MVPQ - 1980s

Here's what's happening.

1980 - MVPQ

NL
Steve Carlton P Phils (MVPQ)

AL
George Brett 3B Royals
Rickey Henderson LF Athletics (MVPQ)

1981 - MVPQ


NL
Mike Schmidt 3B Phils (RMVP)

AL
Rickey Henderson LF Athletics (RMVP)
Buddy Bell 3B Rangers

-I mentioned in the 90s post that Rickey is my favorite non Giant; I was 9 and 10 living in the Bay Area when Rickey was the best player in the AL, as a kid, just barely over 20 years old, crazy exciting - impossible not to root for the A's too.

1982 - MVPQ


AL
Robin Yount SS Brewers (RMVP)

NL
Gary Carter C Expos (RMVP)

1983 - MVPQ


AL
Cal Ripken SS Orioles (RMVP)
Robin Yount SS Brewers

NL
Dickie Thon SS Astros (RMVP)

1984 - MVPQ


AL
Cal Ripken SS Orioles (RMVP )
Alan Trammell SS Tigers

NL
Ryne Sandberg 2B Cubs (RMVP)

-Just a handful of dominant players in the ALRMVP race in the 80s; following Henderson's back to back, here's Ripken.

1985 - MVPQ


NL
Dwight Gooden P Mets (RMVP)
Pedro Guerrero LF/1B/3B Dodgers
Willie McGee CF Cards
Ozzie Smith SS Cards

AL
Rickey Henderson CF Yankees (RMVP)
Wade Boggs 3B RSox
Charlie Hough P Rangers

-3 for Rickey. 

1986 - MVPQ


AL
Roger Clemens P RSox (RMVP)
Wade Boggs 3B RSox

NL
Rick Rhoden P (RMVP sub 10)

1987 - MVPQ


AL
Roger Clemens P RSox (RMVP)
Wade Boggs 3B RSox

-Clemens goes back to back.
NL
Tony Gwynn RF Padres (RMVP sub 10)
Bob Welch P Dodgers (RMVP sub 10)


MVPQ 1988


AL
Wade Boggs 3B RSox (RMVP)

NL
Andy Van Slyke CF Pirates (RMVP)
Kirk Gibson LF Dodgers (RMVP)


MVPQ 1989


NL
Kevin Mitchell LF Giants (RMVP)

AL
Bret Saberhagen P Royals (RMVP)
Wade Boggs 3B RSox (RMVP)

-And then Boggs goes back to back.

MVPQ - 1990s

See what we're doing here.

1990 MVPQ


AL
Rickey Henderson LF Athletics (RMVP)
Roger Clemens P RSox
-A couple of weeks ago, Canseco said someone currently in the HOF was a steroid user.  Rickey's my favorite ever non Giant, and I don't care at all about steroids - but the circumstances suggest that this season might be the one that he's referencing. 

NL
Barry Bonds LF Pirates
Eddie Murray 1B Dodgers
Frank Viola P Mets (RMVP)

MVPQ 1991


AL
Cal Ripken SS Orioles (RMVP)
Frank Thomas 1B WSox
Devon White CF BJays
Robin Ventura 3B WSox

NL
Bobby Bonilla 3B Pirates (RMVP)

1992 - MVPQ


NL
Barry Bonds LF Pirates (RMVP)
Ryne Sandberg 2B Cubs
Greg Maddux P Cubs
Sid Fernandez P Mets


AL
Robin Ventura 3B WSox (RMVP 14+)
Frank Thomas 1B WSox
Roger Clemens P RSox
Brady Anderson LF Orioles

1993 - MVPQ


NL
Barry Bonds LF Giants (RMVP 14+)
Jose Rijo P Reds
Lenny Dykstra CF Phils

-The best season for a position player in the 90s, Barry's first year as SFG.

