On November 14, 2005, the Baseball Writers Association of America perpetrated a great injustice when its voters named Alex Rodriguez, third baseman for the New York Yankees, the 2005 American League MVP.

The decision showed a lack of critical thinking and a willingness to take the easy way out.

Sure, Rodriguez is a talented defender at third base, while Boston's David Ortiz is a designated hitter and does not even play in the field. Granted, Rodriguez's net offensive statistics were very comparable to those of Ortiz.

Yet, Ortiz was definitely the most valuable player to his team in 2005.

Unless a pitcher seriously distinguishes himself and performs on an unreal level, such as Pedro Martinez did in 1999 when he failed to win the award, the MVP is an offensive award.

All other things being equal, based solely on the offensive stats, this year’s MVP race was too close to call. All other things were not equal, of course, and this award was not decided in a vacuum.

The award is usually given nowadays to the most valuable offensive player on a contending team. Since the Red Sox and Yankees finished the season with essentially identical 95-win campaigns, neither player gained an edge based on that.

So what about defense? Well, Omar Vizquel was not winning MVPs or even being named as a candidate in the mid- to late-1990s when the Indians were going to the playoffs every year, so it appears superior defense has never been factored into the equation all that much.

When people point to A-Rod's very good defensive play at third base, combined with Ortiz's lack of defense as a DH as reason A-Rod should be the MVP, it is a faulty argument, as defensive proficiency is really not a factor in naming the MVP.

However, the "stat geeks," baseball fans who take a strictly statistical analysis approach to player evaluation, present a more compelling argument for A-Rod. They say that since A-Rod plays a premium defensive position at third base, and since Ortiz is a DH, A-Rod's offensive production is much more valuable and harder to replace than that of Ortiz.

These A-Rod backers contend, "Remove each man from his team. The Yankees are left with Felix Escalona at third base, while the Red Sox have Kevin Millar at DH. Therefore, A-Rod is much more valuable."

Ortiz and A-Rod finished the 2005 season with 1.001 and 1.031 OPS' (Note: OPS=On-Base Pct. + Slugging Pct., and it is the single best stat for hitter evaluation), respectively, quite similar numbers.

Escalona has a career OPS of .543, while Millar's career OPS is .842, the difference between A-Rod's and Escalona's hitting being far greater than that between Ortiz's and Millar's. So A-Rod was the hands-down MVP, right?

Wrong. It is highly doubtful that Yankees Owner George Steinbrenner, GM Brian Cashman and Manager Joe Torre, would have started Escalona every day at third base in the absence of Rodriguez, but it doesn’t matter as this stated "positional value" argument is flawed anyway.

To avoid blatantly exploiting Escalona's hitting ineptitude to suit their argument, the A-Rod pushers add that no matter what teams they were on, A-Rod's production at third base would always be considerably more valuable than Ortiz's at DH.

To test this argument, let's make Ortiz the starting DH on the Yankees and A-Rod the starting third baseman on the Red Sox. Take away A-Rod from the Red Sox, and you're left with backup Kevin Youkilis at third. Unlike 2005, Youkilis received ample playing time and 208 at bats during the 2004 season. His OPS in 2004 was .780.

Take away Ortiz from the Yankees and you're left with the 2005 starting DH platoon of Bernie Williams and Ruben Sierra. Williams had an OPS of .688 this past season, and Sierra had an OPS of .636. So, 1.031 to .780 and 1.001 to .688 or .636?

A little math is done, and now it appears Ortiz is more valuable. Yes, though this positional value argument was a good attempt to put A-Rod over, it is ultimately worthless, as different results for the value of a given player are available based entirely on the specific roster composition of any given player's team. Comparisons of the relative value of two players on separate teams based on the position each man plays cannot be made.

There also has certainly been a clutch hitting element to deciding recent MVPs. In 2002, Miguel Tejada propelled Oakland to a 20-game September winning streak and the playoffs, while in 2004, Vladimir Guerrero performed in the clutch down the stretch for Anaheim en route to an AL West division crown.

This past season, it was Ortiz who carried Boston into the postseason with 11 home runs and 28 RBI in September. In total, 20 of his 47 homers either tied a game, or put the Red Sox ahead in a game, with 19 of them coming in the 7th inning or later.

Ortiz hit .352 with runners in scoring position, and he hit .346 in close and late situations, defined as any situation in the seventh inning or later, ahead by a run, tied, or with the tying run on base, at the plate, or on deck. A-Rod, besides not distinguishing himself in September, hit only .290 during the season with runners in scoring position and only .293 in close and late situations.

However, you might say, Ortiz is still just a DH, and someone who can only play half the game cannot be MVP. Well, consider this: it's not as if Ortiz cannot play in the field, he simply does not, as the Boston Red Sox had Kevin Millar and the in-season signee John Olerud to man first base in 2005. If Ortiz played for another club, perhaps one with less of a payroll, then he would likely play in the field.

Indeed, the Red Sox played him at first base during the 2004 World Series and during interleague play this past season, and he is adequate. He is nothing special at first, no doubt, but he is adequate. However, the list of "nothing special, but adequate" first basemen to be MVP includes Mo Vaughn in 1995 and Jason Giambi in 2000, and they were not near the clutch hitters David Ortiz was in 2005.

This is not to say that Ortiz is a better all-around baseball player than Rodriguez, because he clearly is not. However, Ortiz, with his unbelievable clutch hitting in 2005, was more valuable to the Red Sox than a man who hit .375 with none on and no outs, as opposed to his clutch stats, was to the Yankees.

A lack of depth of thought led to the selection of Rodriguez as American League MVP. On the surface, one can see A-Rod's offensive numbers and defensive mastery, and he can conclude that A-Rod deserves the MVP.

However, beneath the surface, Ortiz's knack for coming through when his team was in dire straits carried the Boston Red Sox in 2005. Ortiz was your American League MVP.