Do you agree with Garza?
Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Matt Garza (left) was voted Most Valuable Player in the American League Championship Series after pitching seven-plus innings and giving up just two hits on the way to a 3-1 victory over the Red Sox in Game 7. Do you agree?
It's hard to argue now, after he won both the pivotal Game 3 and the pressure-packed series finale, but I was hoping they would split the award between Garza and outfielder B.J. Upton, who had four home runs and 11 RBIs in the series. Maybe that would have been more likely if Upton hadn't gone hitless in four at-bats last night, but he has been the most consistent and productive member of the team through both rounds of playoffs.
He'll get his reward. He's closing in on the record for home runs in a single postseason, which is held jointly by Barry Bonds (2002) and Carlos Beltran (2004) with eight. Upton has seven and will have up to seven more games to equal or eclipse the record. If he breaks the record, he will have equaled or exceeded his home run total for the entire regular season (9). Evan Longoria is also in that hunt with six home runs so far in October.
Associated Press photo
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Comments
Pete , Its great to see the worst team , underdog Rays sent spoiled espn-backed Dead Sox and their Red Sox Nation bandwagon packing . I LOVE IT !!!!!
It was a nice payback to all those Red Sox Nation brats who 'invaded' other teams' home territory .
Posted by: Allan | October 20, 2008 7:51 AM
You could make a case for Longoria as well. After all, he had a key RBI in the 4th inning of game 7 to go with nearly matching Upton AB for AB in the series.
Posted by: Scooter | October 20, 2008 8:35 AM
Hey Pete thanks for the response to my Flacco/Boller homework assignment:) I would give the upperhand to Flacco at this point due to the fact that I think Boller inherited a better team overall. Perhaps I'm wrong. Regardless it's hard to call at this point. Back to the current post...I think you have to give it to Garza. The Sox had a lot of momentum and Garza (thankfully) stopped them in their tracks. Upton was a close second though and I think you're right, if Upton has some hits in this last game then we might be talking about a split.
Posted by: jj | October 20, 2008 8:58 AM
Hey Pete thanks for the response to my Flacco/Boller homework assignment:) I would give the upperhand to Flacco at this point due to the fact that I think Boller inherited a better team overall. Perhaps I'm wrong. Regardless it's hard to call at this point. Back to the current post...I think you have to give it to Garza. The Sox had a lot of momentum and Garza (thankfully) stopped them in their tracks. Upton was a close second though and I think you're right, if Upton has some hits in this last game then we might be talking about a split.
Posted by: jj | October 20, 2008 8:58 AM
If you have to pick only one, Garza is the man. All we heard in game 3 was "Lester". I can tell you from the middle of red sox baseball, all I heard for game 7 was "Lester". We all got to see "Garza".
Seeing the bosox go down was certainly nice. It's made my morning at work nice and quiet. It's a mixed blessing as we'll be seeing a lot more of Garza, Shields, Kazmir, and Price. Oh, and the Rays have a few guys who can hit. Yeesh.
O's in 2014?!
Posted by: deasy | October 20, 2008 9:40 AM
You're right, it's hard to argue against Garza, but Upton really picked the team up and carried them. Heck, you could even argue Longoria, that home run in the first inning of Game 2 got the Rays fired up.
Posted by: Jimbo | October 20, 2008 11:29 AM
I would have voted for Upton because I think his HR in game 3 really started the snowball. Also I love the fact that he goes by B.J. and his given name is Melvin Emmanuel.
Posted by: joe | October 20, 2008 12:26 PM
theres no reason to argue with Garza being picked. The argument (which I know you addressed) is that BJ Upton doesnt get the award. However, as hard as Upton tried and as well as he performed, he single-handedly couldn't win games. Garza's game seven performance was essentially nothing short of masterful. Just looking at his line tells the majority of the story but you cant leave out the intangibles. Garza went on to pitch 1-hit ball through six innings after giving up a first-inning solo bomb to the heart of the Red Sox (sorry Papi) Dustin Padroia. He went on then beyond the sixth (and over 110 pitches to give up another hit and allow another runner on who reached on an error. Seven innings, 9 K's, 2 hits, and 3 walks in the biggest game, on the biggest stage of his entire career. Only thing more powerful and moving in this game was Maddon's trust in bringing in David Price (David Price as in the extremely talents however extremely unseasoned/ experienced David Price) in to face the game 5 hero and hot hitting JD Drew with bases loaded and blowing him away with 96-97 mph heat. Imagine if Drew teed off on Price and launched a 450 foot bomb for a grandslam... That has potential to mentally scar a pitcher of extreme talent before his career even starts. Either that or make him the most confident young left hander with mid to upper heat and a slider that could slice deli meat...
Posted by: mike | October 20, 2008 3:01 PM
From this Rocky Mountain outpost, nobody could have been happier that the equally (to the Yankees) evil Sawx went down. But before everybody gives "dynasty" status to the Rays, just remember that at this exact time last year, the whole country was all over "Rocktober," the Colorado Rockies amazing run to the NL flag. The Rocks were young, enthusiastic, athletic, had stable leadership in the dugout. This year it all collapsed with injuries, contract hassles, ill-advised trades, over-rated young pitchers, and sophomore slumps. I'd certainly rather see the Rays win than either Boston or NY, but Tampa Bay is hardly a lock for anything next year. PS. How about if the "Player to Be Named" is BJ Upton?
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Pete's reply: That would be nice. And after that, we can all call the IRS and ask for our money back.
Posted by: Noel Johnston | October 20, 2008 3:28 PM