Listening to Frank Thomas accepting the American League’s Most Valuable Player award, it occurred to me that he should call a carpenter and add a few more feet to his trophy case. At 26, he is the youngest player to win the MVP two years in a row. If he stays free of injuries, he’ll probably win two more, maybe three.
There is no question this one is tarnished. For the first time, the season wasn’t played to the finish, so the many cynics among us, myself included, have said, “What’s he the MVP of?” The White Sox didn’t win anything.
The argument can be made that about one-third of the season was also lost in 1981, when the players struck for 50 days. But the games lost were in midseason. There was a conclusion. Pennants were won, and there was a World Series. The strike merely interrupted the season, it didn’t kill it.
But this time the season ended Aug. 12 . . . pppphhhfft and it was gone. Wisely, the Official Scoring Rules Committee decided no champions would be listed in the record books. So far as I know, there won’t even be an asterisk noting which teams were in first place.
I was at the meeting of the Baseball Writers Association of America in Pittsburgh last July during the All-Star break when the possibility of a shortened season was discussed. Should it affect the BBWAA’s annual postseason awards, Cy Young, Rookie, MVP, etc.?
We decided to send out the ballots and follow the regular procedure. As I recall, there were no dissenters. Many of the scribes, I am sure, were of the opinion that if there was a strike, the effect would be minimal-10 days, maybe two weeks, certainly not long enough to affect what was shaping up as the most glorious season in the last half-century.
Later, as the strike continued, I and many others had second thoughts. Perhaps we were too hasty and didn’t think it out. No season, no awards. But I am now convinced we were right the first time. Sure, the players were dummies and should have been willing to make an early compromise, but our awards are not for intellectual prowess. They are for achievements on the field, and these achievements should be recognized.
I suspect Frank Thomas was among the half-dozen or more White Sox players who didn’t want to strike. I haven’t searched for his inner thoughts, but I just don’t think he was simpatico. Certainly, he isn’t among baseball’s downtrodden.
Over the next six years, he will have an annual $7 million baseball wage. Who could ask for anything more? It was peer pressure that pulled him into what has become an enormous disaster for both players and owners, especially for the players.
Thomas is aware that some people are not impressed by his second award.
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“Everyone has to decide for themselves and be the judge of that,” he said. A moment later, he observed that he was glad this was his second MVP award, not the first. Obviously, the first wasn’t tainted.
Whatever, in the fog of time, No. 2 will glitter just as brightly. Does anyone today put the knock on Rollie Fingers and Mike Schmidt because they were the 1981 winners? All that is remembered is that it was the second of Schmidt’s three MVP awards.
There is no reason for the Big Hurt to be hurt by his selection. He should take the hardware and go home and try to win it again next year. Good fortune to him.