Ryan Braun won NL MVP award — did Matt Kemp get snubbed?
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Ryan Braun received 20 of 32 first-place votes for the National League Most Valuable Player Award while Matt kemp only received 10.
Were the voters on the mark, or did Kemp get cheated?
Kemp outshone Braun in runs (115 to 109), runs batted in (126 to 111), home runs (39 to 33), and stolen bases (40 to 33).
Yet Braun’s Milwaukee Brewers were a division winner while Kemp’s Dodgers struggled to finish above .500.
Shortly after the NL MVP recipient was announced, Kemp tweeted: ‘They don’t know who they messin wit!!!!! They jus created a monster!! Lol. #BEASTMODE don’t care!!’
Back in September, the Times’ Bill Plaschke proclaimed that Kemp should undoubtedly be the winner.
He wrote: ‘Matt Kemp is in the league’s top four in batting, home runs, runs batted in and stolen bases while holding down the game’s premier defensive position in center field. His resume is more complete than his top contenders, Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder of the first-place Milwaukee Brewers, and his singular impact on the Dodgers is far greater than either one.
‘Folks in Milwaukee will complain that Kemp hasn’t played in enough meaningful games, and that Braun and Fielder have been more valuable because they are leading their team into the playoffs. Funny, but those same fans cheered Robin Yount when he won an MVP for the Brewers in 1989 while playing for a fourth-place team that won only half of its games.
‘This may sound odd coming from a writer who supported Kirk Gibson’s 76-RBI MVP award for the champion Dodgers in 1988, but unless a player is clearly the one difference-maker on a playoff team, I believe the MVP should go to the best guy, period. In fact, instructions on the baseball writers’ MVP ballot read, ‘The MVP need not come from a division winner or other player qualifiers.’ ‘
What do you think? Who should have won the NL MVP award? Chime into the conversation by leaving a comment and voting in the poll.
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-- Melissa Rohlin
