Ryan Braun Wins National League MVP, Now a Million Times More Attractive

Ryan Braun became a little hotter back in September when he officially became a 30-30 player. Nothing turns us on more than an impressive stat line.

But now that he's won the National League's Most Valuable Player award, we can hardly contain ourselves.

After helping lead his Milwaukee Brewers to their first division title in nearly 30 years, the left fielder received 20 of the 32 possible first-place votes and 388 total points from the Baseball Writers Association of America. He beat out Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp, his teammate first baseman Prince Fielder, Arizona Diamondbacks right fielder Justin Upton, and St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols. Not a lot of chumps, so Braun should feel proud.

Justin Verlander's Badassery Knows No Bounds; AL Cy Young and MVP in the Bag

Is there anything Justin Verlander can't do? Maybe... but probably not.

After winning the American League’s pitching triple crown by going 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA and 250 strikeouts, the Detroit Tigers right-hander officially became the Most Valuable Player of 2011 on Monday. He's the first pitcher to earn the MVP honor since Dennis Eckersley with the Oakland Athletics in 1992 and the first starting pitcher since Roger Clemens won it with the Boston Red Sox in 1986. It's been a while.

Verlander, who also earned the AL Cy Young Award last week, beat out Boston Red Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury, Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista, New York Yankees center fielder Curtis Granderson (Verlander's preference other than himself) and fellow teammate, first baseman Miguel Cabrera. Tough competition for sure, but Verlander's season was not only memorable, it was out of control good.

The 28-year-old tossed his second career no-hitter against the Blue Jays on May 7, and went on to have the winningest season since Bob Welch went 27-6 for the Oakland Athletics back in 1990. His pivotal role in the Tigers' quest for the postseason reopened the heated debate on whether pitchers, who already have their own award, should be considered in the MVP voting at all.

Apparently the debate was not quite strong enough this season, as Verlander received 13 of the possible 28 first-place votes and 280 points over, 38 more points than Ellsbury. He's pretty pumped:

David Freese is an Animal, St. Louis Cardinals are World Series Champions

World Series MVP David Freese gave credit to just about everyone but himself Friday night after his Cardinals came away with a 6-2 win over the Texas Rangers to bring their 11th Championship title back to St. Louis.

The 28-year-old thanked Albert Pujols for being a great teammate who helped put him on the right path back to success. He thanked Tony La Russa for being an over-managing mess excellent manager, and Mark McGwire for little hitting tips that came up big.

Texas Rangers Win American League Pennant, Nelson Cruz Earns Series MVP

The world of baseball has never seen anything like what Nelson Cruz displayed over the entire American League Championship Series. In fact, over the 142-year history of Major League Baseball, no one had ever topped his performance.

After a terrible ALDS in which he went 1-for-12 with five strikeouts, Cruz absolutely lit up both ballparks, hitting .364 with a big league-record six home runs and 13 RBI in the ALCS. The guy was completely out of control.

Meanwhile, we can't decide whether the Rangers embarrassed the Detroit Tigers or the Tigers embarrassed themselves. Between an incredible display of incompetence on the field and a lack of timing and finesse at the plate, they were crushed 15-5 and sent packing for the offseason Saturday night.

Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers Avoid Arbitration

Josh Hamilton and the Texas Rangers have finally reached an agreement on a new contract to avoid arbitration just four days before the set hearing in Phoenix, Arizona.

The two sides came to terms Thursday on a two-year contract worth $24 million, including a $3 million signing bonus to cover the reigning American League MVP's last two arbitration-eligible seasons. This of course means he can become a free agent after the 2012 season if the Rangers don't offer him a new extension in time.

Josh Hamilton is Super Valuable

In fact, he is the most valuable player in the entire American League.

Josh Hamilton gets to clear a spot in his trophy case for some hardware today after being named the AL MVP. Despite missing most of the final month of the regular season with two fractured ribs, the Texas Rangers outfielder compiled 358 points from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America after tallying 22 first place votes, four second places and two fourth place tallies... which probably came out of New York.

Hamilton had a big hand in getting the Rangers to their first ever ALCS, where he was named the MVP of that series on the road to the Fall Classic, which they eventually blew. The 29-year-old All-Star led the big leagues with a .359 batting average and a .633 slugging percentage, and finished the 2010 season a .369 hitter with runners in scoring position and .370 with two outs. Clutch.

Joey Votto Crushes NL MVP Voting

After helping the Cincinnati Reds reach the postseason for the first time in 15 years, Joey Votto received 31 of 32 first place votes to earn the 2010 National League MVP honor.

His 443 points awarded by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America topped reigning NL MVP-hog Albert Pujols by a mile.

After winning the MVP in 2005, 2008 and 2009, Pujols came in second with 279 points and the other first place vote, from (who else but) Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Homer much?

While Pujols had yet another magnificent season, Votto was a first-time All-Star, finishing second in the NL in hitting with a .324 batting average and third in homers (37) and RBI (113). He also led the league in slugging percentage (.600), was best in the majors in on-base percentage (.424) and swiped 16 bases in 21 attempts.

Albert Pujols Walks Away With NL MVP

Albert Pujols, hands down the best player in baseball (the ESPYs said so,) was unanimously nominated as the National League’s Most Valuable Player this afternoon by a panel of writers from the BBWAA.

The St. Louis Cardinals first baseman was chosen first out of ten choices on all 32 ballots, which is exactly as it should have been. Sure, the NL has some terrific hitters, but none hold a candle to Prince Albert. This season, he hit .327 with 47 bombs and 135 RBIs, along with a league-leading .443 on-base percentage and NL-best .658 slugging percentage.

