A Token of Appreciation: Cal Raleigh
Praising the player known as Big Dumper
The other day, the MLB End of the Year award winners were announced. Everyone was certain that Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh was going to win American League MVP. However, for the third consecutive year, Aaron Judge took the honors. Yours truly recently gave his takes on how Major League Baseball was biased towards certain players. Fellow Vocal writer Adrian Holman shared his thoughts about this topic, and we both shared the same sentiments. So, let's compare the stats of both Raleigh and Judge:
Aaron Judge: .331 batting average, 53 home runs, and 114 RBI
Cal Raleigh: .247 batting average, 60 home runs, and 125 RBI
Adrian and I both agreed that Cal Raleigh was more deserving of the aforementioned award than Judge. The Mariners remarkable and explosive second half regular season surge led them to win the AL West title for the first time since 2001, putting the entire league on notice. October 11, 2025: a date baseball fans will remember forever. In case you've been living under a rock, that was the date of Game 5 of the ALDS, where the Mariners beat the Detroit Tigers in 15 innings 3-2. This lasted nearly five hours, which was the longest of this past MLB season. Also, the 15 innings was the longest winner-take-all game in MLB history. The Mariners advanced to the ALCS to face the Toronto Blue Jays. Unfortunately, they were unable to clinch their first ever AL Pennant and make their very first World Series appearance in franchise history. However, you have to give them credit for an amazing season. Josh Naylor will return for the team in 2026, so they're poised to repeat as AL West champions.
As for Aaron Judge, he didn't deserve to win AL MVP. You mean to tell me that despite Cal Raleigh breaking numerous records this past season, he was snubbed of an award by a player whose team does well during the regular season, but falls apart in the Postseason? This makes absolutely no sense. The Yankees haven't been good in the last 10, 15 years. Also, it has been nearly 20 years since their last World Series title, yet MLB keeps hyping up an overrated player like Judge.
One final point that Adrian and I both agreed with was there's so much East Coast bias, especially when it came to these annual awards. There's also a lot of West Coast bias, especially the fact that MLB can't seem to shut up about the Los Angeles Dodgers. 90-95% of the league's social media posts, especially on YouTube, are about them. I discussed in my recent story that the league was pushing a Dodgers-Yankees agenda on everyone. There's no denying that they're playing favorites. They're super biased towards these two teams and the respective players: Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. They believe that everything has to revolve around them at all times. It shouldn't and until Major League Baseball corrects this problem, this annoying cycle will continue. I've started to recognize this annoying pattern a couple of years ago. All it does is overshadow other players and teams in the league who deserves more recognition. I'll have links to both mine and Adrian's story regarding the end of the year awards at the end of this story.
Cal Raleigh was absolutely disrespected by Major League Baseball by not rewarding him the AL MVP honors. They owe him a huge apology and a bonus. His outstanding season being overlooked and rewarding Aaron Judge with that award was a complete slap in the face. This is the kind of bias I'm talking about. The voting is nothing but a joke and sham. The Yankees struggle in the Postseason every year, yet they award an overrated and overhyped player, all to appease MLB. Major League Baseball and these biased writers, y'all need to have a stadium full of damn seats for this nonsense.
If Major League Baseball isn't going to acknowledge Cal Raleigh, yours truly on Vocal will. Cal, you had one hell of a season, and I hope 2026 will work in your favor. If he's in the running for AL MVP again next season and wins it, the writers who voted for Aaron Judge to win the award this year owe Big Dumper an apology. Raleigh and the Mariners are in the same division as the Rangers, but he deserved better than this.
https://shopping-feedback.today/unbalanced/cal-raleigh-should-have-been-al-mvp-opinion%3C/a%3E
About the Creator
Mark Wesley Pritchard
You can call me Wesley. Former cosplayer, retro gaming fanatic, die-hard Texas Rangers fan, and nostalgic freak. Need I say more?
Threads: @misterwesleysworld
Instagram: @misterwesleysworld
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