Monday, November 22, 2010

Joey Votto wins NL MVP with 31 of 32 first-place votes

The Etobicoke, ON native was given all but one first-place vote on the ballot as the Most Valuable Player for the National League Monday afternoon. Albert Pujols from the rival St. Louis Cardinals, once seen as the dominant first baseman in Major League Baseball for years upon years to come, finished 31 votes short.

As Dustin Parkes over at The Score points out, Charlie Manuel selected Adrian Gonzalez and Ryan Howard over Votto for the All-Star game, a roster than included Omar Infante to boot.

Votto finished with 5 fewer HR and RBI than Pujols (which may be determinant enough for the majority of baseball writers to give it to Albert) Votto's OPS was 16 points higher. When you get into WAR and VORP numbers, the spread is a little bigger, but I prefer to stick with OPS as the determinant for how much better of a hitter a player is.

Anyway, kudos to 'Joey Baseball', the first Canadian to win a Major League MVP since Justin Morneau in 2006 and the first to win in the National League since Larry Walker in 1997.

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