Congratulations Ryan Howard - 2006 MVP

by David S. Cohen on Nov 20, 2006 2:06 PM EST in News Comment 32 comments

Ryan Howard wins the 2006 MVP over Albert Pujols, 388 to 347. Howard took 20 of 32 first-place votes, becoming the Phils' first MVP since Mike Schmidt last won the award in 1986.

Howard became only the second player to win an MVP Award the year after being elected Rookie of the Year. The other was the Baltimore Orioles' Cal Ripken, AL Rookie of the Year in 1982 and AL MVP in 1983. Two other AL players won both awards in the same season, Boston Red Sox center fielder Fred Lynn in 1975 and Seattle Mariners right fielder Ichiro Suzuki in 2001. It marked the sixth time a Phillies player won the award and the first in 20 years since third baseman Mike Schmidt won his third MVP in 1986. Other Phillies winners were outfielder Chuck Klein in 1932 and reliever Jim Konstanty in 1950.

Howard is the 19th player overall to win both Rookie of the Year and MVP Awards, joining Pujols, Jackie Robinson, Don Newcombe, Willie Mays, Frank Robinson, Orlando Cepeda, Willie McCovey, Pete Rose, Dick Allen, Johnny Bench, Andre Dawson and Jeff Bagwell in the NL and Ripken, Lynn, Suzuki, Rod Carew, Thurman Munson and Jose Canseco in the AL.

Congratulations Ryan!

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Definetly congrats to Ryan

He absolutely deserved it. Let's see if we can add "World series champion" to this kid's resume...

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by JasonB on Nov 20, 2006 2:25 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

MVP

I think Pujols was the better choice, but it was close enough between them that I think it's okay to be a homer and love the fact that Howard has won. Definately something for the fan base to get enxcited about (especially with all the sucking going on in other Philly sports).

by Laaaaazzz on Nov 20, 2006 2:48 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Surprised

I thought Pujols would win by more than Howard won by. Like Laaaz, I'll also be a homer and be thrilled at Ryan's hardware.

by Alex Falzone on Nov 20, 2006 3:05 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Not surprised

I'm actually not surprised -- I thought Howard would win it with the higher counting stats and because he was healthy all season. But I think it's a close enough race that there's nothing wrong with Howard winning.

by Laaaaazzz on Nov 20, 2006 4:03 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

me too

I probably would have voted for Pujols, but I'm very happy it came out this way. Town needed a boost today.

by dajafi on Nov 20, 2006 3:17 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

re

I would have voted Pujols, but we can be a little biased goddammit...it's a Phillie!

http://hugetinymistake.wordpress.com/

by pacino on Nov 20, 2006 3:29 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Good news at last !

Finally something good has happened this weekend ! Go on the Cardinals fan site, viv le jelous or something like that, if you wan't too see their reaction. Although i have to say if I was a cards fan i'd be hacked off too, but after that eagles game we deserve a break

by fredex1 on Nov 20, 2006 4:44 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

You'd think winning the WS would be enough...

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by JasonB on Nov 20, 2006 5:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Cardinals Ticked re Howard's MVP.

Great point. They won the playoffs (not the World Series - the playoffs), with a .516 team, one of the biggest disgraces on baseball's house since 1919. What next, a God Damn .475 "world champion." If MLB could just go to 12 playoff teams, it really could happen. Cardinal fans should keep a low profile, this off-season.

by robbybonfire on Nov 21, 2006 5:15 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Ridiculous

"Sour grapes" anyone?

by WholeCamels on Nov 21, 2006 8:18 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

77-85

Well, only once, since the wild card has started has a team with a losing record been in 6th place to make the playoffs, and that was the 1997 Chicago White Sox with a 80-81 record. The odds of a losing record team making the playoffs and winning it all are so ridiculously slim, it makes no sense to even post it here. This ain't basketball or hockey.

by jonk on Nov 22, 2006 5:14 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Ted Lilly

Somewhere Ed Wade is saying, "Yeah, but if the Phils had better pitching this year . . . ."

by David S. Cohen on Nov 20, 2006 4:51 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Thanks Big Guy

As horrible as the last couple months have been for Philly sports (including seriously tragic things, like Cory Lidle and Andre Waters) it's nice to finally have something to smile over.

I have so much faith in Ryan Howard at this point, I honestly feel like we could make him our #2 starter next year and he'll win the Cy Young.

by DanT on Nov 20, 2006 4:56 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I dunno...

