2008 MLB Season

[Still MIGHTY]

I still don't get that.

If the Twins won the season series, why is there a playoff?

They already beat the White Sox. Why aren't head-to-head records a tiebreaker like it is in NHL, NBA, NFL?

I've seen plenty of times in the other 3 where a division championship is decided via tiebreak.

You didn't win the season series, so why should they be provided an opportunity to get in this way? You didn't beat them in the regular season, why should you get the opportunity to do it AFTER the season?

I really don't care who comes out as a winner between the two, I just wanted to point out my little frustration with that one.

[Eye]

Delgado made an MVP push in the second half so you have to include him too, and Daniel Murphy is a start in waiting.

The lineup is fine for the most part they need to perhaps be more selective in clutch situations but thats it.

No you don't. The Mets didn't even make the playoffs so how does Carlos Delgado have the most value of any player in the National League? Yeah the Mets got close to making the playoffs with Delgado, but tell me the team that wants to finish one game out of the playoffs on the last game of the season.

Albert Pujols should not be in contention for MVP either because his team did not make the playoffs; therefore, he is not that valuable. Yeah he has some value, but not nearly enough to be considered the MVP. If the award was 'Best Player', then you could make an argument, but for MVP? Nah.

Ryan Howard has (should have?) a substantially better shot at winning MVP than Albert Pujols.

Except on paper this Cardinals team should have struggled to win 70 games this year. Instead they won 86 and were in the playoff hunt until the last week. Shoot-if the Cardinals management would have just scraped up the cash for a decent closer, one starter to replace Carpenter, or bullpen support, there's a pretty good chance this ragtag Cardinals team would be in the playoffs. Pujols is a big reason why this team exceeded expectations in such a large manner. That's your "most valuable" right there. It's not his fault the jokers the Cardinals put on the mound, well....are jokers the Cardinals put on the mound.

If Kennedy ducked he wouldn't have been shot. We can play would have all day. Pujols' value is that he makes the Cardinals close to a playoff team? If so, then maybe David Wright, José Reyes, Lance Berkman and Alex Rodriguez should get some votes. As a previous poster said:

Exactly. As Branch Rickey said to Ralph Kiner..."We finished in last with you, we can finish in last without you".

Now the Cardinals didn't make the playoffs with Pujols. It would be likely that they miss the playoffs without Pujols as well.

The Phillies made the playoffs with Ryan Howard. It would be likely that they miss the playoffs without Howard.

Howard is more valuable because his team made the playoffs. Pujols' team did not, therefore he is less valuable.

Best player? Much more debatable.

Most valuable player? No question (between Howard and Pujols) it is Howard.

[Joshawaggie]

So Minnesota wins the head to head match-up this year against Chicago but have to play IN Chicago for the one game playoff because why? Coin flip. This is one of the most ridiculous rule, is it not?

I was waiting for Twins fans break out with this excuse, but only after the ChiSox punked 'em tomorrow night.

MLB could at least use the head-to-head record to determine who plays at home, not by the flip of a coin.

I purposely didn't wait, because it sucks either way.

[rams80]

Actually, if we handed out the MVP award to the person who affected whether or not a team made the playoffs the most, I believe the Phillies and I would agree that the award is rightfully Aaron Heilman's.

Honestly, I feel "did team make playoffs" is more of a fair question

A: in a sport with a larger playoff field (We have teams that finished 16 games over .500, and yet missed the playoffs. That's d@mn good and I don't see why we should punish the exceptional players on very good teams.)

B: in a sport which has less of an emphasis on individual performance.

In Pujols' case for this year, we can simply call it an Ernie Banks situation and give him the award.

[OnWis97]

So Minnesota wins the head to head match-up this year against Chicago but have to play IN Chicago for the one game playoff because why? Coin flip. This is one of the most ridiculous rule, is it not?

I was waiting for Twins fans break out with this excuse, but only after the ChiSox win tomorrow night.

MLB could at least use the head-to-head record to determine who plays at home, not by the flip of a coin.

Actually, if I am not mistaken, they split. I thought each team was 8-1 at home. I could be wrong though and I am not looking it up.

I do think it should be head to head, particularly in the unbalanced schedule era (particularly with different divisions going for wild card). But when they split, then a coin flip makes about as much sense as anything.

