Beltre or Bonds for NL MVP?

For the last three years, baseball, and the National League in particular, have been dominated and left awestruck by one man - Barry Bonds.

In 2001 his home run assault on the major league record books began as he broke Mark McGwire's single season home run record by clubbing 73 out of the park en route to winning his record fourth Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.

In 2002 he batted .370 for the season to lead the majors, and hit an astounding 46 home runs while being walked 198 times to break his own single-season walk record. The season ended with a trip to the World Series and his fifth MVP award.

In 2003 the domination continued with a .341 average, 45 more home runs, another walk record and his third-straight MVP award - giving him six for his career.
2004 was no different for Bonds.

This season at age 40, Bonds claimed his second National League (NL) batting title, hit another 45 home runs, broke his own single-season record with 232 walks and set the single season on base percentage mark at .609. All this while playing a gold glove caliber left field, recording 11 outfield assists and a.983 fielding percentage.

Bonds carried a very mediocre San Francisco Giants squad on his back all season long.

So as usual, the 2004 season, just like the past three Major League Baseball (MLB) campaigns will end with Bonds getting another MVP award with relatively little or no argument from the media or the fans, right?

From the stats listed above, and the precedent set by the last three season's, voters can easily say yes.

But I have a feeling things might end a little differently this year.

In Los Angeles, the Dodgers' miracle season and charge to the postseason was a combined team effort. But you cannot overlook or downplay the efforts of third baseman Adrian Beltre, who led that charge with an MVP caliber season, which equaled and in my opinion surpassed that of Barry Bonds.

The 25-year-old Dominican Republic native Beltre was finally able to put together all his talent and highly touted potential to put up break through numbers, and take the Dodgers back to the postseason.

During the Dodgers' unexpected climb to the top of the National League West, Beltre was simply, The Man.

Coming off a season in which he batted a paltry .240 with a then career-high 23 home runs, expectations were not high for Beltre or the Dodgers.

But I guess that is why they play the game.

In 2004 Beltre led the major leagues with 48 home runs, was ranked fourth with a .334 average, third with 121 RBIs, 12th with 104 runs and was one of only eight major leaguers to record 200 hits on the season.

In addition, his .629 slugging percentage was good enough for fourth in the league, and his 376 total bases were second in the majors and the most in Dodgers' franchise history.

And although Beltre was snubbed of an All-Star Game appearance in favor of early season MVP candidate Scott Rolen, and Florida Marlins' Mike Lowell, his strong defensive play included a .978 fielding percentage with only 10 errors.

Another little known fact is that he did all of this with extremely painful bone spurs in his ankle, which he suffered from after fouling a ball of his foot in a game against the Marlins in early May.

Beltre's season was also one of the top offensive outputs in the illustrious history of the Dodger organization. The 48 homeruns came one short of equaling teammate Shawn Green's record of 49, but were good enough to set the franchise record for home runs by a right-handed batter.

Beltre was the centerpiece of the 2004 Dodgers. His strong play kept the Dodgers in first place for 153 out of 171 days of the season.

Even more amazing to look at when considering Beltre's deserving of the award, is that 26 of his 48 home runs either gave the Dodgers the lead or proved to be the game winner.

And just like any MVP would, Beltre finished the season strong, batting .350 with 63 RBIs in the second half of the season, including an enormous month of September in which he hit six homeruns, knocked in 23 and scored 13 runs to claim the NL Player of the Month award.

Now the question becomes, who is the NL MVP?

If one were to decide strictly based on numbers it would be a toss up. While Beltre had more home runs, RBIs and hits, Bonds was only three homers behind him, but can also boast a record .609 on-base percentage, .812 slugging percentage and 232 walks - 120 of which were intentional.

Bonds definitely strikes more fear in the hearts of pitchers, leaving him with one or two good pitches to hit each day. This speaks volumes for his patience and plate discipline. Perhaps the most astonishing stat for Bonds this year is that he homered, (with 45 on the season) more then he struck out (41).

Beltre hasn't established himself as that kind of a feared hitter, but then again he is only 25.

Another point to factor is the missing postseason birth on Bonds' 2004 accomplishment list. Every player reporting to Spring training comes with one goal in mind - to get to the playoffs, and ultimately to win a ring.

This is something that has eluded Bonds throughout his career, and while that has nothing to do with the debate about this year's MVP, the fact that Beltre was able to lead his team into the playoffs certainly does.

Without a trip to the playoffs and a chance to win a ring, all of Bonds' historic numbers, records and accolades are nothing more than individual accomplishments collected while playing a team sport.

Sure, Bonds is the best player of this generation, and maybe of all time, but should he automatically be awarded the MVP year after year because of his past accomplishments?
I'm not saying that Bonds doesn't deserve his last three MVP awards, he certainly does!

And I'm not saying that Bonds' accomplishments this season are not worthy of MVP consideration. Heck, in some years numbers like his would be good enough to win the award with virtually little debate, like he has done the last three years!

The point I'm trying to make is that when someone unexpected, and not as highly touted as the perennial MVP candidate that Bonds is, steps up to the plate and consistently shines all season long, plays hurt all year, is among the league leaders in nearly every statistical category, plays solid defense and leads his team into the postseason (unlike Bonds), they deserve to be recognized.

Beltre was already snubbed of an All-Star appearance, and assuredly would not have received as much media attention had his traditionally lowly Dodgers not been in the playoff race.

But that doesn't change the fact that there is only one player who accomplished all these things in 2004.

His name is Adrian Beltre, and he more than anyone deserves the MVP award.