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• 5/15/2009 3:54 AM Kenneth wrote:
  Where's that guy who was talking all that smack about Pujols not winning the MVP?
  
  1st in RBIs
  2nd in HRs
  Average .323
  
  Dude has a legitimate shot at Triple Crown.
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  1. 5/15/2009 8:20 AM San Diego Sports Guy wrote:
     I concur! 
     
     I wonder if he'll have the courage to step up to the plate and show Pujols some love...
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• 5/15/2009 8:59 AM Tom Carvel wrote:
  This is the last time I'll post on this subject because I don't think Kenneth understands my point. Pujols IS the best hitter in the national league. I did not debate that. What I responded to was Kenneth's statement one week into the baseball season that Pujols had a lock on the MVP. I said that regardless of how good Pujols' first week was, no one can have a lock on the MVP race. There's just too many variables. If his team didn't finish in 1st place, that hurts him. (Currently, the Cards are in a 3-way tie for 1st, so it's quite possible they don't make the playoffs.) I also noted that other players had the potential to put up big numbers too. (Manny is one of the top 5 hitters in the NL, was the best hitter on the best team in baseball, but now is suspended for 50 games -- take away that suspension, and Manny is very much in the hunt.) Pujols also has to stay healthy. If he gets dinged up, his numbers will drag. The reality is that Pujols is currently the huge front-runner for MVP, even more than he was back in April because he has sustained his play and because one of his prime contenders got suspended. But the statement that Pujols was a lock to win the MVP was still an absurd statement in April. And its still an absurd statement now. He's the best hitter, having the best season, and is a big front runner. If he wins the MVP, it still doesn't mean that he was ever a lock to win it.
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• 5/15/2009 11:27 AM Kenneth wrote:
  Not really sure what you meant in that post...sounded like a Malcolm Caldwell analysis. "if he wins the MVP, it still doesn't mean that he was ever a lock to win it."
  
  There is a chance Pujols could get snubbed...like back in 2006, when they gave it to Ryan Howard (who strikes out every third at bat)...despite the fact that Pujols lead his team to a World Championship.
  
  They might even think about tossing it to Hanley Ramirez....
  
  However...Pujols' numbers are too overpowering...therefore making him a lock:
  
  Last year with a torn elbow...and calf injury he put up .357, 37, 116...and St. Louis was around 10 games out.
  
  His OPS this year, as usual, will tell the real story.
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• 5/15/2009 12:18 PM Tom Carvel wrote:
  Despite my better judgment, I'll take one more shot at this. Kenneth, you can't seem to separate a “Pujols is the best hitter in the NL” argument from a “Pujols is a lock to win the MVP” argument. I agree with your first point, which you quite effectively support with the Pujols stats that you have been posting. But the second conclusion does not logically follow from the first. Perhaps it should, but it doesn't. Karl Malone and Charles Barkley were never BETTER basketball players than MJ. But they won MVP awards during MJ's prime years. MJ should have been a lock to win the MVP award every season during his prime because he was unquestionably the best player. But that's not the way that MVP voting works. Some years he won it, and some years he didn't. The biggest determinant as to whether MJ won MVP was ironically not based on how MJ played in the given season. He was always the best. The biggest determinant was whether some other guy played a significant role in the emergence of another team -- i.e., Barkley and Malone. Pujols might be the best hitter in the NL for the next five years, but he won't win five consecutive MVP awards. Thus, Pujols is NEVER a lock to win an MVP until/unless his stats justify it in September AND there isn't a Barkley or Malone carrying an emerging team on their back. You may have confidence, barring injury, that Pujols will hold up his end of the bargain. Just like MJ always did.
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• 5/15/2009 6:42 PM Kenneth wrote:
  I understand where you're coming from...and you make some great points.
  
  But "locks" are isolated events and happen few and far between.
  
  For example...Phil Jackson is one of the greatest coaches of all time in any sport. However...he has receieved "coach of the year" only once. Coaching MJ and Kobe will always cause people to doubt his abilities.
  
  However...in the year that Jackson did win, they had no choice but to give it to him...the Chicago Bulls were 72-10...the numbers were just too strong.
  
  Now...even though Jackson wasn't a lock at the beginning of the season...my point is that Pujols' numbers will be too overpowering and will kill any argument for another candidate for MVP.
  
  After last year...you could just tell that Pujols was going to have a monster year: he's healthy again...right in the prime of his career...he's hungry to get back in the playoffs...etc. Like a perfect storm....MVP lock!
  
  Take a lottery ticket....yes I have a chance to win when I purchase a ticet...but I am a "lock" to lose.
  
  Yes...there's small chance that Pujols will get snubbed...but he's still a "lock" to win this year.
  
  By the way....I do believe he's on the juice. Maybe not steroids...but some kind of PED. After A-Rod and Manny...I now believe everyone is in on the party.
  
  Finding out Derek Jeter is on the juice will definitely be a sign of the apocalypse.
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  1. 5/16/2009 12:33 PM San Diego Sports Guy wrote:
     

     Enjoyed the back & forth regarding Pujols!  The guy is simply an amazing hitter.  I hope he hasn't taken any PED's, but I concur with you that nearly everyone is in on the party & has done something to gain an edge...even...Jeter. 

     
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