bjm676 Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 Personally, Ortiz deserved it more. -Rod named American League MVP 11/14/2005 2:00 PM ET By Mark Feinsand / MLB.com NEW YORK -- Alex Rodriguez may not yet have any World Series rings to show for his remarkable career, but the Yankees' third baseman picked up his second American League Most Valuable Player Award on Monday. Rodriguez beat out David Ortiz, Boston's larger-than-life designated hitter, who finished a close second in the vote. Rodriguez earned 16 first-place votes and 331 points, while Ortiz received 11 first-place votes and 307 points. Los Angeles' Vladimir Guerrero received the other first-place vote, finishing third. Boston's Manny Ramirez and Cleveland's Travis Hafner rounded out the top five. Rodriguez got 11 second-place votes and one third, while Ortiz was listed second on 17 ballots. A-Rod's numbers were hard to argue with: a .321 average, 130 RBIs and an AL-leading 48 home runs. Considering Ortiz's final stats (.299-47-148), a case could have been made for either candidate, but Rodriguez's stellar play at third base likely pushed him over the top, as Ortiz's status as a DH hurt him with some voters. Votes were cast before the postseason, which was good news for both A-Rod and Big Papi, who may have watched Chicago's Paul Konerko vault himself to the top in that scenario. Rodriguez went 2-for-15 in the Yankees' ALDS loss to the Angels, while Ortiz had just one RBI as the Red Sox were swept out of the playoffs by the White Sox in the opening round. The fact that the Yankees overtook the Red Sox to win their eighth consecutive AL East title probably didn't hurt Rodriguez, either. In the clincher, which came on the penultimate day of the regular season, A-Rod went 4-for-5 with a home run in the Yankees' 8-4 victory at Fenway Park. A-Rod ranked in the top five in the AL in homers (first), RBIs (fourth), batting average (second), runs (first), slugging percentage (first), OPS (first), on-base percentage (second) and walks (third). He even added 21 stolen bases, which was ninth best in the league. Rodriguez's award is the 19th in Yankees history, the most of any franchise. He is the first Yankee to win the MVP Award since Don Mattingly captured it in 1985. Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle won three MVPs apiece, while Roger Maris won two. Other Yankees winners were Lou Gehrig, Joe Gordon, Spud Chandler, Phil Rizzuto, Elston Howard and Thurman Munson. Rodriguez became the 23rd multiple MVP winner and only the fourth to win at two positions and with two clubs. He was a shortstop with the Rangers when he was the AL MVP in 2003. Rodriguez has also been the runner-up twice, in 2002 with Texas to Oakland's Miguel Tejada and in 1996 with Seattle to Texas' Juan Gonzalez. Ortiz's supporters pointed to his numbers in "close and late" situations, which are defined by at-bats in the seventh inning or later with the team either ahead by one run, tied or with the potential tying run at least on deck. In 78 such at-bats, Ortiz hit .346 (27-for-78) with 11 home runs, 33 RBIs and a .447 on-base percentage. But A-Rod posted respectable numbers in those situations, too, hitting .293 (22-for-75) with four home runs, 12 RBIs and a .418 on-base percentage. Rodriguez, who took a lot of heat in 2004 for hitting just .248 with runners in scoring position -- including a .206 mark with RISP and two outs -- made up for it this season. With runners in scoring position, Rodriguez hit .290, including a .302 average with two outs. Rodriguez, who set an AL mark for most home runs by a third baseman, also set a new club standard for right-handed hitters with his 48 homers, breaking DiMaggio's 68-year-old mark of 47. DiMaggio's 1937 season had been the only one in which a right-handed hitter hit more than 40 home runs for the Bombers. Of those 48 long balls, 26 of them came at Yankee Stadium, as A-Rod shattered the previous team mark of 19 home runs hit by a right-hander in the Bronx. The mark had been held by DiMaggio ('37) and Gary Sheffield (2004). Rodriguez also became the youngest player in baseball history to reach 400 home runs, hitting his milestone shot on June 8 in Milwaukee. Rodriguez hit 409 homers before his 30th birthday, eclipsing the mark of his former teammate, Ken Griffey Jr., who hit 398 homers before turning 30. 