Sorry Juan Guzman - A Look At LCS MVPs

by Eric Stephen on Oct 26, 2009 3:03 PM PDT

As the Yankees won their 40th pennant last night, it was no surprise that starting pitcher C.C. Sabathia, who was 2-0 with a 1.12 ERA in the series, won the series MVP. Then again, Alex Rodriguez also had a great series, hitting .429/.567/.952, and certainly would have been a worthy choice had he won the ALCS MVP. For what it's worth, Fangraphs had Sabathia with the edge in win probability added (WPA), 0.679 to 0.530 over A-Rod.

At first thought, two wins by a starting pitcher seemed like a lock for series MVP. But just how often has that happened? I went back and looked at all the league championship series since 1985, the first year of the best-of-seven format. There have been 25 times a starting pitcher from the winning team has had two victories in the LCS. He has walked away with the MVP 15 times, which is less than I would have thought. Two of those non-MVPs though lost out to a fellow teammate who also had two wins.

Here's a look at all the starting pitchers from pennant-winning teams with two wins in the LCS in the last 25 years:

Year	Starting Pitcher	MVP?	Comment
1987 ALCS	Bert Blyleven	No	Gary Gaetti hit .300/.348/.650, circling Bert's 4.05 ERA
1988 NLCS	Tim Belcher	No	Orel Hershiser and his one win (1.09 ERA) bested his teammate
1989 ALCS	Dave Stewart	No	Rickey Henderson hit .400/.609/1.000
1990 ALCS	Dave Stewart	Yes
1991 NLCS	Steve Avery	Yes
1991 NLCS	John Smoltz	No	Smoltz was great (1.76 ERA), but teammate Avery was better (0.00 ERA)
1991 ALCS	Jack Morris	No	Kirby Puckett hit .429/.435/.762; Morris had a 4.05 ERA
1992 ALCS	Juan Guzman	No	Guzman's 2.08 ERA was spit on by Roberto Alomar (.423/.464/.692)
1992 NLCS	John Smoltz	Yes
1993 ALCS	Dave Stewart	Yes
1993 ALCS	Juan Guzman	No	Guzman and Stewart each gave up three runs; Stew got one more out
1995 ALCS	Orel Hershiser	Yes
1996 NLCS	John Smoltz	No	Smoltz had a 1.20 ERA in 15 IP, but Javy Lopez hit .542/.607/1.000
1997 NLCS	Livan Hernandez	Yes	No word on whether Eric Gregg was voted a playoff share
1998 ALCS	David Wells	Yes
1998 NLCS	Sterling Hitchcock	Yes	My favorite MVP of the bunch, as he pitched all of 10 innings
2000 ALCS	Orlando Hernandez	No	El Duque's 4.05 ERA was beaten by David Justice's 8 RBI
2000 NLCS	Mike Hampton	Yes
2001 NLCS	Randy Johnson	No	The Unit's 1.12 ERA lost to the grit of ~~David Eckstein~~ Craig Counsell (.381/.381/.524)
2001 ALCS	Andy Pettitte	Yes
2005 NLCS	Roy Oswalt	Yes
2007 ALCS	Josh Beckett	Yes
2008 ALCS	Matt Garza	Yes
2008 NLCS	Cole Hamels	Yes	"C'mon, Cole. Pound the corners. Get him to chase one outside."
2009 ALCS	C.C. Sabathia	Yes

There have been three starting pitchers on losing teams to amass two wins in the LCS. Mike Scott (1986) captured the MVP award, while Freddy Garcia (2000) and Tim Wakefield (2003) did not.

There have been eight relievers since 1985 to get two wins, the most recent being Julian Tavarez for the 2004 Cardinals. Jesse Orosco is the only man, starter or reliever, to get three wins in an LCS, accomplishing the feat for the 1986 Mets. None of the relievers won series MVP.

Don Sutton (1974) and Burt Hooton (1981) join Belcher as the only Dodgers to have two wins in a single NLCS. MVPs were not awarded for the league championship series until 1977. Hooton won the 1981 NLCS MVP.

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i dont understand

are u saying david eckstein should have won the MVP over randy johnson that one year?

by matthewmafa on Oct 26, 2009 3:11 PM PDT reply actions

No

I don’t think Eckstein deserved the award

by Eric Stephen on Oct 26, 2009 3:13 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions

Total Grittyness

Eckstein is so gritty, they gave him the award when he didn’t even show up.

In an interesting footnote, Craig Counsell won the Exsteiny award given to the player who got luckiest during a playoff series in the 2001 NLCS?

by Cool Dudes on Oct 26, 2009 8:20 PM PDT up reply actions

I am having a bad week in typing facts

I must have had Eckstein on the brain. Of course it was Counsell!! Ha!

by Eric Stephen on Oct 26, 2009 8:44 PM PDT up reply actions

I hate to say this

but this is a sure sign of age taking its toll. You, I, Manny and many others might want to start a support group.

by Cool Dudes on Oct 26, 2009 9:14 PM PDT up reply actions

No, he’s saying Eckstein DID win the MVP over Johnson that one year.

by David Young on Oct 26, 2009 4:29 PM PDT up reply actions

ohh

i misread this fanpost.. i get it now

by matthewmafa on Oct 26, 2009 4:59 PM PDT up reply actions

I wonder how often a player started every game in an LCS for the winning team, hit over .400/.500/.900 and didn’t win the MVP?

by David Young on Oct 26, 2009 4:30 PM PDT reply actions

I smell another fan post! :)

by Eric Stephen on Oct 26, 2009 4:35 PM PDT up reply actions

Nope

turns out it was just gas.

by Eric Stephen on Oct 26, 2009 4:35 PM PDT up reply actions

In the ten years of LCS play before this season

(or going back to 1999), only four players in those twenty series have hit better than .400/.500/.900 for the winning team.

