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I would have loved to see the American League MVP come down to a tie between
Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera and Mike Trout of the Angels, because they each did
their jobs extraordinarily well – and because I went back and forth numerous
times about this vote.
In the end, I settled on Cabrera, barely. I based that on his stronger
performance down the stretch, helping the Tigers into the playoffs. Yes, Trout
’s Angels won more games than Detroit, and no, Trout shouldn’t be penalized
for playing in a stronger division, but at the same time, Cabrera shouldn’t
be dinged for playing in a weaker one.
最终 Cabrera在我心中稍稍胜出 依据的理由是他球季后段较好的表现和季后赛
Trout是不应该应为分区强而被惩罚 但Cabrera也不应该应为分区弱而被排斥
The central argument over the BBWAA’s MVP awards always has been this:
Should the award go to the best player? Or to the most valuable player,
whatever that means? It creates a fun debate, made all the more interesting
in recent years with the rise of advanced metrics. I have great respect for
the sabermetricians, and I have a working grasp of most of the more common
advanced metrics. I believe they are an excellent tool for player evaluation,
and I did take them into account. By those measures, Mike Trout had an
off-the-charts season, a historic season, and I certainly will not argue that
Cabrera is the better all-around player. Trout is an astonishingly great
all-around player, the “best” player, if you will.
我相信进阶数据是很好的工具 由它们的评估 Trout有历史级的球季 而我并不会争论
Cabrera是不是比较好的球员 Trout是全能性的 "最好"的 可以这么说
Postseason, though, is the ultimate goal for every team. We more “traditional
” baseball journalists do tend to weigh postseason appearances highly when
it comes to the MVP because, really, what else is value for? Cabrera got his
team to the playoffs. Trout did not. There are lots of variables involved, I
realize that, many of them out of each player’s control, but this was the
area that made just the slimmest bits of difference for me: In August,
Cabrera had an on-base percentage of .429 and an OPS of 1.092 and September
.395 and 1.071. Trout’s August numbers: .366 and .866 and September: .400
and .900.
我们"传统"记者 评判MVP时比较看重季后赛 当然 进季后赛有很多变量存在
但是看看八九月两人的表现吧
Many of the stats brigade argue that looking at arbitrary dates, say from
Aug. 1 on, isn’t valid, and many note that games in June and July – when
Trout was putting up absurd numbers – count the same as those final two
months. I believe, and this is just my own opinion, that the pennant race
does mean something extra. I absolutely expect that Mike Trout will have some
extraordinary stretch-run performances in his career. This year, that guy was
Cabrera.
数据派可能会争论认为比赛是场场等值 但在我看来 后段比赛价值更高
我相信以后Trout也会有带进季后赛的表现 不过 今年的那个人是Cabrera
Now, along with looking at all the measures possible, including WAR (which
this year probably will reflect more in my votes for the 3-10 places), I also
talked to lots of people in the game: scouts, execs, players. I talked to
baseball-crazed friends, just about anyone who might have an interesting
take, and this year everyone does. My husband, Dan Brown of the San Jose
Mercury News, is a BBWAA member but did not have an AL MVP vote; he would
have voted for Trout, though, as he indicated in the paper on Sunday. So even
our household is split.
我老公表示他会投给Trout 他也是BBWAA成员但没有投票权
可见连在家庭里每个人的意见都不一致
Every player I spoke to, and I talked to at least a dozen A’s and other AL
players, leaned toward Cabrera – except for one: Brandon McCarthy, the A’s
starter and a man with such a deep knowledge of advanced metrics, he has used
them to redefine his career. McCarthy is among the smartest, if not the
smartest, athlete I’ve covered in 24 years in the business, and I respect
his opinion enormously when it comes to sabermetrics. He doesn’t just
understand them, he puts them into actual practice.
大部分我访问的球员都会投给Cabrera 除了Brandon McCarthy
McCarthy是我采访过的球员中最聪明的一个
他不只了解进阶数据 他还利用数据改进他的生涯
McCarthy argued vehemently for Trout, and he said he tried to find every
possible reason to vote for Cabrera as an intellectual exercise, but he just
couldn’t do rationalize it. Trout’s superiority in two major categories,
defense and baserunning, made this a clear choice for McCarthy. He described
Cabrera as “unreal” at hitting – and Trout as “unreal at all three.”
McCarthy说他想找Cabrera胜过Trout的理由 但他找不到
Trout在跑垒和防守大胜 让他成为McCarthy明显的选择
Cabrera的打击很惊人 但Trout在三方面都很惊人
When I made that (somewhat cliched by now) argument that Cabrera had helped
his team by moving to third base in order for the Tigers to sign Prince
Fielder – something which I still don’t think can be discounted entirely –
McCarthy responded that Cabrera would have helped the team more by DHing and
allowing a better defensive player to handle third. I don’t agree, based on
the rest of their personnel, but it’s a fair point.
当我提出Cabrera无私移防三垒 - 我觉得这是不能被反驳的理由 - McCarthy回应说
Cabrera打DH然后让防守好的人站三垒队球队更有帮助
我不同意 但这是不错的看法
McCarthy and I discussed this vote several times, including after my ballot
was completed, and he feels very strongly about it. I admire that, and I love
the passion that has driven the debate on both sides. Isn’t this what makes
sports great? I hope we can all agree that this isn’t a year in which
negativity should reign – both of these men were at the peak of their
profession. That should be applauded.
I considered all sides, absolutely, and at times, I was convinced I’d vote
for Trout, only to swing back. I understand the push for Trout and the flaws
in the Cabrera argument, especially when it comes to defense and baserunning.
But Cabrera got the job done at crunch time, and that, in the end, made just
the slimmest of differences to me.
我有想过投给Trout 特别是考虑防守和跑垒 但Cabrera在关键时刻有关键发挥
而这最后让我决定投给Cabrera