Why so few NL MVP votes for Hanley Ramirez?

November, 17, 2008
11/17/08
6:04
PM ET
It's not as if the Marlins existed in another universe; their 84-77 record was a half-game better than the Dodgers', and they did it in the best division in the National League -- the division with the world champions.

Albert Pujols deserved the Most Valuable Player Award. This is not to question anyone's vote for Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Manny Ramirez or Lance Berkman.

But Hanley Ramirez 11th? Only Pujols and Berkman had more runs created. His OPS of .940 was the best of any NL middle infielder, better than Utley's .915.

Ramirez's job wasn't to drive in runs -- it was to create them. He reached base 40 percent of the time, hit 33 homers, stole 35 bases and led the league with 125 runs.

And he did it with average defensive skills at a critical defensive position.

***

The brilliant Rob Tracy of Elias Sports Bureau offers these lists:

Most runners on base when they came to the plate:

558 -- Justin Morneau

515 -- Garrett Atkins

508 -- David Wright

503 -- Mark Teixeira

498 -- Carlos Beltran

494 -- Jeff Francoeur

483 -- Ryan Howard

480 -- Carlos Delgado

Most Runners in Scoring Position:

268 -- Justin Morneau

267 -- James Loney

267 -- David Wright

261 -- Carlos Beltran

259 -- Ryan Howard

Morneau batted .348 with runners in scoring position; Howard .320.

***

• The Braves' deal for Jake Peavy is not dead. Sending Jose Ceda to Florida lessened the Cubs' chances. The Yankees are not in the running at all. Frank Wren still believes the Braves will get this trade done.

• Interesting how many GMs think that if the Dodgers get CC Sabathia, the Giants will get big into Manny Ramirez, and Billy Beane and the A's will continue to move fast on Rafael Furcal. Also, expect Toronto to make good on its promise to Milton Bradley that he is the Blue Jays' priority.

• One of Boston's priorities is to get young, and don't be surprised if the Red Sox move Coco Crisp for a reliever to allow Justin Masterson to start.

• Brad Penny is so serious about his conditioning that, while he is off hunting in the Midwest, he has taken the trainer he hired from Athletes' Performance Institute with him.

• Brad Mills and Don Wakamatsu seem to be the favorites for the Mariners' managerial job. It's hard to be more qualified or be a better man than Mills.

• I'll bet you didn't know that baseball is the national sport of Finland.

• The Dodgers, understandably, haven't given up on getting Larry Lucchino to go west and bring their business into the 21st century. Frank McCourt has tried to move the franchise past the Industrial Age, but it has been a difficult process.

• Go to the Web site of "Strike 3 Foundation" -- strike3foundation.org -- and see what Twins reliever Craig Breslow does for the rest of his world. His Yale friends want to know how he had a 3.90 ERA at Yale and 1.91 ERA for the Twins. Check it out and be amazed.

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ABOUT THIS BLOG

  • Peter Gammons Peter Gammons

    Hall of Fame baseball reporter Peter Gammons has worked for ESPN since 1988. He primarily serves as a studio analyst for "Baseball Tonight," but he also does regular spots for "SportsCenter," ESPNEWS and ESPN Radio and contributes to ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine.

    Gammons was voted the National Sportswriter of the Year for 1989, 1990 and 1993 by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association and was awarded an honorary Poynter Fellow from Yale University. But his highest honor was the 2004 J.G. Taylor Spink Award, voted on by the BBWAA and awarded at the Baseball Hall of Fame for outstanding baseball writing.

    Gammons, a 1969 graduate of the University of North Carolina, began his career as a reporter for the Boston Globe in 1969. He has also worked for Sports Illustrated covering the NHL, college basketball and major league baseball (1976 to '78, 1986 to '90). In 1986, upon his return to Sports Illustrated as a senior writer following a second stay at the Globe, he wrote numerous stories covering some of baseball's most important news events and authored Inside Baseball, Sports Illustrated's weekly baseball notebook. Gammons is also the author of "Beyond the Sixth Game," a look at free agency.

    Gammons is a gifted musician, and his debut album, "Never Slow Down, Never Grow Old," was released on Rounder Records. With the assistance of a crack band of Boston rockers, Gammons trades in his typewriter for a Stratocaster and delivers a rousing set of vintage classics, originals and rock obscurities -- all to benefit Theo and Paul Epstein's Foundation to be Named Later, a charity that raises funds and awareness for nonprofit agencies serving disadvantaged youth in the greater Boston area.

    Gammons' vocals and guitar are featured, along with guests such as Theo Epstein, Juliana Hatfield, George Thorogood, Little Feat's Paul Barrere, Kay Hanley and an all-star chorus consisting of past and present Red Sox players, including Jonathan Papelbon, Kevin Youkilis, Trot Nixon, Lenny DiNardo, Tim Wakefield and Bronson Arroyo, and NESN broadcaster Don Orsillo. Get more information from Rounder Records.

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