3-4

I wish I had more to say in this column, but I don’t. A bit of honesty is needed: the past month of my life has been so impossibly busy that I’ve found myself missing more Sox games than I’ve seen, and writing a great deal less than normal. So, this will be short but sweet.

I took a lot of heat on these pages last year for my undying belief that Alex Rodriguez deserved last year’s MVP more than David Ortiz. He was, quite simply, the better player; maybe his greatest moments didn’t occur at the most opportune times, but his performance in 2005 was astounding. I still stand by that opinion, no matter how much heat it nets me.

This year, though, it’s a different kind of competition for the MVP. To my mind, there are only two viable candidates, and both of their hats bear a red B. Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz have been pacing each other all season, and each is closing in on what could be considered, when its said and done, the best seasons of their respective careers.

The numbers speak for themselves. Ramirez, at the beginning of yesterday’s game, had an OPS of 1.057 – the 4th best of his career, coming in a “post-steroid” season where the average AL offensive player is worse than they were in seasons past. He leas the AL in OPS, ranking 3rd overall in OBP and 2nd in SLG. He entered play yesterday with the 2nd best RC/27 in the AL, behind only Travis Hafner; in terms of pure RC, his only competition was Ortiz himself – both at 94.2. Evey facet of his game is at its height this season: only 5 players have seen more pitches per AB than Ramirez, and none – barring perhaps Jim Thome – have done as much damage with them. Manny has hit 45 homers twice in his career, and is on pace to do so again in 2006; in nether of those seasons has Manny put up rate stats like those of his 2006 campaign. And yet he’s somehow done all of this without ever seeming to get hot. A week-long tear, and we could be talking about this season as the crowning achievement in Manny’s long and storied career.

Ortiz, meanwhile, is without question in the middle of his greatest season. Despite all the heroics, Ortiz’s best OPS – 1.001 in 2005 – didn’t approach the heights that other hitters of his reputation have achieved. This season, however, he’s obliterating his past marks with a 1.022 OPS, fueled primarily by a career-best .629 SLG. Ortiz is on pace to hit nearly 60 HR, and is essentially a lock – barring injury – to break Jimmie Foxx’s all-time single-season Boston HR record of 50, set in 1938. All that alone would put him in the conversation a an MVP candidate; add to it his unerring ability to put the team on his back and run seemingly once per homestand, and he becomes once again a leading candidate.

One of these two men should win the American League’s Most Valuable Player Award. Regardless of who takes home the hardware, however, we should all take a moment ad think about how incredibly lucky we are as fans to be able to watch these two men hit 162 games a year. They are the heart of this ballclub, in every possible way. They are probably the greatest tandem of hitters since Gehrig and Ruth. They’re entertaining, endearing, and energizing stars, and they represent the very best talent in Major League Baseball. No matter how this season unfolds, remind yourself that you saw this, and be grateful.