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.
Comments (82)
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
- Sorry for the double posting :-)— KarenA
- If Howard had been more consistent throughout the duration of the season he would have won. A lot of voters could not forgive him for his horrendous start. MPT29 you're right its not about best player on best team anymore, but you're mistaken to compare it to the CY Young. Cy Young award is for BEST pitcher, simple as that. MVP is not always the BEST player, if it was Pujols would win almost every year.— Ni Boo
- Sorry, I just can't see giving this award to a player on a 4th place team . Sure, Howard struck out too many times ; but he did carry his team into the playoffs . Plus he put up monster HR and RBI stats . Hmmmm .— Joe R.
- anybody looking to get into a season ticket group? I've had season tickets in 125, 29 rows off home plate for 4 years. Two seats. Looking to go to fewer than 80 games this year. If so, email: scott_carcillo at yahoo dot com— diehardphan
- MLB.com has a complete list. Chase tied with Santana for 14th.— Norma
- Now we're even. 2006 Pujols was close with Howard. The Cardinals made the playoffs and the Phillies didn't. This year Howard had a terrible first two months, and did very good in September. So because he didn't have a good year the whole year the post season was his only hope. They sort of had to vote for Pujols.— unknownblogger
- Now we're even. 2006 Pujols was close with Howard. The Cardinals made the playoffs and the Phillies didn't. This year Howard had a terrible first two months, and did very good in September. So because he didn't have a good year the whole year the post season was his only hope. They sort of had to vote for Pujols.— unknownblogger
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- Pujols should of won. MVP is defined as most outstanding player in baseball, regardless of team achievements. Only Hockey has MVP defined as most valuable to their respective teams. If people understand this, then everyone agress that Pujols should win— Sports4Life
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- An argument can be made whether Howard deserved it (I think one can also make the case for Lidge); but I'm not 100% sure Pujols deserved it either. When Howard won it two years ago, the Phils were at least in the playoff hunt down to the last weekend. The Cards this year were fourth in their division and out of the playoff race by September. If the award was the "Best Player in Baseball Award," then Pujols certainly has a claim. I agree with the above poster (Sgasda4) who made the "value" argument. Howard was valuable to the Phils two years ago even though the Phils didn't make it since Howard at least kept them in the playoff run. Individual statistics aside, what real value was Pujols? Anyone really talking about how the Cardinals were the team of the year this year? Two final points: 1) Use better stats (like game-winning HRs, GW RBIs, etc.) to determine MVP. 2) I'll take the WS Trophy over the MVP anyday (and I'm pretty sure Howard feels the same way).— davesju93
- Joe R.....A lot of people would agree that a player on a 4th place team shouldn't be MVP. But stike-outs aside, Pujols had an all around MUCH better season than Howard. Howard got us to the play-offs by having a great Sept. The rest of his season was just about average. It's not Pujol's fault that he didn't get any support from the rest of his team.— Norma
- Well Ni boo, if that's the case, you would be hard pressed to argue that Lidge didn't deserve the Cy Young this year, he had the best season, as a pitcher. Lincecum 18-5 2.62 ERA, Lidge 2-0 1.95 with a higher WHIP, LIGHTS OUT!— mpt29
- Don't care about a stinking MVP award WORLD CHAMPS— douglasrdd
- Don't care about a stinking MVP award WORLD CHAMPS— douglasrdd
- I personally don't believe a guy who played on an also-ran team should be the MVP unless he does something that changes the face of the sport, such as setting some offensive record or trailblazing for some ethnicity, citizenry or some such. There is absolutely no question that Pujols was the better player of the two (he was almost inarguably the best player in the game in 2008). But the award is not to the BEST player, it is to the MOST VALUABLE player. I'm not sure Howard should have won (I personally think Manny Ramirez was as competitive for the award as was Howard). And I mean to take nothing away from Pujols. But one's value is dependent on either what a player did for his team's success, or for baseball generally. Pujols did nothing for his team's success because they had none, and there was nothing about Pujol's season that will ever be discussed in baseball lore in the future.— marty
- I'm not sure what "Valuable" is supposed to mean, but I think the Cardinals could have managed 4th place with or without Pujols. And no one should compare this to 2006. The Phillies won more games than the Cardinals in 2006. Howard deserved it in 2006, and Howard deserved it in 2008. With all of that said, congratulations to Pujols anyway. He is a monster player on a mediocre team.— NJLouis66
- davegas - I don't think Murphy has a vote - I think Paul Hagen has it from the DN.— Gary Varsho
- utley should have gotten it.— bbh66
- In 2006, when Ryan Howard won the MVP, Pujols said that "someone who doesn't take his team to the playoffs doesn't deserve to win the MVP." I wonder what he thinks now. After all, Pujols led his team to a . . . . 4th place finish. Is that kind of performance MVP-worthy?— chris duckworth
- Dave Murphy did not have a MVP vote. Neither did I. I'll have to check and see who did.