AL
John Olerud 1B BJays (RMVP)
Rafael Palmeiro 1B Rangers

1994 - MVPQ


NL
Greg Maddux P Braves (RMVP)
Jeff Bagwell 1B Astros
Barry Larkin SS Reds

AL
Frank Thomas 1B WSox (RMVP)
Albert Belle LF Indians

1995 - MVPQ
AL

Albert Belle LF Indians
Randy Johnson P Mariners
Tim Salmon RF Angels (RMVP)
Bernie Williams CF Yankees


NL
Greg Maddux P Braves (RMVP 16+WARP)
Barry Bonds LF Giants

-Maddux's back to back RMVPs follow Bonds's back to back - it's important to recognize the flip side of the run inflation of the "steroid" era - that means the pitching numbers have to me similarly adjusted.  Maddux's '95 is the best season of the past half century. 
1996 - MVPQ


NL

Barry Bonds LF Giants
Jeff Bagwell 1B Astros
Kevin Brown P Marlins (RMVP)
John Smoltz P Braves

AL
Alex Rodriguez SS Mariners (RMVP)
-ARods first RMVP

1997 MVPQ


AL
Roger Clemens BJays P (RMVP)

NL
Craig Biggio Astros 2B (RMVP)
Mike Piazza C Dodgers
Pedro Martinez P Expos

1998 - MVPQ


NL
Scott Rolen 3B Phils (MVPQ)

AL
Ken Griffey CF Mariners (MVPQ)
Roger Clemens P BJays
Alex Rogriguez SS Mariners

MVPQ 1999


AL
Pedro Martinez P RSox (RMVP)
Nomar Garciaparra SS RSox


NL
Mike Hampton P Astros (RMVP sub 10)

MVPQ Seasons - 2000s

The best unintended benefit of my blog vanishing, requiring a manual move of my previous posts back to this space, is that I had to redo my baseball list.

That seems like madness, given the extensiveness of the work it took to put it together the first time, but as I mentioned in my last list post - one of the main components of my rankings, WARP3, went through a pretty significant defensive overhaul this season.

The current numbers are better. And now my list is better.

The other element that's better is I've solidly increased the degree to which the list values peak - I still think career value is what should primarily be measured - but I wanted to reward excellence - wanted to give some recognition for greatness.

So, now I've done that. Included as a component in the New and Improved Ranking of the 200 Greatest MLB Players ever is MVP Quality seasons, those with a WARP3 of 10+. The new WARP really solidifies that as the benchmark number, I think - those players who reached it really, in an ordinary year, could absolutely have been legitimately called the best player in their respective leagues.

So, I'm going through the decades and providing (1) all of the MVPQ years and (2) all of the Real MVPs, the player in each league with the highest WARP3. Currently, the new WARP database is only sortable through 1954, so that's where I'll stop with this list for the time being.

But I won't need to wait much longer to unveil...The 200 greatest players in major league baseball history.

When that's done - the 50 greatest QB, RB, WR in NFL history.

When that's done - my new line of erotic cakes.

Here's the first decade of the brand new century. 2009 isn't over yet, I'll update as needed once the season ends:

2000-MVPQ
AL
Alex Rodriguez SS Mariners
Pedro Martinez P RSox (RMVP 14+WARP)

NL
Greg Maddux P Braves (RMVP sub 10WARP)

-Who had the best season in the decade? Pedro Martinez in the year 2000.

2001 MVPQ
NL
Barry Bonds LF Giants (RMVP)
Sammy Sosa RF Cubs
Luis Gonzalez LF DBacks

AL
Bret Boone 2B Mariners (RMVP)

-Let the steroid speculation begin! Bonds, as you'll see when I add the 90s list, is no stranger to MVPQ (total of 8 for his career). But by the time we reach Bret Boone, it's fair to wonder how he reached this level of performance.

MVPQ 2002
NL
Barry Bonds LF Giants (RMVP)
Randy Johnson P DBacks

AL
Derek Lowe P RSox (RMVP)

-Two straight for Bonds. Why has Johnson (now with my club, so I don't want to raise my voice too loudly, avoided the PED chatter?

MVPQ 2003
NL
Barry Bonds LF Giants (RMVP )
Albert Pujols LF Cards
Marcus Giles 2B Braves

AL
Esteban Loaiza P WSox (RMVP sub 10)

-3 straight for Bonds and Pujols, who gets a good bounce from the new WARP numbers, makes his debut. The AL has a lot of Tommy Tutone one hit wonders during the decade.

