LINCICOME: MLB awards make it all clear as mud

By Bernie Lincicome, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published November 18, 2008 at 5:50 p.m.

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Photo by Gail Burton/Associated Press

Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia won the American League MVP Award.

And just like the baseball season that wandered finally into folly and indifference, postseason awards confirm how dreary it all was.

First of all, they were all wrong, all except Joe Maddon, Tampa's manager, but that implies that the argument is worth making.

This was the year that Matt Holliday, stiffed a season ago, could have won MVP, yet he shall forever remain a victim of bad timing.

Here are the big ones, and I had no vote, which means my ax is neither ground nor bare.

* MVPs: Albert Pujols of St. Louis and Dustin Pedroia of Boston.

* Cy Youngs: Tim Lincecum of San Francisco and Cliff Lee of Cleveland.

* Rookies: Geovany Soto of Chicago and Evan Longoria of Tampa Bay.

* Managers: Lou Piniella of Chicago and Joe Maddon of Tampa Bay.

So, and this is a question asked even at the corner of Broad and Market, where is Philadelphia? More particularly, where is Brad Lidge? Ah, I guess he could not be seen because he was being hugged by his teammates after winning the World Series.

Now, I do have a phonetic rooting interest in Lincecum of the Giants, a team that - ahem - finished behind the Rockies, but was he the best pitcher in the National League? Not at all, not as a starter - that would be 22-7 Brandon Webb of Arizona - and certainly not as a relief pitcher, not as valuable as Lidge, who saved 41 games in 41 chances.

Without Lincecum, the Giants are what they are, afterthoughts and wannabes, while without Lidge, the Phillies are not in the playoffs, not in the World Series and not champions for only the second time in their lives.

In the American League, the Indians' Cliff Lee won the Cy Young mostly because he won 22 games, while the Indians were otherwise disappointing. You have to wonder how one 22-game winner is judged correctly and another one is not.

And still, the AL winner should have been Francisco Rodriguez of the Angels, with a major league record 62 saves, the little engine that pulled his team so far in front that by the end, they forgot how to win when it mattered.

And speaking of goofy, let's consider that Lidge finished eighth in the MVP voting while Lincecum finished 23rd.

Before this sounds like a hometown rant - Lidge is a Cherry Creek grad and lives in Englewood - the Phillies had others deserving of notice. It was much as it was with the Rockies last year, as if the Phillies sneaked into the World Series in the trunk of someone's car.

If not Lidge, then Chase Utley, or certainly Ryan Howard, the full-size first baseman, should have been the MVP over Pujols.

Howard was the major league leader in home runs (48) and RBI (146), if that power did come at the cost of a higher batting average.

It was not that Pujols had a worse year than did Howard, but in terms of value, who is the most valuable, Howard clearly was more so. Pujols said when Howard won the award two years ago that only players that lead their teams to the playoffs deserve the honor, which Pujols did not do.

All that aside, there was no more valuable player in the National League than Manny Ramirez, who only played a third of the season in the league. There is not a greater example of a single player reviving a team than Ramirez, changing the Dodgers from sleepwalkers to playoff winners.

Ramirez's numbers, in both leagues, are comparable to Pujols' for the year, but just in the National, he was phenomenal, hitting nearly .400 with 17 homers and 53 RBI. Projecting that over an entire season, he hits 52 and drives in 162.

This brings us to Dustin Pedroia, the Red Sox second baseman, and league MVP for no logical reason other than someone from Boston always has to get some sort of award.

It is always a challenge to think of any second baseman as most valuable at anything, playing the coat-check position on the baseball team. You know, at a party, he would be the guy in charge of taking the coats while everyone else enjoyed themselves.

Other than Ryne Sandberg and Craig Biggio, and now maybe Utley, it is hard to think of a significant second baseman in recent memory. So, to be an MVP, a second baseman must be exceptional, a better fielder than the shortstop, a better hitter than the center fielder and with more power than the first baseman.

Pedroia was not any of those things, his season numbers less than Ramirez's before Manny was run out of Boston.

Compared to, say, Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees, he was just another guy, The other Rodriguez was more valuable for the Angels and Justin Morneau of the Twins was better than any of them.

Maybe Ramirez should have been MVP of both leagues.

• November 18, 2008

  7:01 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  DSz writes:

  I think maybe this is a sign that we need to institute a drug-testing program for sportswriters. Now, clearly, the drug of choice isn't logic-enhancing, but it sends a bad message to children anyway.

• November 18, 2008

  9:07 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  kevinoc31 writes:

  Sir, please allow me to point out to your readers some of the more questionable remarks included in your astonishingly ill-informed article.

