Friday, November 25, 2005
Andruw second in NL MVP race
11/15/2005
ATLANTA -- It was simply a lighthearted prediction meant to get a rise out of Braves hitting coach Terry Pendleton and at the same time provide some personal motivation.
Yet when Andruw Jones looks back on the greatest season in his baseball career, he will always remember that the turning point came when he looked at Pendleton with his patented, confident smirk and proclaimed that he was going to hit eight home runs in the span of the next nine games.
Jones fell one long ball short of the lofty prediction, but at the same time, he gained a confidence that he carried throughout a season in which he meant more to his team than any other Major Leaguer.
As Jones powered his way through his mighty season, the baseball world took notice and saw that the defensive wizard was finally realizing some of his enormous offensive potential. His fans and peers regarded him as the best player in the game this past season.
When it came time for the media to do the same on Tuesday afternoon, they instead narrowly chose the Cardinals' Albert Pujols over Jones in the National League MVP Award race. Jones received 13 first-place votes, 17 second-place votes and two third-place votes, for a total of 351 points. Pujols, meanwhile, received 18 first-place votes and 14 second-place votes, for a total of 378 points.
The 27-point margin that separated Jones from Pujols made this the closest NL MVP vote since 1991, when Pendleton -- then a Braves third baseman -- edged Barry Bonds by 15 points. Bonds had won four consecutive MVP Awards before missing most of this past season rehabbing his surgically repaired knee.
"I wasn't disappointed," Jones said. "I was anxious to see what was going to happen. I wasn't disappointed at all. I didn't think it'd take away from my season if I didn't win. I had a good season."
Jones, who led the Majors with 51 homers and the National League with 128 RBIs, knows that his .263 batting average certainly hurt him. Before recording just six hits in his final 51 at-bats of the season, there seemed to be a consensus that he would tally more votes than Pujols and the Cubs' Derrek Lee, who finished third.
Pujols, who had finished as the runner-up in the MVP balloting two of the previous three years, hit .330 with 41 homers and 117 RBIs. Like Jones, he was forced to carry much of the load, as his team dealt with injuries to such stars as Scott Rolen, Reggie Sanders and Larry Walker.
"[Pujols] had a better season than me," Jones said. "He deserved it after he had that many years being that consistent and that good. ... I respect him a lot. He's a tremendous hitter. He's got a really good idea what he's doing at the plate.
"I think it was the batting average. Me hitting .263 and him hitting .330, that was the difference. If I could have hit .290, it might have been a different story. He just had a better season than me."
Jones, Pujols and Lee were the only players to be named on every ballot. Lee led the NL with a .335 batting average, and also finished ahead of Pujols in slugging percentage, home runs and doubles. But because the Cubs finished the year with a losing record, he was widely considered to be the third-best candidate for the award.
"If Derrek Lee had his team going to the playoffs, he probably would have won," said Jones, whose previous best finish in MVP balloting came in 2000, when he finished eighth.
Though he didn't fare better than Pujols in the media vote, Jones' season didn't go unnoticed. He was named Major League Player of the Year by The Sporting News, and in the Players Choice Awards, he gained recognition as both the Major League Baseball Player of the Year and the National League's Outstanding Player.
All those awards were based on balloting among Major League players. Fans cast their ballots on MLB.com and elected him the National League's recipient of the Hank Aaron Award.
Many of the votes for all those awards were cast in mid-September, before Jones began struggling at the plate. When his batting average was at .275 after producing his ninth multi-homer performance of the year, on Sept. 11, the center fielder was regarded by many to be the favorite in the MVP race.
"[Jones and Lee] had great years," Pujols said. "Any of those guys could have won the award. You couldn't go wrong with any of those guys. Andruw had an outstanding year this year. I guess this was my year."
As for managers and coaches from around the Majors, they honored Jones with his first Silver Slugger Award and eighth consecutive Gold Glove. At the still-ripe age of 28, he's already collected enough hardware to rival the collection a young Bill Gates had while building the Microsoft enterprise.
Yet the awards don't matter as much to Jones as the satisfaction that he was able to improve upon the 2004 season, when he hit .261 and struck out 147 times. That motivated him to work harder last winter and concentrate on the wider batting stance that brought him so much success this season.
Other than during the 0-for-28 slump he endured in April and the season-ending plunge, he was much more consistent than his .263 batting average would attest.
Jones, who was named the NL's Player of the Month in June and August, was at his best during the season's middle months. He hit 38 of his homers and drove in 97 of his runs after June 10, the same day he made his prediction to Pendleton. His production kept an injury-riddled and rookie-filled Braves team afloat.
While Chipper Jones was on the disabled list for six weeks, Andruw batted .311 with 15 homers and 38 RBIs. Most doubt that the Braves would have captured their record 14th consecutive division title without that impressive stretch.
Along the way, Jones set a new franchise record for homers in a season -- previously shared by Aaron and Eddie Mathews -- and with his 50th homer of the year, became the fourth-youngest Major Leaguer to reach the 300-homer milestone.
