As much as people love to debate the Cy Young and MVP results every year, the problem is that rarely can anyone be absolutely certain that their suggested pick is the right one. There are so many different ways of evaluating who was the best pitcher or who was the most valuable player that, as much as fans live to call other people and especially the award voters stupid, these awards make it hard, because oftentimes there are so many different but legitimate arguments that there can be any number of players who seem deserving of the honor.
Fortunately, 11 years ago, Major League Baseball invented the Hank Aaron Award. The Hank Aaron Award is very simple. Via Wikipedia:
The Hank Aaron Award is given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players selected as the top hitter in each league.
Where the Cy Young and MVP awards are always open for debate, the Hank Aaron Award leaves little room for argument. The Hank Aaron Award is to be given to the top hitter in each league. And the top hitter in each league is easy to identify. There are no questions about defense-independence or replacement level or performance in the clutch; it's just a matter of who hit, and who hit the most. Of all the awards baseball gives out, this is the one for which I would feel most confident submitting a ballot.
It's with that in mind that I'd like to point out that this year's AL Hank Aaron Award went to a guy who finished with the same park-adjusted wOBA as Jason Bartlett.
Derek Jeter was very good in 2009. Of that there's no question. But as a hitter, he wasn't more productive than Joe Mauer, or Miguel Cabrera, or Ben Zobrist, or Kevin Youkilis, or Mark Teixeira, or Alex Rodriguez, or Jason Bay, or Jason Bartlett, or Adam Lind, or Kendry Morales, or Shin-soo Choo, or Jason Kubel. Five of those players were approximately Jeter's equal at the plate, and seven were unquestionably his superior. In addition, for an award intended to go to the top hitter in each league, one has to notice that Jeter didn't actually finish #1 in any meaningful offensive category.
I can't think of a single reason why Jeter would've won this over Mauer, nevermind the other guys. Most of the time, when voting results look funny, you can point to a guy's ERA or RBI total and say "well that's why they did that." But here...what is it? Jeter wasn't close to Mauer in batting average. Jeter wasn't close to Mauer in RBI. Jeter wasn't close to Mauer in home runs, or OBP, or SLG, or even control of the strike zone. And while you'd think Mauer might've been penalized for being a catcher instead of an actual everyday player, just last season these people gave the Hank Aaron Award to Kevin Youkilis, who racked up all of 15 more plate appearances than Mauer did in 2009.
It doesn't make sense. It's not that I care, because I don't. It's just an award, an award that by and large is pretty much meaningless. No, the reason I'm posting this is that, at long last, it gives me the opportunity to say this with all the confidence in the world:
Hey, voters. You're stupid.
Over the next few weeks, we'll find out which players were awarded the 2009 Cy Youngs and MVPs. The results may seem fishy, and you may disagree with them. Just know that, however much you might think the voters got those wrong, it is impossible that you will be as certain of the wrongness of the voters as you can be today.
Derek Jeter.
Amazing.
Update: Turns out the voters for the 2009 Hank Aaron Award were - wait for it - the fans. I think I've found the problem.
0 recs | 56 comments
I share your feeling.
When they were announcing this at the beginning of the game, I wasn’t really paying attention. So I thought I must have misheard. Derek Jeter? Award for the best hitter? No, that can’t be right. Must be for the dreamiest player. Dreamy like Hank Aaron.
Seriously, my thought was that I had misunderstood the meaning of the award. That made more sense to me than that Jeter should get the award for the top hitter.
b_rider - November 2, 2009
Holy cow
I’ve never paid much attention to the baseball awards beyond Cy Young, league MVP, and because I like the Mariners’ streak, the Gold Gloves. So when I saw Jeter being given this award, and as I heard the broadcasters gush about how great of a guy he is and how he gives to charity, I assumed it was akin to the Roberto Clemente award. The fact that it recognized Derek Jeter as the best hitter in the American League is ridiculous. Crazy.
katal - November 2, 2009
Voters?