MVPQ 2004
NL
Adrian Beltre 3B Dodgers
Barry Bonds LF Giants (RMVP)
Randy Johnson P DBacks
Scott Rolen 3B Cards
Albert Pujols LF Cards

AL
Johan Santana P Twins (RMVP)
Miguel Tejada SS Orioles
Carlos Guillen SS Tigers

-The Bonds run ends with 4 straight. Santana is 4th pitcher in 5 years to take ALRMVP

MVPQ 2005
NL
Dontrelle Willis P Marlins (RMVP)
Roger Clemens P Astros

AL
Eric Chavez (RMVP)

2006 MVPQ
NL
Carlos Beltran CF Mets
Miguel Cabrera 3B Marlins (RMVP)

AL
Grady Sizemore CF Indians (RMVP)

-Beltran's had a better career than you think.

2007 MVPQ
NL
David Wright 3B Mets
Albert Pujols 1B Cards (RMVP)
Jake Peavy P Padres

AL
Alex Rodriguez 3B Yanks (RMVP)

-Pujols and ARod with their first RMVP Awards of the decade.

2008 - MVPQ
NL
Albert Pujols 1B Cards (RMVP)
Carlos Beltran CF Mets

AL
Cliff Lee P Indians
Mariano Rivera P Yanks (RMVP)

-Pujols wins his 2nd; it's the best season of Rivera's career.

2009 - MVPQ
NL
Albert Pujols 1B StL (RMVP)


AL
Joe Mauer C Min
Zack Greinke P KC (RMVP)
Evan Longoria 3B TB
Roy Halladay P Tor

SummerSlam 2009 is(was) Sunday

SummerSlam is Sunday from Los Angeles.

As I explain here, (and if you scroll a little bit, more thoroughly explain here) I have been doing previews of the major WWF/E PPV's for my longtime friend and occasional writing partner Kirk Hiner since 1996. Now, as we entirely communicate through our various blogs (hey, Kirk!) I do the previews in this space.

World Title TLC Match: Jeff Hardy © vs. CM Punk
-This is the Smackdown Title as opposed to the lineal WWF Title. The next time you are wandering through the dial on Monday, going in any direction other than RAW probably makes sense. But if it's Friday night and you have a few minutes - probably there's something good going on MyNetworkTV - as Smackdown has been on a helluva roll.

When last we left - Cena took this belt in a 3 way from Edge (Show was the third participant) at 25, then dropped it back to Edge at a PPV 3 weeks later:

(Imaginary Quote from Kirk Hiner as he Reads This): They have another PPV 3 weeks after Wrestlemania? Doesn't that sort of cut into the special nature of Wrestlemania? "Hey everyone, here's our Super Bowl - and three weeks later we have another one!"

That type of thinking is what kept wrestling marginalized in the state fairs before being brought into the mainstream by the benevolent and glorious McMahons. Each one more intelligent and sexier than the previous. Hey, Linda's considering running for US Senate. Which is tremendous. I assume her feud with Trish will fill up campaign ads against her.

Mmm, Trish. Makes me want to compose this list:

1. Keibler
2. Trish
3. Beulah
4. Maria
5. Kimberly

So, back to our story. Edge dropped to Jeff in a Ladder Match at the June PPV - and then immediately Jeff dropped to Punk. Punk, recall, had won Money in the Bank at 25 to get a title shot he could cash in whenever he wanted - and in the very first step in an awesome heel turn, he cashed it in on babyface Jeff. Punk then could take on a "why are you booing me" line with the fans - "I had the right to cash it in and I did, where's the problem" - and then a series of incidents that allowed Punk to claim the moral high ground over Jeff and the fans ensued - which allowed Punk to morph into his old heel "straight edge" indie character - Punk essentially saying that he is stronger of character than Jeff and the fans, and that is demonstrated by, among other things, his refusal to inhale.

Jeff took from Punk last month - and here we are again, in a TLC match for the strap.

Punk's had a ton of good free matches over the summer (lots of good TV matches on Smackdown and Superstars and a couple on ECW during the summer) and is a superhot act (and has made Jeff a hot act) going into the show. Jeff's wrapping up with the company, his last scheduled date is TV for next week.

Don't know if Punk takes now (that's how I'd do it) or Jeff drops next week, but this should be a real good match, my expectations are high.

