Fun With Statistics: MVP Edition

I really didn't want to weigh in on this whole Cabrera vs. Trout thing (my two cents, for the record: Trout should've won, but Cabrera had a fantastic year and I in no way take the MVP away from him. It's also silly this has devolved into new school/old school when you don't need sabermetrics to know that Trout positively impacted the game in far more ways than did Cabrera) - but reading some of the reactions from the pro-Cabrera writers forced my hand. Specifically, one Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated. This is to take nothing away from Verducci. He's a great baseball writer. Unfortunately, in the service of writing a good story, sometimes important facts/numbers/statistics get kicked to the curb. Case in point: the following passage from that article. Italics are my own contribution, had I been allowed to edit it.

Fun With Statistics

Numbers are a funny thing. They never lie, provided the ones you're using are accurate and calculated correctly. But they can definitely not tell the whole truth, when not put in the proper context. Here are two examples.

Incontrovertible Fact #1: Albert Pujols had by far the worst season of his career this year. In fact, the past two years have been undoubtedly the two statistically worst of his career.

Incontrovertible Fact #2: Albert Pujols had a season this year - and an average season over the past two years - that, by using fairly common stats, was matched by very few hitters.

An Apology for Irrational Rooting

Quick bit of housekeeping before I get on to the actual post. Here is the link to the last opinion I wrote for NESN a little more than a month ago - a glowing piece about the historic season of Mike Trout, in which I suggested he had a good shot to win the MVP. And while I agree with Joe Posnanski in thinking that if Miguel Cabrera wins the Triple Crown, he'll win the MVP, I also agree with him in thinking that Trout has been the better all-around player this year. Cabrera's season to-date (Triple Crown stats of .332/42/131) has been done or bettered 26 other times in MLB history. Trout's of .323/28/122 runs/46 stolen bases? Once. I'd tell you who it was, but I don't have a subscription to Baseball-Reference - so all I can tell you is the guy had 29 homers. And that's not even mentioning Trout's defense. I rest my case. Did I mention he turned 21 in August? Anyways, the real reason I'm writing...