2013 Massachusetts Americans Team MVPThe 2013 Massachusetts Americans finished the season with an 81-81 record, good enough for fourth in the Patriot League. The question of who was the team's Most Valuable Player came down to two men.
On the offensive side we have
CF Rusty Sanders. Sanders played in 158 games compiling 642 at-bats with a .315/.380/.463 triple-slash line. While he lead the Americans in practically every offensive category, his 202 hits lead the entire American Federation and he had top-10 finishes in batting average (6th), on-base percentage (8th) and doubles (4th). Sanders' 2013 production accounted for 4.2 wins above replacement.
The other horse in this race is mound star
Chuck Carver. Carver started 34 games from the hill compiling 225.0 innings with a 2.88 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and .222/.283/.340 opponent triple-slash. Carver again dominated the Americans pitching categories while finishing in the top-10 AFBL wide in ERA (8th), Hits/9 (3rd), HR/9 (7th) and opponent AVG (6th). Ground Chuck's 2013 production accounted for 5.4 wins above replacement.
After considering all the averages, ratios and intangibles, the old baseball adage, great pitching beats great hitting holds true - the 2013 Massachusetts Americans Most Valuable Player is
Chuck Carver.