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The results are in and they aren't very surprising: Adam Jones is the unofficial Camden Chat Most Valuable Oriole for the 2014 season.
A week ago, we asked you to vote for your choices using the same voting format that the mainstream Orioles media will also use: three people on the ballot, with a first place vote being worth five points, a second place vote being worth three points, and a third place vote being worth one point. We had 242 Camden Chat readers answer the call to make this determination. The standings are as follows:
Player | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total |
Adam Jones | 132 | 79 | 31 | 928 |
Nelson Cruz | 83 | 104 | 38 | 765 |
Steve Pearce | 38 | 37 | 67 | 368 |
Zach Britton | 12 | 18 | 52 | 166 |
Chris Tillman | 1 | 14 | 30 | 77 |
Caleb Joseph | 5 | 8 | 16 | 65 |
J.J. Hardy | 7 | 5 | 13 | 63 |
Wei-Yin Chen | 4 | 9 | 16 | 63 |
Nick Markakis | 4 | 9 | 13 | 60 |
Darren O'Day | 3 | 5 | 12 | 42 |
Miguel Gonzalez | 2 | 3 | 3 | 22 |
Jones is the undisputed leader, as will probably be the case when the regular media vote - which would make him the winner in three of the last four seasons. He's earned it. Not only has he been one of the team's best performers on the year, he's the leader of the team. Pies and other hijinx, bringing some swagger and pride back to the fans. He's become everything we could have hoped when the Orioles signed him to an $85.5 million contract extension during the 2012 season.
None of the rest of the top four are terribly surprising, either. Cruz has been a wonderful signing, leading MLB with 39 home runs. He's been a reminder that free agent signings aren't automatically tilted towards disaster. Of course, it helps to sign a player with a track record of power to a discounted, one year contract.
Among Orioles who've batted at least 300 times, Pearce leads the team in every triple slash category: BA, OBP, and SLG. He's hit 20 home runs. He walks. He can muddle along at a corner outfield position or first base. He hits lefties. It's lucky for the Orioles that he spurned the Blue Jays waiver claim after he was designated for assignment, returning to Baltimore as a free agent.
After years of failing as a starter, Britton has finally blossomed as a reliever, holding down the closer role ever since Tommy Hunter was demoted. He has a 1.74 ERA in 72.1 innings, which is awesome, especially considering that he has a 76.8% ground ball rate.
The mainstream writers choice will be announced before the final home game on Sunday afternoon. Do you think their votes will differ from the CC audience?