2005 AL MVP Award Voting results ¬ Player, Club 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Points Alex Rodriguez, NYY 16 11 1 331 David Ortiz, BOS 11 17 307 Vladimir Guerrero, LAA 1 9 8 7 1 1 1 196 Manny Ramirez, BOS 9 1 6 2 6 2 1 156 Travis Hafner, CLE 5 6 4 4 3 3 2 151 Paul Konerko, CWS 2 4 6 5 1 3 5 128 Mark Teixeira, TEX 1 5 3 7 4 2 4 106 Gary Sheffield, NYY 3 2 6 2 2 3 1 84 Mariano Rivera, NYY 1 1 1 3 3 1 3 2 59 Derek Jeter, NYY 1 3 1 1 23 Michael Young, TEX 2 2 1 2 20 Scott Podsednik, CWS 1 1 1 1 15 Johnny Damon, BOS 1 1 2 1 12 Hideki Matsui, NYY 2 1 8 Richie Sexson, SEA 2 1 7 Miguel Tejada, BAL 2 3 7 Chone Figgins, LAA 1 4 6 Victor Martinez, CLE 1 5 Jason Giambi, NYY 1 1 5 Brian Roberts, BAL 1 2 5 Jason Varitek, BOS 1 4 Eric Chavez, OAK 1 2 4 Huston Street, OAK 1 3 Bartolo Colon, LAA 1 1 3 Grady Sizemore, CLE 1 1 3 Bob Wickman, CLE 1 2 Jorge Cantu, TB 1 1 Jose Contreras, CWS 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockRaines Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 Pods and the Count with votes?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antonio Osuna Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 Heh. Podsednik got more votes than Tejada, Varitek, Chavez, Damon, Sizemore... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greasywheels121 Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 Why do I hate A-Rod so much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierzynski 12 Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 Congrats A-Rod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punch and Judy Garland Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 Well deserved in my opinion. Hopefully Pujols will finally be rewarded for his greatness tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milkman delivers Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 A-rod deserved it more. I hate him and Ortiz, but he deserved it more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witesoxfan Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 Hafner 5th? Ouch. ARod did deserve this though. Solid defensive 3Bman with great numbers for the AL East champion...Ortiz plays no defense, and when he does it's mediocrely, and the Red Sox pretty much just backed into the Wild Card spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redandwhite Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 I love how MLB credits Rodriguez winning this award for his "stellar" defense. Clearly having the worst range factor, and second worst zone rating of all regular American League 3rd baseman is "stellar". boo-hoo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redandwhite Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 a buddy of mines thoughts that i thought i should share for arguments sake: okay, here's what i don't understand. there were 28 voters. ortiz got 11 first-place votes and 17 for second place. for weeks now, all we've heard is that papi being a dh works against him and that a dh shouldn't be the mvp ... ... but ... if writers really feel that way, WHY do they vote for him at all? if a dh shouldn't win the mvp, why should he finish second? wouldn't these self-styled traditionalist voters be truer to their holier-than-thou ethics if they left ortiz off the ballot altogether? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 Jeter on 1st. 0 outs, bottom 9th inning, game 5, ALDS, Angels up by 1. ARod GIDP. He can have all the MVP awards he wants, but that ground ball made more of a difference in their season than every other home run, single, double, triple, RBI, and walk he had this season combined. If Ortiz could have played the field he would have won. Konerko's winning this thing next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redandwhite Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 If Ortiz had played the field odds are he would have finished right around the same in range factor and zone rating as Rodriguez did compared to opposing American League regular first baseman. Ortiz got shafted, period, but I don't really care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buehrle>Wood Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 Atleast that fat mess Ortiz didn't get it. Congrats A-rod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishsox1 Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 (edited) 2005 A-Rod Season .321 Average 48 Homeruns 130 RBI's 2005 A-Rod playoffs .133 Average 0 Homeruns 0 RBI's Edited November 14, 2005 by Irishsox1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodAsGould Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 How did Ortiz earn it more..... A-Rod had a higher avg, more runs, more HR's even if its only 1, he stole 20 bases, and he had a higher OBP... and even though they were close higher SLG and OPS. The only stat Ortiz beat A-Rod in is RBI's, everything else A-Rod is ahead.... so tell me how did Ortiz get shafted... