Donovan McNabb Campaigns for Ryan Howard to be NL MVP

I briefly touched on my postseason award picks when I argued for Tim Lincecum to win the NL Cy Young. Incidentally, it looks like Brandon Webb will win it because he’s now at 22 wins while Lincecum has tacked on two losses to go 17-5, though I still would choose Lincecum. Anyway, in the comments section we had an argument for Ryan Howard as NL MVP over my pick of Albert Pujols who has been by far the most superior player in the league. Seems as if commenter Gene is not alone in his choice; Donovan McNabb argued in his blog that Ryan Howard should be MVP:

I can’t believe that some people are dismissing Ryan Howard for the 2008 Most Valuable Player Award. I can’t think of anyone more deserving.
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I’ve heard people say that Ryan’s batting average may hurt him and that he strikes out too much. What? His job is to drive in runs and he has done a better job at that than anyone in baseball. He has 10 more home runs and 20 more RBIs than anyone in baseball. He gets hits when it matters most.

The Phillies – who are in first place – are there because Ryan has put this team on his back and carried them through September. Isn’t that the definition of valuable?

McNabb makes it clear that he’s a Cubs fan who’s picking Howard. He also discredits Manny Ramirez and CC Sabathia because both players have only been there half a season. While I agree with everything McNabb says about Howard, it still doesn’t sway me from Pujols who is by far the most dominant, game-changing batter in the National League. If the Phillies make the playoffs while the Cardinals don’t, it’s not for a lack of production from Albert. That team’s bullpen is horse manure, and they lost their shot at the postseason when Adam Wainwright went down and missed several starts. Take Pujols away and they’re several games under .500. Put Pujols on any other team and you can easily add 7 or more wins to their total. Isn’t that value? As an aside, thought-provoking discussions like this is the exact reason why athletes having blogs and a forum to espouse their opinion is awesome.