6
2012
MVP Chants For Wright Are Not Unfounded
An article by 
For those of you who missed the first half of the season, you got the gist of things if you tuned in last night’s victory over the Phillies.
David Wright, who delivered the game-winner in the ninth along with hitting a homer, said as much when he indicated the Mets worked every at-bat and utilized every out. No waste for these Mets.
“It seems like all year we’ve had that never-say-die attitude, continuing to play the game no matter what the score is,” said Wright, whose four RBI all came with two outs.
It has been like this all year for Wright, who, despite only 11 homers, is a legit MVP candidate, even if Mets fans don’t vote with the fervor or Giants fans for the All-Star team.
With Jason Bay down, and Ike Davis and Lucas Duda slumping at various times, Wright has been the mainstay of this lineup. If the MVP was announced today, could anybody begrudge Wright if he were the winner? There’s a lot of season left, but how soon before we hear the MVP chanting?
The ninth began with Davis going the opposite way on Jonathan Papelbon, and included a bunt by Josh Thole and a drawn-out walk by Ruben Tejada that showed a lot of patience. All that fundamental work paid off when Daniel Murphy singled off Papelbon’s leg.
From there, the outcome was a foregone conclusion. The Mets weren’t going to lose.The only concern was R.A. Dickey, who matched a career high by giving 11 hits. Even so, he pitched with guile and got out of enough trouble where he kept the Mets in the game. Really, that’s the most important thing.
And, as usual, he was stand-up after the game.
“I didn’t deserve a no-decision, I deserved to lose tonight,” Dickey said. “The guys picked me up.”
Actually, they returned the favor.
Thoughts from Joe D.
Batting champions win MVP awards all the time, more than 50% of those who’ve won one did it this way. But Wright isn’t just leading the league in batting, he’s done far more that just that to deserve this honor. Wright also leads the league with a .443 on-base and for you extreme stat crunchers he leads the majors with a 4.8 WAR. Wright’s chief competition comes from Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutchen, but Wright still edges him out in runs scored and RBI, and while Cutch has five more home runs, Wright has mor extra-base hits including a 26 to 17 edge in two-baggers.
That said, they don’t give out hardware in July as far as I know, and there’s a lot of season left to play. Anything can and always does happen. But I certainly like where things are for now and I have no complaints. In case you hadn’t already noticed that the David Wright of 2005-2008 has reappeared, last night should have made it plainly obvious.
Those of you who are still carrying an animosity for Wright like some 200 pound sack of bricks, drop it already and enjoy these rare moments of remarkable Mets baseball. If you’re not going to get behind every player on this team now, then when? Some of you need to get your Mets fandom checked out for a possible tune-up. Even those of you who are unhappy with the current GM, there’s still enough of a team here from the former GM for you to love, so why not just ease back and enjoy what’s happening before you end up missing what could be the makings of modern age Miracle Mets team.
About the Author: John Delcos
I am an active member of the BBWAA and have covered Major League Baseball in several capacities for over 20 years, including ten in New York working the Mets' and Yankees' beat. I covered the Baltimore Orioles for eight years and the Cleveland Indians before that. I currently serve as an editor and senior staff writer for Mets Merized Online. Follow me on Twitter @jdelcos.
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McCutchen is still the MVP considering he is the only real productive player in his lineup, but Wright is certainly in the top 3.
He has the advantage only in regards that Wright actually has Dickey to take a few votes away from him.
Plus Pittsburg leads their division mostly because of him.
Where would they be without him? Nowhere!
You could say the same thing about Wright and Dickey and the answer would be the same…
The second half should be interesting. If their respective teams finish well and they stay healthy, Wright, Votto, McCutchen and Kemp should make the top 4.
It was a goosebumps moment to hear the NY fans chanting MVP… I don’t think anywhere else in any other city i have heard fans chanting MVP… He’s making his case so far.. As i said a while ago, McClutchen was an MVP candidate because he does it all for that team in Pittsburgh, along with Beltran Wright is making his case for MVP…
you can certainly make a case for a few different guys right now, and practically have to pull names from a hat since they are all so close and deserving.
actually, since you mentioned BA champ, pretty sure that right now, Wright is 2nd to Ruiz. And the only reason Ruiz is not getting mention is the Phils have a lousy record. He is having a huge year for a catcher, and is the recognized leader of the team too (and also the only guy really doing any heavy lifting).
