NY Times' Jack Curry desperately pitching award worth millions for Red Sox, 8/17/06
For the 2nd time in recent weeks Jack Curry desperately uses the NY Times to get the post season AL MVP award to David Ortiz and the Red Sox. He states Ortiz 'is an MVP candidate.'
How does Curry know this? As an employee of the NY Times, he's not even allowed to vote for
baseball awards. In a long article, Curry is beside himself about David, showing him to be the solver of every problem imaginable whether in the clubhouse or on the field.
- In Curry's usual smug, passive-aggressive manner, near the end of his love letter he lets the far-flung award voter know that the only possible other candidate might be Derek Jeter. Then he gives the voters a quick way to not vote for Jeter. He lists a few stats but cherry picks only those you'd look at if you wanted a middle of the line up DH--and I'm speaking about things that are on paper, not intangibles. He leaves out things like runs scored and of all things--he fails to mention Jeter's clutch hits!!! And "clutch" is his big selling point with Ortiz.
- The case isn't what Curry is pitching, ie Ortiz v Jeter, but that baseball media are totally corrupt & must be removed from any influence in baseball awards.
- CURRY'S #1 GOAL REMAINS TO KEEP THE REAL AL MVP FOR THIS YEAR & THE PAST DECADE OUT OF VOTERS' MINDS. THAT, OF COURSE, IS MARIANO RIVERA.
posted by susan at
8/17/2006 03:30:00 AM
2 Comments:
These rants regarding BBWAA awards are ridiculous.
1. Speculation is rampant about all of the BBWAA awards and takes place on a variety of fronts. Do I have to actually possess a ballot to speculate that the top 3 vote getters this year in the AL will be David Ortiz, Derek Jeter and Jim Thome? No, I just have to watch baseball and pay attention to ALL of the teams, not just the ones that I like (and I am a Yankee fan).
2. Mariano Rivera has consistently placed in the Top 10 of AL MVP vote-getters in the past several years. There are many who regard him the MVP of the Yankees, not just this year but throughout the Joe Torre era. He has a World Series MVP (1999) to show for that, and will walk into the HOF with ease on the BBWAA vote (no, I don't vote, but I think it's a pretty fair assessment).
3. Like him or not, David Ortiz will be the AL MVP this year, barring some strange twist of events. I spent 5 years in Boston and despise all things Red Sox (and happen to love DJ), but let's give the Devil his due here. Ortiz is a fantastic hitter, the star of his team (their line-up needs him more than anyone else--and more than the Yankees need Jeter, sorry to say), and he is one of the best clutch hitters in the game. Is he a good fielder? No. That's why he's a DH. Many people don't think he deserves the MVP because of that (I myself am on the fence), but Paul Molitor got 3,000 hits, a 39-game hitting streak and is a HOFer with a career predominantly spent as a DH. Had he been forced to field, he would have continued his streak of injuries that sidelined him many games. Edgar Martinez is arguably the best DH in the history of the game, and is a good bet for the HOF. It's part of the AL game, and that needs to be accepted.
4. BBWAA voters do not vote based on personality. If that were true, Barry Bonds wouldn't have SEVEN MVPs. And Alex Rodriguez wouldn't have won last year over the very popular Big Papi. I would imagine the unbalanced schedule is probably a bigger culprit of slanted vote totals.
5. Papelbon was never a lock for the ROY, nor was he a likely MVP. I know ESPN floated with the idea before the All-Star break (which is always stupid), but look at Liriano and Weaver. The ROY is going to be tough this year. And the CY Young is shaping up to be an interesting contest, too. But with his post-All Star pitching, I think Papelbon's name has fallen from that list of 3 votes.
6. You should not be allowed to know who votes for the awards before they are announced. First of all, what would you do with that information? Call them? Email them? Try to persuade them to cast YOUR vote based on YOUR knowledge and experience?
7. Why would the baseball writers not be qualified for this job? I never understand this argument. Who do you think knows more about the game? The FANS?! No, they get to pick the starters for the All Star game, and look how often those votes are based on popularity and name recognition as opposed to actually having a good year -- I call your attention to the amount of times Cal Ripken started at SS, especially toward the end of his career. Fans are not qualified. Writers are actually familiar with the day-to-day information and know what they're doing. Like it or not. And the organization has been around for almost 100 years. I'm sure they have qualifications for voting and committee membership. You want to vote, vote for the Hank Aaron award. Leave the real awards to the professionals. And never take ESPN's pearls of wisdom seriously. You're looking at a group of people who, by and large, aren't allowed to vote and are speculating based on what they see. Just like you and me.
8. Jack Curry, for all his flaws, wrote a book with Derek Jeter. I don't think he's as against him as you'd like to paint him. And giving Ortiz credit doesn't lessen Jeter. It just elevates Ortiz.
By
Anonymous, at 1:11 PM
How do you know the awards are legitimate? You don't. Media must be removed from baseball awards. I'm not suggesting fans do it.
LA Times sports editor Randy Harvey suggests managers & perhaps some combination of living recipients. How
do you know each of the 28 people who voted for the 2005 AL Cy Young were
qualified to do so? What are their names and resumes? Thanks for commenting on this matter.
By
susan, at 1:48 PM
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