Source: http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/
ATLANTA -- It was simply a lighthearted prediction meant to get a rise out of Braves hitting coach Terry Pendleton and at the same time provide some personal motivation.
Yet when Andruw Jones looks back on the greatest season in his baseball career, he will always remember that the turning point came when he looked at Pendleton with his patented, confident smirk and proclaimed that he was going to hit eight home runs in the span of the next nine games.
Jones fell one long ball short of the lofty prediction, but at the same time, he gained a confidence that he carried throughout a season in which he meant more to his team than any other Major Leaguer.
As Jones powered his way through his mighty season, the baseball world took notice and saw that the defensive wizard was finally realizing some of his enormous offensive potential. His fans and peers regarded him as the best player in the game this past season.
When it came time for the media to do the same on Tuesday afternoon, they instead narrowly chose the Cardinals' Albert Pujols over Jones in the National League MVP Award race. Jones received 13 first-place votes, 17 second-place votes and two third-place votes, for a total of 351 points. Pujols, meanwhile, received 18 first-place votes and 14 second-place votes, for a total of 378 points.
The 27-point margin that separated Jones from Pujols made this the closest NL MVP vote since 1991, when Pendleton -- then a Braves third baseman -- edged Barry Bonds by 15 points. Bonds had won four consecutive MVP Awards before missing most of this past season rehabbing his surgically repaired knee.
"I wasn't disappointed," Jones said. "I was anxious to see what was going to happen. I wasn't disappointed at all. I didn't think it'd take away from my season if I didn't win. I had a good season."
Jones, who led the Majors with 51 homers and the National League with 128 RBIs, knows that his .263 batting average certainly hurt him. Before recording just six hits in his final 51 at-bats of the season, there seemed to be a consensus that he would tally more votes than Pujols and the Cubs' Derrek Lee, who finished third.
Pujols, who had finished as the runner-up in the MVP balloting two of the previous three years, hit .330 with 41 homers and 117 RBIs. Like Jones, he was forced to carry much of the load, as his team dealt with injuries to such stars as Scott Rolen, Reggie Sanders and Larry Walker.
"[Pujols] had a better season than me," Jones said. "He deserved it after he had that many years being that consistent and that good. ... I respect him a lot. He's a tremendous hitter. He's got a really good idea what he's doing at the plate.
"I think it was the batting average. Me hitting .263 and him hitting .330, that was the difference. If I could have hit .290, it might have been a different story. He just had a better season than me."
Jones, Pujols and Lee were the only players to be named on every ballot. Lee led the NL with a .335 batting average, and also finished ahead of Pujols in slugging percentage, home runs and doubles. But because the Cubs finished the year with a losing record, he was widely considered to be the third-best candidate for the award.
"If Derrek Lee had his team going to the playoffs, he probably would have won," said Jones, whose previous best finish in MVP balloting came in 2000, when he finished eighth.
Though he didn't fare better than Pujols in the media vote, Jones' season didn't go unnoticed. He was named Major League Player of the Year by The Sporting News, and in the Players Choice Awards, he gained recognition as both the Major League Baseball Player of the Year and the National League's Outstanding Player.
All those awards were based on balloting among Major League players. Fans cast their ballots on MLB.com and elected him the National League's recipient of the Hank Aaron Award.
Many of the votes for all those awards were cast in mid-September, before Jones began struggling at the plate. When his batting average was at .275 after producing his ninth multi-homer performance of the year, on Sept. 11, the center fielder was regarded by many to be the favorite in the MVP race.
"[Jones and Lee] had great years," Pujols said. "Any of those guys could have won the award. You couldn't go wrong with any of those guys. Andruw had an outstanding year this year. I guess this was my year."
As for managers and coaches from around the Majors, they honored Jones with his first Silver Slugger Award and eighth consecutive Gold Glove. At the still-ripe age of 28, he's already collected enough hardware to rival the collection a young Bill Gates had while building the Microsoft enterprise.
Yet the awards don't matter as much to Jones as the satisfaction that he was able to improve upon the 2004 season, when he hit .261 and struck out 147 times. That motivated him to work harder last winter and concentrate on the wider batting stance that brought him so much success this season.
Other than during the 0-for-28 slump he endured in April and the season-ending plunge, he was much more consistent than his .263 batting average would attest.
Jones, who was named the NL's Player of the Month in June and August, was at his best during the season's middle months. He hit 38 of his homers and drove in 97 of his runs after June 10, the same day he made his prediction to Pendleton. His production kept an injury-riddled and rookie-filled Braves team afloat.
While Chipper Jones was on the disabled list for six weeks, Andruw batted .311 with 15 homers and 38 RBIs. Most doubt that the Braves would have captured their record 14th consecutive division title without that impressive stretch.
Along the way, Jones set a new franchise record for homers in a season -- previously shared by Aaron and Eddie Mathews -- and with his 50th homer of the year, became the fourth-youngest Major Leaguer to reach the 300-homer milestone.
Source: http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/
