Steinbrenner: Defending his guy, or just being a baby?

[JMK]

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner calls AL rookie voting a 'farce'



posted November 11 @ 19:51, EST

NEW YORK (AP) - George Steinbrenner called the voting for AL Rookie of the Year a "farce" and ripped two baseball writers for leaving his outfielder, Hideki Matsui, off their ballots.

The New York Yankees owner castigated Bill Ballou of the Worcester (Mass.) Telegram & Gazette and Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, who said veterans who come from the Japanese leagues shouldn't be eligible for the award. Kansas City shortstop Angel Berroa won the award by a vote of 88-84 Monday, the closest rookie race in 24 years. Matsui and Berroa were both left off two ballots.

"I firmly believe that a great injustice has been done to Hideki Matsui," Steinbrenner said in a statement Tuesday, adding that the two reporters "made up their own rules."

"This year's voting farce, where the appropriate qualifications for the award were blatantly ignored, clearly demonstrates unfairness to first-year players from Japan. And that must be stopped," Steinbrenner said.

The reporters defended their votes.

"When Mr. Steinbrenner spends multiple millions to lure an MVP-calibre player from a major professional league, he should be embarrassed that such a high-profile player is vying for the Rookie of the Year award, and not the American League MVP award," Souhan said in an e-mail.

"Again, my regard for Japanese baseball is too high for me to consider Matsui a rookie. Even if I had considered him a rookie, I'm not sure if he would have made my ballot."

Ballou said he didn't take Steinbrenner's remarks as a personal attack, "I take it as a difference of baseball opinion."

"I don't think his opinions are unreasonable at all. I'm comfortable with my vote and haven't changed my mind."

The Baseball Writers' Association of America, which conducts the vote, said it abides by the eligibility rules set by the commissioner's office.

"We have honoured Japanese players with Rookie of the Year awards in the past and will probably do so in the future," BBWAA secretary-treasurer Jack O'Connell said in an e-mail.


So what's Georgie so bent about? That his high priced guy didn't get any hardware, or does he have a legitimate beef here?
I personally believe that 30 year olds should not be considered rookies, especially when they've played pro baseball before, so I agree with the writers.

[Charley]

He was imported from a japanese professional league. Nuff said.

[Figrin D'an]

Exactly. The Japanese professional league may not be equivalent to Major League Baseball in the US, but it is definately a high-quality league with many good players. Matsui had played professional baseball for severals years before joining the Yankees, and was one of the top stars in Japanese baseball. His age, experience and maturity as a player do not qualify him as a rookie, IMO.

Baseball needs to adopt and age limit on the league Rookie of the Year awards. The NHL does this, stating that a player must be under 26 years of age and in his first season in the league to be considered a rookie.

Anyway... Steinbrenner really doesn't have much of legit complaint on this, because the vote is, and always has been, completely subjective. Matsui was left off of two ballots. Well, so was Angel Berroa, who won the award over Matsui. Personal perogative of the voters. It happens.

[jjwr]

He's just a baby is my thought. I love how he ignores that Berroa was ignored just as well as Matsui was.

And its not like Matsui was a hands down rookie like Ichiro was a few years back, it was awefully tough to ignore him but Matsui hasn't been that good.

[Sejah Haversh]

Um, as a Mariners fan and near-Seattle resident, I can assure you that Ichiro Suzuki was not an absolute rookie when the M's got him. He had played in the pros in Japan for a few years already. Main reason he joined the M's was because we already had Kazahiro Sasaki, the pitcher who really let us down this year, but has been phenomenal in years past.

[JMK]

I think Ichiro was clearly the best rookie that year though, even though he was a professional ball player. Matsui did well, but I don't think he dominated the rookie field. Berroa is way younger and was just as impressive, all while playing a much more difficult position.

[jjwr]

Exactly, Ichiro was a knockout rookie, there was no contest unlike Matsui who isn't a clear cut rookie of the year.

Wasn't Ichiro also MVP his rookie year?

[JMK]

Yes he was. :)

[Jedieb]

If you give Ichiro the nod, then you should give Matsui the nod as well. Think about it, if he weren't a Yankee, and it wasn't the demented King George yapping, would you guys till be this hard on Godzilla? It's not so much that Matsui didn't win, it's that some writers completely left him off the ballot. You could make an argument that Berroa's numbers were strong enough to put him ahead of Matsui, but could you make an argument (based soley on their performance) that Matsui shouldn't have even been a top 3 vote getter?

