MVP?

Congrats to the Yankees for winning the World Series and congrats to Hideki Matsui for winning the World Series MVP and in the process becoming the first Japanese-born player in history to do so.

Problem is, unlike the Yankees as a team, Matsui did not deserve that award.

Yes, I get that he hit .625 with 3 homeruns and 8 RBIs in the series and drove in the winning run in Game 2 and Game 6.  But I can't bring myself to say that a non-pitcher who only played in three of the six games deserves to be the most valuable player.  And on top of that, he doesn't even play defense (or run the bases well for that matter).

No, all Matsui can do these days is drag himself off the bench several times a game and swing the bat.  Sure he does it quite well, but how could he possibly be more valuable than say, Derek Jeter?  All the Yankee captain did was hit .407 with a .429 on-base percentage and play top quality defense while being the catalyst for nearly every scoring opportunity the Yankees had.

How about Johnny Damon, who before tonight was also in the middle of all the action for the Yankees, scoring six runs and driving in four.  Not to mention his heads-up base running play in Game 4 that many believe was the turning point of the entire series.

And last but not least, I have to mention Chase Utley who hit five homeruns and carried the Phillies on his back for most of the series.

All three of the players I mentioned affected all six of the games played, on both sides of the ball, and the MVP goes to a guy who didn't play a single game in the field all year and couldn't muster enough strength to stay in the lineup in the National League park.  To me, that's just not right.