Posted on 11/20/2006 11:58:17 AM PST by TravisBickle
PHILADELPHIA -- The sheer force of Ryan Howard's gargantuan home runs cannot accurately be measured in speed or total distance, only by the gasps from those watching such a spectacle. The Baseball Writers Association of America collectively gasped, then stood and applauded on Monday, selecting the Phillies first baseman as the National League's Most Valuable Player.
With 20 first-place votes and 12 second-place votes, Howard defeated last year's NL MVP, the Cardinals' Albert Pujols, by a total of 388 to 347. The Astros' Lance Berkman (230) and the Mets' Carlos Beltran (211) finished third and fourth, respectively.
Howard becomes the second player in Major League Baseball history to win the Rookie of the Year and MVP Awards in consecutive seasons, following Cal Ripken in 1982 and 1983. Fred Lynn (1975) and Ichiro Suzuki (2001) have the even sweeter distinction of winning both awards in their first seasons.
Still, Howard had a calendar year that he'll never forget. The start came in January, when Howard was officially presented with his Rookie of the Year Award at the Baseball Writers dinner in New York City. His first full season included his first All-Star appearance, where he slammed his way to a victory in the CENTURY 21 Home Run Derby.
He added 30 more homers in the second half of the season, shattering Mike Schmidt's franchise record of 48 along the way. In September, Schmidt marveled, "I've never seen anyone in the Major Leagues who is treating the game almost like an oversized kid in the Little League World Series. All he's got to do is get a ball out over the plate and it's a home run."
Now, Howard is the first Phillie to be named MVP since Schmidt won the last of his three awards in 1986.
Howard likely would have become the sixth player to reach 60 homers in a season, but pitchers stopped throwing him strikes, especially in September. That resulted in just two homers in his final 23 games.
The fear Howard evoked in opposing managers can best be illustrated in an Aug. 11 game against Cincinnati, when the slugger was walked three times in extra innings. The final time came in the bottom of the 14th, to load the bases with no outs.
Yes, you read that correctly. Reds manager Jerry Narron would rather have the winning run 90 feet away with no outs than dare challenge Howard.
"When he comes to the plate, he's already in scoring position," Narron remarked.
Howard's season of 58 homers and 149 RBIs is made more impressive by his .313 batting average. The award also signals that the player's team doesn't have to make the playoffs in order to be considered the Most Valuable Player. The Phillies had a better record than the World Series champion Cardinals, but finished second in the NL East to the Mets and three games back of the Dodgers in the NL Wild Card race.
Howard followed up his rookie season with an even more brilliant sophomore campaign. He tied for the 10th best single-season mark for homers, and his 58 were the most by a second-year player. His 149 RBIs were the second-most for a sophomore, behind Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio.
Howard's legend began well before becoming a fifth-round pick in 2001 out of Southwest Missouri State. People in the St. Louis suburb where he grew up still remember the 400-foot home run he smacked as a 12-year-old -- and the Red Lobster across the parking lot likely still has the dent to prove it.
Nervous in his first callup in May 2005, Howard stuck the second time around, when he was recalled in July. Now, he's just being unfair.
The MVP is his crowning individual achievement, trumping his Rookie of the Year ('05), Home Run Derby win ('06), and earning MVP of the Japan All-Star Series.
Another sterling performance came on June 20 against the Yankees, when he hit three long balls and drove in seven runs in a loss. One of those drives christened the upper deck at Citizens Bank Park and clanged off a seat that now bears a white "H" to mark the spot. It is the only ball hit up there in the park's three-year history.
"Yeah, I hit that one pretty good," Howard recalled at the end of the season. "I hope there are more like it."
If there are, more awards will likely follow.
As a kid who idolized Willie Stargell, I love a tape measure home run!
I was working in Ashburn Alley the day that Howard hit a HR to dead center, over the batter's-eye wall, and off of Dick Allen's plaque. I actually had the ball in my possession for a few minutes until management cam out to get it.Truly a monstrous shot, and he hit many of them last season. He's a joy to watch and a bright spot in the otherwise dismal Philly sports scene. I'm glad he won the MVP.
Way to go, Ryan Howard!
I thought it would be Albert but I'm happy for Howard. He about single-handidly kept them in the race.