The Japanese league is good, but it's still not MLB. It may be a notch above the minors (which are professional leagues), but it's still not the MLB. If a 31 year old had finally been called up from the minors and put up Godzilla's numbers, he probably would have won the Rookie of the Year award. I think Matsui was hurt by having numbers only slightly better than Berroa and wearing the pinstripes.

[JMK]

For Matsui to win that award he would have had to hit at least 40 homers and batted a few points higher. He got off to a slow start and I think that hurt him too.

Don't forget, Berroa was left off of 2 ballots as well, the same as Matsui. Personally I think the right choice was made. Berroa is considerably less experienced than Matsui and put up better numbers, relatively speaking.

[jjwr]

It's not so much that Matsui didn't win, it's that some writers completely left him off the ballot.

This argument and George's argument hold no water at all because as JMK said Berroa was left off a pair of ballots as well.

Both had the same # of ballots they appeared on and Berroa won, simple as that.

And just because Ichiro won doesn't mean Matsui should win, Ichiro was MVP his rookie year, thats a far cry from Matsui in his rookie year.

[Jedieb]

Don't forget, Berroa was left off of 2 ballots as well, the same as Matsui.
The argument holds water because the writers that left Berroa off their ballots did so because they weren't impressed with his numbers. The writers who left off Matsui went on record saying they did it because of his experience in the Japanese league. Numbers alone, they were willing to give Matsui some votes, but they put it upon themselves to define what a Rookie is and that's not their job. I'd like to see if they voted for Ichiro a few years back.

[jjwr]

Did the Voters who omitted Berroa give a reason why? Is it any less odd that two writers would not include a player in their top 3 while the rest of the panel deemed him the rookie of the year?

[jjwr]

I just read that Matsui was left off of the All-Rookie team, that I can't agree with, from going 2nd in RoY voting to not being one of the top 9 rookies? Makes no sense.

[Jedieb]

All around he got a raw deal. From what I've seen of him, I don't think he'll be that offended. I don't think these kinds of things matter to him that much. But I bet alot of his Japanese fans are upset.

[JMK]

Berroa had 1 more homerun, 19 more stolen bases and 10 more runs scored than Matsui in 56 less plate appearances. Matsui had a 20 point advantage in OBP% and 33 more RBI's, which is irrelevant because Matsui had the advantage of hitting behind the likes of Jeter, Soriano, Williams etc and saw much better pitches with Giambi, Posada and Johnson behind him. Berroa had no such advantages yet was able to be as productive.

Yes, Berroa struck out more, but this is a direct result of pitchers coming after him because he hits at the top of the order.

And here's a stat I had to go digging for which IS very important and should not be dismissed, and it's GIDP, or ground into double plays. Matsui was THIRD in the league with 25 GIDP's compared to Berroa's 13. And check this: Berroa was SECOND in the AL in turning double plays among shortstops, behind A-Rod. He's 7th in the AL among all positions (but that's because the top 4 are first basemen who do nothing but catch the ball). Matsui's outfielding numbers aren't anything to rave about: 7th in AL putouts in the outfield. However he LED AL outfielders with 8 errors while being 10th in total outfield chances. He was 111th in fielding percentage, but it should be noted that about the first 50 or so outfielders had significntly less chances that every day fielders.

The question is, would you rather take Berroa's 10 extra runs and MUCH better speed (21 SB's vs 2 & 13 GIDP's vs 25) or Matsui's 33 extra RBI's?

Other variables:
-Matsui hits in histoically hitter friendly Yankee stadium.
-Berroa plays the toughest defensive position on the field, Matsui plays one of the easiest.

The truth? (IMO) Offensively, they both had very similar seasons. You can make a LEGITIMATE case for either player. I think the CLEAR difference is on defense where Berroa really had a stand out year. Hell, Berroa had the most balls hit to him among AL shortstops. That's one heck of a workload for a rookie playing the toughest position on the field isn't it?

I wouldn't have been surprised if Matsui had won this award, but I think the more deserving player won. Yes, it was wrong for the 2 other guys to leave Matsui off altogether, but it was equally stupid for whichever 2 guys left Berroa off their ballots. Justice was done IMO.

phew. That's a lot number crunching and stat digging. I hope you rotten sods all read this. :)

[Jedieb]

Read what? ;)

[Jedieb]

Good stats. Like you said, it just bugged me that Matsui got left off the ballots for those reasons. Oh, well, Berroa is a good choice.

[JMK]

And Matsui was left off the all-rookie team too. :lol
Wow, this guy can't catch a break!
And this perceived 'slight' can't be blamed on the media either as the managers vote on who makes the all rookie team.

[Jedi Master Carr]

I guess the mangers must not consider him a rookie. I wonder did Ichrio make it that year?