Matt Kemp had a fantastic season in 2011, hitting .324/.399/.586 with 39 home runs and 40 stolen bases, and finished second in the National League Most Valuable Player voting to Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers. Braun is currently appealing a 50-game suspension for violating MLB's drug policy.
Kemp on Tuesday, the day pitchers and catchers reported to Dodgers spring training camp at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona, said he didn't want an MVP re-vote (not that the Baseball Writers Association of America would do this) should the suspension to Braun get upheld.
"I would want to win by them voting me, not by a default," Kemp said. "If [Braun does end up getting suspended], it should just be a vacant award for 2011."
"The only thing I was really disappointed about was at the beginning of the season, I told Newk, Don Newcombe, who is somebody that I respect and consider like a dad to me, we're very close," Kemp said. "I promised him I would win him the MVP. I felt like I kind of let him down."
Kemp, who predicted a 40/40 season last year and ended up just one home run shy, aimed even higher for 2012. The center fielder predicted a 50/50 campaign for this year, noting, "You always have to set your limits higher than you want them to be."
Perhaps the line of the day of the first day of camp was when somebody told Kemp the sale price of the Dodgers could reach $2 billion. Kemp, who signed an eight-year, $160 million contract in November, laughed and said, "I thought I was rich."
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