(edit - expectations were rightly high, I've got it at 4 1/4 and the northern end of 4 1/4, it might move up a quarter star and into MOTY contention pending additional viewings. It's the best WWE match since Armageddon 2006)

WWE Title Match: Randy Orton © vs. John Cena
I'm less optimistic about this.

This is the WWF title belt, I'm unsure if this is the official company number - but Orton is the 92nd WWF champion, and they should make a thing about being the 100th when we get there. Back at Mania - HHH kept over Orton in a crappy match. Orton took at that PPV 3 weeks later

(Imaginary Kirk): You gotta stop saying that. There's no way there's a PPV 3 weeks after Wrestlemania 25.

Orton took in a 6 man tag (yes, the WWF Title changed hands in a 6 man tag, a 6 man tag that Skippy worked of all things)

(Imaginary Kirk): Shane McMahon is still wrestling? In 2009? How did WCW go out of business again?

Orton dropped to a returning Batista in a crappy match at the June PPV - but Batista (shockingly!) got hurt again and vacated the belt - there was a 4 way on RAW (Hunter, Cena, Show) and Orton retook.

So, it's Orton/Cena again. I have no interest in seeing it. I assume Orton keeps.

(edit - this was worse than I had anticipated.  I went 1 3/4.)

DX: HBK/HHH vs. Legacy: Cody Rhodes/Ted DiBiase
Unless it's as a heel team, I have zero interest in seeing Hunter and Shawn tagging anymore.

Rhodes/DiBiase are in a stable with Orton - so the offshoot of Hunter's feud there is a feud with these guys; it's hard to say if the young guys will turn out to be any good - RAW doesn't lead to many good matches. There's nothing to dislike about either of them though, particularly young Ted. Following a beatdown of Hunter - he brought back Shawn (Shawn's been gone since his 25 loss to Undertaker, one of the better WWF matches of the year and one of the more overrated matches in years. This allows me to direct you to my ranking of every 4 star match in WWF history. ) Shawn returned; he and Hunter got beat down - and so there's a match. It will be okay and probably the babyfaces go over and I couldn't possibly care less except for the Cena/Orton match about which I do care less.

(edit - this was about what I expected, maybe a little better - I went 3 1/4 and the northern end of that, so really, it was as good as it could have been).

WWE Unified Tag Team Title Match: Chris Jericho and The Big Show © vs. Cryme Tyme
-Fortunately, we're now down to one tag champs, in the dark match at 25, the Colons (Carlito and Primo) went over Miz and Morrison to unify the belts. The Colons dropped at the June PPV to Edge and Jericho, who had aligned as a superheel team in an effort to bring some prestige to the tag belts (my suggestion would just be to have good tag matches, but nobody listens to me). Edge then got hurt (and apparently, post injury, kinda turned babyface in an effort to build to Edge/Jericho for 26) and they swapped in the Show. Paul obviously can't work even a little bit in 2009 and the act has really taken most of the heat off of Jericho's heel character, really stopping his momentum cold.

The other thing stopping the momentum is the pairing against Cryme Tyme, which has largely been a crummy act since their debut (although, they did finally have their first ever good match, on Smackdown, as part of their feud with the Hart Dynasty, Davey Boy's kid Harry along with Tyson Kidd, another former Calgary trainee, with the Anvil's girl as their valet). Cryme Tyme got this match when it was made by Shaquille O Neal.

Okay, when you turned in and saw Freddie Prinze, that was because each RAW has a celebrity host. Largely, this has led to all the awful you can imagine. One host was Shaq - they started a little feud with he and the Show - and they shoehorned Cryme Tyme into that.

The heels will keep and it won't be good.

(the heels kept and it was the definition of a 2 star match, about as anticipated, maybe a little better).

IC Title Match: Rey Mysterio © vs. Dolph Ziggler
-Rey took from Bradshaw in a squash that ended Bradshaw's WWF run at 25; he then had a terrific in-ring feud with Jericho that saw them have good matches on TV and PPV - Jericho took from Rey in the June PPV; Rey re-took (putting up his mask) at their second June PPV meeting. When Jericho then went tags - young Dolph Ziggler got the big jumpstart push into a belt feud with Rey. They met last month; Rey kept - and now they're doing it again which presumably means a switch. Ziggler looks okay - there are a dozen guys on the roster not doing anything I'd rather see get his push, but I don't hate him.

