Friday, September 18, 1998 BY SCOTT MacGREGOR
CHICAGO -- Mark McGwire may end the season as baseball's single-season home run king, yet not win his league's Most Valuable Player award. Sammy Sosa may lead his team to playoffs for the first time in nine years, but not be deemed MVP in the National League if he doesn't have the record.
Whom would you vote for?
For most reasons, and on most ballots, Sosa will be the NL MVP this season. Looking at this one year, which the MVP award honors, Sosa should be the run-away winner, even if McGwire ends up with the home run record.
Not only is Sosa tied with McGwire with a record 63 homers, he's hitting .313 with 154 RBI, the most in the majors. McGwire is hitting .292 with 134 RBI.
While the Cubs have gotten contributions from veterans like Mark Grace and Henry Rodriguez, it is Sosa who has taken them to the verge of a playoff spot. If not for Sosa, the Cubs would be just another also-ran like McGwire's Cardinals.
In fact, it seems that after Sosa's tie-breaking grand slam Wednesday that was homer No. 63 and and gave the the Cubs' a key win in the playoff race, the MVP is a foregone conclusion.
But there's one major argument that can be made for McGwire, and will be made by some, though probably not enough to warrant the award. You can say that what McGwire did in getting to 62 first is perhaps not most valuable to his team or the season, but to the game of baseball, because he stirred so much national interest and rekindled America's love of the game.
That logic, however, is somewhat flawed, because Sosa was with him every step of the way down the stretch, and their joint pursuit made what would have been a coronation into a thrilling finish.
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