With the baseball postseason coming up, I figure it’s time to start this thread.
Only one name really sticks out this year: Albert Pujols, especially if he makes it to “The 700 Club.” It’s sort of like when Cal Ripken Jr. got this award; it was pretty much “by default” - who else could you give it to?
There are a couple of “maybes” I can think of:
Stephen Curry, but it hasn’t been that long since the Warriors got this as a team.
Sydney McLaughlin, but she doesn’t quite have the “general name recognition” you need; besides, there’s another World Track & Field Championships next year, then the Paris Olympics in 2024 - if she switches to the 400 and does well in those, her odds improve.
Here’s a longshot: outgoing NCAA President Mark Emmert, in light of NIL and how it has pretty much changed college sports as a whole.
Despite Pujols’ outstanding overall career, I have a difficult time picturing SI giving the award to a part-time player with a .260 average and 20-ish home runs, and who had been a replacement-level player for the previous five seasons.
In baseball, if there’s a good candidate, it’d be Aaron Judge, especially if the Yankees go deep into the playoffs this year. He’s hitting .310, leading the majors in OPB and SLG, and has a good shot at hitting 60 home runs. (Shohei Ohtani could also be a candidate, I imagine.)
As with the OP’s suggestion of Pujols, Serena would be a pick in recognition of her career, and her influence, not on her performance this year, in which she’d played little, and is currently ranked #321.
Not saying that they wouldn’t pick her, but it’d be a sort of a lifetime achievement award.
Nobody comes to mind but they also don’t like going back to back in the same sport, so NFL is probably out unless somebody does something spectacular over the next 2 months.
If it’s a baseball player, it would almost certainly be a player for the World Series champs, unless somebody breaks a truly noticeable record. Most are champions of one sort or another. Unless the Yankees win the Series, I can’t see Judge otherwise winning unless he goes totally nuts in the back half of September and gets to 75 HRs.
The Winter Olympics were mostly a yawn, so nothing there, especially for Americans.
Maybe Steph Curry, then. The Warriors collectively won it a few years back, but he won his first Finals MVP and maybe time to give him a solo nod.
Pujols is having a better season this year than almost anyone expected him to have. It’s not inconceivable that the Cardinals could win it all and that Pujols could play a big part in that. But it’s also not inconceivable that he (and they) could have a very anticlimactic rest of the year.
I had to look up the basis for the award: “the athlete or team whose performance that year most embodies the spirit of sportsmanship and achievement.” That looks pretty vague and open-ended to me, but it suggests that it’s important not just what they do but also how they do it.
If a hockey player is in the running, Connor McDavid would be a reasonable pick. He finished 1st in points in the regular season, and first in points in the playoffs despite his team going out two series before the end. You could also make the case for teammate Leon Draisaitl, who finished just behind him in points but who had more goals.
Absolutely agreed; it’s great to see him be a productive player, and not just playing out the string. But, unless he pulls a Mr. October for the Cards, I can only see him winning the award if SI decides to award him for his overall career (much as they would be doing if they gave it to Serena).
True. I do wonder if, say, the US Men’s National Team goes farther in the World Cup than anyone expected if it’d be too late for the internal vote that SI would be doing.
She already was SOTY in 2015, and she didn’t really do that much in 2022 to deserve being named again.
Insert Picard face-palm here…Brittney Griner.
I think the only thing that stands in her way is, does the SI staff think that too many of its readers would be turned off by choosing somebody who might be considered a “political” choice - or merely by being a WNBA player, for that matter?
And I completely forgot about the Winter Olympics - another entry in the “maybe” list is the USA Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey team, which finally won a gold medal. Still, if they give it to any woman, it will be Griner.
There’s no way Sports Illustrated would pick an athlete from a niche sport, especially not a non-American; but the Catalan ultra-marathoner Kilian Jornet set new course records at the Hardrock 100 and Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc trail races this year. Both are 100+ mile mountain ultramarathons that feature around 33,000 ft of elevation change and attract the sport’s elite.
Most pro ultrarunners will do maybe two 100 mile races in a year, with several months recovery between them. What really makes Jornet’s achievement worthy of SOTY honors is that the two races are only about a month-and-a-half apart. It was a truly incredible feat of athleticism. Of course, this is the same man who dislocated his shoulder in the 2017 Hardrock, banged it back into place against a boulder, then finished the race with it taped up and held with his race pack. And finished the race in first place.
Exactly what I was thinking as well. There is no doubt she had tremendous impact on the sport and for women’s tennis in particular. The response to her recent US Open participation was incredible, including being cheered on by legends from other sports.
ETA
She already was SOTY in 2015, and she didn’t really do that much in 2022 to deserve being named again.
It’s a big if, but if the Cardinals win it all I could see the whole team getting the award. Along with Albert getting 700, you’ve got Goldshmidt probably winning MVP (and maybe getting the Triple Crown?), and Wainwright/Molina setting the battery record.
For an American from a niche sport - did you see that Jack Kuenzle set the Bob Graham Round record earlier this month, beating Kilian Jornet’s recent record? 66 miles, 27000 feet in the Lake District in 12 hours 23 mins. For amateurs a sub 24 hour round is considered a big deal and gets you into the Bob Graham club. The previous record KJ beat had stood from 1982.
Kuenzle runs shirtless for some reason. Quite bold to be out on the Fells taps aff in September.
Ohtani isn’t American, so his chances would be extremely remote even if the Angels weren’t a dumpster fire. Judge would be a good choice if the Yankees go deep in the postseason, and they haven’t given it to a baseball player in awhile.
Serena has already won it (in 2015) and giving it to her for retiring seems odd.
Barring an amazing individual performance in the World Cup or MLB postseason, this would be my bet. SI likes being provocative and has in general been a strong supporter of human rights.
My fringe nominee would be World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen – who’s dominated the sport longer than anyone since Kasparov – although his decision to not defend his crown this year (and recent controversy over a tournament withdrawal) might tarnish that idea.
But they don’t really do that for Sportsperson of the year. They did “The Activist Athlete” in 2020 but it was still all players who had some sort of major accomplishment that year. The only way they would do Britney is part of another group, but I don’t really know what for.