Two were MVPs: Albert Pujols in 2004 (.500 / .563 / 1.000), and Eddie Perez in 1999 (.500 / .524 / .900).
Two others lost out to pitchers on the list above: Kevin Youkilis in 2007 (.500 / .576 / .929), and Mike Piazza in 2000 (.412 / .545 / .941)

I’m far too lazy to look back 25 years, and if B-R has a way of looking that – or a list of LCS performers over .400/.500/.900 – up for me, I can’t find it.

by David Young on Oct 26, 2009 5:44 PM PDT up reply actions

Not in the 1988 World Series

Year W L ERA

1988 2 0 1.00

1.000/1.000/1.667 OPS 2.667

by Cool Dudes on Oct 26, 2009 9:53 PM PDT up reply actions

Didn't start every game! :)

Besides, the bitchinest line from the 1988 WS is:

1.000 / 1.000 / 4.000 / 5.000 :)

by David Young on Oct 27, 2009 2:51 PM PDT up reply actions

I beg to differ.

The best line from the 1988 WS is:

“In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened.”

Sorry, couldn’t resist.

by prosellis on Oct 27, 2009 5:12 PM PDT up reply actions

+1

by MammothDodger on Oct 27, 2009 9:09 PM PDT up reply actions

who else thinks A-rod should have been MVP for the ALCS

what he did was amazing and he was a part of ALL 6 games unlike Sabathia who only was apart of 2…

I think what a-rod did should have won him the award over sabathia…

by matthewmafa on Oct 26, 2009 4:59 PM PDT reply actions

{Raises Hand}

by Michael White on Oct 26, 2009 5:03 PM PDT up reply actions

It's close

I can see either way. While Sabathia did only have an impact on two games vs. six for A-Rod, Sabathia’s impact was larger in those games (understandable, given how involved a starting pitcher is in each game).

Using WPA, CC still came out ahead of A-Rod.

However, I would have a hard time not voting for A-Rod myself.

by Eric Stephen on Oct 26, 2009 5:04 PM PDT up reply actions

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2012 Dodgers Payroll

Italics denote estimates
Pos	No	Player	2012 Salary
C	17	Ellis	$500,000	team control
1B	7	Loney	$6,375,000
2B	14	Ellis	$2,500,000
3B	5	Uribe	$8,000,000
SS	9	Gordon	$485,000	team control
LF	21	Rivera	$4,000,000
CF	27	Kemp	$10,000,000
RF	16	Ethier	$10,950,000

IF/OF	6	Hairston	$2,250,000
OF	10	Gwynn	$850,000
2B/3B	3	Kennedy	$800,000
C	18	Treanor	$850,000
IF	12	Sellers	$485,000	team control

SP	22	Kershaw	$6,000,000
SP	58	Billingsley	$9,000,000
SP	29	Lilly	$12,000,000
SP	35	Capuano	$3,000,000
SP	44	Harang	$3,000,000

CL	54	Guerra	$485,000	team control
RHP	74	Jansen	$500,000	team control
RHP	55	Guerrier	$4,750,000
RHP	60	Coffey	$1,000,000
RHP	66	MacDougal	$650,000
LHP	57	Elbert	$485,000	team control
RHP	36	Hawksworth	$500,000	team control

TJ	41	De La Rosa	$485,000	team control

		Manny	$8,087,432	deferred
		Andruw	$3,375,000	deferred
		Pierre	$3,050,000	deferred
		Furcal	$3,000,000	deferred
		Kuroda	$2,000,000	deferred
		Garland	$1,500,000	option buyout
		Blake	$1,250,000	option buyout

Totals			$112,162,432
For more detailed information, click here.
Players on 40-man roster used as roster fillers until moves are made. Current 40-man roster count: 40 (not including Belisario)

2012 Non-Roster Invitees

No	Player	Age*
63	Jose Ascanio rhp	27
61	Alberto Castillo lhp	36
56	Matt Chico lhp	29
33	John Grabow lhp	33
59	Angel Guzman rhp	30
47	Wil Ledezma lhp	31
72	Shane Lindsay rhp	27
62	Fernando Nieve rhp	29
73	Scott Rice lhp	30
70	Will Savage rhp	27
71	Ryan Tucker rhp	25
28	Jamey Wright rhp	37

30	Josh Bard c	34
82	Griff Erickson c	24
81	Matt Wallachc	26
67	Jeff Baisley 3b/1b	29
65	Luis Cruz ss/2b	28
37	Josh Fields 3b	29
64	Lance Zawadzki if	27
56	Cory Sullivan of	32

*Age on June 30, 2012
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Sorry Juan Guzman - A Look At LCS MVPs

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