(edit - I like Dolph a little more today, this was the best match of this program, I went 3 1/2, which might be a quarter star heavy, but I really liked it.  Rey's had a helluva good year.)

ECW Title Match: Christian © vs. William Regal
Everything being equal, this is the match I'd most be looking forward to. As it is, I assume it will go 8 minutes and I'll still enjoy it.

Christian returned from TNA at the top of the year; he was in Money in the Bank at 25 and took the ECW strap from young Jack Swagger at the 2nd April PPV. He then dropped to Dreamer in June - and re-took from Tommy last month. They've hot-shot this angle, Regal was just named number one contender and then this week, he seemed to form a stable, with the awful Russian Kozlov and the awful (but mean looking) black dude Ezekial Jackson. Christian's looked good - he was good before he left, he was good in TNA - and he's good now. Nothing bad to say about Christian.

Regal's the best wrestler in the company. Not "ten years ago, Regal was the best wrestler in the company" but, right now, in 2009, the best wrestler in the WWF is Steve Regal. Every time he's on TV something good happens. He had a 6 minute match with young Japanese junior Yoshi Tatsu that actually looked like a wrestling match looks in the 21st century (as opposed to a WWF style wrestling match).

Every couple of years, Regal gets a few weeks on TV - but ECW is an open field right now - and I think he might get the ball for a couple of months. I expect him to take with his heel group. I'd love it to go 20 minutes. It won't. But it would be terrific.

(edit - WWE hates us for our freedoms.)

MVP vs. Jack Swagger
-MVP was a long running heel US Champ - now as babyface isn't really getting a lot of traction. Swagger is a really good looking young heel. They won't get any time at all, and they'll do a real basic match; Swagger went over on RAW so probably they do it the other way here. These are good workers and I'd like to see them spotlighted a little more heavily than they are. Hopefully they don't cancel this match, as The Counterfactual really needs this match. I'm looking forward to however long they give this.

(I shouldn't have been.  This was one star.  They gave them no time and it showed.  This was a bad program.)


Kane vs. The Great Khali
-There's literally nothing good that could come out of this. Don't watch it.

(edit.  I took my own advice.)

So, that's the show - there have been worse SummerSlams (or as Jeremy Piven called it "the SummerFest") the TLC has a chance to be a 4 star match, the IC and ECW will probably both crack 3 stars given the match length - and we'll see if they give Porter/Swagger enough time to do anything. You're unlikely to see a Match of the Year Candidate such that I'd put it here. Hopefully they toss some workers like Morrison and Kidd into a dark match to help my little endeavor.

That's the big, big show. Coming your way this Sunday.

Why Is No One Covering This?

No, not that poll. We're not bright. At this point, if you don't recognize that's dog bites man, you're not paying attention. The rest of the industrialized world has health care for all its citizens - we think that means death panels. We have the 37th best health care system in the world and we'll shout you down if you want to fix it. We're completely held hostage by insurance companies and forced to take whatever crap is shoved down our throats at work because it's the only connection we have to those insurance companies. But a system that would fix both of those conditions would by tyrannical. U-S-A. U-S-A. U-S-A.

No, not this. That's a senior Obama official telling the Washington Post that the "left of the left" is killing health care because of their ridiculous desire for a public option. As the official spokesman for the left of the left, let me say we actually want single payer.

That's a helluva spin. It's not the corporate interests who have spent; well spent this:

Arlen Specter (R-D- PA- $4,026,933)

Max Baucus (D- MT- $2,833,731)

Mitch McConnell (R-KY- $2,758,468)

Ben Nelson (D-NE- $1,196,799)

Joe Lieberman (D- CT- $1,036,302)

Chuck Schumer (D-NY- $981,400)

Chuck Grassley (R-IA- $884,724)

...those are campaign contributions spent by anti-health care reform forces in the last decade. Or this:

$3,405,669,482

...the amount of lobbying money spent during the same time frame by those same anti-health care reform forces. Yes, that's in bbbbilions. As in "what would motivate an industry to spend billions of dollars in lobbying? What could they possibly receive in return to justify all that money spent? I mean - the CEOs who approved this sort of expenditure - they probably got punished somehow by their boards of directors, right?

Or maybe Ron Williams of Aetna made 24 million dollars in 2008.

