Voting PercentagesDo we have voting biases in our SL awards voting? Some have told me that we definitely do. Usually that's in reference to the MOY awards (which I might agree with if I examined it further), but I wondered too whether that's the case with the MVP and CY voting, where one manager earns more points based on who he is vs. what he has accomplished. I thought if there was any bias against voting for someone, it would show up if you combined the average votes for each manager. I accumulated each season's votes, grouped by their manager, and here are the totals: 1997 MVP (385 total votes) Greg ... (67 votes) ... 17.4% Chris ... (74 votes) ... 19.2% Keith ... (53 votes) ... 13.8% Joe ... (61 votes) ... 15.8% Jim ... (52 votes) ... 13.5% Ken ... (43 votes) ... 11.2% (3 for Thome, 3 for Mo) John ... (28 votes) ... 7.3% (1 for Thome, 11 for Mo) Steve ... ( 7 votes) ... 1.8% 1997 Cy (105 total votes) Ken ... (33 votes) ... 31.4% Greg ... (30 votes) ... 28.6% John ... (14 votes) ... 13.3% Keith ... (19 votes) ... 18.1% Joe ... (7.5 votes)... 7.1% Steve ... ( 1 vote) ... 1.0% Jim ... ( 1 vote) ... 1.0% 1998 MVP (61.17 modified votes) Dan ... (13.67 votes)... 22.3% Chris ... (17.8 votes) ... 29.1% (half of Griffey, Lankford & Burnitz) Ken ... ( 8.6 votes) ... 14.1% (half of Griffey, Lankford & Burnitz) Bob ... ( 7.3 votes) ... 11.9% John ... ( 3.8 votes) ... 6.2% Keith ... ( 3.4 votes) ... 5.6% Joe ... ( 2.6 votes) ... 4.3% Steve ... ( 2.6 votes) ... 4.3% Greg ... ( 1.4 votes) ... 2.3% 1998 Cy (17 modified votes) Bob ... (4.8 votes) ... 28.2% Keith ... (4.2 votes) ... 24.7% Ken ... (2.4 votes) ... 14.1% Chris ... (2.2 votes) ... 12.9% Steve ... (2.2 votes) ... 12.9% Greg ... (1.2 votes) ... 7.1% John ................... 0.0% Joe ................... 0.0% 1999 MVP (495 votes) Steve ... ( 84 votes) ... 17.0% Keith ... (107 votes) ... 21.6% Joe ... ( 68 votes) ... 13.7% (half for Sosa & McGwire) Doug ... ( 31 votes) ... 6.3% (half for Sosa & McGwire) Ken ... ( 75 votes) ... 15.2% Chris ... ( 50 votes) ... 10.1% Bob ... ( 33 votes) ... 6.7% Greg ... ( 27 votes) ... 5.5% Graham ... ( 20 votes) ... 4.0% 1999 Cy (135 votes) Keith ... (73 votes) ... 54.1% Chris ... (34 votes) ... 25.2% Greg ... (26 votes) ... 19.3% Graham ... ( 2 votes) ... 1.5% 2000 MVP (495 votes) Chris ... (115 votes) ... 23.2% (1 pt. for Jenkins) Keith ... ( 72 votes) ... 14.5% Dave ... ( 69 votes) ... 13.9% Steve ... ( 55 votes) ... 11.1% Ken ... ( 46 votes) ... 9.3% (6 pts for Jenkins) Joe ... ( 45 votes) ... 9.1% Bob ... ( 33 votes) ... 6.7% Graham ... ( 26 votes) ... 5.3% Greg ... ( 34 votes) ... 6.9% 2000 Cy (135 votes) Greg ... (40 votes) ... 29.6% Dave ... (32 votes) ... 23.7% Chris ... (22 votes) ... 16.3% Bob ... (17 votes) ... 12.6% Steve ... (10 votes) ... 7.4% Joe ... ( 8 votes) ... 5.9% (1 pt for Wagner) Keith ... ( 3 votes) ... 2.2% (3 pts for Wagner) Ken ... ( 3 votes) ... 2.2% 2001 MVP (495 votes) Chris ... (122 votes) ... 24.6% Greg ... ( 78 votes) ... 15.8% Graham ... ( 96 votes) ... 19.4% Ken ... ( 65 votes) ... 13.1% Steve ... ( 55 votes) ... 11.1% Dave ... ( 38 votes) ... 7.7% Keith ... ( 21 votes) ... 4.2% Joe ... ( 11 votes) ... 2.2% Bob ... ( 9 votes) ... 1.8% 2001 Cy Bob ... (40 votes) ... 29.6% Dave ... (32 votes) ... 23.7% Greg ... (37 votes) ... 27.4% Ken ... (17 votes) ... 12.6% Keith ... ( 5 votes) ... 3.7% Chris ... ( 3 votes) ... 2.2% Graham ... ( 1 vote) ... 0.7% Joe ..................... 0.0% Steve ................... 0.0% 2002 MVP (495 votes) Dave ... ( 80 votes) ... 16.2% Chris ... (128 votes) ... 25.9% (45 pts for Giles) Ken ... ( 71 votes) ... 14.3% Bob ... ( 82 votes) ... 16.6% Keith ... ( 38 votes) ... 7.7% Matt ... ( 48 votes) ... 9.7% Greg ... ( 33 votes) ... 6.7% Graham ... ( 17 votes) ... 3.4% JMH/SPS................... 0.0% 2002 Cy (105 votes) Bob ... (40 votes) ... 29.6% Greg ... (41 votes) ... 30.4% Ken ... (30 votes) ... 