RSS
Home
Examiner.com MLB Awards: American League MVP - Joe Mauer
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer was the overwhelimg choice for
American League MVP among baseball writers for Examiner.com.
(AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
When a player almost single-handedly propels his team to the playoffs, it's tough not to name him the Most Valuable Player. Our Examiner.com voting panel agrees, and thus, Joe Mauer was voted as the American League Most Valuable Player.
What did Mauer do to deserve this honor? Mauer led the league in batting average (.365), on-base percentage (.444), and slugging percentage (.587). He did all of this while playing the catcher position, which is historically not known for producing league leaders in those categories.
Perhaps Mauer's greatest accomplishment is the fact that the Twins made the postseason at all. He hit a ridiculous .391 in the month of August, and continued to hit in the clutch when former MVP Justin Morneau went down for the season. At a time when every game had to count (the Twins earned their playoff berth by defeating the Tigers in a one-game playoff), Mauer delivered. That's the mark of a true MVP, perhaps even more so than the big numbers.
This vote wasn't even close. Mauer's torrid hitting throughout 2009, and the impact it had on his team's success, is the reason he won the Examiner.com American League MVP vote by 23 points. We'll see if the 2009 electors agree with my Examiner.com colleagues and award Mauer the MVP trophy.
| Rank | Player | Position - Team | Points |
| 1. | Joe Mauer (9) | C - Minnesota Twins | 108 |
| 2. | Mark Teixeira (2) | 1B - New York Yankees | 85 |
| 3. | Derek Jeter | SS - New York Yankees | 62 |
| 4. | Miguel Cabrera | 1B - Detroit Tigers | 51 |
| 5. | Kendry Morales | 1B - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim | 45 |
| 6. | Zack Greinke | P - Kansas City Royals | 34 |
| 7. | Alex Rodriguez | 3B - New York Yankees | 21 |
| 8. | Kevin Youkilis | 1B/3B - Boston Red Sox | 19 |
| 9. | Adam Lind | LF/DH - Toronto Blue Jays | 16 |
| 10. | Felix Hernandez | P- Seattle Mariners | 15 |
| 11. | Ichiro Suzuki | RF - Seattle Mariners | 14 |
| T12. | Chone Figgins | 3B - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim | 13 |
| T12. | Jason Bay | LF - Boston Red Sox | 13 |
| T14. | Ben Zobrist | 2B - Tampa Bay Rays | 12 |
| T14. | Bobby Abreu | RF - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim | 12 |
| T16. | Mariano Rivera | P - New York Yankees | 11 |
| T16. | Aaron Hill | 2B - Toronto Blue Jays | 11 |
| 18. | Justin Verlander | P - Detroit Tigers | 10 |
| T19. | Evan Longoria | 3B - Tampa Bay Rays | 9 |
| T19. | Jason Kubel | DH/OF - Minnesota Twins | 9 |
| 21. | Victor Martinez | C/1B - Boston Red Sox | 8 |
| 22. | CC Sabathia | P - New York Yankees | 7 |
| 23. | Torii Hunter | CF - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim | 6 |
| 24. | Roy Halladay | P - Toronto Blue Jays | 4 |
| T25. | Carl Crawford | LF - Tampa Bay Rays | 2 |
| T25. | Jason Bartlett | SS - Tampa Bay Rays | 2 |
| T25. | Michael Cuddyer | RF - Minnesota Twins | 2 |
| T25. | Robinson Cano | 2B - New York Yankees | 2 |
| T29. | Franklin Gutiérrez | CF - Seattle Mariners | 1 |
| T29. | Michael Young | 3B - Texas Rangers | 1 |
Voting Panel
Robert Quinn (Tampa Bay Rays)
Theo Fightmaster (San Francisco Giants)
Greg Filice (Toronto Blue Jays)
Brian Pietrzak (Minnesota Twins)
John Stankevitz (Chicago White Sox)
Rand Huguely (Texas Rangers)
Josh Hood (Kansas City Royals)
Sam McPherson (Oakland A's)
Travis Lay (Colorado Rockies)
Randall Castro (Detroit Tigers)
Claire Reclosado (SF Baseball)
Related Articles:
Comments
- Purple Row
- DRays Bay
- Camden Chat
- South Side Sox
- AZ Snakepit
- Red Reporter
- Talking Chop
- Athletics Nation
- Bucs Dugout
- FishStripes
- True Blue LA
- The Crawfish Boxes
- Lone Star Ball
- Royals Review
- Let's Go Tribe!
- McCovey Chronicles
- Halos Heaven
- Twinkie Town
- Amazin' Avenue
- Bleed Cubbie Blue
- Over the Monster
- Gaslamp Ball
- Brew Crew Ball
- Viva El Birdos
- Pinstripe Alley
- Federal Baseball
- The Good Phight
- Bless You Boys
- Lookout Landing
