Verlander had battled Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's Jered Weaver for the Cy Young down the stretch but after beating Weaver in a head-to-head matchup and throwing 100 more pitches than Weaver and still posting better numbers Verlander walked away with the highest award for a pitcher unanimously.
Verlander posted impressive numbers throughout the 2011 season; becoming the American League pitching Triple-Crown and winning the AL Cy Young award with a 24-5 record, 2.40 ERA, 250 SO and a 0.920 WHIP. Those numbers are impressive, and near the top, if not at the top, of the Detroit Tigers record books - meaning that the Cy Young was Verlander's to lose, but the MVP was a different story.
Many sports writers have refused to vote for a pitcher as the MVP in the past, saying that a players that plays every fifth day cannot have the same impact as an everyday player. It appears as though that thought process has subsided in past years and an acceptance of pitchers as valuable to their clubs and sabermetrics has moved MLB post season awards to be handed out to the most deserving players. He became the first pitcher to win the MVP since Oakland's Dennis Eckersley in 1992 and the first starting pitcher since Roger Clemens in 1986.
The Baseball Writers of America got their AL MVP correct, with 13 naming Verlander their top choice and another 13 selecting him for second place. He appeared on 27 of 28 ballots being left off by Jim Ingraham of The Herald-News in Ohio, who said that he could not place a pitcher on the MVP ballot in all due conscience.He went on to say that Verlander did not appear in 79 percent of the Tigers games, meaning that pitchers don't play often enough to be the MVP.
Yes, Verlander played in 35 games for the Tigers in 2011, but breaking down the numbers shows that his statistics are comparable to any position player in the game. In Verlander's 35 starts he faced on average 35 batters; therefore in his 35 games he affected 1,225 plays. Conversely, a player who starts all 162 games for his team and averages four at-bats and four plays in the field affects 1,296 plays. The 91 play difference a season is hardly call for Verlander's exclusion from the MVP consideration.
What made Verlander the MVP aside from his eye popping numbers were his 16 wins following a Tigers loss - that is what makes a player truly valuable. Throughout the 2011 season Verlander was in a Tigers rotation that featured an inconsistent Rick Porcello, the oft-maligned Brad Penny and the on-again off-again Max Scherzer. It wasn't until the deadline addition of Doug Fister that Verlander had a true option to back him up in the rotation.
While others may argue against the selection of a pitcher as the most valuable player they must agree that the numbers that Verlander posted throughout the 2011 season were quite impressive. Some might even say his numbers make him very valuable.
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