Surprise, Surprise. The only question was whether it would be unanimous. It wasn't. 28 of 30 first place votes.
Ordonez. And Lowell signed with Boston which is good news on all fronts. The only two first-place votes that didn't go to Rodriguez were from Tom Gage of The Detroit News and Jim Hawkins of The Oakland Press in Pontiac, Mich. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/11/19/arod.mvp.ap/index.html ESPN is questioning the motives of these two as they are saying there should have been no question that it was unanimous.
I can see why, I mean did McGwire win MVP when he hit 70 HR? Magglio was a better hitter(not power hitter, just hitter) than A-Rod. .356 BA, 200+ hits, 54 doubles, 139 RBIs, and he struck out less.
McGwire didn't carry his team on his back... Arod did... no Arod no playoffs this year... The Tigers choked and didn't make the playoffs....
Ordonez is a fair choice I'd think. As wildthing pointed out, he had a very good offensive year. Alex pulled away with the award in late August/early September, but until then, Ordonez was clearly in the conversation. At least it didn't come from a writer in either Boston, or Toronto, two cities where ARod got exactly zero love this year. Those I'd have found illegitimate. This is fair enough. Didn't Gary Sheffield garner a few homer votes a few years ago?
when one player carries his team on his back to the playoffs I would think that would make him the Most Valuable Player over someone who didn't carry his team...
MVP is not about batting average. It's about being the most valuable player on your team. Nobody comes close to Arod this year. Not by a mile. Without Arod this year the Yankees play .500 ball.
