Pedroia AL MVP

[THE SIX KINGS]

BOSTON -- Just call him Mr. November. Or better yet, refer to Dustin Pedroia as the Most Valuable Player of the American League.

The second baseman of the Boston Red Sox continued his rapid burst into the national spotlight on Tuesday, when he was recognized with that impressive honor.

 

Though most pundits expected the race for MVP to be agonizingly close, Pedroia won in comfortable fashion, garnering 16 of 28 first-place votes. He also received six second-place votes, four third-place votes and one fourth-place vote for 317 total points. In an ironic twist, Pedroia was left off one ballot.

 

"We're enormously proud of Dustin and Youk, and we're glad they were recognized by the voters today," Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein wrote in an e-mail. "Both players were signed by this organization, both learned in our farm system, and now both are models for how we want Red Sox players to approach the game."

 

Runner-up Justin Morneau of the Twins received seven first-place votes and finished with 257 points. Boston first baseman Kevin Youkilis finished third, tallying two first-place votes and 201 points in a third-place finish.

 

Following a 2007 season in which Pedroia helped fuel the Red Sox to a World Series championship and won the AL Rookie of the Year Award, the right-handed hitting machine staged quite an encore.

 

Pedroia joins Cal Ripken Jr. and Ryan Howard as the only players to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in consecutive years. He is the first second baseman to win the AL MVP since Nellie Fox of the White Sox in 1959.

 

For his performance in 2008, Pedroia received a Gold Glove Award, a spot on the American League's Silver Slugger team and now the MVP.

 

By prevailing in the Baseball Writers' Association of America voting, Pedroia became the 10th Red Sox MVP winner and the first to cart home the coveted award since Mo Vaughn in 1995. The previous winners from Boston were Jimmie Foxx (1938), Ted Williams (1946 and 1949), Jackie Jensen (1958), Carl Yastrzemski (1967), Fred Lynn (1975), Jim Rice (1978) and Roger Clemens (1986).

 

 

2008 AL MVP Award Voting

Dustin Pedroia, BOS 317

Justin Morneau, MIN 257

Kevin Youkilis, BOS 201

Joe Mauer, MIN 188

Carlos Quentin, CWS 160

Francisco Rodriguez, LAA 143

Josh Hamilton, TEX 112

Alex Rodriguez, NYY 45

Carlos Pena, TB 44

Grady Sizemore, CLE 42

Evan Longoria, TB 38

Cliff Lee, CLE 24

Miguel Cabrera, DET 17

Vladimir Guerrero, LAA 16

Jermaine Dye, CWS 14

Aubrey Huff, BAL 12

Milton Bradley, TEX 9

Jason Bartlett, TB 6

Mike Mussina, NYY 3

Raul Ibanez, SEA 1

Ian Kinsler, TEX 1

Ichiro Suzuki, SEA 1

Mark Teixeira, LAA 1

 

Following Vaughn's victory 13 years ago, three Red Sox players finished second in the voting: shortstop Nomar Garciaparra in 1998, pitcher Pedro Martinez in 1999 and designated hitter David Ortiz in 2005.

 

But unlike Vaughn, one of the most physically imposing figures in club history, Pedroia will go down as one of the slightest.

 

Officially listed at 5-foot-9 in the Boston media guide, Pedroia is probably two or three inches shorter than that.

 

After a grand slam at Yankee Stadium on Aug. 27, a revved-up Pedroia informed his teammates that he was "the strongest 165-pound man in baseball."

 

It was that type of infectious enthusiasm that earned Pedroia the rare ability to be considered a team leader at the age of 25.

 

But as much as Pedroia said in the clubhouse and dugout, his bat spoke the loudest.

 

With 213 hits, Pedroia tied Ichiro Suzuki for the Major League lead. His 54 doubles led the Majors. He led the AL in runs (118) and multihit games (61).

 

Backed by a .326 average, Pedroia lost the batting title by just four points to Minnesota catcher Joe Mauer. Pedroia finished fourth in total bases (322) and seventh in extra-base hits (73).

