All Hail Our Benevolent Leader, Justin Verlander!

Proving that merely winning a Cy Young would just not be enough to appropriately stroke his ego, Justin Verlander went on a months-long campaign to sway BBWAA voters; winning ballgames from as far north as Detroit and striking out men as deep south as Texas; hurling shutouts in rock n’ roll town of Cleveland and not allowing hits in the cleanest city in the North America, Toronto. Verlander, with his cunning smile and blazing fastball, forced baseball men to vote for a pitcher as the most valuable player of the year. This is on par with a military coup! I demand to see a birth certificate!

While people like to point out that a pitcher only takes the mound ever fifth day, it’s important to note that Verlander faced 969 batters, far more than Bautista’s 655 plate appearances or Jacoby Ellsbury’s 729. If you want to argue that Bautista’s league leading home run total was more valuable or that Ellsbury’s combination of power, speed and defense made him the best choice, that’s fine. But don’t point out a pitcher’s inability to play more than twice a week, especially when Verlander lead the league in innings for the second time in his career.

Verlander is the first starter since Roger Clemens won the MVP in 1986 to win the AL Cy Young Award, and caps off quite an amazing year in the American League. Perhaps if the Red Sox hadn’t collapsed or the Blue Jays could have been a little scrappier, the outcome would have been different. But the BBWAA was given three excellent options to choose from and they did a fine job. (There, that should keep me out of dissenters prison.)