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Duff77

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September 16, 2005 at 04:07PM View formatted

Yeah, that was the best year he ever had and the AL didn't really have a huge offensive standout on any of the better teams. It still proves the point that you don't have to dazzle in triple crown categories to win an MVP if the circumstances are right.

And the fact that he was 3rd in OPS has nothing to do with why the writers voted for him. They're not that sophisticated.

whiskybear

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September 16, 2005 at 04:14PM View BBCode

It was 1991. Only a handful of math majors (and their slide-rules) were that sophisticated.

FuriousGiorge

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September 16, 2005 at 04:14PM View BBCode

Well they may not have looked at OPS in 1991, but they certainly understood that he had a good offensive year by looking at traditional stats. Having a good OPS and good traditional statistics usually go hand in hand. No matter what they used, they got it right.

I'm pretty sure that nowadays most voters are aware of OPS and other more sophisticated analytical tools, and that many of them take them into account.

Duff77

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September 16, 2005 at 04:26PM View BBCode

Right. Which is why Andruw Jones is going to win the MVP.

FuriousGiorge

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September 16, 2005 at 04:30PM View BBCode

Here's the reason Jones is going to win the NL MVP - because voters still think he's the best center fielder in the game. Now, he's not anymore, and that sort of kills his case for people with a brain. But the fact that voters are taking defense into account is a good thing, even if it is steering them down the wrong path. If he was a lousy 1st baseman or left fielder, he wouldn't win, because voters ARE sophisticated enough to figure out the difference between his offensive stats and Pujols'/Lee's. Defense gives him the edge.