The Blue MVP

Back in May and June, it seemed like the obvious and only choice would be Nomar Garciaparra. Aside from making a seamless switch from shortstop to first base, hitting .373 and accounting for 39 RBIs, his local roots were the cake's icing for rabid Angelenos. But a second-half slump and a string of injuries transformed him from "front runner" to "another guy in the race."

April through early July gave Brad Penny a leg up, since it's hard to picture an All-Star Game starter not weighing heavily into the mix.  Then came late July through September, where Penny's outings appeared to be the Devil's work (6-7, 6.25 ERA, 6 innings often his limit). Whether or not Satan was actually the culprit, Penny fell out of contention.

Despite some grumbling within the blogging nation, J.D. Drew's season hardly sucked. He came on strong down the stretch, played in 146 games (the most ever in his career, proving a certain method to Grady Little's rest-heavy madness) and drove in 100 RBIs. However, if anyone griped that those ribbies felt like a really quiet — and often unenthusiastic — century mark achievement, I'd have a hard time arguing.

And so on and so forth. Guys often got on rolls, often to get derailed. Others were solid, but just missed the mark in my opinion (and perhaps mine only). There are players some will find worthier than others, but these are my top five choices. Do with them what you will.

Honorable Mention - Andre Ethier
The newbie would have absolutely cracked the top five (and perhaps won Rookie of the Year) had a vicious September slump not have happened. Being held out of the lineup down the stretch was major points against. But pencil him in for a 1-5 slot many times over in the near future.

Honorable Mention - Greg Maddux
The guy's presence alone almost pushed him into the magic five. Without his arrival (and calming influence), I don't think the Dodgers would have made the playoffs. And "sage factor" aside, his pitching wasn't too shoddy, either. But I couldn't bring myself to "place" a guy who didn't arrive until mid-August, after too much heavy lifting/ups and downs had already happened. But Maddux definitely made his mark.

5th - Russell Martin
Somehow, Martin made the rather daunting task of being an everyday rookie catcher look...well, easy. Everyone waited for him to hit the rookie wall. A few exhausted September games aside, that never really happened. In the meantime, he garnered instant respect from every vet pitcher on the staff. He's among the most mature young athletes I've been around and seems like a perrential All-Star in the making.

4th - Nomar Garciaparra
Like I said, Nomar's second half didn't match his first, which kept him from netting the gold. But it also featured some seriously huge plays. Walk off extra-innings home run. Walk off granny. Clutch base hits. And it just doesn't seem right to leave the NL Comeback Player of the Year off the list. So I didn't.

3rd - Takashi Saito
This isn't a diss on Bill Mueller, but I doubt most people thought it would be more difficult replacing him than Eric Gagne. And I guarantee nobody thought the reason would be a 36-year-old nonroster invitee rookie from Japan. Sammy's 24 saves (breaking Yhency Brazoban's Dodger rookie record) were impressive enough. But considering Danys Baez started out as the closer and that mega-losing streak allowed Saito only six appearances out of a possible 14, it's safe to say he was capable of racking 30+. It's scary to imagine how this team would have handled slim leads without him.  And you gotta love the fist pump.

2nd - Derek Lowe
As the season wore down, expecting six quality innings from a starter was a dicey, crapshoot, Russian roulette affair, an especially troublesome development considering middle relief wasn't even that reliable. Derek Lowe was the one exception, however, with his best stuff coming in August and September. In 11 starts, Lowe went 7-1. More impressively, he picked up another "W" tossing a trio of clutch relief innings. Lowe may have began 2006 as the No. 2 starter. Care to bet he won't open 2007 as the No. 1?

1st - Rafael Furcal
I gotta be honest. Early on, there was no way in hell I thought Furcal would take the gold. And with good reason. Having arrived in L.A. batting .157 at the Ravine during his career, a .198 April didn't feel like just a "slow start." Even more ominous, his bat wasn't nearly as bad as his mitt, the faultiness of which was putting him on pace for roughly a billion errors. Ned Colletti's first big-money free agent signing was looking like a $39,000,000 mistake. In the meantime, people were speculating that the pressure of said contract was freaking Furcal out.

But right around July, something clicked. Whether finally healthy, pushed by the eventual presences of Cesar Izturis and Julio Lugo, or just telling himself, "Raffy, you make a lot of scratch. Get over it," Furcal went on a crazy tear. He never hit below .313 on a month (leading to a final clip of .300, first among leadoff batters with 375 or more at-bats). August and September amounted to 30 RBIs (65 in all, ranking him fourth among those same hitters).

And while he's not quite the next Ozzie Smith, he settled down considerably while minding the gap between second and third, no longer prompting cringes when a ball headed his way: 113 runs scored (10th in NL, 15th in the majors); 37 swiped bases (7 NL, 13 MLB). Even a little home run pop.

I wasn't wrong for being down on the results of Furcal's first 70 or so games. But I was certainly off base doubting whether the guy had what it took to turn it all around.

So there you have it. My Blue MVP. Did I get it right? Or do you take umbrage?

—AK