22.2% Chris ... (10 votes) ... 7.4% Graham ... ( 4 votes) ... 3.0% Dave ... ( 3 votes) ... 2.2% Keith ... ( 2 votes) ... 1.5% Matt ... ( 2 votes) ... 1.5% JMH/SPS... ( 3 votes) ... 2.2% 2003 MVP (495 votes) Keith ... ( 96 votes) ... 19.4% Bob ... (128 votes) ... 25.9% Dave ... ( 50 votes) ... 10.1% Graham ... ( 46 votes) ... 9.3% Steve ... ( 44 votes) ... 8.9% Chris ... ( 75 votes) ... 15.2% Matt ... ( 35 votes) ... 7.1% Greg ... ( 21 votes) ... 4.2% Ken ................... 0.0% 2003 Cy (105 votes) Steve ... (51 votes) ... 48.6% Matt ... (40.5 votes)... 38.6% Keith ... (11 votes) ... 10.5% Graham ... ( 9 votes) ... 8.6% Bob ... ( 9.5 votes)... 9.0% Chris ... ( 4 votes) ... 3.8% Dave ... ( 7 votes) ... 6.7% Ken ................... 0.0% Greg ................... 0.0% OVERALL %s MVP CY (PER SEASON AVE) Chris 147.3 67.8 21.0 9.7 Greg 58.8 142.2 8.4 20.3 Keith 86.8 124.8 12.4 17.8 Ken 77.2 82.5 11.0 11.8 Steve 54.2 72.1 7.7 10.3 Joe 47.0 13.0 9.4 2.6 Bob 69.6 110.0 11.6 18.3 Graham 41.4 12.3 8.3 2.5 Dave 47.9 56.3 12.0 14.1 Matt 16.8 40.1 8.4 20.1 With 9 team leagues, a manager should get about 11% per season, with a slightly higher average for the guys in the league in 1997, when it was an 8-team league. Chris, Greg and I varied in terms of how we got our votes (Chris more via MVP voting, Greg via CY, myself more of both but with an edge in CY), but we all got about the same. As the three of us had similarly good records in this period, it's not too surprising that our combined averages are about 30 instead of 22. Ken, however, who won some Spit Cups and had another playoff season in this span, was well behind our pace, combining for a very average 22.8 ... partly due to 2003, when Ken received 0 MVP and CY votes. Steve was close to .500 with 3 playoff berths from 1997 through 2003, but still was below an average pace. If you do not consider 2003, he was running at about half the pace of an average combined total. Joe played from 1997 through the first part of 2002 (I gave all of 2002 to Steve though), and was slightly below average in MVP average, and was woefully trailing in CY average. Here is a bias I can conclude ... there is a bias against Graham and Joe getting CY performances from their pitchers. There is another bias at work, this one in favor of Bob, who tallies the votes like an SL elitist, ahead of everyone except Keith and Chris in combined % totals. Though he has not managed an MVP, Bob has won 3 CY awards in 6 seasons. If you take out 1997 from the mix, the year before Bob came to the SL, Keith has a combined 179.7 in MVP and CY to Bob's 179.6. Matt and Dave are also ahead of the average pace, with Dave actually getting his worst combined % season in 2003, the year he made the playoffs. To the question of whether there is a bias, it's really hard to say. I would think unpopular managers would be biased against, and Steve is proving very unpopular as of late, but 2003 was his most successful season in the voting by far. Bob and Greg may not be unpopular as a whole, but nobody wears their heart on their sleeve like them, and thus can easily rub people the wrong way ... yet they both are among the all-time leaders in combined % per season. Ken is of the same personality of Bob and Greg, but he is just average in combined %, though he had a good deal of success, which may mean there is a bias against him, or not. Graham and Joe are at the bottom of that same list, and I think the both of them would say that has more to do with their below average SL performances. In my opinion, the evidence does not suggest a bias. As an aside, there's only been one MVP in the voting era (since 1997) who went on to play on a Spit Cup winner, Barry Bonds of the 1997 Mountain View Masters. Likewise, only one CY winner has won a Spit Cup, with Greg also managing this feat for 2000 CY winner Pedro Martinez. | << Back | Main 2003 Notes Page | |