Who's MVP of this tired rivalry?
Michael Wilbon and a Kornheiser substitute (Le Batard) "debated" the AL MVP last night on Pardon the Interruption. The question was "Jeter or Ortiz?" I don't suppose it's fair to hold PTI to a higher standard than the rest of sports media, but they're going to have to suffer my discontent this time. Jeter or Ortiz? Why does it always have to be Yankees vs. Red Sox?
It seems like every time I turn on a ball game, it's the Yankees and the Red Sox. ESPN and Fox both cater to "Red Sox nation" and the teeming hordes of whatever you call Yankees "fans" every time they get a chance. Well, I, for one, am tired of it. This rivalry was cool two years ago. Now it's like a bad joke that you've already heard one time too many.
The Yankees and Red Sox are not the best teams in the American League anymore. Nor do they play in the best division. In fact, both the Central and the West have more wins on average than the East. (In case you're wondering, the best division in the NL by this measure is . . . surprise! . . . the West.)
Let's drop these losers. The White Sox, not the Red Sox, are the defending World Series champions. Did you forget last year? And the Tigers, the lowly Detroit Tigers, have the best record in baseball, not the damn Yankees! I want to see this rivalry play out. Who cares if the Yankees swept the Red Sox? That just corroborates what we already knew—when you average it all out, payroll wins. Wasn't it more interesting when the (White) Sox swept the Tigers, closing the gap instead of widening it?
Joe Mauer leads the league in hitting, not Derek Jeter. Why are we even considering this guy? Because he's the only one we've seen play? It's time to slough this media-imposed tunnel vision and consider a wider purview on the American League. Let's look past the triple crown categories and find the player who is really most valuable. There's a good chance he's playing in the Central Division.
posted by Roy @ 9:17 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
I'm tired of Derek Jeter and all the praise bestowed upon him by the media because he was the darling shortstop during the Yankees run in the 90's. The fact of the matter is, Jeter is a solid player. He hits for a pretty good average and has ok power and speed (10 HR's, 26 SB's). He drives in and scores runs largely because he hits 2nd (behind Johnny Damon) in a stacked Yankees lineup. Even with the injuries to Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui, the Yankees still trot out Damon, Jeter, Bobby Abreu, Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, Jorge Posada and anyone else they can acquire from another team trying to shed payroll. That lineup is ridiculous.
While Jeter is a solid player, he isn't an MVP-caliber player. Jeter isn't a great defensive player and has not shown outstanding leadership on the field this year. Did anyone else see the play where A-Rod was camped under a pop-up and Jeter came over and tried to steal it away? Well, the result was that neither of them caught it. After the ball dropped, Jeter was closer to it than Rodriguez. Jeter looked at it after it hit the ground. Rather than pick it up, he turned and glared at his 3B, leaving the ball for Rodriguez to pick up, I guess. Alex Rodriguez was a better SS than Jeter when he came to NY. I think Rodriguez, despite his defensive struggles this year, can catch a routine pop-up.
Aaron Rowand is a guy who gives it his all. I think Derek Jeter is as much about style as he is about substance, no matter what crap anyone else tries to sell me.
On a related note, Joe Morgan was lobbying for Jeter to win the MVP because, he said, only sluggers have been winning the AL MVP lately. Let's count back in time:
2005 - Alex Rodriguez
2004 - Vlad Guerrero
2003 - Alex Rodriguez
2002 - Miguel Tejada
2001 - Ichiro Suzuki
2000 - Jason Giambi
1999 - Ivan Rodriguez
Now, before that, the winners were Juan Gonzalez, Ken Griffey Jr., Juan Gonzalez, Mo Vaughn, and Frank Thomas back-to-back in '93 and '94. So, during the mid to late '90's, the winners were sluggers. Lately, we have had a couple sluggers. We also had a lead-off hitter (Suzuki) and two players who came from the SS position (Tejada and A-Rod), a traditionally light hitting position in general. Plus, there is a Gold Glove C on the list, although Pudge was also an offensive threat in a potent Rangers line-up. So, what I'm getting at is that there is no need to give the award to Jeter so a non-slugger can win. And, maybe Joe Morgan should think about what he's saying on national ESPN baseball broadcasts before he sounds like a moron, again. Just a thought.
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