Justin Verlander wins AL MVP!
by Kurt Mensching on Nov 21, 2011 2:02 PM EST
in Detroit Tigers News
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Justin Verlander was named the AL MVP in voting done by the Baseball Writers Association of America and announced just now.
Verlander won the AL pitching triple crown with a 2.40 ERA, 24 wins and 250 strikeouts in 251 innings on the mound to pick up the Cy Young Award only last week.. And of course, let us not forget he threw the second no-hitter of his career this year as well.
Verlander has now won the Rookie of the Year Award, Cy Young Award and Most Valuable Player Award. He became just the second player in BBWAA history to earn all three awards, joining Don Newcombe. Quite a career already for a guy who was a rookie in 2006. He was the 10th pitcher to win both the MVP and Cy Young Award in the same season and the seventh in the AL.
Verlander picked up 13 of 28 first-place votes and was on 27 ballots total for 280 points. He was ranked top five on 24 of the ballots. The writers tell us Jack Ingraham of Cleveland was the writer who left Verlander off his ballot entirely. CBS Sports' Danny Knobler tells us Sheldon Ocker of Cleveland had Verlander ranked 8th on his ballot, but Miguel Cabrera first.
Jacoby Ellsbury (242), Jose Bautista (231), Curtis Granderson (215) and Miguel Cabrera (193) rounded out the top five.
Cabrera earned two first-place votes and won the AL batting title with a .344 average.
Verlander is the seventh player in the Tigers history to win MVP, the last being "Willie" Hernandez in 1984. He was also the first starting pitcher to win the award in 25 years, since Roger Clemens in 1986. Interestingly, both Clemens and Verlander had a chance to win 25 games in a season, fell a win short, and won the Cy Young and MVP awards in the same year.
Alex Avila finished 12th in voting and Victor Martinez 17th.
Verlander's press conference is set for 3 p.m. I'll do a live post at 2:55 and try to type the quotes from that as they happen.
**Updates throughout**
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Congrats JV!
definitely well deserved. now we need to get Miggy his next year!
No longer the Founder, President and CEO of the Ryan Raburn Fan Club
Well deserved.
JV was in boss mode from the first pitch to the last.
YEAAAAAHHH!
Chicks dig me, because I rarely wear underwear and when I do it's usually something unusual
Congrats, Justin!
Couldn’t have happened to a better Tiger.
by ColossusOfRhode on Nov 21, 2011 2:12 PM EST reply actions
Yeah, he's just too good.
Congrats to Verlander and Tiger fans!
"Don't take life for granted, because tomorrow isn't promised to any one of us." -Kirby Puckett
#OccupyTwinkieTown
by less cowbell, more 'neau on Nov 21, 2011 6:09 PM EST up reply actions
First place votes
From Danny Knobler on Twitter
First-place votes went to Verlander (13), Bautista (5), Ellsbury (4), ,Granderson (3), Cabrera (2), Young (1)
"King of Minutiae"
More from Danny K
Verlander was on 27 of 28 ballots. 26 of 28 had him 6th or higher.
In other words, there’s one idiot and one total idiot among the voters. :)
"King of Minutiae"
And they're both from Ohio.
"Virtually all tactical ploys—the sacrifice bunt, the stolen base, the hit-and-run—operate on average to reduce run scoring." -- Eric Walker
That place lacks oxygen.
It explains some of the people down there.
Hey now...
Not all of us down here are idiots.
I am a Tigers fan, I must count for something, right?
well he did say "some" people
as long as you are reporting back spy information to your native land you’re excused.
by Kurt Mensching on Nov 21, 2011 5:25 PM EST up reply actions
Wow. A landslide.
Drink, and Drink, and Drink, and Drink, and Drink, and Drink, and Fight!
by Brand New Hero on Nov 21, 2011 2:34 PM EST up reply actions
Awesome
Didn’t think he’d win it, but glad he did
A well deserved accolade.