- Pujols was great but the 4th place finish of the Cardinals is what is glaring to me. We don't make the playoffs if Howard didn't have the monstrous September. Also, the whole point about Howard winning it in 2006, if you look at team records, the Phils won more games than the Cardinals did that year, the only problem was our division and the wildcard were very tough that year (like normal). Thus, in the end, Howard was more valuable in 2006 and (at least in my mind) 2008 to the Phils than Pujols was to the Cardinals.— TINA
- To me, Howard and Pujols are production guys. Their job isn't to set the table, it's to clear it. I honestly couldn't care less how often Pujols is on base - I only care how many runs he produces. I'm not saying this is a crazy choice -- to me, there are valid arguments for both guys -- but if I'm correct that Pujols' job is to produce runs, then it seems to me he was the second-best guy in the NL at his job. I would have voted Howard 1st, Pujols 2nd, and after that I would have been looking at guys like Lance Berkman, Carlos Delgado and David Wright. One thing I would like to do is catch the moron who cast his 10th-place vote for Howard and kick him right in the stones.— PhightinPhan
- I don't get it. The two sportswriters who covered the team all season, went on most, if not all road trips, saw each team and every player don't have a vote? So who does, the guys who see teh highlights on ESPN or FOX?? what a farce........— jeff gross
- This was a makeup award for the last one when Howard jipped Pujols.....they're even now...let the best man/team win next year.....— Mark1npt
- The difference between 116 RBI and 146 RBI is staggering. 116 is an excellent year. 146 is a freakishly amazing year. I don't care about Howard's .251 BA. St. Louis was in good position for a playoff run in the beginning of September. They went down. But it was the Phillies who hurdled both the Brewers and Mets, and it was on Ryan Howard's shoulders that they did it. M. V. P. This is a joke.— NJLouis66
- I am assuming Albert is not going to accept the ward since he played on a team that did not make the playoffs.— jlamb
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- You could also make a strong case for Brad Lidge (I was glad to see he got ONE 1st place vote)— KarenA
- At least Jm. J. Bullock voted for Ryan Howard!— wcgiles
- Its not necessarily easy to say that Pujols' RBI numbers don't compare to Howard's, because it also comes down to RBI opportunities. How many RBI's did Howard leave on the table? How many more RBI opportunities did he have than Pujols? If Pujols bats 4th in this lineup, does he likely have more than 150 RBI? Probably.— Gary Varsho
- Hey PhightinPhan - even worse than the 10th place vote for Howard is the fact that one writer did not even vote for him AT ALL. He only got 31 out of 32 (only Pujols was on all 32 ballots). Good grief.— NJLouis66
- I think you have to be a 10 year BBWA writer to have time to be considered for a vote in your respective city, if available. Pujols deserved it in 2006, so this just evens it out. My vote would have been for Manny, he carried his team from the day he got there.— jimmymack
- Howard got hosed. When Howard won in 2006, the Phillies finished in 2nd place after a furious close. No player should get an MVP for their team finishing in 4th place regardless of their stats. Remember it is for Most Valuable Player not Best Player which means it should go to the player who had the most impact on his team's success. Finishing in 4th place is not close to being successful. Howard got hosed...plain and simple!— Danny55
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- It's not as if Ryan Howard did nothing all year and had a great September. He finished with 48 HR and 146 RBI. Unfortunately, RBI is becoming a looked down on stat. There are people who believe if you hit a bases empty homerun in the first inning, that's just as valuable as a three-run homerun in the 9th, because the hitter can't control how many runners there are on base. To me, that's ridiculous.— Metropolitan
- Either way you slice it, a marginally skilled fielding home run or nothing player should not be an MVP. Don't sell me just batting numbers, sell me most valuable PLAYER. Out of the batters box, both Howard and Pujols are replaceable. An MVP has to be NEEDED on both sides of the game. A la Jimmy Rollins was last year. Irreplaceable in the field, irreplaceable in the line up. It's also why I don't believe a pitcher can ever really be an MVP of any sort. He can be the "Most Valuable Pitcher" perhaps, but not the most valuable overall player. Too little of a role when you consider the entire picture.— toph314
- I had a problem 2 years ago when Howard won it as I have a problem today. As a previous poster mentioned, how valuable can you be to your team if they don't get in the playoffs and you don't even need to be on the best team. The bottom line is without Howard the Phils don't make the playoffs. MVP is not about the post season but we all know if Howard doesn't have the final 8 weeks he had, nothing comes of this team. Thats value.— Flyers2001
