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Six people voted Kemp third ...


Find them. And make sure they are never allowed to vote on anything again.

No beauty pageants.

No pie contests.

No American Idol/Dancing With the Stars/America's Got Talent/Last Comic Standing/Star Search.

If their children have disputes, make sure their spouses settle them.

Braun had a terrific season. I just don't think it was better than Kemp's.


(Sorry. That's the extent of my rant. I'm just too disappointed -- and admittedly shocked -- right now).

Comments

Greg Zakwin said…
And Ryan Howard somehow got a fourth and three fifth place votes....
Greg Zakwin said…
Oh, and Kemp Ginter autos....there may not be anything more amazing.
Dennis said…
I think Kemp got burned by the conventional thinking that an MVP should generally come from a playoff team. Personally, I agree that Kemp's season was more valuable and impressive given his team wasn't as talented as this year's Brewers, but you never really know what voters are thinking. At least they got the AL vote right this year...
Anonymous said…
Let's see. Kemp had more HR, RBI, runs, hits, steals, their AVG/OBP/SLG were all about the same and Kemp won a Gold Glove. Meanwhile Braun played in 10 less games. He had a very good season - not sure why it ended in an MVP, though.
Stealing Home said…
*sigh*
cant wait to get home and pour a tequila over this one.
Anthony Hughes said…
They were close by traditional and new statistic measurements, edge to Kemp. Braun's team made the playoffs, but Kemp took gold glove in center field, again edge to Kemp.
Unknown said…
Kemp's season was more impressive in terms of raw numbers, but Braun had higher OPS, average, SLG, about 60 less K's, which is important. And played in 11 less games, yes health comes into play, I'm just pointing that out. Both players had complete seasons and if the award was called The Best Player in Baseball it would be a different story, but I think voters get hung up on the word VALUABLE, because they think value diminishes when a team doesn't make the playoffs.

I also wonder in the voter's mind if they thought that it would be bad to have Kershaw win CY and Kemp win MVP. It shouldn't matter, but I wonder if it did. Wonder if any non-playoff team has ever had the CY and MVP?
steelehere said…
Baseball Writers are so wishy-washy about their so-called "Conventional Thinking" that a MVP should come from a playoff team.

If that's the case, why did Barry Bonds win the award in 2004 when his Giants' DIDN'T make the playoffs and Adrian Beltre didn't win the award when his Dodgers DID make the playoffs. If you compare the statistics that year, there wasn't a huge difference between the two.
Twitch said…
Yadier Molina finished above Starlin Castro and Mike Stanton?! F@#%!

Oh, right. What were we talking about? Matt Kemp? Never heard of him.
Spiff said…
Sorry N.O. I know you were really looking forward to this to take the edge off the Dodgers' season. Stupid thinking that the MVP has to be on a playoff team. Dumb. Sorry again.
Anonymous said…
Oh - another thing - Kemp's numbers were played in a top 5 pitcher's ballpark while Braun's came in a top 10 hitter's ballpark, and Braun had a lot more lineup protection.

PS - Cam - 2004 Beltre and Bonds numbers were essentially the same?
One of them had a .609 OBP, with an .812 SLG and was on base 376 times. The other had a .388 OBP and a .629 SLG while reaching base 253 times. Extremely close? Only when you compare the first guy's slugging to the 2nd guy's OBP.

PS - the 376 times on base are 3 more than his 373 at bats for the year. I'm confident this is the only time that's ever happened in baseball history - and I bet no other season is even close.
EggRocket said…
Yeah, Kemp was robbed. But it's not like Braun had a totally sucky year. I do tend to agree with those who get irritated with the inconsistency, however. We tend to want clear definition and standards (but not TOO much definition *cough*BCS*cough*). Team greatness (value) is rewarded with playoff success. The MVP should go to an INDIVIDUAL.

Talk about cracked: In 1941 Ted Williams hit .406 and lost the MVP race to Joe DiMaggio. So the next year Williams upped the ante and won the triple crown and lost to another Yankee, Joe Gordon.

I know that doesn't fix this situation. But it wasn't the first time we've seen injustice with the MVP voting and unfortunately it won't be the last.
steelehere said…
lifetimetopps, I'm not arguing that Bonds' season in 2004 wasn't great.

There's no way though that you can convince me that because opposing managers chose to intentionally walk Barry 120 times in 2004 that he was the deserving MVP. The free passes gave Barry a huge bump in OBP, SLG and OPS that skewed his stats in those three categories compared to Adrian Beltre (not to mention the ability to fairly compare his season with other great season's of the past).

That said, since all of those intentional walks didn't help the Giants make the playoffs in 2004 and all the other non-walk related statistics were relatively close. The MVP should have gone to the player on the playoff team (Beltre) if voters used the same rational every year when picking the MVP.