The MVP (Most Valuable Player) is an award given annually to one player from each baseball league: the AL (American League) and the NL (National League). The chosen player is the man who has put up dominating numbers and has meant the most to his team.
In the AL , the MVP race is pretty tight. Depending on your personal beliefs and geographic location you probably have strong opinions about who the most dominant player might be. Some popular choices are Curtis Granderson of the Yankees, Adrian Gonzalez of Boston Red Sox, Jacoby Ellsbury of the Red Sox, Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays, Dustin Pedroia of the Red Sox and Miguel Cabrera of the Detriot Tigers.
To be fair, all of these players had a spectacular season, but none showed the level of dominance or created a level of fear in opponents quite like Justin Verlander, the pitcher for the Detroit Tigers.
This year Verlander finished with a 24-5 record and a 2.29 ERA (earned run average). He played 33 games this year, pitched 244 innings along with 244 strikeouts and a .91 WHIP (walks plus hits per inning).
Verlander also won the triple crown in pitching (which means leading the league in wins, strikeouts and ERA (earned run average)). A pitching triple crown doesn’t get as much credit as the batting triple crown, but it is as difficult to earn.
In spite of this, however, the MVP for the AL will likely be awarded to Curtis Granderson of the Yankees. Granderson played 160 games this season. He batted at .262, he lead the league in Runs Batted In (RBI) with 119, and he hit the most home runs this year with 41. His .262 average means in an average game he will strike out, have one hit and record a couple of outs. Every four games he hits a home run, every eight games he hits a double, and every nine to 10 games he will steal a base.
Impressive statistics, but I still don’t think he should win MVP. Justin Verlander deserves that award.
Verlander has a 2.29 ERA, which means that you can count on Verlander giving up fewer than two-and-a-half runs and striking out between seven and eight batters, where as Granderson may only hit a single and strikeout only a few times on any given night.
If you’re a baseball “enthusiast” you will vote for Granderson (or possibly another candidate), because you believe pitchers have “their own award,” the Cy Young Trophy that is handed out to the best pitcher in both the AL and NL. However, consider this: Detroit won 95 games this year; Verlander won 24 of those 95. Which means if Verlander were not a member of the Tigers, they probably would not have made the playoffs and would not have finished as AL runner-ups.
Whether or not Verlander actually wins the MVP, I will continue to believe he is the most deserving player and he has met the standards that it takes to win the MVP award.
