Pujols feels he was snubbed for MVP

[ValpoCory]

The Link

[Ty in Tampa]

I couldn't read the story because someone's huge face popped up over it. No matter. Pooholes bitching about not getting an individual honor after winning a World Series ring just seems so...typical.

[pravata]

Quote:
I couldn't read the story because someone's huge face popped up over it. No matter. Pooholes bitching about not getting an individual honor after winning a World Series ring just seems so...typical.

And yet, he can be gracious,

Pujols received 18 of the 32 first-place votes and 14 second-place votes for 378 points. Atlanta's Andruw Jones picked up 13 first-place votes, 17 seconds and two thirds for 351 points, while Derrek Lee finished third with one first-place vote, one second and 30 thirds for 263 points.

"Those guys had a great year," Pujols said. "Any of those guys could have won the award. I want to congratulate those guys for the great year that they had, and I want to thank the writers, who picked me [for] the 2005 MVP.
 
"You couldn't go wrong with any of those guys. They're great athletes. They try and do the best they can to help their team out to win. Andruw had an outstanding year ... and I look at it the last four years I finished in the top five in the voting, and this was my year. It's exciting. It's a great honor."
The Link

Of course that was 05, the year he won and the year the ASTROS were in the WS, but check the voting tallies.  Oh, and also, David Eckstein was the WS MVP in 06.  That unfair too, Jose?

[Limey]

Quote:
I couldn't read the story because someone's huge face popped up over it. No matter. Pooholes bitching about not getting an individual honor after winning a World Series ring just seems so...typical.

There are rumblings in the press more regularly that, instead of being a case that Everyone Loves Albert, he can actually be a bit of a shit.  I'm glad to see it, because I've been saying that from pretty much day 1.

[Gizzmonic]

No shit, you got a ring, your first WS ring.  That's the highest honor one can receive in baseball.  What more do you want, asshole?

Although, he does have a point.  The stats say that Albert Pujols is MVP.  But Albie, for chrissakes, you gotta let someone else say that.  When YOU say it, it makes ya sound like a pompous, ungrateful bag o' wind.  Ya pompous, ungrateful bag o'wind!

[Fredia]

you are right he does have the stats.. as much as i can not stand the man.. he sounds like a will ful child that did not get his way. better be careful one does not tell the powers that be they are wrong in a seclecton

[strosrays]

Quote:
I couldn't read the story because someone's huge face popped up over it. No matter. Pooholes bitching about not getting an individual honor after winning a World Series ring just seems so...typical.

Yeah, but to Ryan Howard?!?!  

Put it this way -- if Ryan Howard was a girl, would you want to date him (her?)

I rest my case.

And you are right about ESPN.com.  I haven't been there in awhile -- I basically quit checking it regularly once the little worthwhile content they normally had all went subscription only -- but wow.  Even given my personal distaste for all things ESPN, it is stunning to me what a steaming pile o' crap that site has become.

[jaklewein]

Quote:
No shit, you got a ring, your first WS ring.  That's the highest honor one can receive in baseball.  What more do you want, asshole?

Although, he does have a point.  The stats say that Albert Pujols is MVP.  But Albie, for chrissakes, you gotta let someone else say that.  When YOU say it, it makes ya sound like a pompous, ungrateful bag o' wind.  Ya pompous, ungrateful bag o'wind!

I don't get it...how do Pujols' stats say that he's MVP.  Howard's are better.

[Ty in Tampa]

Maybe that's why TC finds him so attractive. He bitches Tony-style.

[Trey]

Quote:

Quote:
No shit, you got a ring, your first WS ring.  That's the highest honor one can receive in baseball.  What more do you want, asshole?

Although, he does have a point.  The stats say that Albert Pujols is MVP.  But Albie, for chrissakes, you gotta let someone else say that.  When YOU say it, it makes ya sound like a pompous, ungrateful bag o' wind.  Ya pompous, ungrateful bag o'wind!

I don't get it...how do Pujols' stats say that he's MVP.  Howard's are better.

