Green: Manny being MVP?

In 1994, Manny Ramirez was the runner-up for Rookie of the Year. The winner? Bob Hamelin, who left baseball four years later. A decade after Hamelin’s retirement, Manny Ramirez is still hitting longballs, and he still has a hard time getting that primo hardware.

Ramirez is arguably the best active player to have never received an MVP award. He’s certainly the best active player to be so consistently snubbed; of similar players, he has the fewest top-five finishes without ever finishing in the top two.

In fairness to the 1994 voters, his rookie campaign wasn’t that great. But in 1995, Manny became Manny and earned the first of 11 All-Star elections. If you combined his “career worsts” since then into one imagined “bad” year, that would be a .292 average, a .377 OBP and 20 homers. His absolute worst is still pretty darn good. His best has been phenomenal. Ramirez, a career .313 hitter with a .409 OBP, now stands on the cusp of hitting his 500th career homer. He’s practically guaranteed a spot in Cooperstown. He has nine Silver Sluggers, a World Series MVP, two Hank Aaron awards, and he has led the AL in every major offensive category. Yet, somehow, he can’t get his due in the MVP voting. Why?

The three times Manny cracked the top five, reasonable people could disagree about who should’ve taken home the trophy. In 1999, 2004 and 2005, Manny finished third, third and fourth, respectively, in some very close (and very controversial) MVP votes. But more mysterious than these three close calls are the years Manny didn’t crack the top five. Yes, Manny’s career spans the “Juiced Ball era,” and the MVP voting reflects that. Yes, sometimes it’s just bad luck — in 2002, Manny was on his way to a monster season when he broke his finger sliding into home and ended up missing six weeks, essentially disqualifying himself.

But in 2001, Manny finished (ninth) behind guys like Bret Boone (third). In 2003, Manny (sixth) finished behind David Ortiz (fifth) and Shannon Stewart (fourth!), despite having a better year than both of them (sorry, Papi). And in 2006, Manny finished an insulting 18th, even though his performance was actually a touch better than that of the award winner, Justin Morneau. How do you explain that?

Maybe it’s the flowing dreadlocks or the baggy uniform. Maybe it’s his mercurial manner with the media (and the fact that those writers do the voting). Maybe it’s just his misfortune to be playing at the same time and in the same league as Alex Rodriguez.

Or maybe he’s been so consistently good for so long, we forget how rare a player he truly is. And maybe — finally — with 500 on the radar screen, this is the year that will finally change.