Ryan Howard goes from Rookie of the Year to MVP
I don’t care what the majority of St. Louis sports media members have to say, this guy here is ecstatic that Ryan Howard is the National League Most Valuable Player.
Sorry, Albert Pujols, but the kid won.
The nice kid won. The happy kid won. The black kid won.
The guy who carried the Philadelphia Phillies on his shoulders for the final two months of the season and never lost the smile on his face or pop in his bat won. The young man who traveled each day to Lafayette High School and became a prep baseball star won. The guy who was drafted low and overlooked by the Cardinals – and many other teams – won.
We love baseball in St. Louis, right? So why did so many people feel the need to tear down Ryan’s accomplishments to build up Pujols?
If the St. Louis sports media feels like there is a bias against the Midwest, why is it so reluctant to stand up for one of our own? The Cardinals play in St. Louis. Howard is from St. Louis. To me, this is more of St. Louis’ MVP Award than the one Pujols won in 2005.
Will St. Louis rally around Ryan during this offseason? I doubt it. Much of Cardinals Nation and the writers and broadcasters that cover the Redbirds will complain from now until Spring Training.
But not me. In fact, I and other African-American journalists who cover sports in the region will attempt to hold a reception for Howard at some point this winter.
He’s deserving. He’s one of us. And I don’t mean that he’s black. He’s a St. Louisan. He’s as much from The Lou as Nelly, Ced The Entertainer, Kevin Kline, Scott Bakula and all the rest. Let’s make sure we treat him like that, and not some East Coast darling that ripped off Pujols’ MVP Award.
Nov. 20 was a great day for St. Louis, if not the Cardinals.
Why did Howard win? Well, frankly, because he almost hit 60 home runs and we have no reason to believe he is or was on any type of performance-enhancing drug. He also led the league in RBI and, as mentioned before, led the Phils to the brink of the postseason.
Pujols hit .397 with men in scoring position compared to .256 by Howard. Pujols also won a Gold Glove, his first. But Pujols was on fire early. Howard was hot late. Just ask people involved with the Bowl Championship Series, it does matter at what point during the season you lose a game.
By the way, when Barry Bonds was winning MVP awards and Pujols was placing second, many a sports talking head would mention how much more deserving Pujols was not only statistically, but because of his attitude.
That talk is now silenced in St. Louis. Even the locals must agree that dealing with the effervescent and youthful Howard is a great deal more fun than the surly Pujols.
Jayson Stark of ESPN The Magazine voted for Pujols, but told the Philadelphia Inquirer, “I’ve never taken longer or thought harder on any award ballot I’ve ever filled out in my life.”
The decision was indeed difficult, but I’m not the least bit upset that Howard won. All of the sports fans in this region already won by having a great representative in Ryan. The MVP Trophy is just icing on a cake that includes the World Series Championship.
In this case, we can have cake and eat it too.
