http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/tom_verducci/news/2003/03/26/fearless_predictions/ AL MVP: Nomar Garciaparra, Boston NL MVP: Albert Pujols, St. Louis AL Cy Young: Mark Mulder, Oakland NL Cy Young: Randy Johnson, Arizona AL Rookie of the Year: Hideki Matsui, New York NL Rookie of the Year: Jose Reyes, New York AL HR Leader: Alex Rodriguez, Texas NL HR Leader: Ken Griffey, Cincinnati AL Batting Title: Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle NL Batting Title: Albert Pujols, St. Louis AL Pitching Victories: Mark Mulder, Oakland NL Pitching Victories: Matt Morris, St. Louis AL Comeback Player of the Year : Juan Gonzalez, Texas NL Comeback Player of the Year: Richard Hidalgo, Houston AL Most Overrated Player: Rey Ordonez, Tampa Bay NL Most Overrated Player: Jason Kendall, Pittsburgh AL Most Underrated Player: Roy Halladay, Toronto NL Most Underrated Player: Bobby Abreu, Philadelphia AL Breakout Player: Eric Munson, Detroit NL Breakout Player: Mark Prior, Chicago AL Surprise Team: Toronto Blue Jays NL Surprise Team: Chicago Cubs AL Disappointing Team: Chicago White Sox NL Disappointing Team: Philadelphia Phillies AL Manager of the Year: Carlos Tosca, Toronto NL Manager of the Year: Dusty Baker, Chicago AL First Manager Fired: None NL First Manager Fired: Jeff Torborg, Florida AL Division Winners: New York, Minnesota, Oakland NL Division Winners: Atlanta, St. Louis, Arizona AL Wild Card: Boston NL Wild Card: Houston ALCS: Oakland over New York NLCS: Arizona over St. Louis World Series: Oakland over Arizona
Pujols???Dalgi??? I like Pujols, but NL MVP...I think not... As for Dalgi, I hope he has a great year...Only time will tell... Houston in the Wild Card, I can actually see that happening, but a Div. Title is what I'm expecting... Zona...I'm not sure they'll be there, or Oakland... Let the games begin... Go Astros...
Are you kidding me? He finished 2nd in MVP voting last year. Over his 2 years as a player, he has averaged: 35.5 HR 128.5 RBI .321 BA Whose to say he wont improve? He was already an MVP candidate. Any improvement could easily push him over the top. You act as if their prediction is way off.
Suggesting that Pujols was an MVP "candidate" suggests that there was someone other than Bonds in contention for the award. There was most definetly not. Betting against a player as good as Bonds, as well as he's hit the past two years, is a fool's wager, in my opinion.
If the Yankees had won around 30-40 more games than everyone else the past two years, Blitzed through the postseason and had no appreciable decline - then it would be a silly wager to pick against them. But they did not.
Your scenario is absurd. Bonds is obviously the best player. However, he doesnt blow the competition away. Sosa had more HR and runs scored than Bonds while accumulating only 2 less RBI. There were 3 categories that Bonds dominated in: Batting average, slugging percentage and walks. Take a look at the other categories.
yes, Bonds did blow the competition away. It wasn't even close, and to say it is close - well I don't understand that. He got on base more than half the time he got to the plate in the past two years - pitchers were so scared of him they walked him with no one on base, so last year he got on base an obscene 58% of the time - yet he still managed to rip 46 homers. Yes, Sosa had three more homers. It took him 150 more at-bats to do it though.
Your missing my point bud. The fact of the matter is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with predicting someone else to win the freakin award. Chill out.
Your point was that Pujols as an MVP candidate wasn't a bad choice, because he had been a candidate before. I merely pointed out, that if you're using the most common definition of candidate - he was not, because Bonds destroyed the competition, and no one other than Bonds was ever in contention for the award. Betting against a guy who has been so much better than the rest of the league seems to me, silly and a waste of print. The way Bonds is hitting, this is like betting someone other than Babe Ruth would be the best player in the AL in the early 20s - It's a good way to be very, very wrong.
And Bond's steroid taking ass can tear a hamstring in an instant. At that point, what do you do? Still predict Bonds to win it? These predictions arent "fearless" for nothing.
Bond's has played in 140 + games in 7 of the last 8 years, he doesn't seem very injury-prone to me anyways. Besides making a prediction that is predicated on a player like Bonds, who gets plenty of rest and plays lots of games, getting injured seems pretty stupid to me. Just because you're "fearless" doesn't mean you have to be stupid.
You obviously havent watched the guy play. He cant run. If he goes from a jog to a sprint, he pulls up because his hammy's give out. While we are talking sports, I take it you have all your money riding on the Lakers. After all, other than one series, they have blown by the competition for the last three playoff runs.
I know he can't run, he hasn't broken into a full sprint since like 1994 though. He's a big mashing slugger who hits a ton, scares the crap out of pitchers and gets plenty off off days to rest his body. And the Lakers haven't shown nearly the dominance that Bonds has, consistently, over the past two years. So that comparison isn't really good.
