Picture courtesy of es.famozz.com
Postseason awards in baseball are not a big deal. Very seldomly do we even remember a winner of a Cy Young or MVP award unless a player wins more than one in their career. In Justin Verlander's case, it will be remembered because he won both the CY Young and AL MVP last season. Many races for such awards can be disputed as other players had similar or better seasons. In recent memory though, no player had a more deserving of an MVP season without winning the award than Colorado Rockies 1B Todd Helton in 2000.
Helton had an all time season hitting .372 for the Rockies with 42 HR and 147 RBI. He led the league in hitting, RBIs, hits (216), OBP (.463), SLG (.698) and OPS. His 59 doubles are an unheard of total, something that deserved recognition on its own. Helton finished 5th in the voting.
The award ultimately went to San Francisco Giants 2B Jeff Kent, who hit .334 with 33 HR and 125 RBI with his teammate Barry Bonds finishing 2nd with a .306 AVG, 49 HR and 106 RBI. The Giants, of course won the NL West Division and the Rockies finished 4th at 82-80. To me, the only way Helton should not win the MVP is if the Rockies were terrible and finished last in the division. And they managed to have a winning record.
Mike Piazza led the Mets to the World Series with his .324, 38, 118 season. Unfortunately, its not .372, 42, 147. Not even close. Jim Edmonds finished 4th with a respectable .295, 42, 108 season. Among those who finished higher in the voting than Helton, only Bonds (with his 49 HR) had a higher total of any stat among the following: AVG, HR, RBI, and of course, 2B, OBP, SLG, OPS. Sammy Sosa led the NL in HR with 50 that season. To me, it should have been no contest. I have no problem with the player on a postseason team getting the edge over a player who did not. But, that only works when the stats are close. They were not in this case.
The award ultimately went to San Francisco Giants 2B Jeff Kent, who hit .334 with 33 HR and 125 RBI with his teammate Barry Bonds finishing 2nd with a .306 AVG, 49 HR and 106 RBI. The Giants, of course won the NL West Division and the Rockies finished 4th at 82-80. To me, the only way Helton should not win the MVP is if the Rockies were terrible and finished last in the division. And they managed to have a winning record.
Mike Piazza led the Mets to the World Series with his .324, 38, 118 season. Unfortunately, its not .372, 42, 147. Not even close. Jim Edmonds finished 4th with a respectable .295, 42, 108 season. Among those who finished higher in the voting than Helton, only Bonds (with his 49 HR) had a higher total of any stat among the following: AVG, HR, RBI, and of course, 2B, OBP, SLG, OPS. Sammy Sosa led the NL in HR with 50 that season. To me, it should have been no contest. I have no problem with the player on a postseason team getting the edge over a player who did not. But, that only works when the stats are close. They were not in this case.
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