Parsing Maddon
This is a tough time of the year to write about baseball, so I love when people say things that don’t make a lot of sense. The great thing is, you can almost always count on someone to come through in the clutch.
Enter Tampa Bay Devil Rays manager Joe Maddon, talking about the fact that his outfielder, Delmon Young, didn’t win the AL Rookie of the Year:
It’s really disturbing. I can see him not winning the award, but leaving him off eight ballots is just a sign of personal prejudice.
In this case, “personal prejudice” is code for “understanding the criteria for determining excellence.” The folks who left Young off the ballot presumably recognized that a 91+ OPS from a corner outfielder just isn’t all that exciting.
Don’t get me wrong, Young has a bright future ahead of him if he can keep from doing Really Stupid Things, but aside from the batting average and RBI, his rookie season wasn’t special. Each writer gets to put three names on the ballot, and I could totally see going with Dustin Pedroia (an easy choice for #1 despite his Red Sox affiliation), Brian Bannister, and Daisuke Matsuzaka. I’m not sure that’s how I would have voted, but I think it’s perfectly justifiable without bringing any nonsense about “personal prejudice” into the discussion.
I think it’s wrong. At that point, it has nothing to do with the player’s performance. The award is not a popularity race.
Okay, how long has Maddon been in baseball? And he honestly believes that the award is not a popularity race? Is he even paying attention?
I don’t think there was any way he wasn’t one of the top three rookies in the league.
Right, but eight writers disagreed, and it’s a defensible position.
And how many other rookies in the history of the game played 162 games like he did?
So now excellence is a function of showing up to work every day. Sorry, but this doesn’t belong in the discussion at all. Still, give Maddon credit for defending his player even if it’s not entirely justified.
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