The Top 10 Iconoclastic A.L. MVP Votes

A number of AL MVP voters went very much away from the crowd with some of their picks.

Updated: November 18, 2003, 10:02 AM ET
By Jim Baker | MLB Insider
It is human nature to sometimes want to do things to be different. That aspect of the human condition was certainly on display in the American League MVP balloting announced yesterday. A number of voters went very much away from the crowd with some of their picks. Here are the 10 individual votes that made the most impression on me as being the most disparate from the pack:

1. Derek Jeter in second place
I'm a little worried about the writer who thought Derek Jeter was the second-most valuable player in the league. I'm wondering if he had access to the same visuals and study guides as the rest of the voters. The 30 or so fellows who had better seasons than did Jeter must not have crossed his radar. Jeter appeared on only one other ballot and that was in tenth place. I wonder if this is the most iconoclastic MVP pick of ever. Without checking, I'm going to guess that -- at some point -- there was a player who got a first-place vote without appearing on any other ballots at all.

2. Carlos Delgado absent from a ballot
It is perfectly acceptable to believe that Delgado is not the MVP or even worthy of the runner-up in spite of the fact that he had either the best or second-best season in the league this year. However, to believe he does not belong in the top ten is downright scandalous. Jim Souhan and Bill Ballou were crucified in some circles for leaving Hideki Matsui off their Rookie of the Year ballots, but this is a far greater outrage in that brings into question the very qualifications of the person who did so.


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Jim Baker is an author at Baseball Prospectus and a frequent contributor to Page 2. You can e-mail Jim at bottlebat@gmail.com.

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