Howard played in 16 more games than Pujols. I think that makes up for the slight lead that Pujols has in offense and some of the defense.

by jonk on Nov 20, 2006 9:00 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

hmm

16 games would explain the difference in strikeouts.... ;)

Still I'll be a homer and say Congrats to Ryan

by Homer on Nov 20, 2006 10:11 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Strikeouts?

Oh, because lineouts and groundouts are vastly superior outs to strikeouts, eh?

Pujols grounded into double plays 3 times as frequently as Howard did - 1 every 32 PA vs 1 every 100 PA.

by Shore on Nov 20, 2006 11:09 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

um... it was a joke.

It was meant as a joke. And yes I prefer groundouts to strike outs. Groundouts can advance a runner, or it can result in a double play yes. Anything can happen on a ball in play. But the point of my post was a ha ha....

by Homer on Nov 21, 2006 12:22 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

anything

Yes, anything can happen on a ball in play... in Little League. A huge majority of balls in play are destined to be a hit or an out regardless of who's in the field. Yes, there are bad fielders out there and there are good fielders, but the value of putting the ball in play just for its own sake because "anything can happen" is negligible, especially when you ask a great power hitter to cut down on his swing, thus reducing his effectiveness.

The value of the incidental skills that many high-K hitters possess (high-BB rates, power) far, far outweigh the detrimental effects of "not moving the runner over". Also, like Shore said, strikeouts cannot turn into double plays.

It's not about strikeouts being good -- they're bad. All outs are bad. But the negative impact of a strikeout is virtually zero when compared to other kinds of outs.

by WholeCamels on Nov 21, 2006 12:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

And, more importantly

To go even further about P. Baker's point of "the value of putting the ball in play just for its own sake because 'anything can happen' is negligible": especially when we're evaluating how good a past season was (rather than predicting the future), when we compare strikeouts to other outs, we know there's no difference - because they're all outs. It's not that "anything can happen." When we're looking backwards, we can use OBP and AVG to see what did happen. With Pujols and Howard, the difference isn't much with what happened on those other balls Pujols hit that Howard struck out on.

by David S. Cohen on Nov 21, 2006 12:51 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

ugh...

again... it was meant as a joke.

Ha.

by Homer on Nov 21, 2006 4:48 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I am a firm believer...

That jokes are meant to be funny (they don't have to be funny, just meant to be). If they aren't, then someone is lying about being a joke.

by jonk on Nov 22, 2006 5:06 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I got the joke!

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by JasonB on Nov 22, 2006 10:17 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Thank you!

I don't always agree with your posts but at least you get the joke.

Happy Turkey Day all

by Homer on Nov 22, 2006 10:58 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I'd have voted

Howard.

16 games is a lot of games. Pujols is a monster, but the league recognized Howard as as the new Bonds. Even getting pitched around like mad, he carried this team from nowhere to the brink of the playoffs.

And, hell, we won more games than the Cardinals.

by Shore on Nov 20, 2006 9:17 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I agree...

I know more advanced statistics show that Pujols had the better year, even taking into consideration the time he missed, but 16 games is 10% of the season. And if Howard didn't play those 16 games, well, we'd have like Nunez at first. Think about that shiznit.

by jonk on Nov 20, 2006 10:09 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks Abreu and Utley

Ryan Howard should send a huge thank you gift to Bobby and Chase. From Jim Baker at Baseball Prospectus: "Howard batted with more men on base than anybody else in the National League: 509. That's over 80 more than Pujols and Berkman, 99 more than fifth-place vote getter Miguel Cabrera, and 132 more than fourth-place finisher Carlos Beltran."

by David S. Cohen on Nov 21, 2006 11:55 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Part of being an MVP

is taking full advantage of your opportunities.

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by JasonB on Nov 21, 2006 1:41 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Justin Morneau

just won the AL MVP per yahoo sports

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by JasonB on Nov 21, 2006 2:36 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

holy cow

He was no better than 3rd on his own freakin team.

by Alex Falzone on Nov 21, 2006 5:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

but...

Howard batted with more men on base than anybody else in the National League: 509. That's over 80 more than Pujols and Berkman, 99 more than fifth-place vote getter Miguel Cabrera, and 132 more than fourth-place finisher Carlos Beltran.

Given their opportunities and RBI figures, my eyeball estimate is that Howard wasn't as efficient at taking advantage of his as some of the other guys were at theirs.

by dajafi on Nov 21, 2006 2:36 PM EST reply actions 0 recs