Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander became the first pitcher in 25 years to win the Most Valuable Player award in the American League. This goes along with the Cy Young award in which he won in runaway fashion.
In fact, Verlander had 13 first place votes and finished ahead of the Boston’s Jacoby Ellsbury who had four.
I know a lot of people – namely baseball “purists” – who say that a pitcher should NEVER be considered for an MVP award, but Major League Baseball got this right. If you took Verlander from Detroit, it would not have been a wildcard team. That was how important Verlander was to his team.
I mean, sure Ellsbury had a good year (he sure as hell helped my fantasy team), but he wasn’t dominant.
Verlander was indeed dominant. I mean dude went 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA and 250 strikeouts to take the AL pitching triple crown. Winning the pitching triple crown is one thing, doing so when that team does not have a legitimate #2 starter is another.
Verlander has officially established himself as a stud, and winning the Cy Young and MVP awards proved that.
Categories: baseball, sports story
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