And the 2009 Korean Series MVP is…

I mentioned in the last post that the KS MVP should have been Lopez, and it seems that Lopez himself agrees with me. Here’s the article.

KIA’s Lopez was part of his team’s Korean Series victory but was furious about being overlooked for the MVP award. After Game 7 had finished, the press decided to vote for walk-off homerun hitting Na Ji-wan as the MVP. The winning pitcher in Games 1 and 5, and having pitched a perfect inning in Game 7, Lopez seemed to be expecting the MVP award. When the announcer asked, “Who will be the MVP?” at the after-game ceremony, the KIA fans began chanting Lopez’s name, but the final prize was awarded to Na Ji-wan. As soon as the ceremony finished and the celebrations began, an upset Lopez did not participate in the celebrations, and was seen sitting in the dugout with his translator. “I can’t understand these Korean sentiments,” he complained to his translator.

You and me both, buddy. I can’t find the stats (okay, I didn’t really look) but Na was hitting pretty poorly before Game 7 as I recall. The guy is a designated hitter, he’s not contributing anything else to the team except his bat (and his baserunning if he gets on, which he rarely did.) The more I think about it, the more ridiculous this is.

I don’t really like the idea of the press determining the awards. It should be people working in the game. In Australian Rules Football, the umpires determine the most prestigious player awards. I may not agree with their opinion anymore than I do that of the press, but at least someone actively working in the game has a perspective that I as the average fan will never have. And that’s my two cents.