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- I completely disagree with the voting. Without Pujols the Cardinals would've finished in fourth place, the same place the finish with him. Without Howard the Phillies would've finished fighting the Braves for 3rd place. That’s what an MVP is all about. And for those who said Pujols single handily carried the Cards all season, check the St. Louis lineup. They had four .300 hitters, we had zero. Ryan Ludwick hit 37 hrs and had 116 rbi, and won a Silver Slugger as one of the best hitting outfielders and their #5 hitter (Glaus) had 99 rbi. Burell had what? 80. But what the heck, some of these writers voted Pinella as manager of the year.— EL Zorro
- I wonder how many of the writers that picked Pujols, also picked against the Phillies during their playoff run.— EL Zorro
- I'm sorry,what did you say? I was pouring alcohol in my hot chocolate.— philbirds6470
- If you look at this years numbers verses last years numbers one big question comes to mind. How come Howard didn't win it last year? Fewer errors, Higher average, basically same HR & RBI totals and less K's. For an answer look at the year he did win it. In truth I'd bet Ryan would have been very embarassed if he had won. As I've said before Ryan has a choice of being a forgetable Dave Kingmen(who also struck terror in the pitchers he faced because of his ability to hit mamouth Homers) or a memorable Willie Mays who,s life time average is over .300. I have to believe next year will be different and I see Ryan coming back strong for the whole year not just for 3 weeks at the end of the season.— Wally 24
- Howard's getting a ring, and the only trophy that matters is in Philly!— wawawhine
- For those of you who think Ryan Howard's season was only defined by his September, please consider two things: 1) if you totally remove his astounding September, he still has basically the same number of HR and RBI that Pujols did for the whole season; and 2) Howard led the NL in HR and RBI at the All-Star break. Now add the September, with the numbers AND the conquering of both the Wildcard and Division mountains, and that can only spell one thing: M - V - P. C'mon, what is this game about? Producing runs and winning games. And that is what Ryan Howard did better than anyone.— NJLouis66
- And exactly what did the St. Louis Cardinals win? Same with Cubs manager Lou Pinella. Howard struggled early on, but voting for MVP should revolve around, "What have you done for me lately," and Howard is the hands down winner there. I am not an overly big fan on the way Charlie Manuel manages a game at times, but the Phillies won the World Series, and the Cubs won???????????????? Choked again when the money was on the line, and some of that has to fall on the manager.— Pendian
- And exactly what did the St. Louis Cardinals win? Same with Cubs manager Lou Pinella. Howard struggled early on, but voting for MVP should revolve around, "What have you done for me lately," and Howard is the hands down winner there. I am not an overly big fan on the way Charlie Manuel manages a game at times, but the Phillies won the World Series, and the Cubs won???????????????? Choked again when the money was on the line, and some of that has to fall on the manager.— Pendian
- Lets make a comparison. Iverson comes to the 76ers and has high scoring games like we've not seen in Philly ever. How many championships did we win? None. Allen loved to shoot the ball to the tune of 46 points or more but his shooting percentage was low in comparison to other players in the game at the same time. Because he was selfish everyone else's game went down hill because they felt he was going to do it all. Michael Jordan the greatest player of his time not only scored high numbers but so did his team mates. They all elevated their games because of him. Now make Jordan - PujolS and you get NL MVP. Its not just his numbers its what the team feels he brings to them that makes the MVP.— Wally 24
- Wally, you're trying to tell me that some how, Ryan Howard is selfish and deteriorates others games? I don't know what world you are living in, but if that was the case, we would not have just won the WS! Also, way to make this into an Iverson bashing piece. Face it, AI made basketball interesting in Philly, something it hadn't been in the 90s and something this team right now is struggling to do. Ryan Howard deserved the award in my opinion, and yours may be different, but don't make these dumb analogies.— TINA
- We now " don't owe you one St Louis."— wes
- Manager of the year and MVP are nothing more than popularity contests. The Phillies won what matters, the World Series.— mrsdoc
- If you take Albert of of the lineup the Cards lose more games as oppose to Howard who was in the lineup and didnt show most of the time and lead the league in strikeouts?? Don't forget how much Abert was walked intentionally or unintentionally... Good Choice IMO— Breath EZ
- The fact that Pujols only had 1 MVP prior to this season is a crime. Take a look at the guy's career stats. Howard took the award in '06, Pujols got this one. No shame in that. Isn't it all about winning championships after all? And Howard can say he's one of the few who've done that in this city. Can't wait til '09...— MTbelly
ANYBODY WANT TO BET THE GUY WHO VOTED HIM 10TH COVERS THE METS???— bird11- And the other Mets beatwriter didn't vote for him at all. Is it possible to actually not have Howard in your Top 10??? (or maybe it was the St.Louis writers who left him off to help out Pujols. Could you imagine a Philly writer doing that?)— bird11
