Monday, August 30, 2004
Who Is It, Exactly, That Doesn't Think Bonds Is The MVP?
Well, Joe Morgan, for starters.
During last night's Sunday Night Baseball game, Morgan and Jon Miller were taking a look at the stats of the MVP, and also of Adrian Beltre, Scott Rolen and Albert Pujols. Morgan circled Beltre's stats on the screen, which, taken in direct comparison to Bonds' stats, looked pretty much the same as Bonds' (.368-38-88 for BB, 42-98-.342 for AB).
This graphic, though, did not show that Beltre has 176 more at-bats -- in which to compile homers and RBIs -- than Bonds has. It also did not show the huge disparities in walks (Bonds' 183 to Beltre's 39), on-base percentage (.607 to .389), and slugging (.822 to .658). If Bonds had as many at-bats as Beltre does, Bonds would statistically have 60 home runs and and 139 RBIs.
Anyway, Morgan circled Beltre's stats and said something to the effect of, "Beltre's stats are obviously..." and here I expected him to say "superior" but he surprised me by saying, "...second to Bonds..." and for a brief spell I regained a tad bit of appreciation for Morgan's expertise (which is rapidly declining; either that or I am simply recognizing more and more that he didn't have much to begin with).
But then, he brought us back to the reality of MorganWorld when he said, "But if I'm looking at MVP, I'm looking at Beltre, Pujols and Rolen..."
And I figured there would be more to that, something along the lines of "...in terms of who should finish second, third and fourth in the voting..."
But he didn't add that. He added nothing. To which Jon Miller asked, "So you wouldn't consider Bonds at all for MVP?"
And Morgan began to give us the nonsense about how the record of the team the player is on is the most important factor. I really have nothing more to say to Morgan about this than "Shut the hell up. You are a moron."
The only controversy that should ever enter into the MVP race is who should finish second in the voting. If you are on that inexplicable bandwagon, the foundation of which is that Bonds is not the MVP, you are probably insane. When I say "insane", that is not the "Man, you're funny!" kind of comment. It's the "You are probably literally not sane and help may or may not be available to you" type.
During last night's Sunday Night Baseball game, Morgan and Jon Miller were taking a look at the stats of the MVP, and also of Adrian Beltre, Scott Rolen and Albert Pujols. Morgan circled Beltre's stats on the screen, which, taken in direct comparison to Bonds' stats, looked pretty much the same as Bonds' (.368-38-88 for BB, 42-98-.342 for AB).
This graphic, though, did not show that Beltre has 176 more at-bats -- in which to compile homers and RBIs -- than Bonds has. It also did not show the huge disparities in walks (Bonds' 183 to Beltre's 39), on-base percentage (.607 to .389), and slugging (.822 to .658). If Bonds had as many at-bats as Beltre does, Bonds would statistically have 60 home runs and and 139 RBIs.
Anyway, Morgan circled Beltre's stats and said something to the effect of, "Beltre's stats are obviously..." and here I expected him to say "superior" but he surprised me by saying, "...second to Bonds..." and for a brief spell I regained a tad bit of appreciation for Morgan's expertise (which is rapidly declining; either that or I am simply recognizing more and more that he didn't have much to begin with).
But then, he brought us back to the reality of MorganWorld when he said, "But if I'm looking at MVP, I'm looking at Beltre, Pujols and Rolen..."
And I figured there would be more to that, something along the lines of "...in terms of who should finish second, third and fourth in the voting..."
But he didn't add that. He added nothing. To which Jon Miller asked, "So you wouldn't consider Bonds at all for MVP?"
And Morgan began to give us the nonsense about how the record of the team the player is on is the most important factor. I really have nothing more to say to Morgan about this than "Shut the hell up. You are a moron."
The only controversy that should ever enter into the MVP race is who should finish second in the voting. If you are on that inexplicable bandwagon, the foundation of which is that Bonds is not the MVP, you are probably insane. When I say "insane", that is not the "Man, you're funny!" kind of comment. It's the "You are probably literally not sane and help may or may not be available to you" type.
