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Baseball writers are a fickle bunch, especially when it comes to voting for things like MVP and the Hall of Fame. Entering the 1982 season there had been six unanimous winners of the American League MVP Award, the most recent being Reggie Jackson in 1973. Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Robin Yount led the A.L. in hits (210), doubles (46), total bases (367), slugging and OPS. But apparently, that wasn’t enough for one voter, who placed Yount 4th on his MVP ballot.
The culprit was Jim Golla of the Toronto Globe and Mail, who had been on the baseball beat for five years after covering horse racing for twenty-two years. Golla had Reggie first, followed by George Brett, then Rollie Fingers, and then Yount. His reasoning was simple. He had a system.
“I based my MVP selection on a method I use for handicapping horses,” he said. “Can the horse, or player, carry the weight of a team the distance? Can he carry a team the entire season?
“Does he do something spectacular in the stretch? Does his lift himself up to the occasion, and maybe make the other horses, or players, around him that much better by forcing the pace?
“To me, the answer to all those questions was ‘yes” with Reggie Jackson. It wasn’t with Robin Yount.”
Golla must have been looking the other way when Yount hit .331 with 29 homers and 114 RBI, or when Yount hit two home runs on the final day of the season (does he do something down the stretch?) to help the Brewers beat Baltimore and advance to the playoffs.
“Robin Yount had a very strong season, but he was with a very strong team,” reasoned Golla, apparently ignoring the fact that Reggie’s Angels team boasted three former MVPs aside from Reggie in Fred Lynn, Rod Carew, and Don Baylor. “That’s why I placed Brett and Fingers ahead of him, too.
“Milwaukee would have done just as well without (two homers on the final day of the season to win the division) Yount, but you can’t say the same for the Angels without Reggie, Kansas City without Brett, or Milwaukee without Fingers. Hey, Milwaukee lost the World Series because it didn’t have Fingers.”
There is no need to break down Golla’s rationale any further. It simply doesn’t hold up. Not in 1982 and not now. Perhaps Jack Lang of the New York Daily News summed it up best.
“I can’t figure out Golla’s vote,” he said. “Maybe it was cold in Toronto that day.”
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