- Breath EZ *** You've got the right idea. With the loss of Burrell batting behind Ryan next year may be a wake up call for the slugger. In spite of what many may think of Pat he was always a consideration for the opposing pitcher when dealing with our line up. Now that he may be gone Ryan will have to sink or swim as there is no one yet to replace Pat in the line up.— Wally 24
- I hate the name of this award. I'm okay with who won it, but that's only because the award has traditionally gone to the player with the best numbers. But rename the award. Call it a name other than MVP, and truly give the MVP to the player that was the largest contributor to their teams success. And that guy was BRAD LIDGE, not Ryan Howard by even a long shot.— RichardsCaptain08
- TINA--- Yes I am saying Ryan has been selfish at times in this past season. I score every pitch of every game by the way and miss very little. Case in point for Ryan being for Ryan is Utley who has had to hit in front of him more than anyone. Check out his declining average since Charlie made him the #3 hitter 2 yrs ago. Then go check out Werth and Burrell BA when they batted in front of him in Aug & Sept and what do you find? ALL their BA's have suffered and ended up in slumps because the opposition knows they can pitch around them to get to Ryan. Because the hitters in our line up are aggressive that makes them vulnerable. Especially so as #3 hitters because of the responsibilities of a #3 hole hitter. So Charlie takes his best hitter Utley and puts him back in #3 because no one else can deal with it. It’s no secret that when Ryan hits for average the hitters before him and after him all enjoy higher averages. Making Ryan a valuable player because he is taking care of business.— Wally 24
- I think howard would have one it if he had played better in the playoffs.— franknbeans
- franknbeans.....Playoff #'s don't count. When does the voting, itself, actually take place? Before the playoffs? Playoff #'s don't count, but you have to wonder how subjective the voting might be, with the members of the voting panel, knowing the outcome of playoff races.— Norma
- The most valuable player is that player who is so valuable that the team could not achieve what it did without him. The team's success would not be anywhere near what it was without him. The difference between the Phillies being a playoff contender and World Series Pretender was not Howard, Rollins, Hamels or Utley. It is Brad Lidge. He was perfect from the opening gun to the last game of the World Series. He is the difference between this year and the last. He made the Philles an eight inning team. He put constant pressure on the other teams to score late or forget it. He gave his team an air of confidence that the game was in the bag. He made the starters know they could air it out and not have to finish the game. Take him out of the equation and where would the 2008 World Champions be. Playing golf on the first week in October 2008. Probably never in real contention for National League wild Card. In other words, no where. That is why Brad Lidge deserved to be the National League MVP. He was the most valuable, the biggest difference maker in his teams success, bar none.— tom trochum
- There's no question Lidge is the difference in 2008 but you must also give credit to the whole bull pen who at the half way point had as many wins as the starting pitching. They did the job all year long and few people really appreciate that fact. The other Biggets Change for the team happened in the fall of 2007 when Gillick hired a new strength and conditioning group. Last year, for all intents and purposes, was injury free and a huge reason for our success. If you are looking for unsung heros there you go.— Wally 24
- The voting takes place BEFORE the playoffs. I can't argue with someone putting Pujols or Howard first or second, they're both great players and had great years. I like our year a bit more because we got a ring at the end. I CAN argue with the nitwit who put Howard 10th or didn't vote for him at all. Did they watch him carry this team in September?— KMG
- Congrats to albert Pujols, a true gentleman in the game. I look for Howard, J-Roll and Chase to have more consistent years next year. Go Phils, Flyers, and Sixers....get a clue Birds organization.— gulls3012
- Has a closer EVER won MVP? I would have put my vote in for Lidge, too.— Norma
- I must point out that Andre Dawson won the MVP award on a last place team back in 1987. That, of course, doesn't make it right. As long as the meaning of the MVP award is not clarified there will be arguments about it. There really isn't a Best Player Award. It's the word 'valuable' that is the problem. Different people have different opinions as to the meaning of the word. Personally, I would have voted for Lidge. He was perfect all season and there is no way that the Phillies would have been where they were without him. However, the MVP award is voted on BEFORE the playoffs. Pujols was the best player, there is no question of that. But was he the most valuable? I would say no considering where his team came in. Howard didn't deserve it in 2006 either for the same reason. I wish this award would be defined.— James TL
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