Our health care system, the one that is being defended by billions of health insurance dollars, kills Americans every day while the CEOs of those insurance companies pocket millions.

But universal health care = Nazis.

We're idiots. But this isn't about that.

Or this (quoting Bernie Sanders)

The estimate is about $400 billion a year in administrative costs, in billing, in profits, in CEO compensation, in advertising--all of those things which have nothing to do with the provision of healthcare...

In California, my understanding is that 1 out of every 3 dollars of premiums goes to administration. If we are gonna address the very rapid and dangerous increase in healthcare [costs], then the only way to do that is through a single-payer system which wrings out all of the waste that private health insurance creates.

It's not those corporate interests and purchased politicians of both parties; it's not the wedding of corporate purchasing power, authoritarianism, and the ignorance of the American people.

(a note - a response I've gotten to my "uh, why all the guns outside the town halls" is "it's protest! Free speech! You like free speech, Jividen!" I do. True story. Sure, this is clearly designed not to promote, but to chill speech, but I can pick up what you're laying down. People should be able to protest their President, absolutely. And if it was Bush, giving a speech, and say protesters showed up with loaded automatic weapons and signs talking about watering the tree of liberty, I'm sure that would have been fine.

Or - they would have been arrested without a peep from the media.

And that's if they were just holding the sign.
With no gun around anywhere.

But that was just once, right? Or maybe twice?

These people:

got arrested.

This dude:

got interviewed.

What kind of country would it be if the 4th Amendment had the sort of lobbying muscle that the 2nd Amendment does? Would George Clooney stand before a cheering throng as he yelled out "You want to search my house without a warrant supported by probable cause? You can have the keys to my front door when you pry them out of my cold, dead hands!!"

But none of that is what I want to talk about.

I want to discuss the curious tie in between Bravo (gay ESPN) and Operation Smile.

You all know what I'm talking about!

The 2009 television drinking game of choice at my house (fair disclosure, I don't drink, but I sure can eat me a chocolate chip cookie - particularly now that the Nestle cookie dough recall is over. A longer national nightmare I cannot recall. Hey, homonyms!) involved taking a shot whenever Jessie starting yammering about the good people at Operation Smile. It was a weird season long product placement; as intrusive as the Diet Dr. Depper in the new 90210 (as of yet, there's not a character I care about even a little bit since they shipped off Lucinda Bluth. I keep waiting for BlackBrandon to pull out a trenchcoat and a sawed off shotgun to start killing off drug dealers.)

But if it remained there it would only be a mild curiosity that helped add to my tremendous weight gain.

However, on last week's Miami Social - suddenly Hardy (who is mysteriously silent about his days on Big Brother 2. Don't think we don't know who you is Hardy! You are Captain Club Promoter now, with your {absolutely bizarre} tendency to be shot like you were Don Cheadle's partner in Oceans 11. But we know you as the All-american boy next door who fell under Nicole's dark and mysterious spell in what remains Big Brother's best season {6 was better, right? The result was unsatisfying, but 6 was better. And maybe All-Stars was better too - but for historical importance, what beats BB2? I'm still doing the Chilltown hand signals. Talk about being under the sway of authoritarianism}) suddenly Hardy is putting on a benefit for, wait for it, Operation Smile. It was like when NBC has one of their enviro-friendly weeks and Tracy Jordan is talking about chlorofluorocarbons, "The ozone layer is racist, Liz Lemon!"

And I just need to know what the hell is going on. Where's my Fox News poll:

27% of Americans believe that Operation Smile will force healthy white Christian babies to be disfigured by Obamacare plastic surgeons. Your tax dollars will fund this.

Sometimes my stories confuse me. NYC Prep and Miami Social both pimping for Operation Smile!

And I turn to mainstream media for answers.

But the answers do not come.

And now what?

(Update - so, if you read the comments, you'll find that I now have an answer - the fine people at Operation Smile not only do good work - they have excellent taste in blogs.  That was surprise number one for the day - surprise number two is my friend Kate, baker of the aforementioned cookies, ran into the aformentioned Jessie later that day.  She did not inquire about the whereabouts of PC.  Although that would have been awesome.  The Blog of Revelation~  Solver of Mysteries, Eater of Cookies.)