Fear and Self-Loathing In the Blogosphere

End-of-season awards almost always inspire debate, most of it useless. When faced with many viable candidates, it's human nature to think about what seems most recent or, perhaps, the image with the most mental repetition. That's why you don't generally see the Academy honoring films that were released in February come Oscar time. And, honestly, a truly egregious slight will follow the laws of karma, ultimately sullying the reputation of wrongfully feted.

(Let's all appreciate the continued sanity of Terry Pendleton, please. If I had to hear about how I was a non-deserving scrub at the end of every season, I'd snap like Dewey Cox flipping over the car in the Walk Hard trailer.)

Well, in the 72 hours since Jimmy Rollins won the '07 National League MVP award it seems like everything is spiraling out of control. Daily News columnist Bill Conlin (a dead ringer for Peter Griffin) started what seemed like the familiar print journalist v. blogger flame war: old journalist insults sabermetrics, sensitive bloggers accuse journalist of being crotchety and inaccurate, journalist fires back by citing "professional" credentials, bloggers act smarmy, life goes on.

Conlin, however, has taken the usual objective-versus-subjective scrum to new, disturbing heights by basically proposing that we need a Gestapo to "regulate" free speech on the Internet. His comments directed at the folks at Crashburn Alley are a weird kind of scary, like an online commenter emerging from the basement and chatting with Michael Barkann every evening. (Full, concise summary of the ongoing incident at Deadspin)

I've never been a Conlin fan and I'm not about to come down on his side here. But I don't think I can heartily endorse what Crashburn Alley is doing, either. Conlin's original swipes at the statistical analysis crowd are hardly anything we haven't seen before. I guess I would expect Fire Joe Morgan to give him the smackdown, but it made me uncomfortable to see a growing J-Roll MVP backlash. And as measured and objective as Crashburn's critique of the NL MVP race is, it also hints at something Phillies fans have always had in abundance: self-loathing.

It's hard to point fingers and complain and say "Why can't they just let us have something?" when your own fans aren't even on the J-Roll party bus. Fandom doesn't mean that when you see the colors you must always smile and obey. In Philly, it often means the exact opposite. But sometimes I think we question too much, to the point that our team's legacy and our own sense of pride as fans begins to suffer. We all get pissed off at pitching changes, roster moves, baserunning gaffes, whatever. But when we start raising doubts when one of our most popular and talented players is named MVP, compiling exhaustive bodies of statistical evidence (for a division rival, no less), then we really need to re-examine what we're rooting for in the first place. With Ryan Howard last year and J-Roll this year, we've earned the right to be a little happy--it's our own damn fault that we're too guilty about shedding our miserable, born-loser identity to accept it.

Finally, in J-Roll's defense:
- He makes more outs because he's a leadoff man. I'll admit his OBP is too low for comfort, but 30 HRs eases the pain a bit, plus leading the freaking league in runs shows that he's still getting the job done even if he doesn't have the eye of Kevin Youkilis.

- Crashburn Alley uses the fantastic Wins Above Replacement Player stat as part of its case, where David Wright has a 1.2 WARP advantage over Jimmy. That's great, but you really have to look at WARP in context. What does it matter when Wright is worth 1.2 wins more than Jimmy while Wright's team is 1 win worse than Jimmy's? This is why FJM can talk about Hanley Ramirez all they want and why I can continue thinking that he's basically the star point guard on the Washington Generals. Which brings me to my next point...

- It's not the "Player Who Had the Best Statistical Year" Award. It's a "Most Valuable Player" Award. Arguments like "Jimmy was a top ten player, but technically not the best player" remind me of when we were all wringing our hands over whether or not A-Rod should be MVP on a below-average Texas Rangers team. Unless the guy is an absolute hammerhead in a school of guppies, I don't see how you can justify snubbing a player from a successful team. Playing well while there are actual stakes involved magnifies and raises a player's value to his team, period.

