Hard Lumber: Players of the Month

Texas Rangers stud center fielder Josh Hamilton, who is like, the comeback player of the century, was honored Monday as the American League's Player of the Month for May.

Hamilton became the first AL player to win the award for April and May in the same season after hitting .328 with a big league-best 63 RBIs, which is a whopping 13 more than the next two closest players, Adrian Gonzalez and Chase Utley.

He led the league with 15 homers, 77 hits and 25 multi-hit games with eight longballs and 29 RBIs in May, helping his Rangers win 19 of 29 games.

Color us impressed. And totally turned on.

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So I guess, don't mess with Texas this month. Houston Astros monster of a first baseman Lance Berkman is May's Player of the Month for the National League.

The switch-hitting Fat Elvis, honored for the second time in his career, hit .471 for the month with nine homers, 11 doubles, a triple, 22 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.

"I didn't know he was the greatest hitter in the history of baseball until this guy showed up for the last month or so," Astros general manager Ed Wade said.

Slow down, Fast Eddie.

Berkman, who's shown no sign of slowing down himself, is stationed in the top three in the NL with 17 homers, 47 RBIs, 57 runs scored and a steady .385 batting average for 2008.

No, I will not call him Big Puma.

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Hard Lumber: Players of the Month

Chase Utley is on pace to hit like, 70 bombs this season.

The Philadelphia Phillies second baseman was honored as the National League Player of the Month on Saturday after batting .360 with a major league-best 11 homers and 23 RBIs in the month of April. He's kicked off May in a good way too, by raising his average to .369 and hammering two more homers for 3 more RBIs.

There's pretty much no stopping him right now. The two-time All-Star has jacked 10 homers over his last 16 games (that's nuts) and tied a franchise record by hitting a longball in five consecutive games from April 17th-21st. My goodness.

Josh Hamilton is swinging a hot bat, as well. The Texas Rangers outfielder was recognized as the American League's Player of the Month for April, marking the first time he's received the award.

"It's exciting to win the [award], but I'd trade it for a better start for our team," he said.

Hamms finished April batting .330 and leading the majors with 32 RBIs, which was six more than any other player. He also led all AL players with 38 hits, 17 extra base hits and tied for third with ten doubles.

[The Sideline Pass]

Hard Lumber: Players of the Month

Ladies and gentlemen, your Players of the Month.

American League

Minnesota Twins hunky first baseman Justin Morneau was named the American League's Player of the Month for May.

The 26-year-old Canadian Crusher smoked 10 homers, hit .380 and nailed 29 RBIs for the Twins, who went 13-14 for the month.

The reigning AL MVP had a slugging percentage of .667 and scored 21 runs, compiling a 10-game hitting streak in the middle of the month. This marks the first career Player of the Month award for Morneau, who had three multi-homer performances in May.


National League

Milwaukee Brewers monster first baseman Prince Fielder was named the National League's Player of the Month for May.

The 23-year-old slugger hit 13 bombs, had a .755 slugging percentage, and drove in 28 runs for the Brew Crew, who went 14-15 in May, but still managed to maintain a comfortable lead in the NL Central.

The 6-foot, 260-pound slugger batted .321 in May and leads the NL with 20 longballs, tied for the best in the majors with New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez. This marks Fielder's very first Player of the Month recognition.

More AL vote-getters
Kevin Youkilis
Mark Teixeira
Magglio Ordonez
Gary Sheffield
Ichiro Suzuki

More NL vote-getters
J.J. Hardy
Ken Griffey, Jr.
Carlos Lee
Rafael Furcal

[Past Players of the Month]

Hard Lumber: Players of the Month

Ladies and gentlemen: your Players of the Month.

National League

New York Mets speedy shortstop Jose Reyes has been named the NL Player of the Month for April, for the first time in his career.

The 23-year-old Reyes batted .356, scored 26 runs and stole a major league-best 17 bases for the Mets, who had a fantastic 15-9 April.