB Annual Awards |
