Was Hamels The Right MVP?

by lseltzer on Oct 30, 2008 8:16 AM EDT

I can't think of anyone better, but it's not an obvious decision.

Throughout last night's game-let I was wondering who would be the MVP. I thought if he held on for the win Hamels would be, and it wasn't his fault he didn't get the win. That second run was earned because the pop up that Rollins didn't catch was called a hit. This is a fair ruling, but not fair to Hamels.

Every time Howard came up I thought that a big hit here could get him the MVP, but he didn't deliver.

The two top hitters (see here for team hitting stats) were Werth and Ruiz. Werth also had some bad baserunning I guess, but I could have seen it going to Ruiz.

My last question: Who decides who gets the series MVP?

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Comments

Can’t think of anyone better. The fact that it’s so hard to come up with a clear winner is a credit to this team. It’s just a very balanced team and many, many guys made important contributions in the WS.

by taco pal on Oct 30, 2008 11:27 AM EDT reply actions

Actually, I think the “true” MVP was Cholly. Every move he made worked, and his calmness and steadiness really were the key to this series.

Maddon was thoroughly and emphatically outmanaged.

by Alex Falzone on Oct 30, 2008 11:44 AM EDT reply actions

Well...

You could make an argument for Carlos Ruiz. His BA was pretty impressive and he had some good hits, including the RBI winner in Game 3.

by ajay on Oct 30, 2008 3:42 PM EDT reply actions

I think it would’ve been cool to give Ruiz the MVP, almost as a recognition of the contributions of all the little guys. But seriously, everyone has to realize that Hamels was (and is) our Savior. The way he’s racking them up, maybe they’ll rename a postseason MVP award after him instead of the Cy Young.

by bugbear on Oct 30, 2008 5:41 PM EDT reply actions

Should have been ruiz – increased trade value

by jemagee on Oct 30, 2008 8:42 PM EDT reply actions

WPA

By WPA (Win Percentage Added):
PLAYER GAME 1 GAME 2 GAME 3 GAME 4 GAME 5 TOTAL
Lidge 0.199 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.166 0.365
Romero 0.000 0.006 0.166 0.000 0.164 0.336
Hamels 0.265 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.052 0.317
Werth 0.073 -0.010 0.058 0.034 0.146 0.301
Bruntlett -0.042 0.018 0.293 0.000 0.000 0.269
Ruiz 0.010 0.161 0.186 -0.015 -0.093 0.249
Burrell -0.012 -0.006 -0.062 0.011 0.173 0.104
Howard -0.150 0.070 -0.033 0.300 -0.084 0.103
Moyer 0.000 0.000 0.100 0.000 0.000 0.100
Blanton 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.098 0.000 0.098
Eyre 0.000 0.000 0.046 0.035 0.000 0.081
Jenkins 0.000 0.000 -0.014 0.000 0.092 0.078
Utley 0.242 -0.146 -0.005 -0.004 -0.060 0.027
Feliz 0.096 -0.144 -0.032 0.023 0.059 0.002
Stairs 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.001 0.000 -0.001
Durbin 0.000 0.000 -0.023 -0.003 0.000 -0.026
Coste -0.092 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.092
Victoriono -0.035 -0.008 -0.041 -0.129 0.092 -0.121
Dobbs 0.000 -0.125 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.125
Madson 0.141 0.000 -0.161 0.050 -0.165 -0.135
Myers 0.000 -0.186 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.186
Rollins -0.196 -0.131 0.022 0.101 -0.042 -0.246

So, I guess Lidge was MVP by WPA, but if you don’t include the Top 6th of Game 5 in the crazy rain, Hamels would be. It would also be closer if I didn’t count Hamels hitting.

by Matt Swartz on Oct 31, 2008 1:23 AM EDT reply actions