Homers aren't always enough
David Ortiz led the American League in home runs with 54 but didn't receive a single first-place vote from those writers charged with choosing the American League's Most Valuable Player. That is not as unusual as it sounds.
Since 1938, when the MVP was awarded under its current format, 32 players have hit 50 or more home runs in a season. Only nine went on to be named MVP, including Ryan Howard of the Phillies, the 2006 National League MVP who hit 57 home runs. Fifteen of those hitting 50, including Ortiz, received no first-place votes at all.
Red Sox first baseman Jimmie Foxx, who hit an even 50 in 1938, received 19 of the 22 first-place votes cast and won the MVP. Hank Greenberg of the Tigers hit 58 that season and didn't receive a single first-place vote. The Red Sox finished second that season, the Tigers fourth.
Ortiz, the first Sox player since Foxx to hit 50 home runs in a season, finished third in the MVP voting, behind Twins first baseman Justin Morneau and Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, both of whom played for playoff qualifiers. Ortiz played for a Red Sox team that finished third, snapping a string of eight consecutive second-place finishes to the Yankees.
From 1938, when Foxx and Greenberg both hit 50, to 1997, when three players hit 50 in what is now considered the early stages of the Steroids Era, only 13 players hit 50. Johnny Mize and Ralph Kiner both reached that threshold in '47, and both were also-rans. Mize received two first-place votes, Kiner none. Kiner did it again in 1949 and again did not receive a single first-place vote; Jackie Robinson was the NL MVP.
Willie Mays hit 51 in 1955 and was shut out of first-place votes; Roy Campanella won the NL MVP. Mickey Mantle hit 52 in '56 and was the AL MVP, then hit 54 in 1961 and lost to Roger Maris, who hit 61. Mays hit 52 in 1965 and won the MVP. Twelve years would pass before another player would hit 50; that was George Foster of the Reds, who won the MVP in 1977, when he hit 52. Another 13 years passed before Cecil Fielder hit 51 for the Tigers; he received 10 first-place votes and lost to Rickey Henderson of the Athletics.
More recently, Barry Bonds won the MVP in 2001, when he hit 73 homers; Luis Gonzalez of the Diamondbacks, who won the World Series that season, hit 57 and didn't receive one first-place vote. Neither did Alex Rodriguez, who hit 52 in 2001 and finished sixth in the MVP voting, which was won by Ichiro
In 2005, Andruw Jones of the Braves was the only player in baseball to hit 50 home runs, and his 51 earned him 13 first-place votes, but he still lost the MVP to Albert Pujols of the Cardinals.
Thanksgiving may come and go this year without the Sox making a major transaction, although things have a way of changing quickly. Last season, the Josh Beckett trade was completed on Thanksgiving night, minus general manager Theo Epstein, while in 2003, Epstein and top aide Jed Hoyer closed the deal for Curt Schilling between passing the stuffing at the Schilling home in Arizona . . . The Sox' primary target among position players remains outfielder J.D. Drew, who is believed to be seeking a deal in the four-year, $56 million range. The Cubs, who were believed to have interest in Drew, signed Alfonso Soriano and were still among the teams bidding for free agent center fielder Gary Mathews Jr., who began his professional career with the Cubs . . . The Sox haven't been mentioned among the suitors for lefty Ted Lilly, who may be too expensive for their tastes. According to one club executive, Lilly is seeking a deal in the four-year, $40 million range..
If the Sox succeed in signing Japanese ace Daisuke Matsuzaka, they still intend to begin the season with Jonathan Papelbon in the starting rotation . . . A Matsuzaka signing does not mean the Sox would not make room for Roger Clemens if he elected to end his career with Boston. There have indeed been internal discussions about gauging Clemens's interest in ending his Hall of Fame run as a closer, although that would seem to be in direct conflict with Clemens's preference for free time between starts to see his family . . . Todd Claus, who was the Double A Manager of the Year after leading Portland to an Eastern League championship, disappointed the Dodgers, who interviewed him for minor league field coordinator. Claus elected to remain with the Sox as the team's major league advance scout.
