Love Letters: E-writer, but it could have been worse
Insider | Short Hops | Love Letters
Updated Sept. 21
Sure, maybe I got scolded this week for giving a loss to Minnesota's Johan Santana last Friday -- he received a no-decision -- and writing that the Yankees haven't been in a World Series since 2001 when the year, as we all know, should have read 2003 ... but hey. At least I didn't give up four consecutive ninth-inning home runs to blow a win Monday night in Dodger Stadium ...
From: Shant Michaelian
Re: Insider: Good case that MVP should be a Dye job
You're a moron. Derek Jeter is clearly the MVP of the AL. Jermaine Dye? Come on, he's not even the best player on his team!!
Let's pause it right there and discuss your reading comprehension. Yes, I was writing about Dye and how he needs to be included in the MVP conversation. ... so far, so good on your part. But, if you were paying attention, the first sentence of the fifth paragraph included this little morsel: "... note this disclaimer: This is not yet my endorsement for MVP, you can read that in the last few days of the season." And I'm the moron?
From: Will Grapperhaus
Scott,
The NL MVP talk pitting Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols is nauseating me. Now, I'm FROM St. Louis so don't get me wrong: I love what Howard is doing. We need a young, pure slugger like him. It's great. But I'm sorry, he's no Pujols. People see HRs and RBI and give Howard the MVP. What stupidity. What an inability to THINK about the stats longer than 2.5 seconds.
They don't see the Gold Glove defense, smart baserunning, 41 Ks (against 45 HRs!), leadership and intensity that Pujols brings to the table. You tell me that every GM in the game would NOT take Pujols over Howard and then these drooling idiots have an argument. Until then, Pujols IS the MVP until further notice. It's not NEARLY as close as people even think it is. The Cards are NOTHING without AP.
Thanks, Will
I hear regularly from the drooling idiots.
From: Ron Toczek
If you do not make the playoffs, you don't deserve to be an MVP. Chicago is not making the playoffs, so Dye is not the MVP. Jeter has the numbers, and more importantly, the playoff spot. Want to make a case for anybody, it should be Billy Wagner as NL Cy Young. There is no pitcher in the NL running away with stats, so Wagner needs to get serious consideration.
I like that you're thinking outside the box. Only thing is, if we're going to consider Wagner, we must also consider San Diego closer Trevor Hoffman. Wagner is 39-for-44 in save opportunities, owns a 2.08 ERA and his holding opponents to a .205 batting average. Hoffman is 40-for-45 in save opportunities, owns a 2.05 ERA and is holding opponents to a .207 batting average. Remarkably similar seasons from two closers who should be appearing in the playoffs.
From: Tony O.
Knocking Jeter for having somewhat less power (he does not have no power, as you state) is misleading and skews the analysis -- you can point to each MVP candidate, except maybe Dye, and highlight one thing they clearly do not have a la Ortiz -- no speed, no defense (that's two), Mauer doesn't steal bases and his RBI numbers are soft, Morneau has no speed, etc. Plus, it suggests that the MVP is nothing but who most closely approximates a perfected, hypothetical, super human ball player, and overly discounts leadership and other winning intangibles.
I know you, Tony O. ... you're the guy with two backup singers who go by the name of Dawn.
From: Jason Klein
If your only con for Morneau is that he plays in Minnesota, it shouldn't even be a question who is MVP. Directly from your article: "Since June 8, leads the majors with a .376 batting average and 123 hits, and his 82 RBI since that date rank second to Philadelphia's Ryan Howard (87) in the majors." How does that not have MVP written all over it???
So THAT'S what the graffiti is.
From: Kevan
Hey Scott,
Love the article and agree with you even though I am a Yankee fan. I am just hoping the voters will remember Barry Larkin in 1995: 15 homers, 66 RBI. He won the MVP. Why has no one brought this up? Yankee announcers (not the sharpest) always bring up Kirk Gibson as the last MVP with sub-par power numbers. In addition, Jeter runs the bases better than anyone in baseball (thrown out once all year from the outfield), and has stolen 30 bases. Yankees are nowhere at all without him this year.
I will not have John Sterling criticized in this space. At least, not by others. If anybody is going to criticize the awful, terrible, fingernails-on-a-blackboard Yankees announcer in this space, it's going to be me. And he sucks. Big time.
From: John Sadowski, St. Paul, Minn.