The Link

Pujols leads in OBP, SLG, BA, R and has a RIDICULOUS lead in K.  (It's been said before, but how the HELL do you hit 49 HR and only strike out 50 times).  Howard leads in HR, RBI and G & AB (due to Pujols being on the DL).

I think they're pretty even, if you're just looking at stats.

[Arky Vaughan]

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:
No shit, you got a ring, your first WS ring.  That's the highest honor one can receive in baseball.  What more do you want, asshole?

Although, he does have a point.  The stats say that Albert Pujols is MVP.  But Albie, for chrissakes, you gotta let someone else say that.  When YOU say it, it makes ya sound like a pompous, ungrateful bag o' wind.  Ya pompous, ungrateful bag o'wind!

I don't get it...how do Pujols' stats say that he's MVP.  Howard's are better.

The Link

Pujols leads in OBP, SLG, BA, R and has a RIDICULOUS lead in K.  (It's been said before, but how the HELL do you hit 49 HR and only strike out 50 times).  Howard leads in HR, RBI and G & AB (due to Pujols being on the DL).

I think they're pretty even, if you're just looking at stats.

Howard also played in 16 more games. But Pujols is reputed to be a better fielder. I don't see picking either of them over the other to be a bad choice.

[Ty in Tampa]

 

Quote:
Howard also played in 16 more games. But Pujols is reputed to be a better fielder. I don't see picking either of them over the other to be a bad choice.

Which brings ya back to Poo's point. Should the MVP be from a playoff team? Better question, should he be bitching about it?

[Arky Vaughan]

Quote:
Which brings ya back to Poo's point. Should the MVP be from a playoff team? Better question, should he be bitching about it?

I think it's silly to confine the MVP award to a player from a playoff team. This is saying that an individual award should be given to a player based partly on the performance of his teammates. At the very least, if you want to insist that "value" only counts based on how well the team does, you'd want to consider all teams in contention, which the Phillies were.

[Limey]

Quote:
I think it's silly to confine the MVP award to a player from a playoff team. This is saying that an individual award should be given to a player based partly on the performance of his teammates. At the very least, if you want to insist that "value" only counts based on how well the team does, you'd want to consider all teams in contention, which the Phillies were.

It can be argued that a player who stands out against the league, while playing on a shit team, is probably the better player.  Hard to get the gaudy hitting stats if you are surrounded by Automatic Outs (tm).

[Bench]

Quote:
 Should the MVP be from a playoff team?

I think an equally BS argument is a "team that only wins 83 games shouldn't be allowed to make the playoffs."

[Alkie]

I contend it ISN'T BS (and stand by that) and ask you THIS then: is it right for the 13th best team in baseball to be in the playoffs?  Please say yes.

[Foghorn]

Pujols likes performing fellatio on hair-lipped midgets from Bangladesh...on THAT we can all agree.

Fuck the Jakes!!!!

[Arky Vaughan]

Quote:
It can be argued that a player who stands out against the league, while playing on a shit team, is probably the better player.  Hard to get the gaudy hitting stats if you are surrounded by Automatic Outs (tm).

What's interesting is the way the sports writers have twisted themselves into pretzels justifying the criteria they think should be used to make the award.

A player must be on a playoff team -- any player who wasn't on a playoff team had no value, because the team didn't make the playoffs. But then you get the argument that a player on a really good team wasn't truly valuable, because his team could've made it without him.

This leads to the ridiculous conclusion that the only players who should be considered are players on teams that made the playoffs, but didn't make the playoffs by too great a margin.

Maybe they should rewrite the voting rules to consider only players whose teams made the playoffs by no more than five games.

[Sleepy]

Pujols doesn't mention the fact that he was an integral part of his team nearly blowing their "insurmountable" lead to end the regular season.  Given that had just happened when the votes were cast, I imagine it may have been the most critical reason he lost the award.

Not to mention that Howard was on Sports Center every night jacking ridiculous, though meaningless, homeruns.

[matadorph]

Quote:

Quote:
I couldn't read the story because someone's huge face popped up over it. No matter. Pooholes bitching about not getting an individual honor after winning a World Series ring just seems so...typical.

There are rumblings in the press more regularly that, instead of being a case that Everyone Loves Albert, he can actually be a bit of a shit.  I'm glad to see it, because I've been saying that from pretty much day 1.

