For some reason there is a faction that doesn’t grasp the meaning of the word “valuable.”

Let me spell it for you: v-a-l-u-a-b-l-e, as in Most Valuable Player. It is not a synonym for outstanding or best. Valuable means having great use or service, in other words the Most Valuable Player is the one whose service was the greatest for his team, and in the world of sports, greatness is determined by winning.

Gritty and great

Dustin Pedroia is perhaps one of the least likely MVP winners of all time. Hear the diminutive BoSox star react to the highest individual honor in baseball HERE.

• Rosenthal: Why I didn’t vote for Pedroia
• Video: Rosenthal talks MVP voting

There are intangibles, in addition to statistics, that should be considered in determining an MVP, and a key element is that a player helps his team into a contending status.

What value does a great year have on a mediocre team?

Branch Rickey put it best to Ralph Kiner, back when they were involved in a major contract squabble following the 1952 season. Having led the National League in home runs seven consecutive seasons, Kiner wanted a more sizable salary than Rickey had in mind. Without the leverage of arbitration or free agency, however, Rickey didn’t have to give in.

He handed Kiner the contract that Kiner was going to get, and explained to him, “We finished last with you. We can finish last without you.”

Get the message? Kiner had an outstanding run of seasons, but what was the value if it didn’t help the Pirates win?

That’s why it’s always puzzling when the debate comes up each year when the awards given by the Baseball Writers Association of America are handed out. There is the manager of the year for the AL and NL, which goes to the person deemed the best manager. There is the rookie of the year for the AL and NL, which goes to the person deemed the best rookie. There is the Cy Young Award for the AL and NL, which goes to the pitcher who had the best season. And then there is the Most Valuable Player Award for the AL and NL, which goes to the player who was the most valuable to his team that season.

There is a growing generation of statistical analysts, who act as if they have discovered a new means for player evaluation, that will whine and groan over the fact an intangible can be considered, and they will demand that the BBWAA not be allowed to vote for the MVP.

AL MVP voting*

*Top six vote-getters displayed. Points awarded on a 14-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.

Grab a towel. Wipe the tears.

First, the MVP isn’t like the Hall of Fame. Voting for the MVP isn’t a responsibility given the BBWAA by a third party. The MVP is an award that was created by the BBWAA for its membership to present. The term Most Valuable Player was even copyrighted.

Secondly, the fact the BBWAA honors a player as being the “most valuable” doesn’t deny the player who had the greatest statistical accomplishments from being recognized.

Major League Baseball does, after all, hand out the Hank Aaron Award, which goes to the best offensive player in each league, and it is decided in a split vote in which broadcasters and analysts account for 70 percent of the voting, and fans the other 30 percent.

The Major League Players Association presents a Player of the Year for the NL and AL based on a vote by fellow players. The Associated Press and The Sporting News and numerous other organizations hand out Most Outstanding Player or Player of the Year awards.

So why does there have to be so much teeth gnashing over the fact that the BBWAA has an award that goes to a player whose value to his team is a prime consideration? Maybe there is a value to that kind of an award because for some reason, it does seem to receive more attention every year than any other, and when it was suggested to the MLBPA that instead of using MVP voting as part of the incentive package in players contracts it could use its own Players Choice awards, the MLBPA balked.

That would seem to say that just because a formula can’t be devised, fed into a computer and spit out the award winners doesn’t mean the value of an MVP is tarnished.

Speaking of stats

While the use of stats has been refined and expanded thanks to the expanding ability through technology to break down numbers, it is worth nothing that statistical analysis has long been a part of evaluations in baseball. The image of teams relying solely on the gut-feeling of a scout to make a major decision is a stereotype created by a new generation of numbers crunchers that shows little regard for the evolution of their area of interest.

It was Rickey who hired the game’s first full-time statistician, Alan Roth, long before the first computer was used to spit out spread sheets. And it was Rickey who devised on-base percentage, and then came up with a statistical evaluation similar to the Total Average system that Tom Boswell made popular in the ’70s.

Boswell remembered devising his total average, which was a precursor to the suddenly popular OPS, but also penalized a player for grounding into a double play or being caught stealing, and rewarded him for a stolen base, and asking Earl Weaver what he thought of the statistical compilation.

“It’s impressive,” said Weaver, “but when Rickey created that he gave a bonus for a grand slam because of the emotional impact it had on a team.”

Rickey wanted his version of Total Average to provide a double-check on evaluation of players in a farm system that numbered more than 20 teams back then. Rickey could examine the reports of his scouts and managers, and if he noticed a player with an impressive statistical analysis who wasn’t given much attention in the reports he would inquire to find out why the player had been overlooked.

Closing thoughts

For anybody who questions just how valuable Brad Lidge was in Philadelphia, ask the Mets and Diamondbacks how much their lack of a dependable closer down the stretch played into their fading from the postseason races in the final weeks.

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