In your article, you list the cons for Joe Mauer and Morneau as being they play in Minnesota and national sportswriters don't hear about them. This is the silliest con I've ever heard. In this Internet age, where information can be shared instantaneously around the world, there is no reason for a sportswriter not to know about these players. ... If national attention and big-market status were the defining factors, as you seem to imply, Boston and NY would be the only teams to ever have MVP's because they're the only teams that ESPN has ever heard of.
You reinforce my point exactly with your last sentence. Go talk to Minnesota center fielder Torii Hunter and he'll tell you: It's harder for a Twins player to win awards because, among other things, their every move is not being beamed on the "Worldwide Leader in Sports" -- as are those of the Yankees and Red Sox, even in a year in which Boston is out of it.
From: Glen
I was driving to work this morning and I heard two AC/DC songs back-to-back. There was no mention of Trevor Hoffman or Scott Miller. You can imagine my confusion.
You can imagine my confusion to learn that you actually are holding down a job.
From: Ronny
Re: Bull Pennings
Well said, Scott. What an idiot that guy was (in Love Letters last week) for saying Fox News is the most truthful. I think he might work for them as Fox is the biggest propaganda machine on TV. Not that I love CNN or MSNBC, but let's be serious, Fox News is garbage!
Ronny, would you please speak with this next gentleman?
From: R. Wayne Talley
Your comment "Besides if the FCC doesn't fine Fox News for half the junk they spew" is just the comment a half-witted lefty loon would make. Why don't you stick to something you know a little about. What part of fair and balanced don't you understand?
When they say it on Fox with a straight face.
From: Rich Braune
Scott, any truth to the rumor that there was a young female in the car with Carl Pavano at the time of the accident, which has been kept hush, hush?
Yeah, and word is, she's going to pitch for the Yankees before Pavano will, too.
From: Jim Talbot, Baton Rouge, La.
Re: Maddux, Wells still provide spark in pennant race
Scott:
Been following the Dodgers since Johnny Podres shut out the Yankees in '55 Series. Journalism grad from LSU in '65. I like very much the way you handled this story. Classic Hall of Famers, classic baseball setting, and you did a superb job doing it justice. Enjoyed it very much.
Hey, did you know Gavin Grey at LSU back in '65? Everybody's All-American remains one of my favorite football movies.
From: Rock Hill
Re: Dodgers' bats seize late victory -- in rare fashion
I have been a Dodgers fan since watching my first World Series in 1955 at the Boys' Club. Then attending my first World Series at the Coliseum in L.A. in 1959. Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale sweep of the Yankees in 1963. And on and on the history goes and goes. Right down to Orel Hershiser and Kirk Gibson in 1988. But this game against the Padres and Trevor Hoffman was exciting since the very first inning. No pitcher was safe. No lead was protected ... not until the last. Thank you Men in Blue. You proved tonight that TEAM is EVERYTHING and that together EVERY opponent has to worry.
Yeah, but then what did the Dodgers prove over the next two nights against the Pirates?
From: Genocide3
You have a really retarded smile;)
But beautiful teeth.
From: J.S.
Re: Weekend Buzz: Contender keys to make you grow big and strong
I'll be the 10th dude to tell you that the Yankees have been to a World Series since 2001. It was in 2003 against the Marlins. I think we won, but I could just be repressing a bad memory.
Uh, hate to break it to you about the final outcome, but ... ah, never mind.
From: Frank D'Elia
Stunningly thin pitching? The Mets go seven-deep in the pen and if El Duque doesn't start in the NLDS, they have another guy to come in and pitch key innings if the big two falter. The Mets pitching isn't thin, it's their starters, especially Nos. 3 and 4. The pen has Darren Oliver, Guillermo Mota, Roberto Hernandez, Chad Bradford, Pedro Feliciano, Aaron Heilman and Billy Wagner.
They ONLY need six innings from their starters. Then they can mix and match relievers until the eighth, where Aaron Heilman hasn't blown a hold since Duaner Sanchez went down. Wagner has saved 16 straight and hasn't been overworked. Their pen is the BEST in the game. The Mets will score against the NL because any NL playoff team is incapable of shutting them down. The Mets will score enough to cruise into the World Series. Then the third starter will come into play. The Mets will be there. It's just a matter who they'll play. Put it in the books.
Repeat after me: Pray that Pedro stays healthy. Pray that Pedro stays healthy. Pray that ...
