I've always been a fan of Maybeleine as a nickname. Dubbed by the people over at orangewhoopass.com, I believe.
Disagree. You're talking about a difference between an OPS around 1.060 and another around 1.000... that's a fairly sizable difference. Now, does that make him more valuable than Beltran, given Beltran's definite defensive advantage? I'm not sure. And considering Beltran plays in New York and Berkman in Houston, there's no question who would get MVP if it was decided today. However, it's not as simple as saying Beltran is Berkman with better defense... Berkman is clearly the superior hitter this season.
Guys, I think David Wright may steal some votes from Beltran...he's been just as valuable to them IMO.
What's up with that? Does he wear eye liner? If he does I hope it's like to fight off the glare. That's broke back mountain stuff!
I wouldn't say he's clearly a superior hitter. Berkman does have a higher BA (all comprised of singles) and that accounts for the OPS differential. Beltran has 10 more doubles and 2 more HRs in 3 fewer games. He has 1 less RBI, 1 less walk, and 2 more strikeouts, and 20 more runs scored and 13 more steals. Across the board, they are strikingly similar offensively this year. Berkman does have the higher BA, but Beltran has better secondary stats (runs, steals) so I'd say its a wash. 10 days ago, their OPSs were identical, and then Berkman has been crazy-hot for August - I imagine that will balance out and they will be right around even again as they have been all season.
Berkman has done it all year (and previous years) with nowhere close to the protection that Beltran has this year (the first year he's performed similarly to Berkman as a batter). The Mets MVP = Carlos Delgado... that guy produces no matter where he is (florida, toronto, NY)... and no matter what kind of lineup he's in. Opposing teams know that, and it makes his teammates better because of it. Credit Beltran for taking advantage of getting more pitches to hit... but I still think its harder to do what Berkman is doing when he's been virtually the only dangerous hitter in a lineup for most of the last year.
It's not Beltran's fault he's in a good lineup. What Berkman's doing may be more impressive, but that's not relevant - what matters is results. Deldago, by the way, has been awful this season (for his standards). His OPS was over 0.900 each of the last 8 years (0.981 last year) and is 0.870 this year. All of his numbers are career lows except for his rookie year. David Wright is much more important to that lineup than Delgado.
Actually, this discussion started on who was MVP. My original statement that Cat disagreed with: <I>Agreed on Beltran for right now. Take Berkman and make him a gold glove center-fielder and you've got what Beltran is doing this year.</I>
But do the voters even take that into consideration? I would guess that Beltran's gold glove center field will weigh more heavily in his favor than Berkman's lack of protection.
I believe if the astros were to win the division and finish the season strong, i really think berkman could edge out beltran in the voting.....i would assume it would be one of the closest mvp races.
Lance like the nickname big puma, hates Fat Elvis, and think that when he comes to bat there should be a big puma growl played over the speakers lol
I guess I cant edit, but I meant to add thats its mostly just a big joke...bc obviously Lance has little in common with a puma.
hr, rbi, that's all that matters. beltran maybe having the best .280 season in the history of baseball.
Lance said that he prefers to be called Big Puma. Apparently that was his nickname at Rice. It is obviously a big joke and he has said so. He also said at the same time that he hates the nickname fat elvis. He doesn't know where it started, but he doesn't like it either. This was all heard on the John and Lance morning show at the beginning of the off season.
Probably wishful thinking, but possible. The Astros would have to roar past the Cards and win the division in convincing fashion on Berkman's back (bat).
in reality the astros are still considered as a "small market team" even though we have such a huge payroll. there has been no love for the astros or any national league team this year (with the exception of the mets and cards). the mvp will be either beltran or puljos. that sucks, because despite their good years, these guys play on stacked line ups. This bloats their numbers and raises their walks/ops #'s. Therefore Berkman will not win the MVP even though he is just as deserving as anyone else in the race
I'm not an Astros fan, but Berkman is one of my favorite players in the league. That said, Pujols should win the award unanimously - he leads the NL in OBP & SLG. There is nothing more valuable than a guy who can both get on base and advance runners ahead of him (which is why I like Berkman so much also).
