Dirty Stats Delves into MVP Voting in the Steroid Era

Its our second edition of Dirty Stats and this week we tackle steroids. With all the talk swirling around A-Rod's allegations and subsequent confessions, I think its safe to say most people are going to write off that 2003 MVP award. The man admitted he was taking banned substances, and he was awarded for doing so. Shouldn't Carlos Delgado (MVP runner-up) be incredibly upset? Shouldn't we look back and say that the Blue Jays slugger (unless any new allegations come out) rightfully deserves the award? What about in the NL that year, when Barry Bonds topped Albert Pujols in the voting. Surely these runners-up have a case to make that they are the rightful MVP's of their league in 2003, right?

Let's look back at the steroid era as a whole (1995-2004), and see how different some players' Hall of Fame credentials might look if these awards were re-awarded.


National League Most Valuable Players
1995: Barry Larkin (CIN) 11 first place votes
He's clean. Moving on.

1996: Ken Caminiti (SD) 28 first place votes, unanimous
Caminiti admitted using, so lets give it to Mike Piazza, the runner-up with 0 first place votes, 36HR, 105RBI, .336AVG.
Re-Awarded to Mike Piazza (LAD)

1997: Larry Walker (COL) 22 first place votes
Walker is a very open advocate against steroids use in baseball, was inducted into Canada's Baseball Hall of Fame, and was the first Canadian to win the MVP. Too bad for Piazza, runner-up again.

1998: Sammy Sosa (CHC) 30 first place votes
Though never proven to be a user, the amount of speculation around Sosa, McGwire (runner-up) and the 1998 home-run chase is enough to bump them both off the list, giving Moises Alou the award: 3rd place, 0 first place votes, 38HR, 124RBI, .312 AVG.
Re-Awarded to Moises Alou (HOU)

1999: Chipper Jones (ATL) 29 first place votes
If he's not clean, then no one is. As far as baseball goes, at least.

2000: Jeff Kent (SF) 22 first place votes
Again we have a middle infielder winning the award, and its hard to believe Kent bested teammate Barry Bonds (49HR) in the voting, but Kent was as solid all-around as anyone that year. No steroids allegations or speculation though, again too bad for Piazza (finished 3rd behind Kent and Bonds).

2001-2004: Barry Bonds (SF)
Now this gets fun. Bonds won four straight MVPs to round out the steroid era, beginning with his monstrous 73HR season in 2001. He never hit more than 46HR after that, but he still took home the hardware and the all-time home-run record to boot. Clearly there's plenty of reason to knock these four (what about his other three?) awards off the mantle, so here's who we are left with:

In 2001 Bonds was followed by Sammy Sosa, Luis Gonzalez and Albert Pujols in the voting. Now let me say up front that Luis Gonzalez has never tested positive, despite multiple allegations of using. Let me also say that Gonzalez' 57 home runs that season was more than he hit in the following two seasons COMBINED. Something is clearly wrong here. I'm giving it to Pujols (4th place, 37HR, 130RBI, .329AVG, won Rookie of the Year) - although I'm sure people will come out accusing him soon enough, but until then...

Speaking of Pujols, he finished second in the MVP voting the following two seasons. But wait there's more! In 2004 the runner-up was Dodgers' third-baseman Adrian Beltre. Beltre's league-leading 48HR was 25 more than his previous season best (23HR in 2003 and he played in more games). Also it was a contract year, which won him a handsome multi-year deal with Seattle netting him $11-13M per season. He's averaged about 24HR and 88RBI in four years with the Mariners. Its the same speculative logic that knocked Luis Gonzalez off our 2001 list, so guess we'll have to move down the list to third place: Albert Pujols.

Effectively we've just awarded Albert Pujols four MVPs to go along with the trophies he won in 2005 and 2008. Six MVPs in eight major-league seasons ain't too shabby - unless any new allegations start to spring up...
Re-Awarded to Albert Pujols (STL), all four of them

Moving on to the American League, we now have a new man to knock off the list in Alex Rodriguez. Despite not having the notable names like Bonds, Sosa, and McGwire, there's a heck of a lot of reshuffling to be done here, almost every single year has to be re-examined.

