Outside of Boston, the sweetheart run of the Colorado Rockies is the most recent on-field baseball story in everyone’s memory (as if what happens on the field matters anymore), but let me quickly remind you why the Phillies and their fans will be celebrating their second straight National League MVP when the vote is announced in a couple of days.
I am not going to cite all the stats that true SeamHeads (like me) typically do to prove a point. Plus, I’m sure you’ve all heard, ad nauseum, all the numbers comparing Rollins and his two legitimate contenders, Matt Holliday and Prince Fielder. All I have to say is that it seems every year people have to be reminded of what this award really is: the Most Valuable Player. It is not the Most Outstanding Player or the Most Popular Player. The award is awarded to the player that was more valuable to his team than anyone else in the league was to theirs.
That’s where Rollins comes in considerably ahead of his competition. Now, I admit I did not watch 130+ Rockies or Brewers games and, therefore, would have difficulty truly estimating how many wins Holliday or Fielder meant to their respective teams, but I’m willing to say, with the utmost confidence, that it wasn’t nearly as many as Rollins meant to the Phillies.
He did everything.
Defensively, Rollins was awarded the Rawlings Gold Glove (and this wasn’t a Bobby Abreu Gold Glove either, as this one was most deserved), as the best defensive player at his position. I think it’s safe to say that neither Holliday nor Fielder were even in contention for the award at their respective positions. And, Jimmy Rollins played SHORTSTOP–the most important every day position on the field. This year’s NL Rookie of the Year vote (part one of the “Referendum on Shortstops” that is going on for today’s baseball writers that will conclude with the Rollins vs. Holliday vs. Fielder vote) cemented that this opinion that defense matters still exists, despite the obsession with the longball and the big numbers in today’s baseball. The fact that Troy Tulowitzki came within 2 points of the Ryan Braun (who set rookie records in so many offensive categories) shows that people still respect defense and acknowledge just how important shortstops are on the field. Rollins won the Gold Glove at shortstop.
Offensively, J-Roll was the quintessential catalyst for the National League’s best offense. He hit for average; he hit for power; he stole bases; he even took pitches (something he’s been criticized for not doing in the past). In my opinion, he was the best pure hitter on the Phillies team, even better than the incredible Ryan Howard and Chase Utley. Oh by the way, he won the Silver Slugger Award, for the best hitter at his position in the National League, to go along with the aforementioned Gold Glove.
And, finally, and most importantly, he was the unquestionable leader on a team that played with as much fire, determination and charisma as any team in baseball. In fact, I remember listening to an interview with Peter Gammons about a week before the playoffs. Gammons was asked about the upcoming National League pennant races (the Phillies were still, at this point, about 4 games behind the Mets and at least 2 behind San Diego). He responded with a quick, confident, but somewhat un-Gammons-like response, “the Phillies will be in the playoffs because Jimmy Rollins won’t allow it not to happen.” This from a Hall of Fame baseball reporter about a team that was several games out of the playoffs and running out of time. That is how much Jimmy Rollins willed his team to victory. And, that is what the Most Valuable Player is all about.
Yes, as Phillie fans, we celebrate awards, not titles…so what? We’re about to go back-to-back. I’ll be at the parade.
