If we're stuck on the question of whether a designated hitter is eligible to win an MVP award… well, on the one hand, that's understandable. After all, that's the fun of sports – debating issues that don't have a clear solution. Maybe you believe you have to own a glove to win the MVP. Maybe I don't. We could have a heated debate for hours and there would be no clear answer.
The great sports debates have always been: Which Yankees were the best, the 1927 Yankees, the 1961 Yankees, or the 1998 Yankees? Who was the better running back, Jim Brown or Walter Payton? And of course, the most popular in recent years: Who is the GOAT, Michael Jordan or LeBron James? (Though lately I've been feeling more sympathetic to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's case in this debate.)
Should Shohei Ohtani be the MVP?
Assuming Francisco Lindor was the primary replacement candidate, his status as a candidate was hurt this week by an untimely back issue, so Ohtani No Win the MVP. But in reality, that argument is largely beside the point and obscures the more compelling truth of what Ohtani has accomplished this year.
Not only did he do something rare — combine speed and power better than anyone else in a sport that's been around since 1869 — he did something nearly impossible: He set the bar impossibly high, in real time. Invented A new category: the “50-50 Club.” According to baseball-reference.com, there are 23,359 players who have played in Major League Baseball.
Of those players, only 47 have ever hit 30 home runs and stolen 30 bases in a season, making up the so-called “30-30 club.” Ken Williams was the first to achieve this feat in 1922. He remained the only member of that club for about 34 years until Willie Mays joined him in 1956.
Only six players have been in the 40-40 club: Jose Canseco was the first in 1988 and was considered a unique unicorn at the time, but he was alone for eight years until Barry Bonds joined in 1996. Four more have joined since then.
Now Ohtani has invented the 50-50 club and achieved it with nine games left in the season. By Saturday, they had each won 52 games.
And I'm happy to be wrong about this, but I don't know if any player alive today can come close. Maybe, just maybe, Ronald Acuna Jr. could do it, since he's the newest member of the 40-40 club, ahead of Ohtani. But when he returns next year, he'll be playing on both surgically repaired knees. Will he ever be able to run like he once did? It's worth rooting for, but it's unlikely.
And who knows how well Ohtani will fare on the 50-50 club?
Either way, it's going to be a tough number to get close to. One that springs to mind is Wayne Gretzky's single-season and career points records. Gretzky holds the top four single-season records, with a high of 215 in 1985-86. Thirty-eight years later, the closest he's come was Mario Lemieux in 1988-89, but he fell 15 points short. Connor McDavid, who this year became the most points-scoring player in history not including Gretzky, Lemieux or Yzerman, had 152 points, 63 points shy of that mark.
And in terms of career, it gets even more unapproachable, at 2,857, 936 more than Jaromir Jagr.
We've been wrong about these things before. When Bob Beamon broke the long jump record at the 1968 Olympics, he did so by leaping 21.65 inches, a distance no one had ever done before. It was an incredible feat, but it took Mike Powell 23 years to beat it. Babe Ruth passed Roger Conner for the all-time record when he hit his 139th home run on July 18, 1921, and went on to hit 575 more. It took Hank Aaron 39 years to catch him. (When you think about it, it's amazing that Ruth is still in third place, even though he hasn't hit a home run since 1935.)
So maybe we'll see a second 50-50 player in the near future, and Ohtani won't spend forever in a 50-50 cell, but I'm not going to wait around hoping.
Vax Wax
The new St. Bonaventure University basketball GM needs to be ready to go East to the Bonnies Gonzaga or he'll find out in the New York Post.
Running has always been a passion for Terry Collins. On Sept. 29, the former Mets manager will make his first appearance in the 22nd annual Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers 5K Run through the Battery Tunnel. “T to T does great work for first responders and Gold Star families,” the captain says. “I'm truly honored to be a part of such a worthy event.”
Just for fun, the Giants might steal a win in Cleveland on Sunday because, in case you haven't noticed, apparently the 1972 Dolphins and 1985 Bears aren't playing in the NFC East this year.
Surrounded by Hall of Fame running mate and friend Walt “Clyde” Frazier, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau and All-Star Julius Randle, Earl Monroe will attend a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday morning for Pearl High School's new 69,000-square-foot, five-story high school in the South Bronx. More than 400 students, faculty and other Knicks players will gather to spread Pearl High wisdom: “A ball and a book can change the world.”
Counterattack against Vac
Joel Tannenbaum: If Tyler Conklin keeps up his pace, he'll be dating Taylor Swift by Halloween.
Vac: And I can't think of a better way for the Jets to remember Rich Castor, who passed away last February, than by having the tight end return to their offense.
Stuart Summers: Hey Mike. Francisco Lindor gave Jeff McNeil a Ford Bronco Sport after he won the batting title. What should soon-to-be millionaire free agent Juan Soto buy Aaron Judge after he benefited from being a leadoff hitter this season? A Rolls Royce, a Bugatti? Or both?
Vac: I think the Rolls is a great second place car to the Bugatti running behind it, and I vote for both.
@frankboesch: This week was the 51st anniversary of “The Game Where the Ball Came Off the Wall”…remember, Richie Zisk was the ghost runner on second base at the start of the top of the 13th inning?
Mike Vack: For now, I like Ghostrunner, but if I see a few more tweets like this, I might change my mind.
Neal Ptashnik: As a Mets and Jets fan, I can't remember a better season than this, with the Mets playing important games in late September and the Jets still winning in late September.
Vac: I don't think we'll ever see a better WhackBack.
