Jacoby Ellsbury September Heroics Keep Red Sox Afloat, Makes Bid for AL MVP
On Sunday Sep. 25, Jacoby Ellsbury added to his historic Red Sox season by keeping the team's playoff dreams alive, as well as making a plea for American League MVP.
With one two-out swing of the bat on Sunday night, Ellsbury saved the ailing Red Sox from their second defeat of the day with a three-run homerun during a 14 inning showdown with their heated rivals, the New York Yankees.
After homering twice in a losing effort in game one of Sunday's twin bill, the Red Sox outfielder wasn't satisfied with the dejected state of the team saying after the game, "This is our playoff."
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September has become a magical month for the star outfielder. Game one of the double header also featured a milestone for Ellsbury as he became the first Red Sox player to reach the 30/30 club (30 homeruns and 30 stolen bases) and the 16th ever in the American League.
In addition he is batting .368 for the month with 7 homeruns, 19 RBI's and 39 hits while the rest of his team is slumping. With his weekend performance and September numbers like these, baseball critics have now included Ellsbury into their MVP talks along with Yankee outfielder Curtis Granderson, Tiger's ace Justin Verlander, and Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista.
Granderson seems to be the current favorite to win because of his own historical season with the Yankees. Verlander is set to win the Cy Young award, and Bautista may not win because he is on a losing team. That leaves only Ellsbury, who until yesterday at least, wasn't considered a factor because of the star studded cast surrounding him. With sluggers like David Ortiz, Adrian Gonzalez, and former MVP Dustin Pedroia, his team may be too good for him. The same however, can be argued for Granderson who has a trio of Hall of Famer's on his team.
With the Yankees clinching first place last week, the Red Sox have been battling for position in the Wild Card spot with the Tampa Bay Rays for the last few weeks. Through Sep. 4 the Sox held a nine game lead but have watched it diminish to just a game and a half–going 5-16 since then. With the Rays winning and the Sox dropping game one and trailing during game two, the lead could have fallen to just half a game.
Ellsbury commented on the win by saying, "We put ourselves in a good position, that's all we can do.”
Whatever the case, Jacoby Ellsbury has sealed himself into baseball record books, the hearts of Red Sox Nation, and the puzzled minds of baseball writers and critics pondering over the "MVP" question.
