2018 World Series Champions Boston Red Sox

[Bellhorn04]

You're treating this like it matters a lot more than it does. If I was voting I might have given the MVP to Price, but because Pearce was also worthy I'm not going to sweat it, and I recommend you do the same.

 

Yeah, my only thought is that Pearce probably appreciates getting the truck a lot more than Price would.

[OH FOY]

Pearce walked in tying run in game 2, and kept the line moving, so next batter, JD, got game winning hit. It wasn't just last 2 games for Pearce. Price didn't pitch in game 4, that was the crucial game. Not game 5. Pearce deserved it. If game 5 was a 2-2 tie that night, then its Price. We were up 3-1, so series not over if we lose.

Then gives Price an immediate 2-0 lead, off Kershaw, before he took the Mound. No for me Pearce.

Edited October 30, 2018 by OH FOY!

[moonslav59]

Nope. Fans who bitched about Price were fans that thought he had some sort of mental block, when it came to high pressure situations.

I'm glad he finally got over it, but I still think he's a head case.

 

I'm not denying the existence of mental blocks and players who struggle in high-pressure situations, but one would think the pressure was greater this year than any other year for Price, so I'm not sure he ever had an issue, other than bad luck or bad timing for poor stretches. All pitchers have bad stretches. I'm sure you can find a time period where history shows each pitcher sucks. Price's may have just been bad timing on tough times.

 

Maybe not.

 

Baseball is not an easy sport to stay consistently good (or bad).

[moonslav59]

Neither Price nor Pearce was a "bad" choice. Joe Kelly and Nathan Eovaldi were minor steps down from them.

 

Agreed, and Pearce's feats were more dramatic and noticeable, but the 54 PAs against to 16 for Pearce is the difference maker for me.

 

[mvp 78]

Agreed, and Pearce's feats were more dramatic and noticeable, but the 54 PAs against to 16 for Pearce is the difference maker for me.

 

 

Well, then a batter should NEVER win the MVP. It should always go to a starting pitcher.

 

GUESS DEFENSE DOESN'T MATTER ANYMORE AMIRITE?

[moonslav59]

Well, then a batter should NEVER win the MVP. It should always go to a starting pitcher.

 

GUESS DEFENSE DOESN'T MATTER ANYMORE AMIRITE?

 

It's a matter of degree of domination.

 

Pedro's non MVP year was sick. He blew away the next best pitcher in MLB and was historically better than the league norm.

 

Pearce did very well, but he had just over half the ABs as Betts and 2/3rds of JD's.

 

I'm fine with giving the MVP to an ever day player with 650 PAs over a pitcher with 850 PAs, but 54 to 16 is too much to overlook, to me.

[Bellhorn04]

Pearce did very well, but he had just over half the ABs as Betts and 2/3rds of JD's.

 

He also had 14 total bases, compared to 9 for Mookie and 9 for JD.

[moonslav59]

He also had 14 total bases, compared to 9 for Mookie and 9 for JD.

 

Again, I'm not trying to slight what Pearce did. It's not his fault he was able to do what he did in just 16 PAs, but to me, the 41 outs Price got holds more value than the 4 hits and 4 walks Pearce got.

 

It's a close call, and co-winners made the most sense, bit if it was up to me, and I had to pick just one, my vote goes...

 

1) Price

2) Pearce

3) Eovaldi (without Kinsler's error, he might be higher)

4) Kelly

 

[Maxbialystock]

Yeah, my only thought is that Pearce probably appreciates getting the truck a lot more than Price would.

 

Agree completely. This dawned on me last night. I think Price earned the truck, but he gets so much money what difference would it make to him? Besides, Pearce had one heckuva postseason and is a very good choice.

[mvp 78]

Baseball Ref:

 

Wins Probability Added:

 

Price 0.46

Pearce 0.63

[Hitch]

Again, I'm not trying to slight what Pearce did. It's not his fault he was able to do what he did in just 16 PAs, but to me, the 41 outs Price got holds more value than the 4 hits and 4 walks Pearce got.

 

It's a close call, and co-winners made the most sense, bit if it was up to me, and I had to pick just one, my vote goes...

 

1) Price

2) Pearce

3) Eovaldi (without Kinsler's error, he might be higher)

4) Kelly

 

 

But you were adamant that JBJ should have had ALCS MVP right? What's the difference there?

[Maxbialystock]

Pearce was huge, no doubt, but to me, we had the series won before game 5, anyways.

