How Do We Feel About The American League Batting Title Being Named After Rod Carew?
Here in 2016, people complain on the internet about everything that you could possibly think of, so of course people were complaining about Major League Baseball naming the American League batting title after Hall of Famer Rod Carew.
Let’s talk about that in a second. First, Rod Carew’s step daughter tho.
K, batting titles.
For those who don’t know who Rod Carew is, he played 19 major league seasons, and collected 3,053 hits along the way. Prior to the All Star Game last night, the MLB announced that the National League batting title will now be called the Tony Gwynn National League Batting Champion Award, and the American League batting title will be called the Rod Carew American League Batting Champion Award.
Before people get all up in arms about that, nobody is actually going to call them that. It’s a batting title. But more than that, it’s a great gesture to honor the late Tony Gwynn, one of the greatest hitters in the history of the game, a man who won eight batting titles, which is tied with Honus Wagner for the most in National League history. It’s also a great way to honor Rod Carew, who has seven batting titles of his own, including four consecutive batting titles from 1972 to 1975. One of my favorite baseball trivia questions is, who is the only player in baseball history to win a batting title without hitting a home run? Rod Carew in 1972. Perhaps that’s why those who are unfamiliar with him are unfamiliar with him. He didn’t have much power, and chicks dig the long ball.
Gwynn was a slam dunk candidate to have the National League batting title honor. It’s not that fans were “upset” over Carew getting the AL batting title named after him, but some felt that there were more worthy candidates. So, I ask: who? The obvious answers — Pete Rose, Ty Cobb, Ted Williams, or Hank Aaron. These are pretty easy to rip through. Cobb was a racist asshole. Rose is banned from baseball, so they’re not about to name any awards after him, especially one as notable as the batting title. Also, it’s not the hits award. It’s the batting title. Rose has more hits than anyone in baseball history, but he only won three batting titles. And I know it sounds ridiculous to say “only” there, but Carew has more than double that.
You can’t name it after Hank Aaron, because the Hank Aaron Award already exists, annually given to the best hitter in each league, which the fans and media both vote on. Same idea, but it goes beyond just batting average, as did Aaron’s career. What about Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived? He’d be perfect, right? Well, he has six batting titles, so Carew’s got him there. Beyond that, the MLB named the All Star Game MVP award after Williams, which I think was jumping the gun a little bit. Williams had passed away earlier that month in 2002, and I think the MLB rushed into naming an award after him for the sake of honoring him at that year’s All Star Game, so he got stuck with the All Star Game MVP award, which nobody really gives a shit about. That being said, Carew’s still got him beat for AL batting title honors.
When it comes to Carew, perhaps you had heard of him before, perhaps you had not. But you know him now, because the American League batting title is now named after him. And he deserves it.
PS – I don’t know why I included Pete Rose in the conversation, seeing as though he never played in the American League, but just go with it. Long day.