And now I no longer despise the writers for shunning Miggy last year.
Tired of generic music??? Exterminate All Rational Thought is here to help!
Fantastic.
Maybe Justin and Jason will party together tonight?
"All aboard! There is plenty of room."
Brennan Boesch Bandwagon Conductor
WOW - Terrific news
Well earned and Justin was certtainly deserving of the award. What a great season he had.
I thought about it at 2:00 but had a client in my office. As soon as she left I came to BYB to see if JV got it.
For my baseball news I check BLESS YOU BOYS first, MLB Trade Rumors second, and FOX Sports third.
27 out of 28 ballots should mean we can retire the debate about whether pitchers should get MVP votes.
The actual voters seem pretty unified.
there is never retiring a debate
a year or two ago we were all like “we can retire the debate about pitcher wins / ERA / etc” and that only lasts until the next voters do something differnet
by Kurt Mensching on Nov 21, 2011 3:21 PM EST up reply actions
Good thing we have blogs for that, then
by lesmanalim on Nov 21, 2011 3:35 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
Well slap my face and call me Gertrude.
What great news!
"Some guy told me I should walk with the Lord. I'd rather walk with the bases loaded" Ken Singleton
by NCDee on Nov 21, 2011 3:07 PM EST via mobile reply actions
This is the best news I've heard all week!
(and I just got back from taking my buck to the taxidermist)
"But the point is, finger-pointing is just what sports fans do when something doesn't go right." -- Kurt Mensching
by RealityIsOptionable on Nov 21, 2011 3:12 PM EST reply actions
Amazing. He really deserved it for what he did for the tigers this year
Going beyond the stats, what his presence and fire did to help his teammates out made him the most valuable player.
I Like Pie
someone posted an interesting take on this in, of all places, the yahoo forum
saying that people consider position players more important because they’re in almost every game, and get 500-600 ABs. Verlander was involved in 900+ Plate appearances. Kind of puts things in perspective a bit.
I Like Pie
true
but he doesn’t strike them all out. position players are on the field too.
by Kurt Mensching on Nov 21, 2011 3:27 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
But they are all on the field together
In the AL the only difference is the 3-5 at bats most players get. The Pitcher is directly involved in far more plays than any given position player.
This is the argument I’ve heard and it makes way more sense to me than anything spouted by the “pitchers don’t play everyday” crowd.
by Big Z in Orlando on Nov 22, 2011 4:58 PM EST up reply actions
Outstanding!
The most first place votes by quite a bit, but an overall close vote. Well deserved JV, you would have had my vote. I probably would have had Bautista & Miggy ahead of Ellsbury, but I dig the long ball too!
Congrats to JV!
It appears the idea of a pitcher winning the MVP is real, now can we end the school of thought that the MVP must play on a playoff team? Oh an once again, congrats JV.
Detroit Tigers: 2011 AL Central Champs
Awwwww yeah
I’m going to talk SO much smack at work tomorrow…
"Can you hear the baseball gods laughing?" -Gary Thorne
by AriTwice on Nov 21, 2011 3:50 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
What it means
For JV, it’s an incredible accomplishment.
But if I can interject my opinion? The award itself doesn’t mean much. Personally, there’s only one reason to care if a Tiger wins any major MLB award.
That is for HOF consideration. They look at things like this, when considering those who enter the Hall.
If Brennan Boesch(currently, my favorite Tiger)has a tremendous season, it’ll not matter in the least if he wins an MVP.
But for a guy like JV, who will have a problem winning the number of games that guarantees induction(that being 300), winning the CYA and MVP will go a long way towards acceptance. In fact, by winning the MVP I think Justin has knocked off a significant total of wins needed for his induction, into the HOF.
Watching Trammell struggle for his rightful place into the HOF and some saying one of the reasons is “he never won an MVP”, no one will now be able to say that about Justin.
Just spitballing here … but I’d guess he just put his number at “wins needed” from 270 to 250 with this award.
