Talk:Albert Belle

Eleven years later, I still wonder how Mo Vaughn wins the 1995 AL MVP award. This must be one of the great robberies in the history of the award.

Consider the statistical evidence:

Belle hit .317 to Vaughn's .300. He collected 173 hits to Vaughn's 165.

Belle's OBP was .401 to Vaughn's .388. Belle's Slugging % was .690 to Vaughn's .575. (OPS was Belle 1.091 to Vaughn's .963.)

Belle scored 121 Runs to Vaughn's 98. Runs Created - Belle 150, Vaughn 119. Edgar Martinez led the league with 153. Mo was behind Frank Thomas, Tim Salmon (!) and Rafael Palmeiro in this category.

Belle became the first player to chalk up a 50/50 season: his 50 HR and 52 doubles far outdistance Vaughn's 39 HR and 28 doubles.

Belle struck out 80 times; Vaughn led the league, striking out 150 times.

The two tied with 126 RBI. Vaughn did steal 11 bases in '95 to Belle's 5.

Both players hit in the cleanup spot. Belle's statistics were not merely better than Vaughn's--they were far superior. Barry Bonds's difficulties with the media haven't prevented him from winning a record number of MVP awards, but Belle's demonstrated problems seem to have cost him the award in 1995.

James gives Belle 30 WS and Vaughn 24.... and Edgar Martinez 32.

This is no surprise. Look at the history of baseball. The MVP award tends to go to any player who leads the league in RBI while playing on a division-leader. Vaughn did that in 1995. I'm not saying this is a just way to decide the MVP award, but it's how they do it. So Vaughn and Belle were, in the eyes of the voters, "equally" qualified, and the actual vote was very close. - Randy 13:52 28 August 2006 (EDT)

But I don't think anyone can deny that Belle's "difficult" relationship with the press didn't hurt his chances.

Yeah, I agree. If you have two guys who both have 126 RBI, and whose clubs both led the division, which one are you going to pick . . . . Still, the vote was quite close. Randy 14:30 28 August 2006 (EDT)