 

An elite tablesetter, Pedroia also chipped in with power (17 homers, 83 RBIs) and speed (20 stolen bases).

 

From a team standpoint, Pedroia and the Red Sox fell just one win shy of getting back to the World Series after a heartbreaking 3-1 loss to the Rays in Game 7 of the AL Championship Series.

 

Considering the obstacles the Red Sox faced (David Ortiz missed seven weeks with a left wrist injury, Mike Lowell and J.D. Drew missed considerable time, Jason Varitek had a sharp decline at the plate), it's doubtful they could have gotten to the postseason without the performances of Pedroia and Youkilis.

 

Before Pedroia's final red-hot surge of late August and early September, Youkilis was the Boston player getting a lot of mention in MVP discussions.

 

And the first baseman, who also played third base when Lowell was injured, had a big year in his own right. Youkilis established career highs in batting average (.312), home runs (29), RBIs (115) and slugging percentage (.569).

 

As for Pedroia, he became the fifth second baseman in Major League history to have 200 hits, 50 doubles, 100 runs and 15 homers in the same season, joining Charlie Gehringer (1936), Craig Biggio (1998), Jose Vidro (2000) and Alfonso Soriano (2002).

[WashingtonD]

Well deserved. Statistically impressive season, played great clutch baseball, and for a second year player he really emerged as a leader in a sometimes discombobulated Red Sox dugout.

 

Too bad the kid doesn't get a financial bump automatically as his contract has no MVP provision.

 

WashD

[Caveman_Nick]

[Sgt Ryan]

This is a joke right? Seriously, how valuable is the shrimp.

 

This is the year a pitcher should have won this award. No way this guy of all guys should have won this award. What a down year for the AL MVP, when someone like this takes home the hardware. If the Shrimp played in Tampa, he wouldnt have sniffed this. Hell Longoria had a better year, and bigger impact on his team.

[whoopazz]

Well deserved. Statistically impressive season, played great clutch baseball, and for a second year player he really emerged as a leader in a sometimes discombobulated Red Sox dugout.

 

Too bad the kid doesn't get a financial bump automatically as his contract has no MVP provision.

 

WashD

Poor Dustin will have to make do with only $475K salary. I really feel bad for him, can't imagine living in those conditions with the cost of living in the Boston area. Hope he has heat this winter.

[SheikYerbuti]

This is a joke right? Seriously, how valuable is the shrimp.

 

This is the year a pitcher should have won this award. No way this guy of all guys should have won this award. What a down year for the AL MVP, when someone like this takes home the hardware. If the Shrimp played in Tampa, he wouldnt have sniffed this. Hell Longoria had a better year, and bigger impact on his team.

 

Jebus X-mas, I actually agree with Sarge on something . . .

 

[Ursa Majoris]

If Morneau hadn't slumped in the last three weeks, he'd have walked it. Pedroia as MVP isn't a joke per se but it's worth a chuckle.

[Doc Holliday]

This is a joke right? Seriously, how valuable is the shrimp.

 

This is the year a pitcher should have won this award. No way this guy of all guys should have won this award. What a down year for the AL MVP, when someone like this takes home the hardware. If the Shrimp played in Tampa, he wouldnt have sniffed this. Hell Longoria had a better year, and bigger impact on his team.

 

I agree with what you say here Sarge except the Longoria sentiment. there was not a better PLAYER in baseball than Cliff Lee this season and he would of gotten my vote. if you take away pitchers than I can see Pedroia winning although to me the best non pitcher in the American league this year was Grady Sizemore.

 

If Morneau hadn't slumped in the last three weeks, he'd have walked it. Pedroia as MVP isn't a joke per se but it's worth a chuckle.

 

Morneau is becoming notorious for late season slumps. I think the best player on the Twins this year was Joe Maur all year though.

[Ursa Majoris]

Looking through the MLB sortable stats, Pedroia certainly had a heck of a season in many categories. I back off my last statement - his MVP really isn't chuckle-worthy. He earned it.