Pedroia named AL MVP

[MaineDem]

BOSTON -- Just call him Mr. November. Or better yet, refer to Dustin Pedroia as the Most Valuable Player of the American League.

The second baseman of the Boston Red Sox continued his rapid burst into the national spotlight on Tuesday, when he was recognized with that impressive honor.

Though most pundits expected the race for MVP to be agonizingly close, Pedroia won in comfortable fashion, outdistancing a solid field that included, among others, Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis, Twins first baseman Justin Morneau, Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton and Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez.

...

Pedroia joins Cal Ripken Jr. and Ryan Howard as the only players to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in consecutive years.


http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081118&content_id=3683215&vkey=news_bos&fext=.jsp&c_id=bos

YAY!!!! :party:

[Forkboy]

1. That's cool. He's a hell of a ballplayer.

:thumbsup:

[JenniferJuniper]

2. Wonderful news.

Pedroia is a tough, gutsy, old-fashioned sort of player who is great fun to watch.

Not to mention the fact that he's had to battle negative perceptions because of his size all his life. (He's officially listed at 5'9", but looks to be closer to 5'6" on a tall day). I've got a nephew who is very athletic but also very small for his age, and watching Dustin's success has done wonders for his own confidence on the field.

Well done, kid!

[joeybee12]

3. Listed as a "generous" 5'9'' the article said...

...hooray for the little guy!

[joeybee12]

4. Great news..really deserved it, and I wanna know the name of the a**hole

voter who kept him COMPLETELY off the ballot...that sucks when you try to manipulate that stuff.

[hughee99]

5. Evan Grant - Dallas Morning news

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2008/11/evan_grant_on_l.html
His list:

Here is Grant's 10-person ballot:

Kevin Youkilis
Francisco Rodriguez
Justin Morneau
Josh Hamilton
Carlos Quentin
Alex Rodriguez
Cliff Lee
Joe Mauer
Grady Sizemore
Carlos Pena

From the Article...
"I just thought that Sizemore and Pena were at least the equal of Dustin," Grant said. "When it got down to it, the last place on my ballot was Pedroia or Pena, Pedroia or Pena. I don't have a guy from the Rays on my ballot and they won 97 games. I was going to vote to make sure Carlos Pena got recognized. I'm not afraid to say I was wrong. I have no issue with Dustin winning."

Grant added that some of the statistical analysis that was factored into his decision included OPS and OBP, which he valued more highly than total hits or batting average. He said, "If there's an area to me that he came up short, it was in those two areas."

Pedroia was 17th in the AL in OPS (.869), with Youkilis fourth at .958. Pedroia was 10th in on-base percentage at .376; Youkilis was sixth (.390)."


If OPS is so important, Pedroia's was higher than Mauer's (.869 to .864).
If he needed a guy from the Rays on his list, he might have considered taking one of the TWO Twins or TWO Indians (who both missed the playoffs) off his list, or perhaps one of the two pitchers, or maybe the guy who missed the last month of the season after he hit himself with his bat.

Especially considering that Grant admits he had Pedroia as high as #1 on his ballot in late September.

"I think the best way for me to sum it up is, in retrospect, obviously I was wrong," he says. It's not "in retrospect", he knew it was wrong when he filled out the ballot.


Look, all of the people on this list are good candidates, but the guy's justification is really weak.

[rinsd]

7. I would have to agree about Youklis

If you were going to pick an MVP from the Red Sox, he is the guy.

[hughee99]

8. Youkilis would have been a good pick and would have been a worthy MVP

as would Morneau and Mauer. All the players on this list are very good players, I just don't see how Pedroia went from the "top of his list in late September" to being the odd man out of 11 people.

[rinsd]

9. Even stranger since "late September" in much closer to voting time.

Did the playoffs sour his view somehow?

[hughee99]

10. I actually thought all the ballots needed to be in before the playoffs started. n/t

[joeybee12]

11. This guy's a twit...reminds me of the guy who left Pedro Martinez off

his ballot because he didn't think pitchers deserved to be MVP's...guy's name was King...from New York...Pedro would have won had the guy been honest.

[hughee99]

12. George King

He claims he had decided after seeing Kevin Brown's contract with the Dodgers that, though he had voted for pitchers in the past, he wouldn't again.

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/nypost/access/68517392.html?did=68517392&FMT=ABS&FMTS=FT&date=Nov+24%2C+1999&author=George+King&pub=New+York+Post&desc=WHY+I+LEFT+PEDRO+OFF+MY+MVP+BALLOT%3B+MVP+VOTING+ISN'T+LIFE+%26+DEATH+ISSUE

I actually think La Velle Neal from Minnesota left him off the ballot as well.

I wasn't able to find King's ballot for this year, I was curious to see if K-Rod go a vote.

[joeybee12]

13. I think you're right about La Velle Neal...I can't recall who won,

but it was clear Pedro should have, and the guy who did wasn't really someone people were considering all that seriously.

[IndianaJones]

6. well deserved. nt.