Albert Pujols was better than Ryan Howard in EVERY other aspect of the game, offense (compare Ks, RISP, GWRBI, etc.) and defense (Gold Glove), EXCEPT for HRs and RBIs--and even there, not by much. PLUS Prince Albert's team made the postseason while Howard's team stayed home--I thought your team making the postseason was supposed to be a factor these days.
Forgot to ping you guys for post 6.
Well, I agree with Berkman being 3rd in the voting.
Talent should be the focus...Howard is the real deal. I haven't been this excited about a slugger since I saw Mike Schmidt play.
RUNS PRODUCED, 2006
Ryan Howard: 253
Albert Pujols: 256.
RUNS CREATED PER 27 OUTS, 2006
Ryan Howard: 10.55
Albert Pujols: 10.86
My best guess is that the MVP voters were looking at how many runs each man drove in, not to mention how white hot Howard got in the second half of the season, and forgot the time Pujols missed on the disabled list early in the season.
That said, it isn't necessarily a requirement that your team make the postseason in order for you to win your league MVP. There are probably arguments both ways against a couple of the men who won the award in years their teams didn't make the postseason (helloooooooo, Andre Dawson, for openers), but here they are from the inception of the award as we know it---and note that at least two men have won three MVPs while playing on teams that didn't reach the postseason in those seasons:
1924: Dazzy Vance (NL, Brooklyn Dodgers).
1925: Rogers Hornsby (NL, St. Louis Cardinals).
1926: George Burns (AL, Cleveland Indians).
1928: Mickey Cochrane (AL, Philadelphia Athletics).
1932: Chuck Klein (NL, Philadelphia Phillies); Jimmie Foxx (AL, Philadelphia Athletics).
1933: Jimmie Foxx (AL, Philadelphia Athletics).
1937: Joe Medwick (NL, St. Louis Cardinals).
1938: Ernie Lombardi (NL, Cincinnati Reds); Jimmie Foxx (AL, Boston Red Sox).
1944: Hal Newhouser (AL, Detroit Tigers).
1947: Bob Elliott (AL, Boston Red Sox).
1948: Stan Musial (NL, St. Louis Cardinals).
1952: Hank Sauer (NL, Chicago Cubs); Bobby Shantz (AL, Philadelphia Athletics).
1953: Al Rosen (AL, Cleveland Indians).
1954: Yogi Berra (AL, New York Yankees).
1958: Ernie Banks (NL, Chicago Cubs); Jackie Jensen (AL, Boston Red Sox).
1959: Ernie Banks (NL, Chicago Cubs).
1964: Brooks Robinson (AL, Baltimore Orioles).
1965: Willie Mays (NL, San Francisco Giants).
1966: Roberto Clemente (NL, Pittsburgh Pirates).
1969: Willie McCovey (NL, San Francisco Giants).
1971: Joe Torre (NL, St. Louis Cardinals).
1972: Dick Allen (AL, Chicago White Sox).
1974: Jeff Burroughs (AL, Texas Rangers).
1977: George Foster (NL, Cincinnati Reds); Rod Carew (AL, Minnesota Twins).
1978: Dave Parker (NL, Pittsburgh Pirates).
1979: Keith Hernandez* (NL, St. Louis Cardinals).
1983: Dale Murphy (NL, Atlanta Braves).
1985: Don Mattingly (AL, New York Yankees).
1987: Andre Dawson (NL, Chicago Cubs).
1989: Robin Yount (AL, Milwaukee Brewers).
1991: Cal Ripken, Jr. (AL, Baltimore Orioles).
1993: Barry Bonds (NL, San Francisco Giants).
1994: Jeff Bagwell (NL, Houston Astros).
1997: Larry Walker (NL, Colorado Rockies).
2001: Barry Bonds (NL, San Francisco Giants).
2003: Alex Rodriguez (AL, Texas Rangers).
2004: Barry Bonds (NL, San Francisco Giants).
It's happened before and it'll happen again. There's no guarantee that a team making the postseason will brandish the league's most valuable player, even as the man who should have been the league's most valuable player in a given year isn't always going to be found on a team who got to the postseason. (Though I'm still trying to figure out how Maury Wills won a 1962 MVP that should have gone to either Willie Mays or Frank Robinson, or how Don Mattingly won a 1985 American League MVP that probably should have gone to George Brett . . . )
* -- Keith Hernandez was the 1979 co-MVP with Pittsburgh's Willie Stargell, whose team did go to the postseason, and how ;)
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