But, since record gets weighted so heavily, he isn’t even in the running.
just wonder, if you flipped the records of the 2 teams, would DW be getting anything other than a passing mention too?
and that goes for Mccutchen too. If Pitt had their usual out of it record, would anyone consider him?
Yes probably even more so…It’s based on who is the most responsible for winning whatever games you win and your team having a crappy record is not taken ainto consideration all that much.
you are certainly in the minority then (at least based on voters!) since generally guys on a losing team have to blow away the field to win.
Now they only have to blow away the competition statistically and then get an ADVANTAGE if they play for a losing team….
Want proof? Don’t look at who won look at who gets votes at all!
It’s rarely the guy on the best team that wins it.
If having a good record is key then why doesn’t the guy from the WS winner win every year?
AROD won the MVP on a last place team, so did andre dawson… Just saying…
But that’s the only two times it’s happened in 25 years. MVPs and team records are tied together.
“MVPs and team records are tied together”
Not really…Individual performance dictates who is in the running and once the list of best players is whittled down if the record is taken into consideration at all the worst you are the better you do!
And the main reason why it hasn’t happened all that often is usually if your team suck and you have no help you can’t put up the numbers to make the ballot in the first place!
That’s not correct. There’s no list of players to choose from. All of baseball is eligible, and it’s always the guys on winning teams who get the award. There are comparable stats for guys on losing teams who get a couple of second or third place votes, but never win. Find me the MVP winners on losing teams.
Find me the MVP winners on losing teams”
I just told you….
Not you, Metsie. You were right. Two in the last 25 years. Metsie thinks team record and MVP votes aren’t linked. You and I both know they are.
So if what you say is true the guy on the team who has the most wins gets it every year?
True? Or are you showing how much your insistence is just your usual blowhardiness?
Does the guy who plays for the best team in baseball win every year?
If not you just proved me correct!
The guys who gets votes at all are the ones who have good seasonal statistics and when it comes down to voting a guy who plays on a WORSE team than the best team in baseball usually gets more votes then the guy who DOES because there are other guys ON HIS TEAM that takes votes away from him!
what he is saying is unless a player has a truly spectacular year, the MVP comes from either a playoff bound team or a team that just missed it.
The MVP stands for Most Valuable Player aka the most valuable component toward’s a given team’s success. If a team is not succesful, then it’s very hard to say a player on that team is the most valuable player.
A perfect example is Jose Bautista who has been the best hitter in the AL in 2010 and 2011, but did not win an MVP…
Like I said above, voters look at team record. And while a few guys on losing teams have won, they generally have to so blow away the rest of the league that there is really no debate.
If you have 3-4 guys all fairly close (stats, etc.) the ones on the last place teams are not being considered.
Right, like last season. Braun had a higher BA and SLG% than Kemp, but Kemp had a better OBP, more HRs, more RBI, more SBs, more runs scored, more hits, had no real lineup protection (nothing even close to Fielder) and played a tougher defensive position far better. But the guy who went to the playoffs won it. That’s basically how it works.
Agree, 2007 DW should’ve won the MVP… But the mets choke
yup, and the mets choking should not have mattered. DW certainly performed like an MVP those 17 games too, and frankly, why should 17 games mean more than the rest of the year?
He should not have won in 2007 because the key word is valuable. When you have Reyes, Beltran, Delgado and Wright all on the same team, neither one deserves to win the MVP, because of how good the lineup is.
That’s why no Yankee or Texas Ranger or no player on a losing team should win an MVP since the team around them is so good, it makes the individual player less valuable. The only exception should be like in 2007 where A-Rod had one of the best seasons in baseball history.
Guys who carry their team (even if their stats are less impressive) are the ones who should always win the MVP, where the guy with the best stats, should win the Hank Aaron award..
There havent been very many teams over the years who have made the playoffs and who only had one good player.