Rollins rewarded with NL MVP

Jimmy Rollins turned a prophetic and historic 2007 season into the National League MVP award.

He still can't believe it.

"I have a real big smile on my face," the Phillies shortstop said yesterday afternoon in a teleconference from California. "I never really thought about being MVP. I always thought, if I won the Gold Glove, that was MVP for a shortstop. But then I won a Gold Glove. And then, lo and behold, they all came together. I couldn't have drawn it, pictured it or written it any better."

In January, Rollins famously predicted that the Phillies would be the team to beat in the National League East. Then he helped the team win the division by becoming the first player in baseball history to have at least 200 hits, 15 triples, 25 home runs and 25 stolen bases in a season.

In balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, Rollins received 16 first-place votes and 353 points overall to win the award.

Colorado Rockies leftfielder Matt Holliday received 11 first-place votes and 336 points to finish second, and Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder earned five first-place votes and 284 points to finish third. The 17-point difference between Rollins and Holliday made it the ninth-closest vote for NL MVP since the current format was adopted in 1938, with two writers voting from each National League city.

"I was blessed to get it this year," Rollins said. "I still can't tell you how it happened."

Rollins said he was proud to join Cleveland's C.C. Sabathia, winner of the American League Cy Young Award, as African Americans who received two of baseball's biggest honors.

Rollins, 28, said he hoped he and Sabathia can spark more interest in the game for African American youths who might otherwise turn to football or basketball.

"I hope they one day say 'I want to be Cy Young' or 'I want to be MVP,' " said Rollins, a native of Oakland, Calif.

"If we can turn their eyes back to something that Jackie Robinson, the Curt Floods who helped with free agency, all the black Negro League players, had to go through, the struggle to play in the major leagues, if we can get back to that and learn the history and respect that, we can change the way we feel about baseball.

"I know how black kids look at baseball. I really do. They don't feel it's street-credible. Maybe by seeing us and knowing we're just normal people who came up from pretty much the same situations they did, and we're playing this beautiful game, it's not about being street-credible. It's about doing something that you love. It's doing something we worked hard to get to. It's done something that's part of being American. And we are all Americans, no matter how you look at it."

In Rollins and teammate Ryan Howard, who won the league's MVP award last year, the Phillies have two of baseball's brightest African American stars.

"Jimmy is carrying the torch for African American shortstops on the field and off the field, as a player and more importantly as a community leader," said Ernie Banks, who won the National League's MVP award as a shortstop with the Chicago Cubs in 1958 and 1959.

Howard won his MVP with incredible power numbers. Rollins won his with balanced offensive and defensive performances.

He hit .296, with 38 doubles, 20 triples, 30 home runs, 94 RBIs, 41 stolen bases, 212 hits, and 139 runs scored. He became the third shortstop in history to have at least 30 homers and 30 stolen bases in a season. (Alex Rodriguez in 1998 and Barry Larkin in 1996 were the others.)

Also, Rollins became the fourth player in history to have at least 20 doubles, 20 triples, 20 homers, and 20 stolen bases in a season. (The Tigers' Curtis Granderson also did it this year, joining Willie Mays in 1957 and Frank "Wildfire" Schulte in 1911.)

Rollins' 139 runs and 88 extra-base hits set league records for a shortstop. He also led the league in triples, at-bats (with a major-league record of 716), and multihit games (63).

The shortstop started all 162 games, playing almost every inning of every game. He also won Gold Glove (top fielder at his position) and Silver Slugger (top hitter at his position) awards.

Rollins will earn $200,000 in contractual bonuses for winning the MVP, Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards.

"It's one of the most extraordinary seasons a shortstop has ever had," said Ruben Amaro Jr., the Phillies' assistant general manager.

This is the seventh time a Phillies player has been named MVP, after Chuck Klein (1932), Jim Konstanty (1950), Mike Schmidt (1980, 1981 and 1986), and Howard (2006). Rollins and Howard, who finished fifth in this year's voting, became the 11th set of teammates to win National League MVP honors in consecutive seasons.

Howard's life turned upside down after he won MVP. The same could happen to Rollins.

Rollins laughed when asked if he had any Subway ads lined up yet. Howard appeared in a commercial for the sandwich chain this year.

"It's funny," Rollins said. "I told Ryan last year, 'Ryan, believe me: I do not envy being you right now.' People might recognize me and say, 'Hey, there's Jimmy Rollins.' But he was famous. We couldn't go places without him being stopped and bombarded. That's a good thing, but I didn't mind going under the radar. But fortunately for me, I'm still only 5-foot-7, so I can hide behind quite a few people."

Rollins can try to hide, but it is going to be harder, little guy or not.

He already has been asked for a prediction for 2008.

"There's going to be plenty of fireworks between us and the rest of the division. It's been like that for years," Rollins said. "If you want anything more than that, I guess you'll have to wait until January."

If his next prediction is as on target as this year's, it should be another fun season for Rollins and the Phillies.

Year, Team   AB   R   H   2B   3B   HR   RBI   SB   AVG   

2000, Phillies   53   5   17   1   1   0   5   3   .321

2001, Phillies   656   97   180   29   12   14   54   46   .274

2002, Phillies   637   82   156   33   10   11   60   31   .245

2003, Phillies   628   85   165   42   6   8   62   20   .263

2004, Phillies   657   119   190   43   12   14   73   30   .289

2005, Phillies   677   115   196   38   11   12   54   41   .290

2006, Phillies   689   127   191   45   9   25   83   36   .277

2007, Phillies   716   139   212   38   20   30   94   41   .296

Career Totals   4713   769   1307   269   81   114   485   248   .277

POSTSEASON

2007, Phillies   11   1   2   0   1   1   4   0   .182   EndText