Papi or Pay-Rod?
Though the season is not over, the time for the debate is now. The American League MVP race is down between two guys, David “Big Papi” Ortiz or Alex “Pay-Rod” Rodriguez. The Red Sox are going to win the division and the Yankees are challenging for the Wild Card so both are deserving candidates, even for those who don’t want to give it to someone on a last place team.
Now there is one big difference, Rodriguez plays the field at a very difficult position and Ortiz is just a DH. I know the “baseball purists” will say that a guy who only DH cannot win the MVP. While most of my life I was a subscriber to the theory, I think I may be changing my tune now. It goes along with can a starter or reliever be the MVP? A starter plays in maybe 1/5 of your team’s games, while a reliever may only pitch 70 innings in a season, but they have been named MVP before. So why not a DH? Things change people, sometimes you have to change with the times, the DH is here and it is here to stay.
All that being said, in my opinion this is one of the biggest no brainers in sports. The American League MVP is Big Papi all the way. He is the unquestioned heart and soul of his team and whenever they need a big hit he gets it for them. If I am not mistaken he has 3 walk off hits this year, including 2 walk off HR’s. Rodriguez has been is brilliant self all season long. He has gotten clutch hits at every turn for the Yankees, he and Jeter are the stabilizing forces on that team. But when you break it down Papi is just better in the clutch. Better than anyone. Papi has now elevated himself into the pantheon of all time great clutch hitters. Nobody is a bigger Yankee fan than me, or a bigger A-Rod defender (amazing you have to defend a guy as talented and humble as A-Rod), but I see no way I can really argue for him in this debate.
Baseball is a game that revolves around offensive numbers, and what Ortiz is doing is straight ridiculous. He and A-Rod basically have the same popular numbers, runs, RBI, HR and A-Rod is a little better an overall hit and OBP guy. But when you look inside you see that Papi is the best in baseball. He is batting .343 with a 1.044 OPS with runners in scoring position, and when runners are in scoring position with 2 outs his numbers go up, .370 & 1.241. A-Rod bats between .275-.280 in those similar situations. And in close game late situations Papi is only batting .329 while A-Rod is batting .313, which proves both of them are clutch in close games. For those who do not like Papi being a DH, too bad, plus he is actually a better hitter when he is playing first base. And the craziest number is that he has 23 HR and 63 RBI on the road.
David Ortiz is carving a name for himself as the best clutch hitter of his generation. I never saw Thurman Munson play, but all you here is that whenever his team needed a big hit he was always the guy to get it, and that is what Papi does best. He is a deserving MVP with A-Rod easily a close second, they are the only two that are in the discussion. I will remind Yankee fans a few years ago when Ortiz was a free agent out of Minnesota there was one man in the Yankee organization who wanted to sign him as their DH; that man, George M. Steinbrenner. But of course his “baseball” people told him that Ortiz wasn’t worth it and would never be a consistent player everyday 1B or DH. Yeah, good call Cashman!!!
Now there is one big difference, Rodriguez plays the field at a very difficult position and Ortiz is just a DH. I know the “baseball purists” will say that a guy who only DH cannot win the MVP. While most of my life I was a subscriber to the theory, I think I may be changing my tune now. It goes along with can a starter or reliever be the MVP? A starter plays in maybe 1/5 of your team’s games, while a reliever may only pitch 70 innings in a season, but they have been named MVP before. So why not a DH? Things change people, sometimes you have to change with the times, the DH is here and it is here to stay.
All that being said, in my opinion this is one of the biggest no brainers in sports. The American League MVP is Big Papi all the way. He is the unquestioned heart and soul of his team and whenever they need a big hit he gets it for them. If I am not mistaken he has 3 walk off hits this year, including 2 walk off HR’s. Rodriguez has been is brilliant self all season long. He has gotten clutch hits at every turn for the Yankees, he and Jeter are the stabilizing forces on that team. But when you break it down Papi is just better in the clutch. Better than anyone. Papi has now elevated himself into the pantheon of all time great clutch hitters. Nobody is a bigger Yankee fan than me, or a bigger A-Rod defender (amazing you have to defend a guy as talented and humble as A-Rod), but I see no way I can really argue for him in this debate.