 

To me, I think Price deserved it and Eovaldi maybe was tied with Pearce for 2nd.

 

Pearce had just 12 ABs (16 PAs). 4 hits in 12 ABs/ 8 times in base in 16 PAs.

 

Price faced 54 batters and got 41 outs.

 

This is always the argument I use for giving SP'ers the MVP. Great starters often pitch to 850+ PAs a year- far more than any batter ever gets. Just because they are bunched up, does not make them any less valuable.

 

Interesting. On another thread I said the same thing. Pearce was fantastic, of course. But Price's fantastic was based on 200 pitches--vs what? 4 good swings of the bat? Give me a break.

[moonslav59]

Agree completely. This dawned on me last night. I think Price earned the truck, but he gets so much money what difference would it make to him? Besides, Pearce had one heckuva postseason and is a very good choice.

 

Good point, you commie bastahd!

[moonslav59]

But you were adamant that JBJ should have had ALCS MVP right? What's the difference there?

 

Was I adamant?

 

Was there a dominating pitcher that did more than JBJ?

 

If so, I'll listen. Maybe I missed something and was blinded by my JBJ man crush.

[Bellhorn04]

Interesting. On another thread I said the same thing. Pearce was fantastic, of course. But Price's fantastic was based on 200 pitches--vs what? 4 good swings of the bat? Give me a break.

 

That comparison is not quite right LOL

[Maxbialystock]

Is it just me or would I have found it next to impossible to choose the MVP- Any number of players could have received it. Price I guess would have been my pick but I really don't think one player should have been singled out from this team. It isn't particularly important for sure but the principle of even having this award for this team this year doesn't seem to fit.

 

For this team especially you are dead on target. After I think game 4, Pearce was interviewed and insisted this was very much a team win, period. And that includes a nutty 6'7" beanpole starter having a tough WS who is shouting at his teammates--right before their big 7th inning rally to be followed by a dinger in the 8th and 5 more runs in the 9th--that this game isn't over!

[notin]

Baseball Ref:

 

Wins Probability Added:

 

Price 0.46

Pearce 0.63

 

Pearce was an excellent choice and I’m glad to see some props go to a guy with a pretty undistinguished career...

[Hitch]

Was I adamant?

 

Was there a dominating pitcher that did more than JBJ?

 

If so, I'll listen. Maybe I missed something and was blinded by my JBJ man crush.

 

When somebody suggested he should be MVP at the end of game 5 you said that there was no doubt about it. Seems weird that a guy that did less than Pearce with far more at bats is considered a shoe-in when Pearce isn't. Good pitching performance from Price or not.

[moonslav59]

When somebody suggested he should be MVP at the end of game 5 you said that there was no doubt about it. Seems weird that a guy that did less than Pearce with far more at bats is considered a shoe-in when Pearce isn't. Good pitching performance from Price or not.

 

Well, there has to be a better choice to be a bad call. Maybe there was a pitcher who dominated more than JBJ's 9 RBIs, almost all of which put us a head near the end of 3 games.

 

9 RBIs was a third of all the runs we scored.

 

Price pitched 2 games in the ALCS not 3 and had a decent, but not great 3.38 ERA-- 32 outs out of 44 batters faced.

 

E-O pitched in 2 games (7.1 IP) with a 2.45 ERA-- 22 outs out of 31 batters faced.

 

Again, I don't see a pitcher as deserving as Price was in the WS.

 

Recap:

JBJ clears the bases loaded with a dbl to put us up 5-4 in game 2. (We were down 1 game to none.)

Down 5-4 in game 4, JBJ hit a 2 run job to put us up 1

Game 5, tie game, he hits a 3 run job to clinch the win.

 

I never said it was all about PAs vs batters faced. I said that was the deciding factor (assuming everything else was kind of even).

Edited October 30, 2018 by moonslav59

[Northern Star]

I don't begrudge your debating the MVP award, but I've never cared about them. I'm more focused on the fact the team won the title.

[Kimmi]

The playoffs were perfect in terms of beating the Yankees, then the defending champs. I really thought the Dodgers would put up more of a fight, but like you said, who's complaining?

 

The road to the World Series Championship is always made sweeter when it goes through the Yankees. I would have been thrilled had they not made the playoffs at all, but you can't argue with eliminating them from the playoffs on their home turf.