I think (obviously, with continued health)that Cabrera is a sure fire HOFer. He’ll amass the counting stats needed. 1,600 hits at his age and history, 3,000 shouldn’t be an issue. Justin will be borderline, however. This award will help his HOF chances greatly. And seeing how few Tigers are in the HOF, let alone how few Tiger pitchers are there? Anything that helps is wonderful.
Justin can now let the fungus grow back on his shower shoes.
Valid point
Awards do matter to HOF voters. He’s now Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and MVP.
Next, he has to win. World Series ring knocks another 25 wins or so off what he’ll need for an HOF nod.
"Virtually all tactical ploys—the sacrifice bunt, the stolen base, the hit-and-run—operate on average to reduce run scoring." -- Eric Walker
100% of players with that tri-fecta are NOT in the HOF
Sorry Don Newcombe.
The other sports are just sports. Baseball is a love. ~Bryant Gumbel, 1981
To me the award means that
Detroit is relevant!
We didn’t get screwed over again. The national media didn’t just throw us a bone, they just gave us the whole damn cow.
I can’t blame the city, the owner, the management, the players, the media, or the fans for not getting votes anymore.
Congrats JV!!
That is an awesome and well-deserved honor!
Cy Young and MVP trophies. Check. Bring on the Heisman!!!
by smbarbac on Nov 21, 2011 5:15 PM EST reply actions 4 recs
JV knows football.
(No? Nobody remembers Bo Jackson’s ads?)
by frisbeepilot on Nov 21, 2011 8:25 PM EST up reply actions
JV-AL MVP!!
completely deserving. No Red Sox, No Yankee. Great for Detroit!!!
Anybody got the JV/V-Mart slap fight victory gif?
That seems appropriate here. I can’t remember where it comes from.
"I believe in a good kick in the ass. This— I believe. " -- Walker Percy
I tweet about stuff sometimes @jackhitts.
Let me add
my Congragulations to JV, and thanks for a teriffic season. Another couple similar to this, MVP or no, and the HOV is a given. Has to be. JV is just at the start of his best years, IMO.
by knucklescarbone on Nov 21, 2011 11:16 PM EST reply actions
HOV
That would be, of course, the Hall of , er, ..
Ventriloquism
Vitality
Viscera
Ventilation
Voodoo
Vandalism
Vaccination
or
Vame?
by knucklescarbone on Nov 21, 2011 11:34 PM EST up reply actions
I just assumed it was the Hall of Verlander
Justin, flagship member.
Jason, janitor.
The other sports are just sports. Baseball is a love. ~Bryant Gumbel, 1981
Congragulations?
I meant Congratulations, needless to say. But I am proud I just made up a new word.
by knucklescarbone on Nov 21, 2011 11:17 PM EST reply actions
Three out of ten
Only ten players have won the MVP and the Cy Young in the same season. 3 of them have been Tigers. Denny McLain, Willie Hernandez and Justin Verlander. Pretty cool!
2 all the Haters
Who think SPs shouldn’t b eligable 4 the MVP. If u look @ it JV throws about 120 every 5 games, when does any positional player do 120 of anything, besides crotch scrathing? Maybe the catcher odviously, & 1b r involved bit more. But even then they bat 3 or 4 times a game, if they’re invovled in every out, which usually they’re not, that’s only 27 outs, so they’ve been involved in about 30 plays/game & watching alota grass grow, to me that’s comparable 2 a sp role & positional players r not statistically responsible 4 wins/losses, so get off ur high horse Bautista, the guy hada phenominal season,1 of the best in Tiger’s & MLB history, which is saying alot!
24-5, 2.40 ERA, 250 K's in 251 IP, .920 WHIP, 170 ERA+
I give due credit to all the position player candidates, but with numbers like that, was there ever any doubt? :) Love ya, JV!!
In a Tiger fan's world, the Tigers go 162-0 and the White Sox go 0-162.
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