My MVP

We was robbed! Matt Kemp should have been named the National League MVP today. But instead, it went to Ryan Braun of the Brewers.

OK, this is a bit of an exaggeration. So let me give credit where credit is undoubtedly due. Ryan Braun is a great player who had a tremendous season, and is worthy of any accolade. And congratulations go to him for winning the MVP award in what was a very close call. Braun garnered 20 of 32 first place votes, while 10 first place votes went to the Bison. (This kind of makes you wonder what was going through the head of the two BBWA voters who picked someone other than these two candidates.)

But, even though it was very close, Kemp is still my MVP. The argument by the numbers are well known. Kemp nearly won the Triple Crown and nearly became the fifth member of the 40-40 Club. (Here’s a fun fact: Kemp, who has not missed a game in two and a half years, has actually hit 40 home runs and stolen 40 bases in his last 162 games. Because a September game in Washington was washed out, the Dodgers ended the season short one game, and Kemp, who missed out on 4 or 5 chances to formally enter the 40-40 club, had homered on the final day of the 2010 season.)

Kemp did all of this while playing in a pitcher-friendly park (in a pitcher-friendly division), and playing a Gold Glove Center Field. No doubt, the fact that Braun played for a division champion club (and hit the home run that essentially clinched the division for Milwaukee) was a huge sway. There is not much doubt that had the rest of the team played up to its (proven) potential (Loney and Ethier for instance have had notably better seasons) and not had all the missed time on the DL, the Dodgers would have been in the thick of the race and Kemp, not Braun, would be the MVP.

This, of course, makes it very odd, because the MVP award seems like it was decided not based on how well Matt Kemp or Ryan Braun played, but rather based on how well James Loney and Prince Fielder played. And it should not be based on that. There already is a team award—it’s called the Division Championship.

Braun voters would undoubtedly tell you that without him, the Brewers would not win that championship. Undoubtedly true. And yet, without Kemp, the Dodgers’ 82-win season could easily have ended up with over 90 losses. (I am not just making that number up—Baseball Prospectus determines that Kemp is responsible for 10 Wins Above Replacement (WAR).) A lot of people would say “who cares” about the difference between mediocre and really bad. But in many ways, this is the most important reason why Matt Kemp was the MVP in 2011. The reality is that if you were a fan of the Brewers, or Cardinals, or even the Giants, or Braves, or most other teams in baseball, there was good news. But for Dodger fans, there was little relief. The fight between the McCourts over the ownership of the team overshadowed the outset of the season. Opening Day was marred by a tragic altercation, calling into question the safety of the Dodgers home in Chavez Ravine. And the fight with the Commissioner’s office ended up with the team in bankruptcy court. Even losing teams usually have hope for the future, but the Dodgers situation was so clouded that the future could hardly be seen. But regardless of the off-season distractions, day-in and day-out, Matt Kemp provided relief. It was his prodigious bat, his great speed on the bases and in the outfield, his cannon of an arm, that gave hope to the weary and wary Dodger fan. With each of his 39 home runs, Dodger fans had something to cheer for. And when the Dodgers raced to one of the best second-halves in baseball (right up there with the Cardinals), it might have been short of a championship, but it gave something for Dodger fans to care about. Ryan Braun may have been more important to a division title, but no player was more important to a fan base than Matt Kemp. And along with his monster numbers, he is still my MVP.