Quote:
Originally Posted by Tabe
Yes, career-ending injuries tend to do that to people. Sandy Koufax won a lot fewer games than Milt Pappas, too.
In 1995, he finished 2nd in MVP voting to Mo Vaughn despite having: more hits, more runs, more doubles, more homers, more walks, higher batting average, higher OBP, higher SLG, higher OPS+ (177 vs 144), more total bases, and higher WAR. That year he was the only player in MLB history to have 50 homers and 50 doubles in the same year. That is obviously MVP-level performance.
Beyond that, whether he was the most-deserving player in a given year doesn't mean he didn't put up MVP-level numbers. In 1994, he hit .357 with 36 homers in 2/3 of a season. That's CLEARLY MVP-level performance.
Fact is, the guy was a dominant hitter who put up monster numbers before being derailed by a career-ending injury. Numerous other players have had that overlooked including the three I mentioned previously (Koufax, Joss, Puckett). And, were it not for his (well-earned) surly reputation, it would be overlooked for Belle, too.
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Yes, career ending injuries do that to people. No shit. That’s that why his career is short does not change the fact that his career WAS short, exactly as I said, and limits his WAR.
Vaughn was a terrible selection. WAR has Belle tied for third in the league. I don’t think second was unreasonable or that he was number 1 that year. I said he never really “deserved an MVP”, which is a separate thing from being better than the player who did. You can probably find 15 guys more valuable than Vaughn that year.
Joss, Koufax, and Puckett has nothing to do with anything I said. I agree he should be in. I said explicitly I would vote for him.