If you get bogged down in the question of whether a designated hitter should be eligible to win the MVP award … well, on one hand I get it. That’s the best of sports, after all, arguing issues with no clear hope of resolution. Maybe you believe a man should have to own a glove to win MVP. Maybe I don’t. We can have hours of spirited debate and there’s no clear right answer.
The best sports arguments are always like that. Who was best: the ’27 Yankees, the ’61 Yankees or the ’98 Yankees? Who was the better running back, Jim Brown or Walter Payton? And, of course, the one that’s been most popular in recent years: Who’s the GOAT, Michael Jordan or LeBron James? (Though I’ve lately become empathetic to the case of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in this one.)
Should Shohei Ohtani be MVP?
Well, assuming Francisco Lindor was the chief alternative, that candidacy took a hit this week thanks to his ill-timed back issues, so it’s hard to believe Ohtani won’t win the MVP. But really that argument almost is beside the point, and obscures the more overwhelming truth about what Ohtani has done this year:
In a sport that’s been in operation since 1869, he hasn’t just done what’s rare — doing the speed-power combo better than anyone before him — he’s done something that’s damn near impossible: He’s set the bar so impossibly high, in real time. He actually invented a new category, the 50-50 Club. According to baseball-reference.com, there have been 23,359 players who’ve played Major League Baseball.
Just 47 of them have ever hit 30 homers and stolen 30 bases in a season — the 30-30 Club. Ken Williams was the first to do this, in 1922. He was alone in the club for some 34 years until Willie Mays joined him in 1956.
Just six belong to the 40-40 Club. Jose Canseco was the first, in 1988, and when he did that he was looked upon as some kind of one-of-one unicorn, and he was all by himself for eight years until Barry Bonds joined him in 1996. They have since been joined by four others.
Now Ohtani has invented the 50-50 Club, and he did that with nine games to spare in his season. Heading into Saturday he had 52 of each.
And I’m happy to be wrong about this, but I’m not sure there’s another player who could possibly approach this who’s presently alive. Maybe — maybe — Ronald Acuna Jr. might have, since he was the most recent member of the 40-40 Club before Ohtani, but when he returns next year, he’ll be playing on two surgically repaired knees. Will he ever be able to run with abandon as he once did? It’s worth rooting for, but unlikely.
And who knows just how deep into the 50-50 Club Ohtani is capable of going.
In any event, it’s going to be a number that will seem to dizzying to approach. The one mark that comes to mind is Wayne Gretzky’s records for both points in a season and points in a career. Gretzky has the first four spots on the single-season list, with a high of 215 in 1985-86. In the 38 years since, the closest anyone has come is Mario Lemieux in 1988-89, and he fell some 15 points shy. Connor McDavid this year had the most points ever for a player not named Gretzky, Lemieux or Yzerman, and he checked in at 152 — 63 points behind!
And as for a career, it’s even more unapproachable: 2,857, or 936 more than Jaromir Jagr.
We’ve been wrong about these things before. When Bob Beamon broke the long-jump record at the ’68 Olympics, he did it by jumping 21.65 inches farther than any man had ever done it before, an astonishing mark, but one that Mike Powell finally surpassed 23 years later. When Babe Ruth hit the 139th home run of his career on July 18, 1921, he passed Roger Conor as the all-time leader, then proceeded to hit 575 more of them. It took 39 years for Hank Aaron to catch him (and when you think about it, it’s remarkable Ruth is still third despite having not hit a home run since 1935).
So, sure, maybe we’ll see a second 50-50 guy one of these years. Maybe Ohtani won’t spend eternity in 50-50 solitary confinement. But I, for one, am not going to hold my breath.
Vac’s Whacks
This new basketball GM at St. Bonaventure, he’d better be ready to make the Bonnies Gonzaga of the East or else he’s going to hear about it in the pages of the New York Post.
Running always has been a passion for Terry Collins. On Sept. 29, the ex-Mets manager will run his first race, the 22nd annual Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers 5K run through the Battery Tunnel. “T to T does such great work for first responders and Gold Star families,” the skipper says. “I’m truly honored to be part of such a worthwhile event.”
Just for kicks, maybe the Giants can steal one in Cleveland on Sunday, because if you haven’t noticed, it doesn’t appear the ’72 Dolphins or the ’85 Bears are playing in the NFC East this year.
Earl Monroe, surrounded by Hall of Fame running mate and pal Walt “Clyde” Frazier, NBA commissioner Adam Silver, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau and All-Star Julius Randle, will break ground on the Pearl’s new 69,000-square-foot, five-story high school in the South Bronx on Wednesday morning. More than 400 students, faculty and a flood of other Knicks will be to hand to spread the Pearl’s wisdom: “A ball and a book can change the world.”
Whack Back at Vac
Joel Tanenbaum: If Tyler Conklin keeps this up, he’ll be dating Taylor Swift by Halloween.
Vac: I can also think of no better way to honor Rich Caster, who passed last February, than for the Jets to bring their tight ends back into the offensive fold.
Stewart Summers: Hi Mike, Francisco Lindor bought Jeff McNeil a Ford Bronco Sport for winning a batting title. What should soon-to-be bazillionaire free agent Juan Soto buy Aaron Judge, who he benefitted from hitting in front of this season? A Rolls Royce, a Bugatti? Both, perhaps?
Vac: I think the Rolls is a nice No. 2 hitter to the Bugatti hitting behind it. I vote both.
@frankboesch: This week was the 51st anniversary of the “ball off the wall game” … remind me, was Richie Zisk the ghost runner on second to start the top of the 13th?
@MikeVacc: Now, I like the ghost runner, but a few more tweets like this and I think I can be outstared to change my mind.
Neil Ptashnik: As a Mets and Jets fan, I can’t remember a better season. Mets playing meaningful games in late September and the Jets still in it in late September.
Vac: I’m not sure you’ll ever see a better WhackBack than that one right there.