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Nov 14, 2005 -> 02:08 PM) The only stat Ortiz beat A-Rod in is RBI's, everything else A-Rod is ahead.... so tell me how did Ortiz get shafted... Close and Late AVG OBP SLG OPS Ortiz .346 .447 .846 1.293 ARod .293 .418 .520 .938 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodAsGould Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Nov 14, 2005 -> 10:30 PM) Close and Late AVG OBP SLG OPS Ortiz .346 .447 .846 1.293 ARod .293 .418 .520 .938 If you get the RBI's early it wont be close at the end Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Nov 14, 2005 -> 12:46 PM) A-rod deserved it more. I hate him and Ortiz, but he deserved it more. Arod >>> Ortiz. Lets not forget that Arod plays gold glove defense (even if he didn't win the award). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antonio Osuna Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 At the end of the day, its "Most Valuable Player", not "Best Player". If we want Best Player, we can just look at the stats. I'd argue that Ortiz was more valuable to the Red Sox than A-Rod was to the Yankees. But I'm not about to waste digital breath defending a member of the AL team I hate the most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoda Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 Like many, I don’t like A-Rod but I also don’t hate the man. He deserves the award and I congratulate him. BTW, Pujols for NL MVP! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Nov 14, 2005 -> 02:50 PM) Arod >>> Ortiz. Lets not forget that Arod plays gold glove defense (even if he didn't win the award). Are you kidding me? This year, he played non-terrible, slighly above average defense. He was not a gold glove defender. He has a long way to go before he deserves to have those words said about him. Just in terms of fielding the ball, Crede and Chavez are far ahead of ARod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redandwhite Posted November 15, 2005 Share Posted November 15, 2005 QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Nov 14, 2005 -> 04:50 PM) Arod >>> Ortiz. Lets not forget that Arod plays gold glove defense (even if he didn't win the award). <{POST_SNAPBACK}> explain how he played gold glove defense? you seem to be judging on statistics alone offensively, but when it comes to defense and the fact that Rodriguez was the worst regular American League third baseman you completely ignore it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodAsGould Posted November 15, 2005 Share Posted November 15, 2005 QUOTE(redandwhite @ Nov 15, 2005 -> 12:29 AM) explain how he played gold glove defense? you seem to be judging on statistics alone offensively, but when it comes to defense and the fact that Rodriguez was the worst regular American League third baseman you completely ignore it. Id say 2nd worse .... anyways he was better than Ortiz in all offensive categories except RBI's so I think he deserves it more even w/out the defense factor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redandwhite Posted November 15, 2005 Share Posted November 15, 2005 QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Nov 14, 2005 -> 06:40 PM) Id say 2nd worse .... anyways he was better than Ortiz in all offensive categories except RBI's so I think he deserves it more even w/out the defense factor. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> well thats where the real argument should be and i'm not throwing your opinion out the window, i just tend to value what someone does in close and late situations more than you do, and as far as Ortiz goes there isn't anyone else i'd want at the plate in the bottom of the ninth with two outs down by one. also, as a Red Sox fan, watching him on a daily basis, he's my MVP as a Konerko is to White Sox fans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milkman delivers Posted November 15, 2005 Share Posted November 15, 2005 QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Nov 14, 2005 -> 05:08 PM) The only stat Ortiz beat A-Rod in is RBI's, everything else A-Rod is ahead.... so tell me how did Ortiz get shafted... BECAUSE HE'S BIG PAPI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's the best reason I can think of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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