Black Friday Random Astros Discussion Question

Over the years, the Astros have been known more as a team which leaned toward pitching over offense. Pitchers almost never win the MVP. However, the Astros at least have a couple of Cy Young winners and CYA runners up over the team history. (We probably could come up with more Astros pitchers who should have won the CYA, but didn’t, than offensive players who should have won the MVP.) It’s possible that the Astrodome suppressed the chance for a MVP in some years. Who knows if a Jimmy Wynn or Cesar Cedeno might have won a MVP if they had hit more HRs in a smaller ballpark. Maybe Bagwell would have won more than one MVP if his peak years had been in a different ballpark.

It’s hard for me to say “we was robbed” on the MVP, because I can’t I recall an occasion when an Astros hitter should have won it without any reservations. Lance Berkman might have gotten my MVP vote in 2006, and indeed he finished 3d behind Ryan Howard (1st) and Pujols (2d). But the stats were close enough between those three that I can’t say Berkman should have been a clear cut winner. Berkman has been unlucky to have his peak years at the same time that Bonds and Pujols were rampaging. Berkman has finished 3d twice, 5th twice, and 7th once for MVP. Morgan Ensberg was 4th in the MVP in 2005, and I probably would have put him higher, but even an Astros fanboy would have a hard time putting him above Pujols in 05. If anyone should have gotten more attention in the 2000’s, it’s that Roy Oswalt probably should have 1 or more CYAs.

Realistically, Berkman is the only Astro position player of the 2000s to have put up multiple MVP-caliber seasons, but each year he’s done it (2001, 2004, 2006) he’s been beat out by multiple other guys having even better seasons. I’d probably consider him one of the top ten hitters of the decade, so it’s a shame that he’s never been able to win one.

… “barring someone having a miracle season, no.”