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LINCICOME: Holliday, Rockies spurned by baseball

By Bernie Lincicome, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published November 20, 2007 at 5:15 p.m.
Updated November 20, 2007 at 5:15 p.m.

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Stiffed again. Were we the only ones watching? Was all that happened with the Rockies just air guitar baseball and shadow puppets?

Pay no attention to the man behind the screen. He has no MVP vote, anyhow.

This one is worse than the other two because Matt Holliday was not only the most valuable player in the National League he was practically in his own league.

The numbers are as obvious as they are tedious, to be chewed on by more serious stat pets than me, but Holliday became more than this season’s poster prop for the Rockies, not the usual Coors Field inflated creature, though that seems to be the most common mark against him.

With that face first slide in the last inning, on the last play of the extended season, the last moment these things are supposed to be considered, Holliday should have sewn up every vote.

Surely it cannot be that Holliday might not have touched home plate at all, a make up call for the call that was not made.

If not that night, then the whole of September was a season for some, a month seldom matched and seldom seen, and that might have been the decisive factor.

What happened later against the Phillies, and against the last two winners of the award, this year’s Jimmy Rollins and last year’s Ryan Howard, and then against the Diamondbacks, those successes were not weighed in the voting, as was not the ultimate dismissal by the Red Sox.

Holliday became the featured fixture for all time in the Wonder of the Rockies, the most remarkable tale in baseball since—well, maybe ever.

Rollins, a nice little player for the Phillies, beating out Holliday is as ridiculous as a parking valet being named driver of the year over NASCAR’s Jimmie Johnson.

The vote was close, but it would have been wrong even had it been close the other way around. If one wonders how two voters could not have picked Alex Rodriquez first in the American League, more strange is how 21 could not have considered Holliday the best in the National.

This is not to denigrate Rollins, a lot more outgoing than Holliday, much more apparent in places where voters hang out in the same hotel bars, except that any choice this obvious makes one wonder whether playing the game is as important as playing the game.

Holliday had little help from himself — perpetually modest, insisting he was no better than any other Rockie — and no help at all from his own marketing pushers, whose idea of public relations is to make sure the door is closed.

Rollins had a head start, and better help, as did Prince Fielder — he from birth — than did Holliday since so much happened so late for the Rockies that it was almost over before outsiders bothered to wonder how it happened.

With Troy Tulowitzki getting silver-medaled in the Rookie of the Year mis-vote and Clint Hurdle losing out on manager of the year to the two managers he beat at the end of the year to get to the World Series, all the Rockies souvenirs are private and suspicious.

What these votes signify is more than east coast, big city bullying, but a denial of the Rockies story, as if no one made it happen, that it shouldn’t be taken seriously, or taken with not a grain of salt but with a whole shaker full.

Losing the World Series four straight fixes the Rockies forever as upstarts and moves the light away from what it took to get the right to lose four straight, never mind that the Yankees and the Dodgers and the Cardinals have all lost four in a row at the end.

That is why this bit of individual recognition meant more than it should have, because it became not just an acknowledgment of Holliday but an endorsement of the Rockies themselves.

It also provides evidence unneeded that the Rockies will never be the Phillies, with all those generations behind them, or any of the old-line teams who finish games before deadline and for whom the rooting is always just a little louder and a little greater.

The Rockies did what they did without anyone really paying attention but themselves, and this includes their own fans and following media.

That is how it will be until a tradition is built, one of winning, one of having to be taken seriously.

At that point it will not be necessary to explain why the best Rockie is the MVP but to be dumbfounded when he is not.

Comments

  • November 21, 2007

    8:59 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Grizzle writes:

    I think your article makes it obvious that you, in fact, are the one with no broader knowledge of the game. I think it's apparent you probably watched three regular season Phillies games this year--when they came to Denver.

    To say that Rollins is a "nice little player" is an denigration of his talents and a ridiculous statement. The man put up number NO ONE has put up in baseball history. Ever. And led a team that had injuries to Utley, Howard, Myers, Gordon, Lieber, and Garcia for significant amounts of time. He provided the spark and consistency for the best offense in the National League. From June until August, it had to rely on him solely through numerous injuries.

    Also, I must say, to insinuate that Rollins is a selfish player (by knowing how to lay the 'game') makes it clear you've never taken the time to talk to him, read about, ask other writers about him.

    This was a hit job, nothing more, nothing less, and you should be ashamed.

    Holliday had a great season, so did Rollins. Both would have made for an excellent MVP. Leave it at that without denigrating a good player, and a good person.

  • November 21, 2007

    10:40 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    farmfoulke writes:

    Let's cry a little more. Give me a break, Rollins is "a nice little player"? How can you make that claim and consider yourself a serious baseball writer? You obviously only look at your own team and pay no attention to the rest of the league. Yes Holliday had a fantastic season, and would have been a deserving choice, there's no arguement about that. But to claim that he should have been a unanimous choice is just straight homerism. Maybe if you had paid attention you would have seen that Rollins put up numbers not matched by any other player in the history or the game, even surpassing the great Willie Mays, arguably the greatest player of all time. No one is dismissing the Rockies historic run to the postseason or Holliday's great season. But to trash another player because he beat out your hometeam's player for the MVP is just bush league.

  • November 22, 2007

    10:35 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    FreeToChoose writes:

    SHAME ON YOU MR LINICOME!
    Certainly the other comments here highlight how little you watched baseball this year. Matt Holiday had an excellent year, but in order to overcome Coors Field bias a player from Colorado will have to hit more than 11 of his 36 home runs away from Coors Field and post a better home-road split in OPS than .298. The fact that the vote was so close is a testament to just how well Matt Holiday played at Coors Field because his road numbers were merely above average for a #3 hitter in the National League... certainly not MVP numbers.
    On the other hand, Rollins (nice little player that he is) put up one of the best seasons EVER for a lead-off hitter both at home AND away despite also playing in a 'hitter's park.' He also played well above average defense at a premium position for ALL 162 games while being a VERY vocal leader of his team. Matt Holiday wasn't necessarily penalized for not being a 'vocal leader' or for not playing all 162 games or for merely playing average defense at a less demanding position... but Jimmy Rollins was certainly given credit for every part of his game in his narrow win over another deserving candidate, because if you haven't noticed, it's not just a statistical award. It goes to the "Most Valuable Player," and value includes defense and leadership and, yes, maybe even a little showmanship. To call Rollin's MVP award ridiculous is the the most ignorant 'homer' remark I've ever heard. Both candidates had great years. Rollins won. Get over it and stop pissing in Jimmy Rollins' Cheerios just because your player lost.

    Show a little class and give another great player his due.

    PS Statistically, Rollin's MVP year was better than Ricky Henderson's MVP year, and how many people consider Ricky Henderson's MVP year 'ridiculous?'
    Every once and a while the 'little players' actually get their due...

  • November 23, 2007

    11:22 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    psuphilliesfan writes:

    outside of Coors field and Citizens Bank Park Holliday hit .298 and slugged .448 with 7 homers. His slugging percentage was only .025 above the National League average (including pitchers)and was less than the average of 5 teams, including the Philadelphia Phillies.