So why still not Wright instead of Jimmy? It goes back to the post that immediately precedes this one. I like that "Most Valuable" is open to interpretation, my own interpretation being that both men were the respective emotional leaders of their teams, both had good stats when it mattered the most late in the season, both were Gold Glove-caliber defenders and Silver Slugger-caliber hitters----and Jimmy's team beat Wright's. It's that simple.

Sabermetrics are a neat, fascinating, and useful tool--but it's still the basis of a cult that won't tolerate any opinion but their own, just like the crotchety old print journalists. I won't blame the sabermetricians for defending themselves from the ludicrous number of ad hominem
attacks launched their way. But I won't support them unconditionally just because I'm young, irreverent, a blogger, or any combination of the above.

Ain't No Party Like An MVP Party

'Cause in Philly the MVP party don't stop: J-Roll makes it two in a row for the Phillies.

Mr. Team to Beat definitely deserved this award, not just for his offense or defense but for giving the Phils something they haven't had in well over a decade: a true emotional leader. There are shades here of the part in You Can't Lose 'Em All! when Pete Rose arrives in Philly and basically tells everyone regardless of their stats or contract to put up or shut up. Likewise, I think Jimmy knew that he had to scare everyone brainless and call out the Mets months before the season--he's so respected that the Phils didn't want to look stupid if they fell short of J-Roll's expectations.

I know that's mighty anecdotal and intangible-y to submit as MVP credentials. Screw it. I'm not going to be all elitist and (still) butt-hurt over Albert Pujols like Rob Neyer (ESPN Insider alert...oddly fitting). Sabermetric ratios and park-adjusted HRs and weird defensive stats and whatnot are a big part of what makes a great player, but it's not the only part, Robbie.

Really, Jimmy is "not a good defensive shortstop and didn't deserve his Gold Glove"? MVP IN YO FACE! And who's not a good defensive NL shortstop these days? That's like saying Prince sucks because Bob Dylan is from Minnesota too.

The Philly fan in me must also point out that although three of our guys finished in the top eight in MVP voting, they were still bounced from the playoffs rather quickly. This year's division title was a nice respite from all those years of disappointment but the franchise as a whole is still underachieving. Meanwhile, the consummate overachiever, Aaron Rowand, makes a cameo on the final voting tally as well. Hey, he's a lot more plausible as ballot-filler than some of the other guys on the list (Brandon Phillips? Carlos Marmol?).

This kind of makes me more relieved about the Phillies' cold-stove offseason thus far. Though could you imagine Mike Lowell at third? I'd forgive him for being a former Teal Bastard, unless they had to start charging for ketchup or something to honor that $50 million contract. C'mon Gillick! You're not fooling anyone. You might as well blow that money on somebody. Mark Prior perhaps?

And Chase--you've got your work cut out for you in '08. Congrats Jimmy!

HOLY SHIT THAT WAS AWESOME

4 games swept from the New York Metropolitans.
3 amazing late-inning finishes.
2 games out of the division lead.
1 month left to go in another tense pennant race.

There were lots of heroes in this series from Ryan Howard to Jayson Werth. But it was particularly sweet seeing Jimmy Rollins set the pace for the Team to Beat, going 9 for 19 with 2 HR, 3 RBI, and a ludicrous 1.421 OPS. Honestly, I can't recall a recent season where Jimmy has been so underrated. Considering his world-class defense at a middle infield position and his cool, confident leadership, is it blasphemous to suggest that J-Roll might be just as deserving of MVP honors as Chase Utley?

Great picture (un-saveable) of Tad Iguchi at the official website. Bring on those Teal Bastards!

Fun Times At Shea

A few observations after attending my first Phillies road game at Shea Stadium last night:

- Nothing was sweeter than Jimmy Rollins' first home run since April 27. The casual chatter of Mets fans in the nosebleeds revealed that nearly all of them loathe J-Roll for his pre-season comments about the Phils being "the team to beat" in the NL East. What surprised me though, was the use of euphemism (e.g. "punk," "all that other stuff he's done") that made Jimmy seem more like Pacman Jones. It was a fascinating study in scapegoating--Mets fans were practically inventing a rap sheet for J-Roll that simply doesn't exist.

