When I first heard the news, I did a double-take. Howard? Really?
I mean sure, he had more homeruns and rbis. But statistically, Pujols outperformed Howard in most other categories. Batting average, Slugging, on-base, runs, doubles, steals, you name it. Oh, not strikeouts.
I hear the argument that Howard was more valuable to his team. That doesn’t wash. You can say the same for Pujols only more so.
Less discussed is the clutch issue. Pujols’ clutch stats would run circles around Howard’s.
Well, I’ve had my rant and I have an off-season to get used it.
Followup: The vote was relatively close. 388 to 347 (230 for Berkman and 211 for Beltran). Essentially, Howard got 20 first votes, Pujols got 19 second place votes and Berkman got 21 third place votes. That pretty much sums up the voting.