The Silver Sluggers were announced tonight, and so I guess now is as good a time as any to note that, to me at least, the Silver Slugger awards always seem to be the odd-man-out of the awards. I mean, everybody knows of the MVP, the Cy Young, the Gold Gloves, the Rookie of the Year, and even the Manager of the Year, but the Silver Sluggers, it seems, are always forgotten about. You never hear about how so-and-so was snubbed in the Silver Slugger vote, or how such-and-such only won the Silver Slugger two times but would have won it many more if they hadn’t been playing the same position as an all-time great.

And here’s the two reasons I think that is the case:

1) It’s young.

The Silver Slugger was first awarded in 1980. By contrast, MVPs have been awarded in some form since 1911 and in it’s current form since 1931. The Rookie of the Year Award has been given out since 1947. The Cy Young Award (named that not because of any claim that Cy Young was the greatest pitcher of all time- although he most definitely is in the discussion- so much as because Young pitched in both leagues) was first given out in 1956. The Gold Glove awards were first given out in 1957.  Only the Manager of the Year Award is younger amongst the most notable MLB awards, and even that had some precursors in various magazines and newspapers. So, basically, the Silver Slugger hasn’t had enough time to build up any sort of tradition around it, in contrast.

2) Hitting isn’t that different by position, unlike fielding.

No matter what position, ultimately a hitter is a hitter, and they all need the same qualification: being able to hit the ball. Contrast this to fielding, where a Gold Glove shortstop is vastly different from a Gold Glove catcher, who is different from a Gold Glove outfielder. Each position requires at least somewhat of a different tool-set, unlike hitting, where a great hitter is a great hitter, no matter what position it is.

Let’s take Adam Jones as an example. He won (rather controversially- by the statistics he probably didn’t deserve it as much as some others) the Gold Glove this year, and also won the Silver Slugger. Now, if Buck Showalter received a knock on the head and suddenly decided Adam Jones should play second base, it’s highly unlikely that Jones would be able to win the Gold Glove there, since he has always been an OFer and thus lacks the instincts and training to be a good 2B, at least right now. However, Adam Jones would remain a viable Silver Slugger candidate there. See what I mean?

So, in essence, the fact that the Silver Slugger doesn’t really tell you anything other than that that player is one of the best hitters and that he plays at a certain position keeps it from being as big a deal as some others.

So, that’s why I think the Silver Slugger Award isn’t as big a deal as other awards… what do you think?