As for the Twinks, I have no complaints. The sox opened the door for them and they would not go through. Plus, if you told me they'd be in this position a few months ago, I'd never have believed you.

But I really see Blackburn getting roughed up. Chicago will most likely win.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/standings/grid

Twins won the season series 10-8.

I stand corrected. Then I feel it should be in Minnesota. That would make sense.

[HedleyLamarr]

Actually, if we handed out the MVP award to the person who affected whether or not a team made the playoffs the most, I believe the Phillies and I would agree that the award is rightfully Aaron Heilman's.

Honestly, I feel "did team make playoffs" is more of a fair question

A: in a sport with a larger playoff field (We have teams that finished 16 games over .500, and yet missed the playoffs. That's d@mn good and I don't see why we should punish the exceptional players on very good teams.)

B: in a sport which has less of an emphasis on individual performance.

In Pujols' case for this year, we can simply call it an Ernie Banks situation and give him the award.

If a player's stats are far-and-away the best in the league, that's about the only way I'd give the MVP to a player who's team didn't make the postseason. Pujols' stats didn't do this.

Howard led the NL in HR's, RBI's, and carried the team on his back in September and got his team into the postseason. All Pujols did was have a higher batting average and clean out his locker yesterday.

[CC97]

I still don't get that.

If the Twins won the season series, why is there a playoff?

They already beat the White Sox. Why aren't head-to-head records a tiebreaker like it is in NHL, NBA, NFL?

I've seen plenty of times in the other 3 where a division championship is decided via tiebreak.

You didn't win the season series, so why should they be provided an opportunity to get in this way? You didn't beat them in the regular season, why should you get the opportunity to do it AFTER the season?

I really don't care who comes out as a winner between the two, I just wanted to point out my little frustration with that one.

Because baseball is awesome... playoff spots are hard to come by in MLB; to decide one after 162 games by a head-to-head series total wouldn't be fun at all.

[jkrdevil]

I still don't get that.

If the Twins won the season series, why is there a playoff?

They already beat the White Sox. Why aren't head-to-head records a tiebreaker like it is in NHL, NBA, NFL?

I've seen plenty of times in the other 3 where a division championship is decided via tiebreak.

You didn't win the season series, so why should they be provided an opportunity to get in this way? You didn't beat them in the regular season, why should you get the opportunity to do it AFTER the season?

I really don't care who comes out as a winner between the two, I just wanted to point out my little frustration with that one.

Because baseball is awesome... playoff spots are hard to come by in MLB; to decide one after 162 games by a head-to-head series total wouldn't be fun at all.

Agreed that's what I love about baseball. If there is a tie for that playoff spot the decide it on the field not by a tie-breaker.

That said tie-breakers should be used to decide who host the tie-breaker game.

[CC97]

I still don't get that.

If the Twins won the season series, why is there a playoff?

They already beat the White Sox. Why aren't head-to-head records a tiebreaker like it is in NHL, NBA, NFL?

I've seen plenty of times in the other 3 where a division championship is decided via tiebreak.

You didn't win the season series, so why should they be provided an opportunity to get in this way? You didn't beat them in the regular season, why should you get the opportunity to do it AFTER the season?

I really don't care who comes out as a winner between the two, I just wanted to point out my little frustration with that one.

Because baseball is awesome... playoff spots are hard to come by in MLB; to decide one after 162 games by a head-to-head series total wouldn't be fun at all.

Agreed that's what I love about baseball. If there is a tie for that playoff spot the decide it on the field not by a tie-breaker.

That said tie-breakers should be used to decide who host the tie-breaker game.

I'll agree to that... i'd rather have head-to-head records decide home field than coin flip.

[Joshawaggie]

I still don't get that.

If the Twins won the season series, why is there a playoff?

They already beat the White Sox. Why aren't head-to-head records a tiebreaker like it is in NHL, NBA, NFL?

I've seen plenty of times in the other 3 where a division championship is decided via tiebreak.

You didn't win the season series, so why should they be provided an opportunity to get in this way? You didn't beat them in the regular season, why should you get the opportunity to do it AFTER the season?

I really don't care who comes out as a winner between the two, I just wanted to point out my little frustration with that one.

Because baseball is awesome... playoff spots are hard to come by in MLB; to decide one after 162 games by a head-to-head series total wouldn't be fun at all.

