[Craig Bezom]

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...=.jsp&c_id=mlb

[BuckyBuckner]

He is also the 10th player to win back-to-back MVP awards. The last was Barry Bonds, who won it four straight years from 2001-04.

I think this is wrong. He's the 12th player to win it back to back.

Banks (58-59)
Berra (54-55)
Bonds (92-93 & 01-04)
Foxx (32-33)
Mantle (56-57)
Maris (60-61)
Morgan (75-76)
Murphy (82-83)
Newhouser (44-45)
Schmidt (80-81)
Thomas (93-94)

Either way congrats to King Albert.

[Cobain's Ghost]

pujols is just awesome.

nice to see tulo get a little recognition.

clap clap clapclapclap clapclapclapclap - tulo!

[revo]

Originally Posted by BuckyBuckner

I think this is wrong. He's the 12th player to win it back to back.

Banks (58-59)
Berra (54-55)
Bonds (92-93 & 01-04)
Foxx (32-33)
Mantle (56-57)
Maris (60-61)
Morgan (75-76)
Murphy (82-83)
Newhouser (44-45)
Schmidt (80-81)
Thomas (93-94)

Either way congrats to King Albert.

They must've read your post, as it's now corrected to 12.

[revo]

Yadier Molina and Jeremy Affeldt got votes (WTF?!?)

[B-Fly]

Who in MLB history been better thru his 20's than Pujols? As it currenly stands, he's #4 all-time in SLG and OPS.

[Ztws]

Anyone else find it odd that the pitcher who won the NL Cy Young finished 3rd among pitchers in MVP voting?

[BuckyBuckner]

Jeremy Affledt with a 10th place vote!

[no driver]

Greinke finished behind Mariano Rivera on the AL vote too. Some of the voters probably don't focus on pitching for MVP, and those that do probably use a different metric than they do for CY.

[B-Fly]

Originally Posted by no driver

Greinke finished behind Mariano Rivera on the AL vote too. Some of the voters probably don't focus on pitching for MVP, and those that do probably use a different metric than they do for CY.

I personally view Cy Young as an award to be evaluated independently of the team's success, whereas I view the player's contribution to a team's successful season as the metric for MVP, so it makes sense that pitchers from teams that advanced to the post-season would jump over pitchers from teams that did not.

[B-Fly]

Originally Posted by revo

Yadier Molina and Jeremy Affeldt got votes (WTF?!?)

I like the Yadier Molina vote. He's about the best there is at both pitch calling and shutting down the opponents' running game.

[eldiablo505]

Interesting to me that Ethier garnered so many votes. I'd never have guessed that. I suppose all his gazillions of walk off HRs caught some people's attention.

[Bodhizefa]

Originally Posted by B-Fly

I like the Yadier Molina vote. He's about the best there is at both pitch calling and shutting down the opponents' running game.

I wanted to make fun of the Molina vote earlier today, but then I started looking up his stats and was surprised he had a solid year. And he's praised a lot for his defense by people who know much more than me about catching, so I can't hate on the vote too much. I think it's a nice gesture for a guy who works his tail off and had a pretty good year to boot.

I'd like to add that I think the lack of real Chase Utley support still baffles me. That he loses to Albert is fine -- Pujols is a god. And Fielder and Hanley had good enough years to where it's a toss-up. But losing handily to the likes of Ryan Howard, Troy Tulowitzki, Andre Ethier and Pablo Sandoval is a bit perplexing. I dream of a day where Chase Utley is appreciated for the super badass that he is. Maybe he will be someday. But not today.

[OaklandA's]

Originally Posted by Bodhizefa

I'd like to add that I think the lack of real Chase Utley support still baffles me.

I agree - I thought he should definitely be in the Top 4; I had him 2nd on my ballot.

[Big P]

Originally Posted by revo

Yadier Molina and Jeremy Affeldt got votes (WTF?!?)

Who knew Jeremy Affeldt's mom had an MVP vote

I can at least see the argument for Molina. Does Affeldt having an incentive in his contract where he gets something for recieving an MVP vote? I am guessing maybe so, and someone knew this and gave him the vote out of friendship or to spite the Giants.

[onejayhawk]

Originally Posted by BuckyBuckner

I think this is wrong. He's the 12th player to win it back to back.

Banks (58-59)
Berra (54-55)
Bonds (92-93 & 01-04)
Foxx (32-33)
Mantle (56-57)
Maris (60-61)
Morgan (75-76)
Murphy (82-83)
Newhouser (44-45)
Schmidt (80-81)
Thomas (93-94)

Either way congrats to King Albert.

For a long time, there was one for every position (if you count just OF). Then Bonds gave a true LF and Hurt the DH.

J

[Erik]

Originally Posted by Bodhizefa

I'd like to add that I think the lack of real Chase Utley support still baffles me. That he loses to Albert is fine -- Pujols is a god. And Fielder and Hanley had good enough years to where it's a toss-up. But losing handily to the likes of Ryan Howard, Troy Tulowitzki, Andre Ethier and Pablo Sandoval is a bit perplexing. I dream of a day where Chase Utley is appreciated for the super badass that he is. Maybe he will be someday. But not today.

His HR and RBI numbers aren't as gaudy as Howard's, and probably never will be. So he's going to have to put up a season like Rollins did in 2007 in order to get more attention from the voters, some of whom probably see him as nothing more than the second-best power hitter on his team. He will need to stay fully healthy for a season, too. He's good at playing through injuries, but his numbers do dip a bit when that happens.

In any case, he is appreciated in Philly. He is to these teams what Bobby Clarke was to the Flyers in the 1970s. (Howard = Reggie Leach, Rollins = Bill Barber, Werth = Rick MacLeish, Hamels 2008/Lee 2009 = Bernie Parent). And he is the one member of the team that will be a Phillie for life.

[chancellor]

Originally Posted by Bodhizefa

I'd like to add that I think the lack of real Chase Utley support still baffles me. That he loses to Albert is fine -- Pujols is a god. And Fielder and Hanley had good enough years to where it's a toss-up. But losing handily to the likes of Ryan Howard, Troy Tulowitzki, Andre Ethier and Pablo Sandoval is a bit perplexing. I dream of a day where Chase Utley is appreciated for the super badass that he is. Maybe he will be someday. But not today.

Even as a Brewer fan, I'd take Chase Utley over Prince Fielder in a real baseball draft without hesitation. Not only is he an offensive and defensive force, he does so many little baseball things right. Look at him go from first to home, for example. There are faster players, but none who cut the bases better than he does. He comes in hard to second to break up double plays, but I've never seen him come in dirty. Look at the angle he takes to the bag when the Phillies are in the process of turning a double play. And so on and so on.

[Bodhizefa]

Originally Posted by chancellor

Even as a Brewer fan, I'd take Chase Utley over Prince Fielder in a real baseball draft without hesitation. Not only is he an offensive and defensive force, he does so many little baseball things right. Look at him go from first to home, for example. There are faster players, but none who cut the bases better than he does. He comes in hard to second to break up double plays, but I've never seen him come in dirty. Look at the angle he takes to the bag when the Phillies are in the process of turning a double play. And so on and so on.

Don't get me wrong. I would take Utley over Prince in a real draft, too. But in '09, Prince was damn good, and I think he deserves all the praise and votes he got.