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Mike Piazza was voted the all-time Dodger single-season Most Valuable Player by Dodger Thoughts readers for his 1997 season, but the true winner might be Jackie Robinson.
Piazza won the award for a season in which he batted .362 with an on-base percentage of .431 and a slugging percentage of .638 from the catcher position, hitting 40 home runs. He had an EQA of .357 and a WARP-3 of 12.4. (See the nominations thread for explanations of these statistics.)
Piazza 1997 had the same number of first-place votes as Robinson 1949, but was named on 52 ballots as opposed to 49 by Robinson and also scored three-more second-place mentions. (Points were awarded on a 10-7-5-3-1 basis.)
However, Robinson not only finished second with his '49 performance, in which he batted .342/.432/.528 with a WARP-3 of 12.3 as a second baseman, but he also grabbed the No. 3 spot with his outstanding season two years later, when he hit .338/.429/.527 with a WARP-3 of 12.9. Robinson's 532 combined points far outdistance any other player. Let it be a reminder that Robinson isn't memorable simply for making history, but for being an phenomenal player.
Although both players had multiple seasons nominated for the honor, the competing strength of Robinson's '49 and '51 seasons may well have denied him the victory. Piazza's 1996 season was mentioned by five voters.
After delaying my vote as long as possible, my ballot went like this:
1. Robinson 1949
2. Piazza 1997
3. Roy Campanella 1953
4. Duke Snider 1955
5. Pedro Guerrero 1985
I didn't find it easy at all to choose my top five, let alone order them, and even as I write this I have second-thoughts about whether I picked the right year for Robinson. although I'm feeling good about the player. I was certainly partial to catchers who could slug, as the No. 2 and No. 3 spots indicate. I gave points to Snider for a fantastic season that helped give the Dodgers their first World Series title after so many years of agony. And I rounded out my ballot with Guerrero, partly for sentiment, partly because he destroyed the ball like almost no other Dodger ever did.
But to say these were easy or even committed choices would be a lie.
Below are the final totals. Thanks to everyone for participating, or even just taking an interest.
| Player | Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Mentions | Total Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Piazza | 1997 | 20 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 52 | 364 |
| Jackie Robinson | 1949 | 20 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 49 | 339 |
| Jackie Robinson | 1951 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 30 | 193 |
| Duke Snider | 1955 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 28 | 159 |
| Pedro Guerrero | 1985 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 5.5 | 24.5 | 115.5 |
| Kirk Gibson | 1988 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 24 | 96 |
| Adrian Beltre | 2004 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 8.5 | 24.5 | 88.5 |
| Roy Campanella | 1953 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 17 | 71 |
| Tommy Davis | 1962 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 47 |
| Pete Reiser | 1941 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 25 |
| Mike Piazza | 1996 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 22 |
| Gary Sheffield | 2000 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 18 |
| Duke Snider | 1954 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 18 |
| Reggie Smith | 1977 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 17 |
| Shawn Green | 2002 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 16 |
| Roy Campanella | 1951 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 14 |
| Dan Brouthers | 1892 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 11 |
| Steve Garvey | 1975 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 11 |
| Maury Wills | 1962 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 11 |
| Pedro Guerrero | 1982 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| Jimmy Wynn | 1974 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 9 |
| Shawn Green | 2001 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| Babe Herman | 1930 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| Mike Piazza | 1995 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| Ron Cey | 1975 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Duke Snider | 1956 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Gil Hodges | 1954 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Pee Wee Reese | 1949 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Jackie Robinson | 1952 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Mike Scioscia | 1985 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Zack Wheat | 1924 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Dolph Camilli | 1941 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Pee Wee Reese | 1947 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Lefty O'Doul | 1932 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Piazza | 1993 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jimmy Sheckard | 1901 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Duke Snider | 1953 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Team One
Robinson '51 2B
Sheffield '00, RF
Guerrero '85, 1B
Piazza '97, C
Beltre '04, 3B
Green '02, CF
Davis '62, LF
Reese '49, SS
Koufax '65, P
Team Two
Wills '62, SS
Robinson '49, 2B
Snider '55, CF
Campanella '53, C
Gibson '88, LF
Smith, '77, 1B
Reiser '41, RF
Cey '75, 3B
Koufax '66, P
VA Beach, Va.: What are you covering in March....World Baseball Classic or the Conference/NCAA Tourneys???
Michael Wilbon: Wish I could do both, because unlike some writers, I love the idea of the international baseball tournament. But let's face it; college basketball is huge in D.C. so I'm going to NCAA games...But how I wish I could split time between the two.
washingtonpost.com -- look for the wilbon online chat.
It's either that or lots of links about players avoiding arbitration.
I'm not doing it justice. The whole story was amazing.
http://tinyurl.com/8o6bm
I don't understand how anyone could be more impressed with Green's 2001 season than 2002 season.
If that is in reference to MVP voting, then I'll say that an MVP - in my book - doesn't necessarily have to have the most impressive season.
Wow, that Jackie Robinson was a Republican or that my father was the last liberal Republican (OK, he wasn't, but darn close to it.)
Robinson endorsed Nixon in all three of his races for president I believe.
I think I read somewhere that many African Americans of Robinson's generation were Republicans. That was a century-long tradition; Lincoln was a Republican and political affiliations are often passed down in families.
It wasn't until the 20th century that the parties "changed clothes," if you will; the Democrats remade themselves as the liberal party, primarily under FDR -- a change that would be set in stone (at least as far as civil rights are concerned) during the Kennedy-Johnson years. It was then that African Americans (and, not incidently, white southerners) changed their voting habits.
Or do I have everything wrong? If so, a thousand pardons.
FRAA / Rate2 (as RF)
2001 - -3 / 98
2002 - 11 / 107
With the advent of the New Deal, African-Americans started to switch over to the Democratic party.
I don't know how active Robinson was politically when he played, but he became much more so after he retired. Robinson received a fair amount of opposition within the African-American community because of his support for Rockefeller and Nixon, but he supposedly genuinely liked each man and also thought that the Republicans of that era would better serve African-Americans.
In the 1960s, the Democratic Party still had a large section of it dominated by segregationists.
Sorry for the political discussion, although I feel it is more of a historical discussion.
According to his rate-2, he was average to below average for his 1st two years here, then great for two years, awful his last year in LA, then great again for AZ last year.
Back in the day, all these southerners were
Dixiecrats whose influence prevented FDR from pushing desegregation on any meaningful scale.
When I was young, Jackie was thought of as a better player than his numbers showed. It was the CW of the time. Now, thanks to further study, we know otherwise. He was one of the very best and his numbers prove it.
I would have voted for Tommy Davis in 1962 as he was the MVP of my childhood.I guess it was a lively ball year,but TD could flat out mash.When he broke his leg the next year ,it was the equivilant to my adolescent mind of getting turned down at the friday night dance.
Woody,where in Alabama do you live?I thought I was the only Dodger fan here in the land of the Dixie Braves.I think the prevalence of Republicans here is because of the influence of the church and social issues.The straight Democrat voting by blacks is astonishing when you consider Lestor Maddox,George Wallace,Bull Connor,Orville Faubus,Nathan Bedford Forrest and Jefferson Davis were all
donkeys.And so it goes.
IIRC, the estimable Ross Porter voted for Walker over Piazza, writing at the time that Walker couldn't have enjoyed much of an advantage at Coors Field since he also hit very well on the road.
Stan from Tacoma
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