- Julio Franco got to pinch-hit in the exciting 7th. Just want to point out that he was part of the Von Hayes trade in 1982. Also, Endy Chavez made us proud by grounding into a double play with the bases loaded (though he hurt his hamstring running it out, sucking some of the schadenfreude out of the situation).

- My buddy marveling at Shane Victorino's throwing arm after gunning down Carlos Delgado in the 4th: "He's like a cannon with a glove!" And Rod Barajas actually blocked the plate, kind of!

- Ladies and Gentlemen, Mets Fan #1: A guy on the long escalator ride to the upper deck loudly argued that Ryan Howard was the worst defensive first baseman in the National League. Ryan later made a great diving stop to prevent a run from scoring in the critical 7th. Presumably, this fan forgot that his own team, which starts Delgado at first, is also in the National League.

- Ladies and Gentlemen, Mets Fan #2: I walked by a guy in the concourse who yelled, "Oooh, the Phillies, never won a World Series!" Presumably, this fan's memory does not extend past the Mike Piazza Era.

- Ladies and Gentlemen, Mets Fans #3-5: A group of three guys several rows down got ejected from the game after they threatened to beat up some other fans for throwing ketchup packets at them, too drunk to realize that they had spilled it on themselves. These were douchebags of the first degree, not a single one of them actually wearing any Mets gear, attending a baseball game in white belts and silk-screened hoodies. It reminded me of when J-Lo used to go to Sox games with Ben Affleck.

- Mets Fans--A Caveat: The large group of young businesspeople in front of us were very friendly and very focused on making propositional bets for every other batter. Good people.

You really can't beat the adrenaline rush of wearing an opposing team's colors in hostile territory, especially when your team wins. Leaving the stadium, I must have given the thumbs-up to or high-fived every single other Phillies fan I encountered. Mets fans silently filed out of the building, mustering only a few "Yankees Suck" chants.

Only six games ahead now and they're not even worried about the Phils. We've got them right where we wanted them a month and a half ago.

Defense Is For Wussies: Phillies-Astros Series Recap

Jimmy Rollins is your National League leader in home runs.

I can't tell you how surreal it is to type that. This is a franchise with a shortstop lineage that includes names like Bowa, Jeltz, and Stocker. That just shows you how much the game has changed when the No. 6 is now a talent-rich offensive position.

The good news is that unlike the Tejadas and Michael Youngs of the world, J-Roll's still got some speed--one of his six homers was of the inside-the-park variety. Funny how nobody seems to care anymore about forcing Rollins to "hit it on the ground." Funnier how even less are worried about the effect this early hot streak is having on his mind:

"I'll take a Silver Slugger. I don't even know if the Gold Glove is an award anymore."

Yeesh. You'd think they would be a little concerned with keeping runs off the scoreboard when they're giving up almost 6 per game. Jokes are not supposed to be scary, Jimmy. Speaking of fear...

April 14: Equinophobia--fear of horses, specifically "El Caballo" Carlos Lee (one of the all-time great nicknames that are actually thinly veiled insults like "Big Donkey" Adam Dunn and "Super" Joe McEwing). Lee accounted for 3 of the Astros' 4 home runs and 7 of Brett Myers's last 9 nightmares. His ERA is approaching the number of pounds he lost in the offseason.

April 15: Onomatophobia--fear of hearing a certain name, especially in the context, "Now entering the game in the 9th inning, Tom Gordon." Perhaps I shouldn't bitch about a win, but I would not have been surprised to see the back-and-forth contest slip away from the Phils in the last inning. Plus they had double-digit LOB in both games. On the bright side, Ryan Howard is back to getting the Barry Bonds treatment.

Next Up: Two games against the Mets at Vet II. Omar Minaya is so glad he didn't stay with the Expos.

Monday's game is on national TV--can you say liveblog? (You don't actually have to. I know you're thinking it.)