Kemp finishes 2nd in MVP voting

Matt Kemp did everything he possibly could to claim the National League's MVP award. Unfortunately, the players surrounding him cost him in the end.

Kemp finished second in the MVP balloting to the Brewers' Ryan Braun, whose team advanced to the NLCS before falling to the Cardinals. The Dodgers went nowhere for most of the season before getting hot at the end to just finish over .500 at 82-79.

While both players put up crazy numbers, it was Kemp who had the edge. Here's how they breakdown:

Braun: .332 AVG, .397 OBP, .994 OPS, 109 R, 38 2B, 33 HR, 111 RBI, 33 SB
Kemp: .324 AVG, .399 OBP, .986 OPS, 115 R, 33 2B, 39 HR, 126 RBI, 40 SB

Plus, there's the Gold Glove that Kemp brought home that Braun did not. Though to be fair, that award was not announced at the time of the MVP voting.

A couple of thoughts come to mind here. First, as I touched on before, Braun was obviously rewarded for being a member of the better team. There's no doubt he was a huge part of that, so he should be commended for it. It's hard to not like the guy, as he plays hard, puts up huge numbers, and stays out of trouble.

But, it's also hard not to ignore the fact that Braun had a monster backing him up in the lineup (Prince Fielder), and Kemp most certainly did not. Fielder finished third in the voting thanks to a .200 average, 38 homers, and 120 RBIs. Who had Kemp's back? Well, if you were to guess that Rod Barajas finished with the second most homers on the Dodgers with 16, you're either A) a liar (shame on you), or B) a reader of this site, as I've pointed it out over and over (thanks!).

Don't get me wrong, I'm not ripping Braun for winning, but merely making the case that the MVP award is more about overall team success than a measure of whom the best player is. Braun was awesome in 2011, but Kemp was slightly better. But the bottom line is, the Brewers were a much better team. And that's the difference.

Kemp did leave us with one parting thought - "Fifty/fifty." It could happen...