yagsy
10-03-2006, 11:38 AM
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20061003/news_lz1x3padremvp.html
MVP? Just make it Many Valuable Players
A case can be made for several Padres as the team's top player
By Bill Center
STAFF WRITER
October 3, 2006
The question was posed to manager Bruce Bochy during his team's final homestand:
Who is the Padres' Most Valuable Player this season?
The manager of the NL West champions pondered for a moment and said, “I don't know if you can name one. ... I can think of four or five.”
Padres MVP candidates
Adrian Gonzalez: Two 17-game hitting streaks paralleled Padres hot streaks. Hit .423 with six doubles, three homers, 16 RBI and 16 runs scored as the Padres went 15-5 in final 20 days of the season.
Mike Cameron: Had the game-winning hit or was the offensive leader in 15 of the Padres wins. Had three homers and 23 RBI in the Padres 20-game sprint to the finish. Like Gonzalez, became a defensive catalyst.
Mike Piazza: Probably a unit vote with Josh Bard and Rob Bowen. Padres staff ERA dropped by 1/4-run a game from a year ago. Piazza (22 homers, 68 RBI) led a unit that hit .296 with 34 homers and 121 RBI.
Trevor Hoffman: Picked up the final outs in 53 percent of the Padres wins, including 11 in September. Converted 19 of his final 20 save opportunities.
Dave Roberts: Set career highs in hits (146), runs (80), RBI (44), triples (13) and stolen bases (49). Tied Tony Gwynn's single-season mark in triples and stole the most bases since Gwynn had 56 in 1987
For the first time in franchise history the Padres have won the division title and reached the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.
Yet Adrian Gonzalez was the only regular to bat .300. No hitter scored or drove in 90 runs. And the Padres' homer run leader (Gonzalez) had fewer than half as many (24) as league leader Ryan Howard (58).
And Woody Williams was the only Padre pitcher to win 12 games.
Still, the Padres compiled their fifth-best won-lost record in franchise history en route to a fourth division title in an 11-season span under Bochy and General Manager Kevin Towers.
How?
“We've been a team,” Mike Cameron said. “You can't say it any better than that. It's never one guy, anyways. But on some teams, one or two guys get more credit than others. Here, it's been everyone ... pitching, defense, key hitting.”
Most Valuable Player?
Cameron would certainly have to be considered. So would Gonzalez. And Trevor Hoffman's role cannot be underestimated. Ditto for Dave Roberts and Mike Piazza.
Or the award could be shared by a unit. The starting pitchers led the league in ERA. The bullpen ranked second.
Taking it a step farther, Bochy believes the Padres might not have made it had it not been for the efforts of several players who stepped up in times of an emergency – Geoff Blum's play at shortstop when Khalil Greene was injured, Mike Thompson's job as the No. 6 starter and the late-season contributions of third basemen Todd Walker and Russell Branyan.
But who was the MVP?
Among the position players, it wasn't just a matter of hitting. Each of the four leading candidates contributed in ways beyond the bat.
Gonzalez's glove at first afforded infielders the freedom to take gambles with throws they might not have tried in recent seasons. And, of course, Gonzalez made plays on balls pulled down the line.
Cameron gave the Padres a center fielder who could roam far into the spacious gaps at Petco Park.
Roberts raised the bar in left.
And Piazza, while falling short in throwing ability, has drawn praise from both the Padres pitchers and his partners in the catching troika that has proved to be the most potent in the major leagues (.296 combined average, 34 homers, 121 RBI).
As for Hoffman, he's been Hoffman. More than becoming the all-time saves leader, Hoffman posted the second-highest single-season total of his career (46) while converting opportunities at a pace (90.2 percent) slightly higher than his major league-record mark (89.6).
Up to the final weekend of the season, Gonzalez, 24, led the Padres in each of the three Triple Crown batting categories. And the Eastlake High grad was also hottest when the Padres were hottest.
Gonzalez hit .336 after the All-Star break with 22 doubles, 11 homers and 45 RBI. His two career-high, 17-game hitting streaks matched the Padres' surges in May and just before the All-Star break. His doubles tied the eighth-highest total in Padres history.
Over the course of the season, Gonzalez could be considered the offensive hero in 12 of the Padres' 88 wins.
Cameron topped that unofficial list at 15, including Saturday's playoff-clinching victory at Arizona.
Cameron finished the season with the second-highest RBI total (83) of his career while having a 20/20 season (more than 20 homers and stolen bases) for the fifth time.
In mid-June, Bochy labeled Roberts – who had scored 24 runs during the May surge – the club's MVP up to that point as he headed to the disabled list with a knee contusion suffered in a collision with the left field wall at Anaheim Stadium.
Roberts finished the season with 49 steals and 13 triples, the highest totals by a Padre in those categories since Tony Gwynn set the club record with 13 triples in 1987 and stole 56 bases that same season.
You could also make an argument for Giles, despite career-lows of .263 and 14 homers. He topped 100 walks for the second straight season and led the Padres with a .374 on-base percentage. Giles, who like Gonzlez had 26 RBI in the Padres' breakout month of May, could be considered the offensive hero in 11 of the Padres wins – not to mention the defensive hero in yesterday's pivotal game with his homer-robbing catch of Carlos Quentin in the seventh.
