High and In-Tight 09.19.06

Posted by Ian Smart on 09.19.2006

Now it's my turn to throw something under the bus.

Hello and Welcome to High and In-Tight, this was a bad football weekend all around. And by bad I of course mean horrendous.

None the less it's time once again for me to deliver the goods.

Voices from the Crowd

After being called up to the Devil Rays' everyday line-up, Delmon Young has been on a tear. You must hate that, since you hate Delmon?

Tom

Detroit

I will admit that if I had my way, Delmon would not have come out to such a strong start. Maybe an initial slump would have humbled him. It was to be expected, because as much as I despise the fact that he escaped with minimal punishment, I recognize that he is a tremendously talented young star.

While I normally agree with what you say, I have to disagree that the steroid era lost the trust of the fans. Baseball is still good, and McGwire and Sosa just made it better. Even if Ryan Howard is on steroids, he is still an exciting player to watch, and that is what matters. Baseball needs guys hitting home runs, because fans like to watch home runs. If anything baseball should allow steroids because it is better for the game.

Rick

Brunswick, Georgia

In a word Rick…no. Baseball took an immense public relations hit as a result of the steroid controversy. The American public embraced McGwire and Sosa, and they turned out to be frauds. No matter how you look at the situation, the fallout is negative for Major League Baseball.

As far as Howard being on steroids, exciting player or not, using performance enhancing drugs is cheating. While there is a shred of validity to your point that Major League Baseball has a vested interest in maintaining an exciting on-field product, nothing justifies allowing players to use performance enhancing drugs. Professional sports are about athletic competition, not who has the best chemist on staff. And while, I rarely invoke this argument, allowing professional athletes to use performance enhancing drugs sends the message to high school athletes that using steroids is acceptable. If steroids are allowed, than everyone will need to use them out of necessity, which in turn jeopardizes the health of all the athletes

The Delivery

Generally I refrain from writing about who should win personal awards in baseball. The discourse on the topic is already muddied enough, with so many analysts weighing in on the matter. That being said, recent events have provoked me to lay out the reasoning behind why one player, David Ortiz, should not win the American League Most Valuable Player Award.

It seems only fitting that I begin by reinforcing the classic argument against David Ortiz as a Most Valuable Player candidate; he is a designated hitter. Designated hitters fail to contribute to all aspects of the game, which invariably reduces that value to a team. Derek Jeter's value to the Yankees extends beyond his performance at the plate; his defence, as much as his offence is what makes him an MVP candidate. Ortiz, on the other hand, only contributes to the Red Sox with his bat. Most people leave the argument at this, but that is a superficial analysis of how David Ortiz's poor defensive skill hampers the Red Sox performance.

Many designated hitters, such as Frank Catalanato, Bernie Williams, Garret Anderson, and Travis Hafner are designated hitters because there is a better defensive option at their position, but they are capable of playing other positions; this is not the case with David Ortiz. Ortiz is a designated hitter because he is incapable of performing defensively. Because David Ortiz is a defensive liability, he reduces options for Terry Francona, which inevitably disadvantages the Red Sox. Throughout the season, Manny Ramirez was plagued by an injured right knee, an injury that never fully healed because Manny was consistently playing left field, and perpetually re-aggravating the injury. Manny's bat being in the Red Sox line-up is critical to their success; therefore, Francona could not afford to remove him from the line-up. This is where Ortiz's inability to play defence impedes the Red Sox. Ortiz is so dangerous if placed in the field, that Francona must risk further injury to Manny, rather take a chance with David Ortiz at first. If Vernon Wells was nursing an injury, Catalanato can play the outfield, allowing Wells to bat, but sparing him from the rigours of the outfield. When a Red Sox player is dealing with an injury, they must be either removed from the game, or risk further injury, because Ortiz cannot be moved to the field to open the DH spot.

Even if the Most Valuable Player were to be awarded solely on the basis of offensive merit, Ortiz would be far from the top candidate. Despite the general fans' preoccupation with home runs and RBI's, there is more to a hitter than his ‘power numbers'. Derek Jeter's power numbers pale in comparison to those of Ortiz, but his batting average, and on base percentage exceed Big Papi's. Jeter is also capable of stealing bases, something which Big Papi would be unable to accomplish even if Wile E. Coyote strapped an ACME rocket to him. Moreover, David Ortiz is not even the best hitter on his own team; that distinction belongs to Manny Ramirez, who has comparable power, far better speed, and consistently hits fifty points higher than Ortiz. Ortiz's production only appears to be higher than Manny's because Manny has to take days off to nurse injuries, and Manny does not have the benefit of hitting in front of Manny Ramirez. David Ortiz is as much a product of circumstance as he is a product of his own skill. Pitchers choose to pitch to David Ortiz in order to avoid pitching to Manny, because Ramirez is the better hitter. The effect of protection in the line-up can be seen throughout baseball history. Roger Maris' epic 61 home runs in the summer of 1961 were due in large part to Mickey Mantle. Maris saw a lot more strikes because pitchers were afraid to face Mantle.

This last point leads me to the motivation behind this column, and to reveal the final, albeit subjective, fault in Ortiz as a viable MVP candidate. For all the attention that is given to Ortiz ordaining him the consummate team player, his actions this past week demonstrate that Ortiz is, above all else, out for his own glory. When asked whether he thought Derek Jeter should win the MVP, he remarked that Jeter has an easier situation, and that "he [Jeter] should try hitting in the Red Sox line-up". Set aside for the moment the audacity that one must have to publicly demean your entire team- I believe this is the definition of throwing your team under the bus- but it is an entirely asinine statement coming from Ortiz. The Red Sox possess a potent offensive line-up, and, as mentioned earlier, Ortiz bats ahead of the best hitter in baseball over the last ten years (Bonds and his bulbous head included). Slandering one's team reflects poorly on player who masquerades as a team leader. While there is no statistical to measure it, character matters, and head-to-head, Jeter's character, and leadership is leaps and bounds beyond Ortiz's.

The fact of the matter is that David Ortiz's supposed value to the Red Sox is grossly exaggerated. Ortiz is a one dimensional contributor, at best; he hampers Terry Francona's ability to field the best Red Sox line-up each game; he is a product of circumstance more than he is a product of talent; and, he has demonstrated that he has zero respect for his team-mates. In short, Ortiz should be thanking those misguided voters who perpetually throw his name into MVP consideration despite his less than stellar performance.

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