Pujols wins NL MVP

Each of the past four seasons, Albert Pujols has taken a backseat to Barry Bonds in the NL MVP voting. Not this year.

<!---------------------INLINE TABLE (BEGIN)---------------------><TABLE id=inlinetable cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=3 width=197 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TH style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #000000" colSpan=5>NL MVP Voting</TH><TR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ececec" vAlign=top><TD style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #999999" width=33>Player</TD><TD style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #999999" width=33>1st-place votes</TD><TD style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #999999" width=33>2nd</TD><TD style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #999999" width=33>3rd</TD><TD style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #999999" width=33>Points</TD></TR><TR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ececec" vAlign=top><TD width=33>Albert Pujols, Cardinals </TD><TD width=33>18 </TD><TD width=33>14 </TD><TD width=33>0 </TD><TD width=33>378 </TD></TR><TR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ececec" vAlign=top><TD width=33>Andruw Jones, Braves </TD><TD width=33>13 </TD><TD width=33>17 </TD><TD width=33>2 </TD><TD width=33>351 </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!---------------------INLINE TABLE (END)--------------------->

Albert Pujols was named NL MVP for the first time in his brilliant young career Tuesday, beating out the Braves' Andruw Jones and the Cubs' Derek Lee for the award.

The St. Louis Cardinals first baseman received 18 first-place votes and 14 seconds for 378 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Jones, the Atlanta Braves center fielder, got 13 first-place votes, 17 seconds and two thirds for 351 points.

The 25-year-old Pujols ranked in the top three in the NL in homers (41), RBI (117) and batting average (.330) and led the majors in runs (129) for the third season in a row.

The Cardinals had to deal with injuries to third baseman Scott Rolen and corner outfielders Larry Walker and Reggie Sanders, but still got the usual dominant play from their slugging first baseman to finish with the majors' best record.

Pujols has finished in the top four in MVP voting by the Baseball Writers Association of America in each of the last four campaigns, when the award went to Bonds.

Bonds is not a candidate for his fifth straight award after missing virtually the entire season with a knee injury.

Information from SportsTicker was used in this report.

Well deserved!


Congrats to all Cardinals fans.

ditto what Fish had to say.......best in the game today!

Congrats to Pujols. One of if not the best in baseball. Another thought comes to mind with the post-season awards, the world series teams, White Sox and Astros, have pretty much been shut out. I guess Guillen did win the A.L. Manager of the Year.