Agreed that's what I love about baseball. If there is a tie for that playoff spot the decide it on the field not by a tie-breaker.

That said tie-breakers should be used to decide who host the tie-breaker game.

I'll agree to that... i'd rather have head-to-head records decide home field than coin flip.

Agreed. One game playoffs are fun, I just have a problem with the coin flip.

[mania]

Actually, if we handed out the MVP award to the person who affected whether or not a team made the playoffs the most, I believe the Phillies and I would agree that the award is rightfully Aaron Heilman's.

Honestly, I feel "did team make playoffs" is more of a fair question

A: in a sport with a larger playoff field (We have teams that finished 16 games over .500, and yet missed the playoffs. That's d@mn good and I don't see why we should punish the exceptional players on very good teams.)

B: in a sport which has less of an emphasis on individual performance.

In Pujols' case for this year, we can simply call it an Ernie Banks situation and give him the award.

If a player's stats are far-and-away the best in the league, that's about the only way I'd give the MVP to a player who's team didn't make the postseason. Pujols' stats didn't do this.

Howard led the NL in HR's, RBI's, and carried the team on his back in September and got his team into the postseason. All Pujols did was have a higher batting average and clean out his locker yesterday.

...

You realize that Pujols BA was 20 points higher than Howard's OBP? And for Howard hitting more HRs, Pujols out-slugged him significantly.

To be the MVP, you can't just have 2 good months and be absolutely :censored:ing wretched the rest of the season. It's not "Most Valuable September".

If you are out 2/3 of the time that you step to the plate, then you are NOT deserving of the MVP award.

[HedleyLamarr]

You realize that Pujols BA was 20 points higher than Howard's OBP? And for Howard hitting more HRs, Pujols out-slugged him significantly.

To be the MVP, you can't just have 2 good months and be absolutely :censored:ing wretched the rest of the season. It's not "Most Valuable September".

If you are out 2/3 of the time that you step to the plate, then you are NOT deserving of the MVP award.

Howard's role on the Phillies is to hit homeruns and drive runners in and play a decent defense, not hit singles and draw walks. Howard's job is to knock in Rollins, Victorino, and Utley.

The award isn't called "Best Player" or "Best Overall Stats", it's "Most Valuable". What value did Pujols bring to a team that finished 4th in the division (which was around their projected finish in the division at the beginning of the season)? Pujols' overall stats didn't dwarf all of Howard's stats.

[mania]

Even Chase Utley would be a better MVP candidate than Ryan ".250" Howard.

You go beyond the "sexy" stats of HR and RBI(which is largely based on circumstances and not talent), and Howard DOES NOT TOUCH PUJOLS IN ANYTHING.

RUNS CREATED: Pujols - 160, Howard - 113 (not even Top 10 in the NL)

ADJUSTED BATTING RUNS: Pujols - 77, Howard - 18

BATTING WINS: Pujols - 7.1, Howard - 1.7

VALUE OVER REPLACEMENT PLAYER: Pujols - 96.7, Howard - 35.2

How are these not DWARFING offensive superiority?

On all of these, Howard isn't first on his own team(that would be Utley).

Howard winning MVP would be a horrendously stupid move, because he was flat out bad for every month but two. .172 in April, .238 in May, .234 in June, .213 in August. How damn valuable was he those months? If he had played like an MVP all season long, the Phillies would've locked up the NL East a whole HELL of a lot sooner than September 27th.

[Cujo]

Sweet Lou's staying on the Northside thru 2010. ESPN.com

Also, Cliff Lee & Brad Lidge win Comeback Player of the Year awards. ESPN.com

[gingerbreadmann]

You realize that Pujols BA was 20 points higher than Howard's OBP? And for Howard hitting more HRs, Pujols out-slugged him significantly.

To be the MVP, you can't just have 2 good months and be absolutely :censored:ing wretched the rest of the season. It's not "Most Valuable September".

If you are out 2/3 of the time that you step to the plate, then you are NOT deserving of the MVP award.

Howard's role on the Phillies is to hit homeruns and drive runners in and play a decent defense, not hit singles and draw walks. Howard's job is to knock in Rollins, Victorino, and Utley.

