Shane Spencer Archives - River Avenue Blues

Two-time ALDS MVP Bernie Williams (Getty Images)

You’ve likely come to this fine website for astute baseball analysis, but allow me a modicum of whimsy.

I recently found out that in Alex Rodriguez’s original 10-year deal with the Rangers, there was a standard awards clause, giving out bonuses if he achieved various results. This awards clause was curious, however, as it included a bonus for Division Series MVP.

There is no Division Series MVP. There has never been a Division Series MVP. There is no good reason for a Division Series MVP … but what if MLB gave it out anyway?

Would A-Rod have won one or two ALDS MVPs with the Yankees? Almost assuredly. Therefore, I went back through all of the Yankees’ ALDS victories and determined the rightful winner of this non-existent award. First up, 1996.

1996 ALDS MVP: Bernie Williams

The King of the Division Series, Bernie Williams caught fire in the 1996 ALDS. He posted the highest WPA of any non-reliever and went 7-for-15 with three home runs. When you add further context, it simply gets better.

Bernie singled and scored the game-tying run in the eighth inning of Game 2 as the Yankees trailed the series. He homered in the first inning of Game 3 before tying it late with a sacrifice fly. Finally, he tied and capped the clincher with his final homer of the series. Enough said!

1998 ALDS MVP: Shane Spencer

Shane Spencer should not get this award. He was going to be a replacement player in 1995 and, in more relevant arguments, only played two games in this series.

But he hit two dingers!

The Yankees gave up just one run over three games with Davids Wells and Cone alongside Andy Pettitte dominating. However, I’m not going to give this to three people at once. I’m not going to split this award either. This has to go to one player and Spencer is it.

Spencer homered to put the Yanks ahead in Game 2 before singling and scoring two innings later. In Game 3, his three-run homer in the sixth inning put the game, and thus the series, out of reach. Normally, this isn’t enough for a series MVP, but it’s enough here.

1999 ALDS MVP: Royce Clayton

Royce Clayton didn’t play for the Yankees. What? I’ll explain.

This is the type of series why this award does not exist. The Yankees won the series in a rout with a 14-1 lead in aggregate and only one semi-interesting game in the middle.

I just couldn’t bring myself to award any particular Yankee. Derek Jeter went 5-for-11 with a double, triple and two walks. Mariano Rivera had two saves and three innings pitched. Bernie had six RBI and went 4-for-11 after pouring it on late in a blowout Game 1.

So I’m giving it to Clayton, the Rangers’ shortstop. He went 0-for-10 in the series, distinguishing himself among the Rangers’ hitters, who only mustered 14 hits and a .152/.228/.207 collective batting line. Yuck.

2000 ALDS MVP: Mariano Rivera

You could give Rivera about four of these awards (1996, 1998-2000, 2003). He has to get at least one, in my award-giving opinion, and this was his most impactful series.

Rivera saved all three wins in the 2000 ALDS — which went the distance — and threw five important innings along the way. He gave up just two hits, walked no one and struck out two Athletics.

Though all three of his saves came in multi-run victories, Rivera entered Games 2, 3 and 5 with the tying run at the plate and deftly navigated each situation. Game 5 was essentially a six-run first inning followed by scratching and clawing to get to Rivera. Let’s call this one a unanimous selection.

2001 ALDS MVP: Derek Jeter

Jorge Posada has been overlooked for his entire career. Perhaps not as much as Williams recently as Posada made the “Core Four” but based on his Hall of Fame vote totals and by playing next to Rivera and Jeter, he didn’t get the credit he deserved.

And by the numbers, he should be the 2001 ALDS MVP. He went 8-for-18, hit the homer for the lone run of the pivotal Game 3 to turnaround the series. He compiled a 1.167 OPS.

But the Flip Play happened.

You can’t ignore the play and Jeter would have won easily on that narrative if they’d given out the award back then. Doesn’t hurt that he matched Posada with an 8-for-18 series.

Sorry, Jorge. I tried.

2003 ALDS MVP: Bernie Williams

Going just on raw numbers, Jeter would win again. He went 6-for-14 with four walks, a homer and a 1.198 OPS. However, the homer was meaningless and he already stole the award from Posada.

Outside of a loss in Game 1, this was reminiscent of the 1998 and 99 ALDS with three good starts in a row, but no one of the starters can get the award. Rivera could once again win this, but he’s not going to be the first two-time award winner here.

Therefore, we’re going with Williams, who was at the center of the action in the three wins. He hit a sac fly to put the Yankees up in Game 2 early, scored the go-ahead run and knocked in an insurance run in Game 3 and put the team up to start the knockout rally in Game 4.