[Kimmi]

Took ‘em 10 innings to walk off. Probably the only real home field advantage in these playoffs was having last ups in a tie/close game. I felt the odds of that happening was inevitable as time went on. I just wish it happened earlier because that game really f***ed-up my sleep cycle.

 

What an exhausting game that was.

 

The players are talking about how Eovaldi's performance was their rallying point. Way cool.

[Kimmi]

I also picked Price and was a bit surprised that Pearce won it. But he (Pearce), along with a bunch of other guys, had a great WS.

 

Dudes dig the long ball.

[Yaz Fan Since 67]

I still have most of the games on my DVR list. I froze them all at the best moments and went back, again, to enjoy them last night. My favorite moment of the entire playoff run was JBJ's grand slam. I've seen that a whole bunch of times. "Jackie Bradley Jr.! A knockout punch here in the 8th!" was the call and it's awesome. Edited October 31, 2018 by Yaz Fan Since '67

[notin]

When somebody suggested he should be MVP at the end of game 5 you said that there was no doubt about it. Seems weird that a guy that did less than Pearce with far more at bats is considered a shoe-in when Pearce isn't. Good pitching performance from Price or not.

 

Aren’t you comparing different series here? One of the things helped JBJ was that there was no outstanding pitching candidate...

[Emp9]

What an exhausting game that was.

 

The players are talking about how Eovaldi's performance was their rallying point. Way cool.

 

Eovaldi’s performance was truly inspiring. After that game (Muncy’s walk off) I still felt 70% ok & confident about the next game later that day. I’m mean, if a 7 hr & 20 min 18 inning game is what it’s going to take to beat these Red Sox? Have at it. Of course losing a game like that for most teams, there’s always a chance that that could wind up being some sort of turning point in the series. This team just recovers quickly, all year. They play ‘til the end. 2 strikes. 2 outs. All year. If the game isn’t over yet, I like our chances. When I heard that Cora held a club house meeting of some sorts to congratulate Eovaldi after the loss and the team applauded him and his outstanding effort, my confidence level went back to 100%.

[SoxnCycles]

Eovaldi’s performance was truly inspiring. After that game (Muncy’s walk off) I still felt 70% ok & confident about the next game later that day. I’m mean, if a 7 hr & 20 min 18 inning game is what it’s going to take to beat these Red Sox? Have at it. Of course losing a game like that for most teams, there’s always a chance that that could wind up being some sort of turning point in the series. This team just recovers quickly, all year. They play ‘til the end. 2 strikes. 2 outs. All year. If the game isn’t over yet, I like our chances. When I heard that Cora held a club house meeting of some sorts to congratulate Eovaldi after the loss and the team applauded him and his outstanding effort, my confidence level went back to 100%.

 

Yup, it really didn't matter to me that they lost the game, the Eovaldi performance was amazing to watch.

His performance helped the rest of the team shrug the loss off also.

[Emp9]

Not to totally throw out individual performances, but our OF defense especially the first 2 series I think REALLY set the tone. Instilled a lot of confidence for our entire pitching staff throughout. Our staff minimized the long ball as much as they could. I think it also sent a message to the top 2 HR hitting teams in the league this year that we had to face. The Yanks & Dodgers really did HAVE to hit HRs to have a chance because they weren't gonna get much else.

[Hitch]

Aren’t you comparing different series here? One of the things helped JBJ was that there was no outstanding pitching candidate...

 

Yes. The point being that one of the reasons moon used against Pearce was that he only had a certain amount of impact with his bat was the same reason he thought JBJ was worthy. Regardless of pitching.

 

To be honest, I don't care that much. It could have been one of a few guys who won it. I'm glad Pearce won it and felt he deserved it as every time he hit a homer or his bases clearing double felt a huge moment in our wins. Every hit. But Price was superb. Evoaldi was heroic. They all deserved it.

 

I'm kinda glad Pearce got it because of his journey too. Plus Price and Evoaldi have been showered - rightly - with praise, so they've not lost out.

[Hitch]

Not to totally throw out individual performances, but our OF defense especially the first 2 series I think REALLY set the tone. Instilled a lot of confidence for our entire pitching staff throughout. Our staff minimized the long ball as much as they could. I think it also sent a message to the top 2 HR hitting teams in the league this year that we had to face. The Yanks & Dodgers really did HAVE to hit HRs to have a chance because they weren't gonna get much else.

 

Benitendi's defence in particular was off the charts this post season. That game ending catch against Houston will live long in the memory...