Continue reading this story at Sports Untapped.

Man Muscles Dominates MVP Voting

Joe Mauer  is your 2009 American League Most Valuable Player. And rightfully so!

Receiving 27 of 28 first-place tallies, Man Muscles nearly swept the voting. Mark Teixeira was second and his New York Yankees teammate Derek Jeter finished third behind the Minnesota Twins catcher while Detroit Tigers' first baseman Miguel Cabrera finished fourth.

Cabrera received the one and only first place vote that did not go to Mauer. For the record, that BBWAA writer is an idiot.

After missing the entire month of April, Mauer batted .365 with 28 home runs and 96 RBIs to earn his record-setting third batting title as a backstop. That's right, he's the only catcher in the history of the game to win three batting championships, and just the tenth player to ever accomplish the feat. What a badass.

His 191 hits included 30 doubles and one triple, with a .444 OBP and .587 slugging percentage to aid the Twins in an improbable September run to the playoffs... where they were promptly swept by the eventual World Champion Yankees.

The 26-year-old Minnesota native could leave the team like every other successful former Twin has done when he has the opportunity to become a free agent after his $12.5 million 2010 season. Minnesota brass, however, are expected to try to sign him to a new deal, in which Mauer has offered an undisclosed "home-town discount." That's pretty sweet for the Twins since he'd be getting a gazillion dollars anywhere else.

Check back to read about Albert Pujols' National League MVP award, which will be announced Tuesday afternoon.

[USA Today] | [Twinkie Talk] | [Jorge Says No!]

Finally! The Post Season is Decided!

After 12 heart attack-inducing innings in game 163, the AL Central FINALLY has a champion. The Minnesota Twins, who were seven games back in early September, battled until the very end to take down the Detroit Tigers in a tie-breaker game. Leading up to this game, the Detroit Tigers had one of the most epic collapses in the history of the game, while the Twins had gone 16-4 in their last 20 games. This is the second year in a row that the Twins have had to force the tiebreaker game 163 to decide the division (they played the Chicago White Sox and lost 1-0 in 2008), and they weren't going down without a fight this time.

Down 3-0 early on in the game, the Twins clawed their way back in it, in their typical piranha style. The game raged on, back and forth, until finally in the 12th, Casilla got a base hit that allowed Carlos Go-Go-Gomez to slide across home with the game winning run. Poor Jim Leyland, they don't allow smoking at the Dome, so he was probably REALLY pissed that he had no way to calm down between innings.

This ensures that the Metrodome will still be hosting baseball past the 'Final Game' that was to have happened two days ago. Apparently, this horrible building refuses to die. So, we'll have at least one more game of garbage bags for an outfield, lost balls in the ceiling, and deafening noise. The (exhausted) Twins will be meeting with the Yankees tomorrow afternoon to face CC Sabathia.

Also, in typical BLB fashion, we have to bring up our favorite Twin, Man Muscles himself, the probable MVP for the season, the baby Jesus incarnate, Joe Mauer. There was still talk (mostly by ignorant people who only follow the Yankees) that Derek Jeter still deserved to be MVP. Well, unless he had gone 0-17 tonight to change things, he is now a 3-time batting champ, is first in on base percentage, slugging, and bad-assery. Congratulations, Joey! And congratulations to the rest of the team on beating the odds and becoming the AL Central Champions!

Man Muscles For MVP

Clearly, you all saw this post coming from a mile away, but it's high time BLB weighs in on the controversial "Joe Mauer For MVP" debate. No homerism here, we're just gonna lay out the facts. The cold, hard truth. Yes, we love his sideburns and humble MinnesotaNice with all of our hearts, but sideburns don't earn most valuable player awards. Neither do P's and Q's.

The first naysayer will take the "he's on a losing team" route. To that we say, what about your ever-loving A-Rod? Alex Rodriguez won the AL MVP award in 2003 in his final season with the Texas Rangers, who were dead last in the West with a 71-91 record. His 47 home runs, .600 slugging percentage and 124 runs scored were top in the league. (Too bad he totally cheated that year.)

If the 2009 season were to end today, Mauer would lead the entire game with a .380 batting average and .448 OBP, and would be high atop the AL with a .675 slugging %. He's also ninth in the league in home runs with 25, and tenth in RBIs with 77. Mauer's no monster slugger, but he's got one of the sweetest swings in baseball when he makes contact, which is often.

Sure, Mark Teixeira is having a super swell season (.288 AVG/.385 OBP/.562 SLG) with 30 homers and 32 doubles. He also spends half his time hanging out in a shopping mall with a ballfield in the middle of it: a.k.a. The New Yankee Stadium, which has become one of the biggest hitter's parks ever. In fact, he's hit only 11 bombs away from home this season. Tex's defense at first base is pretty amazing, but Mauer's position puts far more strain on his body. And the Metrodome just plain sucks to hit in. And Joe managed to put these numbers up after missing the entire month of April. And... so there.

For you stat geeks, here's a neat little table set up by Dayn Perry over at FOX Sports. He's one smart cookie...


So is there really even a debate here? I think as long as Man Muscles continues to kick ass over the next six weeks until those 28 newspaper writers cast their votes, he'll run away with the MVP Award -- along with his record-breaking third batting title as a backstop -- whether the Twins play baseball in October or not.

P.S. Check out BLB's 12 Second Trivia #3! We'll stump you eventually. Maybe.

[Larry Brown Sports] | [MinnPost - Gleeman] | [Josh Q. Public]