2004 ALDS MVP: Alex Rodriguez

The whole point of this exercise was to get the obscenely wealthy Rodriguez his extra $100,000 or so and he gets it right off the bat.

A-Rod essentially wins it for Game 2 alone, as the Yankees knotted up the series in dramatic fashion. He homered in the fifth to put NYY up one before extending the lead with a single in the seventh. After a rare Mariano Rivera meltdown, the game went to extras and the Yankees trailed in the 12th. Don’t worry, Joe Nathan came on for the save and Rodriguez hit a game-tying, ground-rule double and set up the winning run two batters later.

After a quiet Game 3, he went 2-for-4 with two walks in Game 4 and scored the series-clinching run in the 11th inning by doubling off Kyle Lohse, stealing third base and scoring on a wild pitch.

2009 ALDS MVP: Alex Rodriguez

While A-Rod already got his bonus for the 2004 series, the 2009 ALDS was his piece de resistance. It was an undisputed masterpiece. He had two RBI singles in Game 1 to pad the Yankees’ lead en route to 7-2 win. He hit a tying homer in Game 3 to lead another comeback win.

But this is all you really need to know.

Other players had good series then, but no one neared Rodriguez’s peak in this one. This was the best all-time ALDS for a position player.

2010 ALDS MVP: Curtis Granderson

In a three-game series, the MVP comes down to one game, if not one moment. There isn’t enough time for a starting pitcher to go twice, so whoever makes the play or comes through with the key hit would earn it. This is precisely the reason why there’s no ALDS MVP in reality, 2009 A-Rod being a supernova exception.

With two men on and two outs and the Yankees down 3-2 on the road, Curtis Granderson came to the plate against Francisco Liriano, who was 100 pitches into his start. This was a guy coming off a career year facing Granderson, who could barely make contact against lefties.

But Granderson smacked a ball to right-center that carried. And carried. In most parks, it would have left, but it went for a triple to put the Yankees in front. Mark Teixeira hit the game-winning homer an inning later, but Granderson’s shot was the turning point where it came apart for Minnesota.

Tex has a cogent argument for MVP, but I’m handing it to Grandy after he put up better overall numbers, going 5-for-11 with a double, the triple, three RBI and a walk in a precursor to his near-MVP season.

2012 ALDS MVP: CC Sabathia

Raul Ibanez stole the headlines in this series with his two Game 3 homers and his go-ahead single in Game 5. Normally, just those moments would be enough to win the short series MVP.

But CC Sabathia won two games nearly by himself and shut down the Orioles’ hopes of an upset, even with Ibanez’s advantage in WPA (0.90 to 0.84). CC threw 8 2/3rds in Game 1 of a closely-contested matchup and went the distance in Game 5.

Game 5 was likely the last peak CC Sabathia game. He’s had some big playoff moments since, but he hasn’t been the ace or workhorse in the regular season or playoffs after that game. He threw 121 pitches, allowed just six baserunners and held Baltimore to one run, striking out nine. He capped it off by throwing out a runner at first and clinching the series. Well done, big man!

2017 ALDS MVP: Didi Gregorius

There wasn’t a clear statistical victor in this one. Sabathia had a solid Game 5 and underrated Game 2, but he didn’t get the win in either start and wasn’t dominant. Nearly every hitter and reliever had a big moment, but no one stood out. Aroldis Chapman would have been an OK choice if one player didn’t steal the show in Game 5.

And it was Didi Gregorius who stole said show in the winner-take-all finale. His two home runs off Corey Kluber were enough to give the Yankees the series. I still get goosebumps watching this.

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If there was an ALDS MVP, history looks more favorably upon A-Rod, who was often destroyed for his playoff woes. Rivera, Williams and Jeter get their just due for postseason excellence that wrapped into two decades. Meanwhile, one or two hits get Spencer and Gregorius immortality while the lack of a hit dooms Clayton into shame.

P.S. Sorry again to Posada.

The 1998 Yankees won what was then an American League record 114 games, and the funny thing is they started slowly, and had a bit of a slump in September. The Yankees lost their first three games of the season, and four of their first five games. Panic was already starting to set in given the team’s quick exit from the 1997 postseason.

Then, in September, the Yankees lost eight times in a 12-game span at one point. They were already a lock for the postseason — the Yankees won their 100th game on September 4th — but still, no one likes to hit the skids in September. You want to finish strong and go into the postseason feeling good about things. The Yankees eventually righted the ship and won their final seven games of the year. It was touch and go for a bit though.