MVP? Just make it Many Valuable Players
A case can be made for several Padres as the team's top player
By Bill Center
STAFF WRITER
October 3, 2006
The question was posed to manager Bruce Bochy during his team's final homestand:
Who is the Padres' Most Valuable Player this season?
The manager of the NL West champions pondered for a moment and said, “I don't know if you can name one. ... I can think of four or five.”
Padres MVP candidates
Adrian Gonzalez: Two 17-game hitting streaks paralleled Padres hot streaks. Hit .423 with six doubles, three homers, 16 RBI and 16 runs scored as the Padres went 15-5 in final 20 days of the season.
Mike Cameron: Had the game-winning hit or was the offensive leader in 15 of the Padres wins. Had three homers and 23 RBI in the Padres 20-game sprint to the finish. Like Gonzalez, became a defensive catalyst.
Mike Piazza: Probably a unit vote with Josh Bard and Rob Bowen. Padres staff ERA dropped by 1/4-run a game from a year ago. Piazza (22 homers, 68 RBI) led a unit that hit .296 with 34 homers and 121 RBI.
Trevor Hoffman: Picked up the final outs in 53 percent of the Padres wins, including 11 in September. Converted 19 of his final 20 save opportunities.
Dave Roberts: Set career highs in hits (146), runs (80), RBI (44), triples (13) and stolen bases (49). Tied Tony Gwynn's single-season mark in triples and stole the most bases since Gwynn had 56 in 1987
For the first time in franchise history the Padres have won the division title and reached the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.
Yet Adrian Gonzalez was the only regular to bat .300. No hitter scored or drove in 90 runs. And the Padres' homer run leader (Gonzalez) had fewer than half as many (24) as league leader Ryan Howard (58).
And Woody Williams was the only Padre pitcher to win 12 games.
Still, the Padres compiled their fifth-best won-lost record in franchise history en route to a fourth division title in an 11-season span under Bochy and General Manager Kevin Towers.
How?
“We've been a team,” Mike Cameron said. “You can't say it any better than that. It's never one guy, anyways. But on some teams, one or two guys get more credit than others. Here, it's been everyone ... pitching, defense, key hitting.”
Most Valuable Player?
Cameron would certainly have to be considered. So would Gonzalez. And Trevor Hoffman's role cannot be underestimated. Ditto for Dave Roberts and Mike Piazza.
Or the award could be shared by a unit. The starting pitchers led the league in ERA. The bullpen ranked second.
Taking it a step farther, Bochy believes the Padres might not have made it had it not been for the efforts of several players who stepped up in times of an emergency – Geoff Blum's play at shortstop when Khalil Greene was injured, Mike Thompson's job as the No. 6 starter and the late-season contributions of third basemen Todd Walker and Russell Branyan.
But who was the MVP?
Among the position players, it wasn't just a matter of hitting. Each of the four leading candidates contributed in ways beyond the bat.
Gonzalez's glove at first afforded infielders the freedom to take gambles with throws they might not have tried in recent seasons. And, of course, Gonzalez made plays on balls pulled down the line.
Cameron gave the Padres a center fielder who could roam far into the spacious gaps at Petco Park.
Roberts raised the bar in left.
And Piazza, while falling short in throwing ability, has drawn praise from both the Padres pitchers and his partners in the catching troika that has proved to be the most potent in the major leagues (.296 combined average, 34 homers, 121 RBI).
As for Hoffman, he's been Hoffman. More than becoming the all-time saves leader, Hoffman posted the second-highest single-season total of his career (46) while converting opportunities at a pace (90.2 percent) slightly higher than his major league-record mark (89.6).
Up to the final weekend of the season, Gonzalez, 24, led the Padres in each of the three Triple Crown batting categories. And the Eastlake High grad was also hottest when the Padres were hottest.
Gonzalez hit .336 after the All-Star break with 22 doubles, 11 homers and 45 RBI. His two career-high, 17-game hitting streaks matched the Padres' surges in May and just before the All-Star break. His doubles tied the eighth-highest total in Padres history.
Over the course of the season, Gonzalez could be considered the offensive hero in 12 of the Padres' 88 wins.
Cameron topped that unofficial list at 15, including Saturday's playoff-clinching victory at Arizona.
Cameron finished the season with the second-highest RBI total (83) of his career while having a 20/20 season (more than 20 homers and stolen bases) for the fifth time.
In mid-June, Bochy labeled Roberts – who had scored 24 runs during the May surge – the club's MVP up to that point as he headed to the disabled list with a knee contusion suffered in a collision with the left field wall at Anaheim Stadium.
Roberts finished the season with 49 steals and 13 triples, the highest totals by a Padre in those categories since Tony Gwynn set the club record with 13 triples in 1987 and stole 56 bases that same season.
You could also make an argument for Giles, despite career-lows of .263 and 14 homers. He topped 100 walks for the second straight season and led the Padres with a .374 on-base percentage. Giles, who like Gonzlez had 26 RBI in the Padres' breakout month of May, could be considered the offensive hero in 11 of the Padres wins – not to mention the defensive hero in yesterday's pivotal game with his homer-robbing catch of Carlos Quentin in the seventh.