M-V-P! M-V-P!

It's that time of year again, when those of us with nothing better to do (or even if we do have better things to do) start debating the annual baseball individual all-season performance awards, such as the Most Valuable Player in each league, National and American.

To me, the MVP is the player whose presence made the biggest impact on the success of his team, not just the player with the gaudiest statistics. In the National League, my MVP is Andruw Jones of the Atlanta Braves. So many Braves players were injured at some points during the season that the team was fielding 7 rookies in its starting lineup . . . and yet Andruw Jones made sure that Atlanta got to (and stayed in) first place in the NL East by his defensive prowess, his offensive skills, and his sheer leadership.

I know that several people want to give the MVP to Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals. He's a stellar player on a stellar team, and over the past several years has been overshadowed in the MVP voting by Barry Bonds, the epitome of gaudy statistics; so, it has been said that Pujols should win because he's deserved it for so long.

However, the Cardinals would most probably be exactly where they are (in first in the NL Central) whether Pujols was there or not, so I don't think he should win the MVP this year. Now, the Roberto Clemente award for community service, that's another matter. Pujols' work with Down's Syndrome and other disabled kids is fabulous, and deserves more recognition than it seems to be getting.

Some folks are even rooting for Derrick Lee of the Chicago Cubs to get the MVP. It's true that Lee is having a career year--he was in the lead in all 3 of the vaunted "Triple Crown" categories (home runs, RBI, and batting average) for most of the first half of the season, and is still in first, second, or third place in each of the categories as I post this)--but the Cubs are mired in the miasma of 4th place, about two games under .500. Thus, Lee's performance this season, as great and sustained as it has been, is not to my mind MVP calibre. The Cubs are just too miserable and underperforming a team this year.

So let's just give the NL MVP award to Andruw Jones and be done with it.

I do not follow the AL as closely as I follow the NL. I'm with Crash Davis: Congress ought to pass a constitutional amendment against artificial turf and the designated hitter rule. Nevertheless, my personal favorite for AL MVP is someone who's done mostly designated hitting this year, to wit: David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox.

"Big Papi," as Ortiz is known, has hit more game-breaking home runs in his limited playing time than anyone else I can think of in recent memory. His bat has kept Boston in first place in the AL East, ahead of the dreaded NY Yankees, nearly every time Boston has seemed like it was going to slip out of the lead and thus make defending its 2004 World Series Championship less and less likely.

I can't even think of anyone else in the AL worth considering for the MVP right now. I do not think pitchers should be in the running for the MVP, mostly because they have their own Cy Young awards to compete for.

And that's the news from Lake Wobegon.