Justin Morneau was voted the AL's Most Valuable Player this afternoon in what could be considered the most heated debate in MVP-voting history. Umm...by me. Not only did he have to contend with Yankee's star short stop Derek Jeter, he had two teammates up for the same honor: AL Cy Young winner, Johan Santana and AL Batting Champ, Joe Mauer.
It was as close as we all had imagined, with Morneau getting 15 first-place votes, 8 second-place votes, 3 third-place votes and 2 fourth-place votes for a total of 320 points. Jeter was the runner up, receiving 12 first-place votes, 14 second-place votes and 1 fourth-place vote for 306 points. Some might call this an upset. Minnesotans call it justice.
Big Papi finished third with 193 points while the Big Hurt finished fourth with 174. Mauer came in with 116 and Santana tallied 114 total points.
The Twins have not had three players on the same MVP ballot since 1965, when short stop Zoilo Versalles (the first ever Latin MVP) won the honor over outfielder Tony Oliva and pitching ace Mudcat Grant. This is the first time in MLB history that three separate players have won three honors from the same team in the same year, however.
The Canadian Crusher hit .321 with 34 homers, 97 runs scored and 130 RBIs (second in the league to Oritz) and became the first Twin since the likes of Gaetti, Hrbek and Brunansky to hit more than 30 bombs in a season. His fielding wasn't so bad, either. He had only 8 errors with a .994 fielding percentage and some insane digs at first.
Coming off a less-than-satisfactory year in 2005, where he hit just .239 with 22 home runs and 79 RBIs, Justin was headed down the same path during the first couple months of this season. To be fair, the entire team sucked. But after June 8th, he held the best batting average in the bigs (hitting .362), the most hits (145) and the most RBIs in the AL (92). The Twins were 25-33 up until that point and went on to perform at 71-33 for the remainder of the season - an incredible improvement - helping get the Twins another Central Division Title to advance to the postseason.
When asked how he felt about his performance mid-season, Morneau humbly turned the attention to his teammate:
"I watch Joe and he makes it look so easy. Everybody wants to hit like that. Everyone can kind of learn from the way he hits and his approach, as he doesn't seem to chase too much. Having a guy like that around helps me and everyone else, really."
Here's to 2007, where Morneau will continue to chase Harmon Killebrew's 40 home-run seasons.
5 comments:
!!! I AM SO HAPPY FOR HIM!! HE DESERVES IT AND I KNOW THE WHOLE TEAM IS SO PROUD OF HIM. HECK, OUR TEAM HAS HAD SO MANY ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND AWARDS THIS YEAR I HAVE LITTLE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT.
WELL, ONE THING IS THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE SAYING IT SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN HIM, OR FOCUSING ON JETER LOSING IT VERSUS JUSTIN WINNING IT..
BUT I'D RATHER FOCUS ON THE GOOD, AND THAT IS JUSTIN FREAKING MORNEAU WINNING THE AL MVP!! :D
Me too. I was so pleasantly surprised to see that he won! He is so incredibly humble, too.
To those who think it should have been Jeter...if you look at Morneau's full season, maybe it looks like Jeter's numbers were better. If you start from the Twins turnaround point (June 8th) Justin clearly deserves the award, as he was the best in baseball from that point on, next to Joe.
I hate the ESPN circuit focusing in on how Jeter deserved it. I like Woody, but him harping about how Morneau wasn't even the MVP of his team made me burn my official Woody's Ninjas card.
The media on the east coast won't accept the fact that their darling, Jeter, didn't get it.
Which now, it's time for lots of beer toasts to Morneau. :)
No doubt, Rich. I feel like it was that way when the Twins won the Division, also. The hype wasn't focused around their comeback from 12 games below .500, it was on Detroit and Chicago and their descent from the top.
When will the Twins gain the media respect they deserve? Are these three major awards not enough?
Cheers!
I too hate how the focus is on Jeter not getting it. It makes me want to scream..
I mean, my goodness, give the guy some credit and be happy for him. And about him not being the MVP for the Twins, I have no doubt in my mind that the whole Twins team was supporting him, Justin Morneau, in this race. So I say that sometimes you just have to ignore everyone else, and jump for joy in your own little world. lol.
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