American League Most Valuable Players
1995: Mo Vaughn (BOS) 12 first place votes
Vaughn popped up in the Mitchell Report, which we are hereby using as grounds for award redistribution. Runner-up Albert Belle may as well have been a juicer for how much people disliked him, but until anyone implicates or accuses him, enjoy the trophy: 2nd place, 11 1st place votes, 50HR, 126RBI, .317AVG.
Re-Awarded to Albert Belle (CLE)

1996: Juan Gonzalez (TEX) 11 first place votes
He's been implicated by a few people as to have a juicer, including being on Jose Canseco's list of 'people he personally injected'. A-Rod was the runner-up in his rookie season, and despite claiming he only used from 2001-2003, I don't believe he's earned our trust yet. So in third place is that sketchy Albert Belle character again, same logic applies - another trophy for Belle.
Re-Awarded to Albert Belle (CLE)

1997: Ken Griffey Jr. (SEA) 28 first place votes, unanimous
No way, no how this goes to anyone else.

1998: Juan Gonzalez (TEX) 21 first place votes
Juan Gone again. Moving down the list to 2nd place we have Nomar Garciaparra, who's horrific legacy of injuries and early deteroriation might lead the cynics to speculate that Nomar was using. I just say he's a heck of a ballplayer. Nomar was 2nd place with 5 first place votes, 35HR, 122RBI, .323AVG.
Re-Awarded to Nomar Garciaparra (BOS)

1999: Ivan Rodriguez (TEX) 7 first place votes
Pudge never tested positive and is likely immune from any steroid talk when the Hall of Fame voters examine his career. Nonetheless he was mentioned in Juiced (honestly, has Jose Canseco been wrong yet?) and in Game of Shadows and had quite a jump in his numbers this year, thus its enough speculation and uncertainty to move down the list to the runner-up: Pedro Martinez. Actually Pedro got more first place votes than Pudge, which tends to happen when you're the unanimous choice for the Cy Young, go 23-4 with a 2.07ERA and 313Ks. He may have been robbed anyway.
Re-Awarded to Pedro Martinez (BOS)

2000: Jason Giambi (OAK) 14 first place votes
He was caught, he admitted, etc. etc. The runner-up was Frank Thomas, a two-time winner already. Giambi edged The Big Hurt in the voting, who received 10 first place votes and totaled 43HR, 143RBI, .328AVG.
Re-Awarded to Frank Thomas (CHW)

2001: Ichiro (SEA) 11 first place votes
I think we can safely skip this year...

2002: Miguel Tejada (OAK) 21 first place votes
He was implicated by Canseco, Mitchell, and my word does Oakland have a tainted history of juicers. Yikes. A-Rod was the runner-up, and Alfonso Soriano finished third (the two were actually swapped in a blockbuster trade after the 2003 season). Soriano is a stud, and clean - give it to him: 3rd place, 2 first place votes, 39HR, 102RBI, .300AVG.
Re-Awarded to Alfonso Soriano (NYY)

2003: Alex Rodriguez (TEX) 6 first place votes
Finally we come back to what prompted the discussion, A-Rod's juicy MVP. As previously stated, Carlos Delgado was the runner-up this season despite driving in more runs and posting a higher batting average and OPS than A-Rod. Basically, he's earned it: 2nd place, 5 first place votes, 42HR, 145RBI, .302AVG.
Re-Awarded to Carlos Delgado (TOR)

So what are we left with? Instead of Barry Bonds dominating the era, it was Albert Pujols. Instead of Juan Gonzalez winning two MVP's that most people forgot about, it was Albert Belle. Pedro Martinez became the 19th pitcher in history to win the MVP. And Mike Piazza scratched his way to finally have something for the mantle. It all sounds great doesn't it? No asterix, no complicated debates over Hall of Fame credentials. These men played the game the right way, the clean way, and as such should not be punished for playing during an era destroyed by the poor decisions of few.

*In case you're wondering who would take Clemens' Cy Youngs...
1986: Teddy Higuera (MIL): 20-11, 2.79ERA, 207Ks
1987: Jimmy Key (TOR): 17-8, 2.76ERA, 161Ks
1991: Scott Erickson (MIN): 20-8, 3.18ERA, 108Ks
1997: Randy Johnson (SEA): 20-4, 2.28ERA, 291Ks
1998: Pedro Martinez (BOS): 19-7, 2.89ERA, 251Ks
2001: Mark Mulder (OAK): 21-8, 2.45ERA, 153Ks
2004: Randy Johnson (ARI): 16-14, 2.60ERA, 290Ks
It would be a shame for Randy Johnson if he didn't win 5 Cy Youngs on his own.