Phillies' Rollins Is Named MVP
Shortstop Edges Rockies' Holliday

By Barry Svrluga
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 21, 2007

When Jimmy Rollins drew attention to himself last winter, brashly declaring that his Philadelphia Phillies were "the team to beat" in the National League East, he merely had to look across his own infield for two of the most significant reasons behind his belief. First baseman Ryan Howard was the reigning NL most valuable player, a power hitter with seemingly unlimited potential. Second baseman Chase Utley had developed into an explosive fan favorite, a player worthy of the seven-year, $85 million contract the Phillies had just granted him.

But yesterday, when this year's NL MVP was announced, it was the 5-foot-7 Rollins who stood as the Phillies' most potent force. The shortstop who served as the Phillies' ignition -- not to mention their stability when first Howard, then Utley went down with injuries -- won the award over Colorado slugger Matt Holliday, marking the first time teammates have been MVPs in consecutive years since San Francisco Giants Jeff Kent and Barry Bonds in 2000 and '01.

"I wasn't quite sure how to feel," Rollins said during a conference call with reporters. "It was just one of those things, I never really thought about an MVP. I always figured if I won a Gold Glove, that was an MVP for a shortstop."

Rollins, though, did more than anchor the Phillies' defense. As a leadoff hitter, he set an NL record for total bases by a shortstop (380), breaking a mark set by the Cubs' Ernie Banks in 1958. He hit .296 and led the league with 139 runs, and became the first player ever to have at least 200 hits (212) and at least 20 doubles (38), triples (20), homers (30) and stolen bases (41) in a single season.

"He's been our most valuable player, there's no doubt," Phillies General Manager Pat Gillick said in the final weekend of the season, when Philadelphia completed a run in which they overcame a seven-game September deficit to surpass the New York Mets and take the division title, just as Rollins had predicted.

In voting by two members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America in each NL city, Rollins ranked first on 16 of 32 ballots, second on seven and third on fourth, finishing with 353 points to beat out Holliday (11 first-place votes, 336 points) and Milwaukee first baseman Prince Fielder (five first-place votes, 284 points). In what was largely considered a wide-open race, nine players received votes in the top three, including New York Mets third baseman David Wright, who finished fourth, and Howard, who was fifth.

Holliday, who eventually helped the Rockies to a sweep of the Phillies in the first round of the NL playoffs, provided what might have been an overwhelming statistical case. The 27-year-old left fielder won a batting title (hitting .340) and led the league in RBI (137), hits (216), total bases (386) and doubles (50), adding 36 homers. Holliday's OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 1.012 trailed only Atlanta's Chipper Jones and Fielder, and was significantly better than Rollins's .875 (tied with Washington's Dmitri Young for 23rd in the NL).

"I'm just amazed," Rollins said of Holliday. "It's sick what he's done."

Ultimately, though, Holliday's home park may have worked against him. He hit 75 points higher (.376 to .301) at Coors Field, where he slugged 25 of his homers.

Rollins said he hoped following Howard's win -- and backing up Cleveland pitcher C.C. Sabathia, who won the American League Cy Young Award last week -- would help convince young African Americans, whose participation in baseball has long been waning, that his sport is worth pursuing.

"Black kids," Rollins said, "they don't feel like it's street-credible. . . . It's not about being street-credible. It's about doing something that you love, doing something that we worked hard to get to. . . . It would be a sad day if one day we are quote-unquote extinct from this game."