Morneau brings home AL MVP
Topic: Events
Justin Morneau, first baseman for the Minnesota Twins, brought home the American League MVP on Tuesday, November 21. He edged out NY Yankee Derek Jeter in a relatively close (320 - 312) race. Jeter, who had an especially strong year and whose game does not readily lend itself to MVP voting, was gracious to the young Morneau:
"I want to congratulate Justin Morneau on this well-deserved honor," Jeter said in a statement. "He is a special player, and I suspect this won't be the last time you will hear his name mentioned when awards are being passed out."Despite the recent frustration the MN Twins had after a first round sweep courtesy of the Oakland A's, post-season ballots smiled warmly on the Twins during a cold Minnesota winter. Along with Morneau's MVP lead, pitching ace Johann Santana won the AL Cy Young Award, and catcher Joe Mauer rounded out the team's honors by bringing home the AL Batting Title. Jeter was edged out for second place in the batting battle as well, falling just short with an average of .343 to Mauer's .347.
The last time a single team achieved all three awards was in 1962 accomplished by the Dodgers. Morneau, a Canadian, was congratulated by Larry Walker, the last Canadian to bag the trophy when he played for the Colorado Rockies in 1997. Harmon Killebrew, the last Twinkie to receive the award, was at the ceremony to congratulate Morneau.
While Yankee Jeter did have a terrific year, there was still plenty of evidence to show that Morneau was a true most valuable player.
One difficulty for the Twins after so many honorariums, is the difficulty of being a mid-sized club when it comes to payroll. Morneau, who received less than $400k last season, will definitely be receiving a raise from GM Terry Ryan. The same will be true for Mauer and other free agents.
Good luck, Twinkies, and lets carry this success into next year.
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[Morneau]Labels: City of Man, Events, Gymnasium
Minnesota? Where's that???
;-)
Posted by
Matt H |
11/26/2006 10:04:00 PM
I guess it can be allowed this year. But, yeah, where is Minnesota?
Posted by
AC |
11/27/2006 12:16:00 PM