Joe Mauer, who won an unprecedented third batting championship for a catcher and helped propel the Minnesota Twins to the American League Central title, was elected the AL Most Valuable Player for 2009 in balloting by the BBWAA.
Mauer, the first catcher to lead his league in batting average (.365), on-base percentage (.444) and slugging (.587) in the same season, was listed first on all but one of the 28 ballots cast by two writers in each league city. He was second on that other ballot to score a total of 387 points, based on a tabulation system rewarding 14 points for first place, nine for second, eight for third on down to one for 10th.
The other first-place vote was cast for Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera (.324, 34 HR, 103 RBI), who finished fourth in the overall balloting with 171 points, behind a pair of New York Yankees teammates, first baseman Mark Teixeira (.292, 39 HR, 122 RBI, 103 R) and shortstop Derek Jeter (.334, 18 HR, 107 R, 30 SB).
Teixeira, who led the league in runs batted in and total bases (344) and tied Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Carlos Pena for the lead in home runs, totaled 225 points and Jeter 193. Teixeira’s best previous finish in MVP voting was seventh in 2005 for the Texas Rangers. Jeter also finished third in 1998 and was the runner-up in 2006. Mauer, Teixeira, Jeter and Cabrera were named on every ballot. In all, 27 players gained mention.
Rounding out the top 10 were Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim first baseman Kendry Morales (.306, 34 HR, 108 RBI), Boston Red Sox infielder Kevin Youkilis (.305, 27 HR, 94 RBI), Red Sox left fielder Jason Bay (.267, 36 HR, 119 RBI, 103 R), Tampa Bay Rays second baseman-outfielder Ben Zobrist (.297, 27 HR, 91 RBI), Seattle Mariners right fielder Ichiro Suzuki (.353, 225 H, 26 SB), Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez (.286, 30 HR, 100 RBI) and Angels third baseman Chone Figgins (.298, 114 R, 101 BB, 42 SB).
Mauer, 26, is the only AL catcher to have won a batting title and the only one in either league to have won three of them. His .365 average, the highest by a catcher in major league history, surpassed his prior league-leading figures of .347 in 2006 and .328 in 2008. Mauer posted career-high totals in home runs (28) and runs batted in (96).
He did not start the season until May 1 due to a back injury and helped keep the Twins in contention for the division title following the loss to injury of first baseman Justin Morneau, the 2006 MVP and ’08 runner-up. Mauer batted .378 with two home runs and 14 RBI in the club’s final 21 games of the regular season.
It marked the eighth time a catcher won the award in the AL and the first since the Rangers’ Ivan Rodriguez in 1999. Yogi Berra won three times (1951, ’54-55) with the Yankees. Two other winners were also with the Yankees, Elston Howard in 1963 and Thurman Munson in 1976. The other AL catcher to win was the Tigers’ Mickey Cochrane in 1934.
A catcher has been the MVP in the National League seven times. Ernie Lombardi, the previous record holder for batting titles by a catcher with two (.342 for the Cincinnati Reds in 1938 and .330 for the Boston Braves in 1942), was the 1938 winner. The others were three-time winner Roy Campanella (1951, ’53, ’55), two-time winner Johnny Bench (1970, ’72) and Gabby Hartnett (1935).
Mauer is the fifth Twins player honored, joining Morneau, Zoilo Versalles (1965), Harmon Killebrew (1969) and Rod Carew (1977).
The Yankees have the highest number of MVP winners with 20. The finish by Teixeira marked the 21st time a Yankees player ran second. Other Yankees runners-up were Berra (1953, ’56), Jeter (2006), Mickey Mantle (1960, ’61, ’64), Joe DiMaggio (1937, ’48), Lou Gehrig (1931-32), Bill Dickey (1938), Phil Rizzuto (1949), Allie Reynolds (1952), Bob Turley (1958), Bobby Richardson (1962), Ron Guidry (1978), Reggie Jackson (1980), Don Mattingly (1986), Tino Martinez (1997) and Gary Sheffield (2004).
Originally posted by CRZSeeing how not close it ended up being, I now find it hard to believe people ever worried about it NOT being Joe.
Miguel Cabrera got a first place vote, Evan Longoria finished 19th, Jason Bay finished ahead of Ben Zobrist...you just never know with these wacky BBWAA guys.
Did that same dippy Detroit writer who voted Verlander for the Cy Young also cast the lone vote for Miggy?
Kirk, crackers are a family food. Happy families. Maybe single people eat crackers, we don't know. Frankly, we don't want to know. It's a market we can do without.
Given that Yankees finished 2 and 3, I could see the anti-NY fan (of which I'm won) saying "had their votes not been split, Mauer could have lost to one of them."
The 'WTF' moment for me was seeing Kendry Morales finish in the top 5 with 3x as many points as Figgins & Abreu combined. Morales had a fine year, but in no way was he more valuable than the other two in his own team, let alone the league.
Originally posted by odessasteps Given that Yankees finished 2 and 3, I could see the anti-NY fan (of which I'm won) saying "had their votes not been split, Mauer could have lost to one of them."
If you encounter any person making such a stupid claim, it is your duty to encourage them to enroll in a class of basic arithmetic.
Originally posted by supersalvadoranThe 'WTF' moment for me was seeing Kendry Morales finish in the top 5 with 3x as many points as Figgins & Abreu combined. Morales had a fine year, but in no way was he more valuable than the other two in his own team, let alone the league.
Morales was given a near-impossible task, having to fill in for the departed Mark Teixeira. Morales was not only able to replicate those power numbers, but kept the offense afloat while Hunter and Guerrero were out. Abreu and Figgins got off to slow starts (in the case of Abreu, a REALLY slow start), while Morales stayed fairly consistent.
I'm wondering how much time is left on Mauer's contract. If the Yankees fall back to Earth next year or the year after, I wouldn't be shocked if the Yanks eventually make a run at him to be Posada's eventual successor.
I'm wondering how much time is left on Mauer's contract. If the Yankees fall back to Earth next year or the year after, I wouldn't be shocked if the Yanks eventually make a run at him to be Posada's eventual successor.
There is a 100 percent chance the Yankees think the same way, especially given that Boston snapped up Victor Martinez. Mauer is a free agent after 2010, but the Twins are allegedly planning to offer Mauer whatever it takes to keep him in Minnesota. He, quite rightly, is the guy they've decided to break the bank for over all others.
Kirk, crackers are a family food. Happy families. Maybe single people eat crackers, we don't know. Frankly, we don't want to know. It's a market we can do without.
Originally posted by Big BadThere is a 100 percent chance the Yankees think the same way, especially given that Boston snapped up Victor Martinez. Mauer is a free agent after 2010, but the Twins are allegedly planning to offer Mauer whatever it takes to keep him in Minnesota.
The Yanks do have a couple of very highly regarded catching prospects (baseballamerica.com) (Jesus Montero, J.R. Murphy, Austin Romine, and Gary Sanchez), so I'm unsure if I'd put the number at 100%, though it would seem to be a sensible consideration.
A sure-thing always beats a looks-promising. Mauer = sure-thing, and had an insane season.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6340749.html?display=Breaking+News&referral=SUPP&nid=2228 Darn, and I never watched it. Ohhhhhhh wait. NOBODY watched it; that MAY have been a rather glaring problem. ;-)