  1. Why was Matt Holliday a "victim of bad timing"? Please explain.

  2. In what ways were the seasons of Lee and Webb comparable, other than the fact that each won 22 games. Lee had an ERA nearly .7 lower while pitching in a more difficult league.

  3. On what basis do you believe that Francisco Rodriguez should have been named the Cy Young Award winner? Saves? He wasn't even the best closer in his league -- see Mariano Rivera, for starters.

  4. I suppose a case can be made for Howard being named the MVP. But even my former girlfriend, who never attended a major league game in her entire life, instantly intuited that RBIs are largely a function of the number of runners on base ahead of the person who knocks them in.

  5. Projecting Manny Ramirez's NL numbers over a full season is pointless, as he played in only 1/3 of the Dodger's games. It is what he DID that matters, not what he might have done had he played 162 games in LA.

  6. Your claim that Pedroia was named "league MVP for no logical reason other than someone from Boston always has to get some sort of award" is absurd. Exactly how many MVP awards did Manny and Ortiz win over the past 6-7 years? How many Boston pitchers have earned a Cy Young since Pedro's heyday 6-7 years ago. I would suggest that you take the time to look things up before making such ridiculous assertions.

  7. "It is always a challenge to think of any second baseman as most valuable at anything, playing the coat-check position on the baseball team. You know, at a party, he would be the guy in charge of taking the coats while everyone else enjoyed themselves." Still more absurd. Ever heard of Joe Morgan? Rogers Hornsby? Jackie Robinson?

  8. "Other than Ryne Sandberg and Craig Biggio, and now maybe Utley, it is hard to think of a significant second baseman in recent memory." Ever heard of Jeff Kent and Craig Biggio? Both are very likely Hall of Famers.

  In sum, this article is ... awful. Just awful.
  - Kevin O'Connor

• November 19, 2008

  6:58 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  DSz writes:

  "Projecting Manny Ramirez's NL numbers over a full season is pointless, as he played in only 1/3 of the Dodger's games. It is what he DID that matters, not what he might have done had he played 162 games in LA."

  Lincicome *demands* John Paciorek make the Hall of Fame!

• November 19, 2008

  7:27 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  firewood writes:

  Mr. O'Connor, sir,

  Way to stick to Lincicome! You sure told him! I can't believe he has never heard of Craig Biggio. What an oversight not to even include him in this article; Mr. Lincicome must be astonishingly ill-informed. Thanks for bringing this gaffe to our attention.

  In sum, your comment is ... ironic. Just ironic
  - Kevin O'Connor's former girlfriend

• November 19, 2008

  10:38 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  j341680 writes:

  Mr. Linicome, i pray that you are joking. If not, this is the absolute worst article in recent memory.

  1. You have to include your bias that your (World Series Reps from a year ago) Rockies finished in third in the WEAK nl west. Mad props there. You say Webb is the best starting pitcher, why? What did he do besides his wins that was better than Lincecum or Santana...the answer is nothing. And value to team is not what wins a Cy Young, that is for the MVP. Which brings me to...

  2. Matt Holliday: Avg: .321 HR: 25 RBI: 88 OPB: .409 SLG: .538
  Albert Pujols: Avg: .357 HR: 37 RBI: 116 OPB: .462 SLG: .653

  It wasn't bad timing...it just wasn't close.

  3. Name one category that Brandon Webb led the league in besides wins.................................still waiting.................................................ZERO. Lee placed 1st or 2nd in Wins, ERA, WHIP, Complete Games, innings pitched and win percentage. Webb ranked 1st in wins and 2nd in win percentage. Three of the other aforementioned categories Webb ranked 10th or lower. His ERA was almost 60 points higher than lincecums.

  4. K-Rod and Lidge were not close to the top of the voting, thank god you don't have a vote.

  5. Then you go and say Howard was more valuable to a team where the most valuable pitcher in your mind (Lidge) plays as well. Way to contradict yourself there. The cardinals had a crap offense except Ludwick. The Phillies had Rollins, Utley, Burrell and Mr. Perfect in the pen.

  6. Other than Sandberg, Biggio and Utley???? Soriano was a second baseman two years ago. Some guy named Jeff kent was an MVP this decade. Dan Uggla is a great up and coming player. God you are horrible.

  7. Please make sure to get off the acid before writing, I really honestly do not know how you have a job doing this. You are awful.

• November 20, 2008

  2:52 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  LockeRobster writes:

  Lincecum and Webb pitched almost the exact same number of innings (227.0, 226.2). In those innings, Webb managed to strike out 183 batters (7.27 K/9 IP) while walking 65 (2.82 K/BB). Lincecum notched 265 Ks (10.5 K/9 IP) and walked 84 (3.15 K/BB). And their ERA's aren't even close (2.62 to 3.30).

  Lincecum should have been a unanimous choice for NL Cy Young.

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