The Great Political Divide has spread to baseball. Not between Democrats and Republicans but between people on the
Cabrera or Trout?
field (players and coaches) and Sabermetric people. If you’ve been following Major League Baseball closely over the past few years, you had to have noticed the increased emphasis on Sabermetric calculations on the worth of players. A mind boggling amount of mathematical data is being analyzed by more front office people and Sabermetric people in the media, especially with the popularity of the MLB Network’s show Clubhouse Confidential. In general, players and their coaches are a little skeptical of all this “science” entering the game.
The American League MVP debate is case in point of the divide that exists within the game. When players and coaches were asked who this year’s AL MVP should be, the overwhelming response was Miguel Cabrera. Most that I heard implied that it was a total no brainer. When you heard from Sabermetric and front office people, the overwhelming answer you got was Mike Trout. Amazingly, they also said it was a no brainer.
My vote went to Miguel Cabrera and I also felt it was a no brainer. Don’t get me wrong. I love Mike Trout as a player and if you ask me which player I’d rather have in my organization, it would be him over Cabrera any day of the week. But Cabrera is this year’s MVP. I don’t care what the Sabermetrics say. The guy won the Triple Crown. Period. End of story.
There are two strategies to winning an argument. You can use math or you can use English. In politics, there is a saying that goes like this …
If you have a good argument, stick with the English and lose the math.
If you have a weak argument, lose the English and go with the math.
I’m with the players and coaches on this one. No math necessary. Common sense English is all you need.
The sports writers who voted seemed to agree. The players’ perspective had more clout.
At least for now.