Baseball is a game that revolves around offensive numbers, and what Ortiz is doing is straight ridiculous. He and A-Rod basically have the same popular numbers, runs, RBI, HR and A-Rod is a little better an overall hit and OBP guy. But when you look inside you see that Papi is the best in baseball. He is batting .343 with a 1.044 OPS with runners in scoring position, and when runners are in scoring position with 2 outs his numbers go up, .370 & 1.241. A-Rod bats between .275-.280 in those similar situations. And in close game late situations Papi is only batting .329 while A-Rod is batting .313, which proves both of them are clutch in close games. For those who do not like Papi being a DH, too bad, plus he is actually a better hitter when he is playing first base. And the craziest number is that he has 23 HR and 63 RBI on the road.
David Ortiz is carving a name for himself as the best clutch hitter of his generation. I never saw Thurman Munson play, but all you here is that whenever his team needed a big hit he was always the guy to get it, and that is what Papi does best. He is a deserving MVP with A-Rod easily a close second, they are the only two that are in the discussion. I will remind Yankee fans a few years ago when Ortiz was a free agent out of Minnesota there was one man in the Yankee organization who wanted to sign him as their DH; that man, George M. Steinbrenner. But of course his “baseball” people told him that Ortiz wasn’t worth it and would never be a consistent player everyday 1B or DH. Yeah, good call Cashman!!!
7 Comments:
No chance! Papi is a great hitter, a great clutch hitter, and excellent team guy....but I can not accept him as MVP of the league. How can you be the most valuable player in the league if you never put on a glove?? That's absurd! There are guys that can do just as much and better offensively then him and play top notch if not gold glove defense. The Red Sox are brutal in the field, how does Papi help them here? He's so bad defensively he can't even play for a terrible defensive team.
My award goes to Arod. In a year when the entire Yankees team has suffered through injury, slumps, and underachievement; only one man played up to his paycheck. Not only does Arod best Papi in almost every offensive stat, he also steals bases and plays gold glove defense at one of the most challenging defensive positions you can play. Arod's value to the team far exceeds Papi's value simply because he wins games on both sides of the chalk, but also can do everything a DH can do and more!
The NL argument is even more hotly contested, but even though I am a huge Braves hater, how can Andruw Jones not win the MVP this year. His entire team has been hurt all year. He had no stars around him in the lineup and he not only played well, he put up the most remarkable year he's ever had. Destroying the NL in HR and RBI while playing the traditional gold glove defense in CF and leading his team to yet another division title. Pujols and Lee have had tremendous years but not nearly as impressive as Jones'...
BIG PAPI!!!!! No doubt about it. He affects the game like Barry Bonds used to do. Unfortunately for the opponents, they can't walk him and get to a weak hitter like they could with Bonds. All you DH haters need to get over it. I would rather have a DH, because then I don't have to see a guy come up to hit and stand as far away from the plate as possible and watch another guy throw 55 MPH strikes. If DH stats shouldn't hold water, as some would argue, then all NL pitchers should have all K's striken from their records if the pitcher he was pitching to just stood there and took 3 pitches. Quit being bitches and show your respect for Ortiz. Who would you rather see in the box, Ortiz or Arroyo? I rest my case.
Big Papi is a terrible fielder? I will admit, he doesn't play the field very much, but he has 1774 total chances and 18 total errors. Not too shabby, in my opinion.
My vote is for Bobby Kielty. Sure he is only batting .258 with 9 homers for the A's. But he is the best of both A-rod and Papi, He is clutch player on a playoff contending team, he plays both offense and defense. Oh yeah and he has a flaming red afro that just seals the deal for me!!!! -B. Willie
Thanks for sending me a link to this - you're a pretty good writer ... that's probably easier for me to say considering what you chose to write about is my my favorite topic. I have to agree with you today, and probably only today. -Becca
Well I just left you a nice long comment and it got erased ,so let's try again - Thanks for sending me the link, you're a good writer. I have to agree wit hyou that Papi desevres MVP, after all, he has saved the Red Sox's asses many a time, while A-Rod hasn't really been a clutch player as much as a stable one.
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