A CITIZEN'S BLOG

The ordinarily good-natured and pleasant Albert Pujols decided to get a little whiney this week and bitch that the MVP ought to play on a playoff team, a clear attack on the voters decision to award Ryan Howard the 2006 MVP award.

Naturally this is all a matter of debate and that there are no right or wrong answers for this one. Except that Albert really is wrong:

The MVP award crowns the best player, the most outstanding, the one who means the most for his team. Any doubt that is Ryan Howard? Once the Phillies traded Bobby Abreu late in July, Ryan Howard became the focal point of their offense and responded with a terrific month in August, clubbing 14 home runs and 41 RBIs. The Phillies went 36-22 after the deal, the second-best record in the N.L. Without him, they'd have been dead in the water.

How vital was Pujols presence in the Cardinals lineup? Not very. Even with Pujols in the lineup, the Cardinals nearly blew their enormous lead over the Astros at the end of the season and lose the NL Central. I think something that is very telling is the period of time between June 4 and June 22 where Pujols lost about three weeks of the season. How did the Cardinals do without their star? They went 8-8 and survived, nicely, a period where people felt that the Cardinals would badly lose ground. Overall, the Cardinals were 10-10 (.500) with Pujols out of the lineup and 73-68 (.517) with him in it. Not much of a difference at all.

Jeez, Albert, given how weak the N.L. Central was in 2006 and how well your team weathered the supposed storm of your absence, you probably could have missed huge chunks of the 2006 campaign and not have been missed. Thus, your argument really makes you seem petty and small-minded. Don't turn all Faith Hill on us.

Perhaps, when you adjust all of the numbers, Albert Pujols was a little more impressive statistically. Perhaps Albert Pujols turned in the best individual performance, but if Pujols is staking his claim to the MVP trophy based on the theory that the MVP must mean the guy who is vital to a team making the playoffs, then he might want to rethink his position. Ryan Howard was vital to the Phillies nearly making the playoffs, a very improbable scenario based on where they were in July, I might add. Albert Pujols was basically superfluous to the Cards playoff chances. They played a little better with him in the lineup than without: .517 vs. .500. They won without him in the lineup and I am sure Tony LaRussa would have worked his magic and still won the 83 games that the Cards won to make the playoffs.

Albert, a fellow Cardinal named Stan Musial was the N.L. MVP runner-up four times, from 1949-1951 and in 1957. He still won the MVP award several times in his long and glorious career and wound up in the Hall of Fame. So take a deep breath, big guy. You won one last season, and you’ve been the runner-up three times now. I am sure you will continue to add your resume for Cooperstown, and with 250 home runs, Hank Aaron is within reach for you.

Calm down, congratulate Ryan Howard, and concentrate on spring training for 2007. And might I suggest a delightful Meza Baked Brie from Wegman’s to go with that whine, er wine, that you seem to be chugging.