>>Well, Mike,
>>
>>Justice is served. Although I can't imagine any reason for so few 1st place votes other than the fact that he won the Cy Young. Unfortunate.
>
>I was pleased that Verlander won it. The reason he didn't receive more MVP votes is some voters sincerely believe it should not go to a pitcher. One of the voters was quoted saying starting pitchers only appear in about 21% of their team's games and for that reason, plus them having their own Cy Young award, he won't vote for one. I respect that opinion although I think there are exceptions, like Verlander this season. He had a truly exceptional year, while at the same time no AL batter had numbers that knock your socks off.

Position players also have the Hank Aaron award for best offensive player and gold glove award, not to mention a couple of others. Why should pitchers be picked on because they have a Cy Young? Top hitters have maybe 600 plate appearances. Compare that with Verlanders 900+. I don't buy any of it. Most valuable is what it is - most valuable. That, I think is why non-contenders rarely are in the running. Look at Bautista. he certainly had the numbers and he's a terrific outfielder - one of the best arms in baseball. The question for me is this: Could Toronto have finished out of the playoffs without Bautista? Answer: Yes. So, how valuable was he, exactly. He was certainly valuable, but compared with Verlander? Not even close. Could Detroit have finished where they did without Verlander? Answer: Not in the reality where I live. If they want to rename the award "Best Player" instead of "Most Valuable", then I'll change my viewpoint. But then, they probably wouldn't need voting. They could do that by computer.

>
>The NL announcement is today. To be honest I have been assuming it will go to Ryan Braun but have been hearing some hot stove chatter that it will go to Matt Kemp of the Dodgers instead. Not taking anything from Kemp at all; he had a sensational year. So did Braun. Kemp had a little better numbers in some categories and Braun was a little better in others. You already know where I'm going with this, don't you? Braun led the Brewers to a division title and the second best record in the league. Kemp's Dodgers were in the middle of the pack, never contenders. Traditionally the MVP goes to someone on a winning team. They may as well rename it "best season by a batter on a winning team." If the recent speculation is correct that has gone out the window this season. In fact I expected Braun's competition to be his teammate (for another couple weeks anyway) Prince Fielder, not Kemp. We'll see. Obviously I hope it's Braun. If not, well, I expect he will have more chances and hats off to Matt Kemp.

Once again, justice is served. I'm not a huge Braun fan, but if anybody deserved the award, he did.

>I am still pinching myself at what a great baseball season it was.

Looking forward to next season. Toronto is a fun team to watch. But can they move up in that division? I'm counting on it. I want to see Brett Lawrie play a whole season. I can't recall ever in my life seeing a rookie make that huge an impact so quickly. He only played 44 games (called up in August, wrecked his finger in September). He finished with a .293 Batting average, 9 homers, 26 runs, 25 RBIs, Slugging Pct of .580 and OPS of .983. He has a few things still to learn about playing 3rd base, but the guy is exciting and he hustles. He runs everything out to 1st base. Love the guy.