Dwight Gooden on Justin Verlander MVP

Dwight Gooden is sounding off on Justin Verlander winning the MVP award, saying “Hey, what about me?!” He tweeted:

First of all, Gooden did finish in the top five — he finished fourth. But he absolutely, positively should have won the MVP that year.

Gooden won the pitching Triple Crown by going 24-4 with a 1.53 ERA and 268 strikeouts. Anyone who was lucky enough to see him pitch that season  saw some of the greatest pitching they will ever see in their lives. He was simply unhittable.

Gooden finished behind Willie McGee, Dave Parker and Pedro Guerrero in the MVP vote. McGee was good, but in my opinion it was one of those media-driven MVPs in which a guy who doesn’t have the best numbers wins because the media pushes his candidacy (think Dustin Pedroia in 2008). Parker and Guerrero had good, but not unbelievably incredible power numbers.

But Gooden’s numbers were unbelievably incredible and he should have won the award easily. The Mets were even a contending team — they finished second with 98 wins, three games behind McGee’s Cardinals, so that argument could not be used.

Pitchers should only win an MVP if they have extraordinary seasons — Verlander had that this year, and Gooden had an unrewarded one in 1985.