For much of the 1998 season, 26-year-old rookie outfielder Shane Spencer was on the Columbus shuttle, going back and forth between Triple-A and MLB whenever the Yankees needed a body. He played two games with the Yankees in April, one in June, three in July, and seven in August before returning as a September call-up. Spencer had a great Triple-A season, hitting .322/.397/.570 with 18 homers in 87 games. It was also his second straight year at the level.

When Spencer came back up in September, he initially rode the bench. He appeared in only seven games during the first 21 days of the month, and four of those seven appearances came off the bench late in blowouts. The Yankees were struggling a bit and having a hard time scoring runs — they scored no more than three runs six times in that 4-8 stretch — so Joe Torre stuck with the regulars to try to get them going before October.

The legend of Shane Spencer started in earnest on September 18th. He came off the bench in a blowout against the Orioles, and smacked a grand slam off Jesse Orosco.

Two days later Spencer came off the bench again, this time driving in what proved to be the game-winning run with an eighth inning pinch-hit double off Jimmy Key. The Yankees and Indians played a doubleheader on September 22nd, and Spencer started both games. He started the first game in left and the second in right because Torres wasn’t going to overwork his regulars that late in the season. Not with the team’s record being what it was.

Game one of the doubleheader: 3-for-5 with two home runs. Game two of the doubleheader: 2-for-3 with a walk. The Yankees won both games. A performance like that will earn an unproven player more playing time, so Spencer was in the lineup again the next day, and he went 3-for-4 with another homer. A grand slam against the Devil Rays followed the next day. And on September 27th, in the final game of the regular season, Spencer hit another grand slam, his third in eleven days.

The three grand slams were a new rookie record and Spencer accomplished it in only 27 games and 73 plate appearances. (Alexei Ramirez hit four grand slams in 2008 to break Spencer’s record.) Spencer helped the Yankees out of their little mid-September funk by hitting seven home runs and driving in 20 runs in the span of eleven team games. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were in the middle of their home run race at the time, and I remember the Yankee Stadium scoreboard flashing:

McGwire: 66
Sosa: 66
Spencer: 9

“I’m not shocked, I’m happy. I’m just having a good time right now,” said Spencer to Jack Curry. Overall, Spencer hit .373/.411/.910 (236 OPS+) with six doubles and ten homers in 1998.

The 1998 Yankees never really had a set left fielder. Chad Curtis received most of the playing time out there, though Tim Raines, Ricky Ledee, and Darryl Strawberry also saw time in left field as well. It was basically a “who is playing the best right now?” situation. The Yankees were so good that year it didn’t matter. They were plenty good enough to overcome the left field revolving door.

The Yankees of course carried Spencer on the 1998 postseason roster after his huge September, and given the fact they weren’t locked into one player in left field, it was easy for Torre to get Spencer into the lineup. He started Game Two of the ALDS against the Rangers. Two hits and a dinger. He also started Game Three of the ALDS. Three-run homer. That gave Spencer nine homers in his last eleven games.

“I’ll tell you what, he doesn’t get cheated,” Rangers manager Johnny Oates said to Jack Curry. “He knows what that piece of wood is made for and it’s not cleaning his shoes … Where has he been all year?”

Spencer started the first three games of the ALCS against the Indians, but didn’t fare all that well (1-for-10). There was also some controversy in Game Two in the series. With the score tied 1-1, Raines started the bottom of the ninth with a leadoff single. Spencer, the man who’d hit nine homers in his previous dozen games, was ordered to bunt (!) pinch-runner Homer Bush over to second. For real.

The bunt was never laid down. Paul Shuey’s first pitch to Spencer was out of the zone and Bush stole second, so, with the runner in scoring position and a guy who’d hit nine homers in his last 12 games at the plate, Torre took the bunt sign off. I mean, duh. Spencer struck out and the Yankees didn’t score, and eventually they lost the game. The inevitable “Spencer should’ve bunted him to third!” nonsense was sputtered in hindsight the next day.

The Yankees did rally to win the ALCS in six games, and in the sweep of the Padres in the World Series, Spencer started just one game. Game Three against the lefty Sterling Hitchcock. He didn’t even pinch-hit in the other three games. Spencer went 1-for-3 with a double in that one World Series start.

Spencer’s magic had worn off, and he didn’t have much big league success the rest of his career, but the magic lasted long enough to help the Yankees win the 1998 World Series. The 28th round draft pick who spent parts of eight seasons in the minors before getting his first big league opportunity had become a September and October hero.

“That’s a fun story,” said Paul O’Neill to Curry when Spencer was in the middle of his home run binge. “It’s so much fun. The game goes in slow motion when you feel like he does. He’s just grinning when he runs around the bases. It’s fun to see, especially for a guy whose paid his dues in the minor leagues. You need stories like that in baseball.”

What if there was a Division Series MVP?