BASEBALL MVP MYTH TWINBILL!

Opener: The MVP is the player who plays best down the stretch in a playoff race, when it counts. "When it counts" is perhaps the most idiotic phrase tossed about in MVP debates, because it always counts. A win counts the same in April as it does in September, doesn't it? I feel a little silly having to point out that the MVP is an award for players who excel the entire year, not just for 30 games late in the year when ESPN's bobbleheads happen to be paying attention. This criterion could be restated as "the MVP is the player who gets shown the most in SportsCenter highlights during September", which is essentially how Oakland's Miguel Tejada won the award last year.

Nightcap: The MVP is the player whose team would not have made the playoffs without him. By this mode of thinking, the Twins' Shannon Stewart, (31st in the American League in OPS), is a strong MVP candidate because he helped spark Minnesota over the hump to a playoff spot. But a wonderful player like Jason Giambi, (7th in the AL in OPS), is not a strong MVP candidate bacause the Yankees would have made the playoffs without him. It's silly enough to take the MVP away from a player because his team is lousy -- see my September 3 post. Doesn't it approach lunacy to take the MVP away from a player because his team is too good?

+posted by Lawrence @ 9/27/2003 03:05:00 PM