Who is the American League MVP?
Alex Rodriguez is Crushing the AL Most Valuable Player Competition
After his strife-filled, disappointing season in 2006, many thought A-Rod had fallen off the perch of the best player in baseball. They were wrong. He's still the best.
Just one year ago, Alex Rodriguez was having the worst year of his baseball life. He wasn't having a terrible season. Not by any stretch of the imagination. He finished the season batting .291 with 35 home runs and 121 RBI. Do that for about fifteen years and you are sure to make the Hall of Fame.
But for a player of A-Rod's abilities and accomplishments, those numbers were almost pedestrian. Add to that his sometimes horrendous defensive play and his continued failure to hit in the clutch, and Rodriguez had a lot of people wondering: is this guy really worth $25 miilion a year?
It turns out the answer is yes, he is worth whatever the Yankees can afford to pay him. Why? Because this year, A-Rod is the clear choice for the American League's Most Valuable Player.
The Statistics Don't Lie
A-Rod's 2007 season numbers are astounding. He leads the major leagues in home runs (52), runs batted in (140), runs scored (132), slugging percentage (.672) and OPS (1.096).
In a vaccuum, those numbers are remarkable. But when viewed through the prism of baseball history, they are historic.
Consider this. Prior to A-Rod's arrival in New York, the Yankee record for home runs by a right-handed hitter was 46, set by Joe DiMaggio in 1937. Rodriguez broke that record in 2005, when he hit 48. This year, with 18 games remaining, A-Rod has already shattered his own mark. If he plays in all of the Yankees' remaining games and maintains his pace (of one home run per every 10 at bats), he will finish the season with 59 home runs.
That's not just the most home runs ever by a right-handed Yankee. It's the most home runs in baseball history by a righty who isn't named Mark McGwire. But, of course, McGwire's 70 dingers in 1998 will never be looked upon the same way since the steroid and HGH scandals that have cast a dark pall over baseball for far too long.
He is also on pace to become the first player to have 150 RBI and 150 runs in the same season since Ted Williams did it in 1949.
Furthermore, he is poised to become just the third player in history to hit 50, drive in 150 and score 150. Babe Ruth did it three times (1920, '21 and '27) and Jimmie Foxx did it once (1932).
A-Rod Has been More "Valuable" Than Any Other Player on Earth
Those aren't hollow stats, either. A-Rod has hit best when the Yankees needed it most.
Chew on this. A-Rod has come to the plate 68 times in the 7th inning or later when the Yankees are within one run of their opponent. In those plate appearances, Rodriguez is hitting .328, has a .412 OBP, and has 6 home runs and 19 RBI. It gets better. In 46 ninth inning at bats, Rodriguez is batting .447 with 8 home runs (one per every 5.8 at bats) and 20 RBI (one per every 2.3 at bats). He also has four game-winning walkoff hits, two of them home runs, one off Jonathan Papelbon.
Whatever they say about A-Rod, they can't say he choked during the 2007 regular season.
Magglio Ordonez's Bad Timing
Phil Mickelson is a great golfer. But he's unlucky enough to play in the Tiger Woods Era. That happens once in a while. A great player or a great team sometimes has the misfortune of playing at the same time, or during the same season, as a legend or a dynasty. Frazier had Ali. Ewing had Jordan. The 2001 Seattle Mariners had the New York Yankees. The list goes on and on.
That's exactly what is happening to Detroit's Magglio Ordonez this year. He is having a great season, almost single-handedly keeping the Tigers offense afloat with his .355 batting average, 26 home runs and 126 RBI. He is also the one constant on a Tigers team that has suffered almost as many injuries as the Yankees.
In virtually every other season, Ordonez would run away with the American League MVP trophy. But not this year. Not when Rodriguez is having the kind of season that he is having.
Sorry, Maggs. You'll have to wait until next year.
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