In the history of the Major League MVP Award, including when it was called the “League Awards” and the “Chalmers Award”, American League pitchers have only won the award 13 times before yesterday (National League pitchers can boast 10 MVP awards). Â The award has been given 181 times (182 after the National League MVP is announced today) over the course of 100 years and 23 of those times it’s been to pitchers. Â Yesterday made it 24.
Before Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander won his MVP Award yesterday, the last pitcher in either league to win it was Dennis Eckersley in 1992 with the Oakland A’s. So it’s a safe call to say that you have to be considered pretty outstanding as a pitcher in order for the writers voting for the award to consider you for the Most Valuable Player in your league.
Justin Verlander was outstanding this year, as marked by his already winning the American League Cy Young Award by a unanimous vote.  The writers marked his season again by giving him 13 first-place votes, three second-place votes and three third-place votes (ridiculously, Jim Ingraham actually left Verlander off the ballot altogether).  In total, he received 280 points.  Jacoby Ellsbury, long thought to be the favorite for the award given how few times the writers choose a pitchers, received 242 votes to put him in second place.
The vote could have gone either way. Â Had Ellsbury won the most votes people would have been pleased that the most valuable position player got the award. Â With Verlander winning it, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who would disagree that he was valuable as well. Â But the history of more writers than not saying, like Ingraham did in his explanation of his ballot, that they don’t think pitchers should win the MVP, would have made people understand why he didn’t get the award this year. Â But Verlander’s winning brings up a debate that will most likely keep burning on: Â Should the rules be changed so that pitchers aren’t eligible for the MVP Award? Â And if not, how do you get the writers to stop penalizing worthy pitchers when voting time comes?
In 1999, Texas Rangers catcher Ivan Rodriguez beat out Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez for the American League MVP.  Like Verlander in 2011, Martinez won the American League Cy Young Award in 1999 and was considered by many a lock for the MVP (as long as the writers followed the rules and didn’t implement their own “pitchers shouldn’t win” rule) although, much like what the reaction would have been had Ellsbury won this year, Rodriguez winning wasn’t considered an upset, just a possible result of unfair voting.  In 1999, Martinez received more first place votes than Rodriguez, the same number of second place votes and the rest were scattered between them.  Ultimately, Rodriguez won with 252 points, leaving Martinez in the dust with his 239 points. In a season that will historically go down as one of the best, if not the best, in his career, many still feel to this day that Pedro Martinez was robbed because the writers voting on the award make up their own rules. Martinez wasn’t the first pitcher who many feel lost out on the award because of biased voting and he won’t be the last, regardless of how the voting went this year.
Justin Verlander earned his award and the writers were certainly justified in giving it to him. Â A little consistency in the voting seems to be all folks are looking for. Â It doesn’t have to be “our guy” but it should be the right guy. Â This year they got it right, without using any bias. Â Only one writer leaving a deserving pitcher off the ballot this year is a sign that the majority of the voting writers are finally ready to move past punishing great pitchers for just being pitchers.
(Originally published on Examiner.com)