As repulsive as the idea may sound, MLB needs a BCS ranking type system. As long as “people” are casting ballots, prejudicial opinions, length of service, public familiarity, confirmation bias, and drunken moments of misguided accolade will all happen.
I don’t even dislike Derek Jeter. But I guess we’ll have to wait another generation or so until stupidity like ring counts, number of times that coincidental coverage of an otherwise blown play (yes, like “the thow”), or frequency of appearances on national TV have unwarranted impact. And I’m an old phart, but cannot take up with the veteran observers who cast ballots for top performers on notions other than performance.
Ed Coffin - November 2, 2009
Because none of those things ever happen in the BCS.
And if you think the computer rankings are any better, this guy does one of them.
Tube - November 2, 2009
Interesting
Thanks for the link. I was totally unaware of the Billingsley work. I’ll also concede that I meant that any model for selecting individual player goodness in baseball will probably have to include both variables and boundaries that are adjustable over time and frequency. Like the progress over the past ten years of defensive metrics – anything is questionable until it handles outliers and exceptions better than someone’s opinion. Maybe the BCS simile was a bad one to use.
Ed Coffin - November 2, 2009
Does this voter retardedness mean Felix has a chance at the Cy Young?
ColeFitz88 - November 2, 2009
These are different voters
But anyway, yes
Jeff Sullivan - November 2, 2009
Who votes for this award?
Players, journalists, or some other group?
pdb - November 2, 2009
Here you go:
“In 2000, the system was changed to a ballot in which each MLB team’s radio and television play-by-play broadcasters and color analysts voted for three players in each league. Their first place vote receives five points, the second place vote receives three points, and the third place vote receives one point. Beginning in 2003, fans were given the opportunity to vote via MLB’s official website, MLB.com. Fans’ votes account for 30% of the points, while broadcasters’ and analysts’ votes account for the other 70%.”
msb - November 2, 2009
Here is MLB's piece laying-out how the voting will go
from August
msb - November 2, 2009
Those are the two contingents that slobber over Jeter
if you define “fans” to be “the kind of casual fan that votes in an internet poll”, anyway.
pdb - November 2, 2009
Bill Bavasi.
PositivePaul - November 2, 2009
Clap Clap ClapClapClap
waldo rojas - November 2, 2009
Heh.
I was using The Google, enjoying the hits coming up saying Jeter? Mauer! and then saw this from Anthony Mccarron, NY Daily News
“On the same night that Derek Jeter was given the Hank Aaron Award, which recognizes the most outstanding offensive performers in each league, he authored a performance that might shut up anyone who thought he should’ve lost the hardware to Minnesota’s Joe Mauer.”
well, ok then.
msb - November 2, 2009
Jeter may have gone 2-4 with an RBI and a BB last night, but...
Mauer went 3-3 on Jeter’s mom with a triple in the gap and a grand salami.
JLProck - November 2, 2009
I would like to have a record of who voted for who
for each award. It would make a good ad-hoc list of who to avoid reading from or listening to in the future. Also, it would be nice to see some of these guys held accountable for their votes. That’s a warning to those that don’t vote Blevylen into the HOF next year.
I don’t know what is more of a dissapointment last night, Jeter winning that award or the Yankees winning last night, and I f…ing hate the Yankees.
tdot mariner fan - November 2, 2009
This award is given based on fan voting via MLB.com
something million something monkeys something something
Bearskin Rugburn - November 2, 2009
Only 30%
Jeff Sullivan - November 2, 2009
The other 70% is Bill Plaschke!
pdb - November 2, 2009
I love how his last name sounds like a word for bad sportswriting
Bearskin Rugburn - November 2, 2009
So one million monkeys
and their keepers
Bearskin Rugburn - November 2, 2009
Then the MLB.com article is misrepresenting that it is strictly a fan voting thing.
44FAN - November 2, 2009
It has changed almost every year.
msb - November 2, 2009
This is what wikipedia has on the Hank Aaron Award page:
And then for 2009, it says it was fan voting after each club selected three players.
