Before I had this space to vent, my family and friends had to endure my periodic outrage over Bud Selig and his gang of selfish idiots, and the other things "wrong" with baseball: arrogant (if not incompetent) umpires, inane broadcast crews, pandering official scorers and the lack of "team error" stats, and AL MVP voting, to name a few. Last year my anti-Ichiro tirade lasted for a week -- an opposite-field singles hitter who wasn't even the best player on his own team was named MVP, while Jason Giambi's fantastic season was overlooked by a band of myopic sportswriters.

Now we're told that Miguel Tejada is somehow "more valuable" than Alex Rodriguez. Since A-Rod was the clear-cut, obvious winner of the Silver Slugger award as best hitting shortstop, and finally displaced Omar Vizquel as the Gold Glove winner for best fielder at his position, I'm wondering just what Tejada does (other than offence and defence) to demonstrate his supposed superiority. Apparently, it's his good fortune at choosing teammates that include big-league pitchers. Is there anyone who believes the A's would have missed the playoffs with the "inferior" A-Rod at SS? It's not a team award, it's for the best individual; the player you pick first if they are all lined up against the playground fence.

Apparently, one walkoff homer to extend a team winning streak in a playoff race gets shown often enough on TV highlight packages to make a lasting impression on the peabrained. The AL beat writers have again managed the impossible: they've turned the league's most prestigious honour into an unfunny joke. If the Giants had missed the playoffs, their NL brethren who use the same "logic" would have ignored one of the greatest seasons ever and voted for someone other than Barry Bonds as MVP. Ridiculous! Do you hear me, Richard Griffin? You're wrong again, Dick.