The award isn't called "Best Player" or "Best Overall Stats", it's "Most Valuable". What value did Pujols bring to a team that finished 4th in the division (which was around their projected finish in the division at the beginning of the season)? Pujols' overall stats didn't dwarf all of Howard's stats.

So if he is just a role player, and not an exceedingly good one, why is he even more valuable than Utley or Rollins again? If all the people in front of him do the hard work, and he just mops up and doesn't even do well, how is he the most valuable even on his team? As bruschi and I have laid out, he is not even close to Pujols in terms of stats.

And even if you go with your "Not a stats award" point, if the Cardinals replace with Pujols with Ryan Howard, they do worse than 50 wins. If the Phillies trade Howard for Jeff Bailey, they still win the Wild Card at least. That's how little Howard has net-gained for the Phils over the course of the season, good September or not. Stats, even simple ones, still correlate with value.

[RyanB06]

I still don't get that.

If the Twins won the season series, why is there a playoff?

They already beat the White Sox. Why aren't head-to-head records a tiebreaker like it is in NHL, NBA, NFL?

I've seen plenty of times in the other 3 where a division championship is decided via tiebreak.

You didn't win the season series, so why should they be provided an opportunity to get in this way? You didn't beat them in the regular season, why should you get the opportunity to do it AFTER the season?

I really don't care who comes out as a winner between the two, I just wanted to point out my little frustration with that one.

There's a playoff because the wild card came out of the AL East. If the WC came out of the Central, then the winner of the season series wins the division and the other gets the WC. That's how the Yankees won the AL East in '06 even though the Sox and Yanks finished with identical records.

And technically, tiebreaker games are regular-season games - Game 163 in a 162-game season.

[Cujo]

AL Tiebreaker Update:

A MONSTER solo-shot by Jim Thome just gave the Southsiders a 1-0 lead thru 7 in an EPIC pitchers duel.

[gingerbreadmann]

I still don't get that.

If the Twins won the season series, why is there a playoff?

They already beat the White Sox. Why aren't head-to-head records a tiebreaker like it is in NHL, NBA, NFL?

I've seen plenty of times in the other 3 where a division championship is decided via tiebreak.

You didn't win the season series, so why should they be provided an opportunity to get in this way? You didn't beat them in the regular season, why should you get the opportunity to do it AFTER the season?

I really don't care who comes out as a winner between the two, I just wanted to point out my little frustration with that one.

There's a playoff because the wild card came out of the AL East. If the WC came out of the Central, then the winner of the season series wins the division and the other gets the WC. That's how the Yankees won the AL East in '06 even though the Sox and Yanks finished with identical records.

And technically, tiebreaker games are regular-season games - Game 163 in a 162-game season.

That's what I thought, I remember there was no playoff in 06. Thanks for clearing that up.

What a play by Griffey and Pierzynski!

[njmeadowlanders]

This has been an enjoyable game...scoreless into the bottom of the 7th with just 3 combined hits at the time...

And on edit: I'll echo the sentiment that they should decide homefield by head to head record (and a coinflip if it's tied for the season series), but I would never give the tiebreak automatically to the better head to head record. It's baseball...you play it out. Win it on the field one more time. Gotta love it.

[jkrdevil]

I still don't get that.

If the Twins won the season series, why is there a playoff?

They already beat the White Sox. Why aren't head-to-head records a tiebreaker like it is in NHL, NBA, NFL?

I've seen plenty of times in the other 3 where a division championship is decided via tiebreak.

You didn't win the season series, so why should they be provided an opportunity to get in this way? You didn't beat them in the regular season, why should you get the opportunity to do it AFTER the season?

I really don't care who comes out as a winner between the two, I just wanted to point out my little frustration with that one.

There's a playoff because the wild card came out of the AL East. If the WC came out of the Central, then the winner of the season series wins the division and the other gets the WC. That's how the Yankees won the AL East in '06 even though the Sox and Yanks finished with identical records.

And technically, tiebreaker games are regular-season games - Game 163 in a 162-game season.

That's what I thought, I remember there was no playoff in 06. Thanks for clearing that up.

What a play by Griffey and Pierzynski!

The Yankees-Red Sox tie actually happened in 05 not 06. Remember the Tigers won the Wild Card in 06 before going on to win the AL. The Red Sox actually endd up finishing third that year behind the Blue Jays if I remember right.