MLB: Let Fans Choose The Awards (Vote Now On Twitter)
Maybe Kate Upton has a point that’s relevant after all. But it’s not necessarily about her boyfriend Justin Verlander as much as the way the MLB postseason awards are “voted” on. The system we have now for allotting these awards needs a major overhaul if the MVP, Cy Young, etc. are going to continue to have meaning…… and we’re just the ones who are right for the job. Vote to get the right to vote on Twitter (below)……..
Until recently, it made sense that the Baseball Writers had the privilege of selecting the winners for the major postseason awards. And that’s largely because they were the only ones who were close to the teams they were covering. They traveled with the team and they had a virtual monopoly on access to the players. And therefore, they were considered the “experts”and the only ones who could make a intelligent decision, not only about the postseason awards but about anything MLB itself.
That Was Then But This Is Now
That’s all changed. Baseball, like everything else, now has a 24/7 news cycle. There’s information everywhere, and in some cases when you start to get into baseball sabermetrics, way too much information. And if we wanted to and if we know how to read, you or I could fast become a expert on all things baseball.
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And that’s why we should be given a chance to vote on these awards. We’re just as knowledgeable and passionate about baseball as the writers are. And maybe the view “from the outside” that we would have would be clearer than the “close up” view of the writers who develop relationships with players that we don’t and never could have.
I’m not suggesting that the writers are generally speaking biased in their selections any more than we would be. Because after all, democracy is not a perfect system. And in fact, Bill Chastain, a veteran writer for MLB.com and one of the writers who left Verlander’s name completely off his ballot, seemed genuinely troubled by his decision when he told the New York Daily News :
"“I feel bad that people are upset about this; I did the best I could. “I went around the clubhouse, I asked guys. I agonized over this. The biggest thing for me was between (Baltimore closer Zach) Britton and Porcello.”“At the time, I thought I picked the best five guys,” said Chastain, who voted for Porcello, Britton, Kluber, Chris Sale and Masahiro Tanaka in that order. “Maybe I should have waited until the end. When I voted, it looked pretty clear to me.”"
The Timing Of The Awards Vote Is Off Too
Which raises another salient point about the timing of the vote and why the vote is taken before the conclusion of the postseason. Again, using Verlander as an example (only), his two best starts of the season were his last two after the deadline for writers to send in their ballots. In one of those starts with the postseason on the line for his team, Verlander loses a game giving up only a single run and loses by a 1-0 score. But that effort didn’t “count”.
What’s the rush. And does it matter whether we have these awards in November or January?
Finally, if the awards are going to be turned over to you and me, we can’t have this inane process that they allow for the fans vote to select the All Star Game starters where you can vote a god zillion number of times. One person, one vote. That’s it, just like the writers.
It goes without saying that the suits at MLB never listen to us. But what do you say we light ’em up a little bit……leave a message on Twitter………
Next: Cardinals open to trading Michael Wacha
We Can Do The Job, MLB……..
“Let The Fans Vote” (Tweet)