King Kaufman's Sports Daily

David Ortiz or Alex Rodriguez? Big Papi or A-Rod? Your choice for A.L. MVP may speak volumes about you. Plus: Other awards.

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Oct. 3, 2005 | Who do you like for American League Most Valuable Player, Alex Rodriguez or David Ortiz?

I'm wondering if your answer says more about you than it does about the relative value of the league's two big sluggers, just as I suspect any non-local rooting interest you have in the A.L. playoffs -- Evil Empire Yankees? Underdogs becoming Evil Empire Jr. Red Sox? Scrappy, maddening White Sox? Ignored Left Coast Angels? -- says a lot about you. More about both leagues' playoffs Tuesday, when they start.

With apologies to Travis Hafner of Cleveland, there are two candidates for A.L. MVP.

There's Ortiz, the Red Sox designated hitter. Gregarious, overweight, cuddly, with silly facial hair. The acknowledged leader of Boston's frat party of a team. He's the friend in need, the guy who comes through for you when the chips are down, when you need bail at 3 a.m. or a big hit in the 11th inning. He's clutch, bro, to phrase it like he would.

Then there's Rodriguez, the Yankees third baseman. Well-groomed, well-spoken, terrific at his job. Maybe the best there is, but in a kind of bloodless, corporate way. No need for last-minute heroics here. By the late innings, he has already done his work, cleaned up his desk and started planning for that big meeting next week.

He's cool -- in the Marshall McLuhan sense, as opposed to the Arthur Fonzarelli sense -- but he's not Joe DiMaggio cool, not aloof. It's not that he can't be bothered with the likes of you. He's polite, respectful. It's just that he doesn't really have anything to say, or if he does he chooses to keep it to himself because he doesn't want to offend anybody, mess up that deodorant spokesman gig.

Even their nicknames show the difference. Ortiz is "Big Papi." It's not only descriptive, it's the kind of name that gets bestowed fondly upon a fellow by teammates.

Rodriguez is "A-Rod." That's it. Not Alex the Ax or the Miami Masher. Just a shortening of his name, the kind of thing that turns Earl the Squirrel's Chop Shop into Esqo Automotive. The nickname also "de-ethnifies" him. No leading impromptu clubhouse dance sessions to blaring salsa music for A-RodCo. More like Kenny G. on the headphones, bro.

All of this makes me a little uncomfortable because, while I think Ortiz is going to get the award, Rodriguez is my choice for MVP.

Ortiz will get it because he's so clutch, bro. If I've heard it once, I've heard it a half-dozen times in the last week that Ortiz has "single-handedly" won 15 games for the Sox, or 12, or 20. The number varies but the concept is the same. How many has Rodriguez won?

Next page: None, same as Ortiz. Plus: Lee, Pujols or Jones? Clemens for Cy Young? Other awards