Staff Blog
Rich Campbell Explains his MVP Vote, Attacks Phil Sheridan
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Rich Campbell, who is getting quite the name around these parts for being the lone MVP voter who left Ryan Howard off his ballot just blogged his justification for the vote and took a shot at some local Philly writers while doing so. Let’s take a look:
It was my initial intent to decline public comment on all inquiries regarding my decision to leave Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard off my ballot for the National League most valuable player. I simply don’t want to disparage Howard’s regular-season accomplishments and contributions to Philadelphia’s division championship. They were significant and should not be minimized.
But after some consideration and some extremely weak and hollow shots in my direction, I’ll offer an explanation and provide some accountability that this process truly deserves.
The ‘weak and hollow shots’ he describes is a Phil Sheridan article arguing that the MVP voting should be taken out of the hands of baseball writers and given to the players and managers.
Campbell then explains that he doesn’t care for the Nationals, admits to liking the Subway Steak and Cheese sub, and says he “feels sorry” for Todd Zolecki before eventually getting around to his criteria:
My criteria for “value,” as far as this award is concerned, includes consistency, completeness as a player (offense, defense and baserunning) and contributions to a team’s success-with the first two obviously contributing to the third. I am not compelled to put an inordinate amount of weight on how well a player’s team finishes in the standings (especially at the bottom of the ballot), but if a player’s team is in contention-and the player helped it get there-that’s certainly a plus.
He uses SABRmetrics to make some fair points, eventually determining that Ryan Howard was too one-dimensional of a player to be included on his ballot. A devil’s advocate may argue that Tim Lincecum (6th on his ballot) and Johan Santana (9th) didn’t contribute much four out of every five days, but we’ll let that go for now.
My problem with Campbell isn’t that he glibly made a decision that I disagree with – he clearly put appropriate time, effort, and consideration into his decision – but rather that his decision seems based in an abstract draw-by-the-numbers formula that ignores the real-world considerations. Here is he again:
I like metrics. When you don’t see most players play every game because you’re busy covering your team (a true obstacle in the voting process), these are extremely valuable. They’re mostly park-adjusted, and they’re all standardized.
Metrics also don’t differentiate for moment – no one on the 7-in-17 Mets would say that wins count the same in August as they do in September – or situation – Ryan Howard’s 146 RBI weren’t the just the product of Chase Utley hitting in front of him, they were also the product of his .320 batting average with runners in scoring position. Campell chides MVP voters for doing nothing but looking at home runs and RBI before casting their ballots. It’s a fair criticism, but it doesn’t hold too much weight if all he is doing is looking at OPS+ and EQA instead.
ATJ, Campbell’s full ballot
1. Albert Pujols, StL
2. David Wright, NYM
3. Lance Berkman, Hou
4. Chase Utley, Phi
5. Hanley Ramirez, Fla
6. Tim Lincecum, SF
7. Chipper Jones, Atl
8. Matt Holliday, Col
9. Johan Santana, NYM
10. Manny Ramirez, LAD
h/t Zolecki, who always comes with the rebuttal