Yeah I've pretty much always hated the guy--partly for his unsportsmanlike preening, partly for the free pass he gets from a media that can't stop talking about how "classy" he is.

Bill James nailed it....

Quote:
"When a young player comes to the major leagues and has success right away, writers will almost always write about what a fine young man he is as well as a supreme talent. Never pay any attention to those articles or those descriptions. Albert Pujols is going through this right now...people who didn't know (him) from Jack the Ripper six months ago and have never talked to him more than six feet from his locker are writing very sincerely about what an exceptional young man he is. Doc Gooden, his first three years in baseball, was supposed to be mature beyond his years, polite to every body, and kind to stray kittens. Rickey Henderson was routinely described, from 1980 through 1982, as 'a Jack Armstrong type kid.'

Sportswriters, despite their cynicism or because of it, desperately want to believe in athletes as heroes, and will project their hopes onto anyone who offers a blank slate. The problem with this is that, when the player turns out to be human and fallible, people feel betrayed. It is a disservice to athletes to try to make them more than they really are."

[pravata]

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:
I couldn't read the story because someone's huge face popped up over it. No matter. Pooholes bitching about not getting an individual honor after winning a World Series ring just seems so...typical.

There are rumblings in the press more regularly that, instead of being a case that Everyone Loves Albert, he can actually be a bit of a shit.  I'm glad to see it, because I've been saying that from pretty much day 1.

Yeah I've pretty much always hated the guy--partly for his unsportsmanlike preening, partly for the free pass he gets from a media that can't stop talking about how "classy" he is.

Bill James nailed it....

Quote:
"When a young player comes to the major leagues and has success right away, writers will almost always write about what a fine young man he is as well as a supreme talent. Never pay any attention to those articles or those descriptions. Albert Pujols is going through this right now...people who didn't know (him) from Jack the Ripper six months ago and have never talked to him more than six feet from his locker are writing very sincerely about what an exceptional young man he is. Doc Gooden, his first three years in baseball, was supposed to be mature beyond his years, polite to every body, and kind to stray kittens. Rickey Henderson was routinely described, from 1980 through 1982, as 'a Jack Armstrong type kid.'

Sportswriters, despite their cynicism or because of it, desperately want to believe in athletes as heroes, and will project their hopes onto anyone who offers a blank slate. The problem with this is that, when the player turns out to be human and fallible, people feel betrayed. It is a disservice to athletes to try to make them more than they really are."

James is of course correct, as far as he goes.  What this doesn't account for is the massive propaganda campaign by the Cardinals (and why wouldnt they?) aided with prostelytizing zeal by the St Louis media touting what a great guy Pujols is.  Unfortunately, Pujols attracted the Eye of Sauron when he pissed off the NY media during the NLCS.

[Arky Vaughan]

Apparently Pujols is sorry because he was misunderstood.

The Link

Speaking in Spanish at a news conference in the Dominican Republic last week, Pujols was quoted as saying: "I see it this way: Someone who doesn't take his team to the playoffs doesn't deserve to win the MVP."

Pujols told USA Today, "I never said he didn't deserve the MVP. He is deserving of that award. He earned it. That's why he got it. I'm not trying to defend myself; I just want to tell him that I'm sorry for all of this because he earned the MVP. The last thing I want to do is spoil this for him."

There seems to be a lot of confusion between the concepts of misspeaking and being misunderstood these days. If you misspeak and say something you didn't mean to say, fine, but it doesn't mean that the rest of us misunderstood you.

[MusicMan]

I don't think Albert correctly understands "misunderstood".

If he was "misunderstood", then he has nothing to apologize for.

[Limey]

Quote:
I don't think Albert correctly understands "misunderstood".

If he was "misunderstood", then he has nothing to apologize for.

Even his apology was all about him.  What a tool!

[Limey]

Quote:
There seems to be a lot of confusion between the concepts of misspeaking and being misunderstood these days. If you misspeak and say something you didn't mean to say, fine, but it doesn't mean that the rest of us misunderstood you.

I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, and Albert to check himself into re-hab.