The NL MVP was announced on Monday and the award went to Albert Pujols of the Cardinals. It is Pujols' second MVP award, his first one coming in 2005. The Phillies' Ryan Howard placed second in the voting.
Pujols hit .357 37 HR and 116 RBIs while playing with a sore right elbow. Pujols got 18 of the 32 first-place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. It seemed like many people thought Pujols would get the MVP nod over Howard because Albert played on a team that was in contention until September mainly because of his production. Howard led the majors with 48 HR and 146 RBIs but ultimately lost out on the award. Pujols had a significant advantage over Howard when it came to batting average (.357 to .251) , slugging percentage (.653 to .543) , and on-base percentage (.462 to .339). Howard also got to the plate 50 more times than Pujols with runners in scoring position. So that could've been a factor the writers took into account as well. Pujols earned a $200,000 bonus for winning the award.
This was a good call by the writers. Even tho the Cardinals didn't make the playoffs Pujols was the right choice. He hit .398 in August that kept the Cards in the playoff hunt into September, he also had no supporting cast around him, not to mention he dealt with a sore elbow all year. Gotta give the him credit where credit is due. Howard did help the Phillies past the Mets in Septemeber by having his best month at the plate. He set a team record with 32 RBI in the season's final month.
The AL MVP will be announced on Tuesday. That choice was a lot tougher to make because there wasn't one clear cut winner. It'll be interesting to see who wins as both the Red Sox and Twins have a couple men up for the award.
Pujols hit .357 37 HR and 116 RBIs while playing with a sore right elbow. Pujols got 18 of the 32 first-place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. It seemed like many people thought Pujols would get the MVP nod over Howard because Albert played on a team that was in contention until September mainly because of his production. Howard led the majors with 48 HR and 146 RBIs but ultimately lost out on the award. Pujols had a significant advantage over Howard when it came to batting average (.357 to .251) , slugging percentage (.653 to .543) , and on-base percentage (.462 to .339). Howard also got to the plate 50 more times than Pujols with runners in scoring position. So that could've been a factor the writers took into account as well. Pujols earned a $200,000 bonus for winning the award.This was a good call by the writers. Even tho the Cardinals didn't make the playoffs Pujols was the right choice. He hit .398 in August that kept the Cards in the playoff hunt into September, he also had no supporting cast around him, not to mention he dealt with a sore elbow all year. Gotta give the him credit where credit is due. Howard did help the Phillies past the Mets in Septemeber by having his best month at the plate. He set a team record with 32 RBI in the season's final month.
The AL MVP will be announced on Tuesday. That choice was a lot tougher to make because there wasn't one clear cut winner. It'll be interesting to see who wins as both the Red Sox and Twins have a couple men up for the award.
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