Pujols Wins MVP, Howard Finishes Second
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Pujols Wins MVP, Howard Finishes Second
Todd Zolecki
There will be no Phillies MVP three-peat.
St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols has been named this year's National League MVP. Ryan Howard finished second.
Pujols received 18 first-place votes, 10 second place votes, two third-place votes, one fourth-place vote and one seventh-place vote to finish with 369 points. Howard received 12 first-place votes, eight second-place votes, six third-place votes, one fifth-place vote, one sixth-place vote, two seventh-place votes and one 10th place vote to finish with 308 points.
In the end, I think Howard's .251 average sunk him. No MVP in either league has hit less than .267, which Marty Marion did in 1944. I personally think Howard should have been MVP. He led the majors in home runs and RBIs. He played great when it mattered the most. His team made the postseason. Pujols had an incredible year, but for a fourth-place team.
Interestingly, Brad Lidge, who finished eighth with 104 points, was the only other player to receive first-place votes.
Chase Utley finished 15th.
Pujols said in 2006, when he finished second to Howard, that Howard didn't deserve to win because the Phillies didn't make the playoffs. Pujols said he was misquoted (or something) and said Howard did deserve to win. He was asked today about that.
“Thanks for opening the door that was already shut,” Pujols said. “I said it in 2006. That guy misunderstood my words. And what I said is the players who take their teams to the playoffs should have some consideration to win the MVP. Obviously, Howard had the numbers that year, just like I had it (this year). His team was in the playoff race until the last week of the season, so I think the writers made the right choice in 2006. He did deserve it. He hit over .300. He hit 58 homers. He had a great year, just like I had, and that’s just how it is.”
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The Phillies have fired minor-league field coordinator Bill Dancy, who had been the Phillies' third base coach from 2005-06. Mike Compton will take Dancy's place.
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The Phillies officially announced they have hired Scott Proefrock as assistant general manager to Ruben Amaro Jr.
And Amaro lets out a small sigh of relief.— Gary Varsho- Good for Pujols. He deserved it. IF not this year, then two years ago. Howard had a great last month. Pujols had a great year. Look for Howard, Utley and Rollins to be back in the hunt next year— jeff gross
- I have to say I'm ok with this. While Howard had a great Aug and Sept, he also stunk in April and May. Plus his defense helped make some games alot more interesting than they should have been. Ok. 2008 is over. Now to 2009.— Deb in Dixie
- Hope Truth's heart isn't broken (LOL) Pujols deserved this honor. He had a great overall season.— KarenA
- Pujols hit .357 with 37 home runs and 116 RBIs, Howard hit .251 with 48 home runs and 146 RBIs. So the player with the better BA wins the award...fair?— MrJimmy
- im not ok with this....how can you be sooo valuable and yet your team finishes 4th in the division....so if he is not there then what....prob finish 5th...yup thats valuable.....its simple without Howard Phils dont even make playoffs...thats value— Sgasda4
- MrJimmy - see Jimmy Rollins winning it last year, without leading in any of the categories. Its not just about stats. However, I could see an argument for Howard winning it. I think his prolonged slow start did him in. Not to mention his defense isn't great.— Gary Varsho
- Pujols was the MVP, despite a 4th place finish. Best player on the best team philosophy obviously doesn't apply anymore to these awards, hence the NL Cy Young this year... Bigger issue is signing him to a long term deal, either get it done or we'll watch him walk in 2 years.— mpt29
Comment removed.- If Ryan's batting average and strike out totals weren't so glaring he probably would have won. He killed Pujols in the RBI and HR columns. Meh, who cares, WORLD CHAMPS BABY!!— MVKrum
- Definitely well deserved! Congrats to Albert! Zo....Do you have the top 10? One sports writer actually predicted Chase coming in 3rd! As much as I love Chase, I thought that was a little high. I'm guessing, since he wasn't mentioned, he didn't even make the top 10. Darn hip injury!!!— Norma
- Hope Truth isn't heartbroken (LOL) Pujols deserved this award. He had a great overall season.— KarenA
- Without a doubt the right guy won. This doens't take away from Howard's great finish or lessen his worth and value to the Phils this year. As for the Cards fate without Pujols, it is probably the same as the Phil's fate in '72 w/o Lefty, from bar to G-d awful.— jeff gross
- Albert who?— Rudykizuty
- It's sort of a mirror image of 2006, when Pujols should have won but Howard did. After all, the Phillies didn't make the playoffs that year.— judas_priest