So it might make sense if it was exclusively fan voting in 2009 that Jeter would get more votes than the deserving Mauer just because of a larger population of east coast voters/ Yankees fans. This does not even take into account the number of people that may have voted more than once.
44FAN - November 2, 2009
The Wikipedia entry changed, oh, 10 minutes ago :)
msb - November 2, 2009
I think Jimmy and Roslynn Carter needs to be brought in to make sure this was a fair election.
44FAN - November 2, 2009
Christ
Jeff Sullivan - November 2, 2009
At least if he falls off next year, a la Pedroia this year, we'll have plenty of jokes about this.
stupidquestions - November 2, 2009
Shit Pedroia didn't really drop as much as I'd thought
stupidquestions - November 2, 2009
BEST PLAYER IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD!!111!
OlSalty - November 2, 2009
They still hand that thing out?
Poochie - November 2, 2009
To anyone!
abender20 - November 2, 2009
Indeed
Poochie - November 2, 2009
I forgot to mention that Derek Jeter is a shitbag and is the worst thing to ever happen to professional sports
Poochie - November 2, 2009
Other than Brett Favre.
Eyebrows - November 2, 2009 via mobile
And Kobe Bryant.
44FAN - November 2, 2009
Except the whole Kobe Bryant is good thing
seattlebruin - November 2, 2009
Football would be unwatchable without Brett Favre
Poochie - November 2, 2009
He is not aging well.
44FAN - November 2, 2009
Fixed
Football
would be[is] unwatchablewithout Brett Favreel generico - November 2, 2009
No you are wrong
Without Favre to watch I would have given up on the NFL season rby now
Poochie - November 2, 2009
This subthread is closed
Jeff Sullivan - November 2, 2009
A very odd voting process, altogether:
In the first year, the winners were decided by combining a player’s hits, home runs and RBI. Over the next three years, the winners were chosen by a vote of major league team broadcasters.
In 2003, the award was decided by broadcaster vote, and for the first time, online fan balloting, weighed in a 70-30 split.
2004-2008, fans voted from among three players nominated by the respective Club. The leading vote getter from each Club became one of 30 finalists, from which a special Major League Baseball panel chose six finalists from each League.
2009 Each club had three nominees, the fans narrow it down to 1 per club, and then voted (in September) to select the winner in each league.
msb - November 2, 2009
In 2007, the narrowing it down to the group of finalists meant Matt Holliday, Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard and Chase Utley, and David Wright were all left off the final ballot.
msb - November 2, 2009
If only someone out there would start recording what happens during these "based ball" games maybe we wouldn't need to resort to such silly and complicated measures of selection
OlSalty - November 2, 2009
They should change it to who can stick the barrel of the bat furthest up Bud Selig's anus.
If they’re going to give the award for stupid ambiguous reasons it may as well be hilarious.
CapSea - November 2, 2009
I think if you are white it makes it harder to win this award.
Only pale faces to win it are Youk and Helton.
Sec 108 - November 2, 2009
Well white people are usually worse athletes
Jeff Sullivan - November 2, 2009
Just ask Jimmy the Greek.
Sec 108 - November 2, 2009
Undeserving winner of a baseball award eh?
Fascinating.
The Typical Idiot Fan - November 2, 2009
total horseshit.
sanford_and_son - November 2, 2009
So can we get Corco to bomb this poll next year
Willie Bloomquist, Hank Aaron Award winner, AL 2010!
Eyebrows - November 2, 2009 via mobile
Willie would have to be nominated first
From what I can tell, a panel nominates three players from each team, and then it’s all up to the fans.
Jeff Sullivan - November 2, 2009
Jose Guillen!
Bearskin Rugburn - November 2, 2009
He'd have to compete with all of those other great KC hitters.
CapSea - November 2, 2009
I'd love someone to poll the broadcasters and see who they would have voted
and then match it up with who the numbers say should win…
msb - November 3, 2009
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