re: win shares

if you segregate out the offensive from the defensive win shares, you'll see right away that Howard was the dominant player in the league at nearly 31 offensive win shares for the season, and hardly any defensive win shares. Beltran, Wright and even Pujols had defensive win shares added (though how Pujols, an atrocious defensive player, could have win shares on defense, eludes me).

Of these, only Pujols had more offensive win shares than Howard.

But the answer why Howard is better is simple;

(1) Pujols racked up most of his numers in the 1st half, Howard in the 2d half, and Howard's 2dhalf made Pujols 1st half look pale;

(2) Howard's phillies won more games and were tought down the stretch as opposed to the cards, who nearly choked away the pennant to the astros after being up 7 games with like 10 to play;

(3) Howard's numbers were "magical"; he tied Jimmie Foxx, Hank Greenberg et al for 58 home runs, a number that only very few have reached, he did it without steroids, and he did it in his second year; and he also drove in 149 RBI in his second year; NO NL SECOND YEAR PLAYER HAS EVER HAD THESE OFFENSIVE NUMBERS IN THE MODERN ERA; you have to go back to ralph kiner to find a 50 homer guy for a second year player, and maybe Joe DiMaggio to find a guy driving in 140 RBI plus in his second season.

(4) Ryan Howard's season, therefore, is comparable in certain ways, to Ralph Kiner and Joe DiMaggio.

(5) There were two Howards. First half Howard had an OBA of around .330 and a slugging avg of around .500. Second half Howard had an OBA of around .400 and a slugging average of around .620. Second half Howard was the guy who got the award.

(6) If second half Howard plays all year next year, he'll get more win shares than Pujols in a walk.

--art kyriazis, philly

"Pujols, an atrocious defensive player"

which Albert Pujols were you watching? Atrocious? I'd say above average. Average at worst.

Sorry, I couldn't let that pass.

Yeah, I think it's almost a consensus now that Pujols is a pretty good defensive first baseman. Certainly the metrics grade him out that way. Also, if you'll note, he has more offensive win shares than Howard as well. Take a look at the link. Contributing nothing with your glove doesn't mean automatically that you contributed more with your bat. So, not only did he do better with the glove, he did better with the bat. As far as win shares are concerned, which is hardly the be-all-and-end-all. And he's still actually younger; let's not forget that.

That said, if I was a Phillies fan I'd probably write something like that too, and a lot if it is both 1) well-reasoned and 2) damn impressive. Howard had an amazing, amazing season. Certainly the two bets hitters in baseball this year, too bad they're both in the NL (though it may not be a coincidence). AL MVP debates make my head hurt.

"(1) Pujols racked up most of his numers in the 1st half, Howard in the 2d half, and Howard's 2dhalf made Pujols 1st half look pale;"

Hmm.. I didn't know only half of the year counts. And furthermore, Pujols was injured for around 2 weeks and took that time off and still put up better Win Shares totals than Howard.

this site has an anti philly, anti Ryan Howard bias. do you get phillies games on direct tv? and art - you are the man.

"If second half Howard plays all year next year, he'll get more win shares than Pujols in a walk."

Yeah, and if April Chris Shelton and August Estabon Loaiza...

"this site has an anti philly, anti Ryan Howard bias. do you get phillies games on direct tv?"

Uh...care to explain? Because this is about as impartial a baseball blog as I've ever seen...

Prove that Ryan Howard didn't use steroids, in such a way so that the same proof doesn't exonerate Barry Bonds, Gary Sheffield, Jermaine Dye or anyone else who turns in a fantastic performance.

The real legacy of the steroid era is doubt.

Congratuations to Ryan Howard and Derek Jeter. Jeter was the winner for the American League.

I dont care who has more win share or any other bs stats like that, the people who present the hank aaron award dont look at that bullcrap. straight up, howard had more homers and rbis than pujols, and he was better down the stretch and in the second half. saying that pujols is above average at defense just because of his fielding percentage is trash. he is one of the most conservative first basemen in the league. it's like saying that carlos lee is an above average outfielder because he didn't make any errors in 2004. its because he always played it safe and kept the ball in front, instead of diving for a ball to get the out. ryan howard won the hank aaron award and it was well deserved. congradulations to him.