Our network-wide SB Nation awards start this week, but now we wrap up the CC.com awards. The SBN awards schedule looks like this:
Nov. 1: Rookies
Nov. 2: Managers
Nov. 3: Cy Youngs
Nov. 4: AL MVP
Nov. 5: NL MVP
There were 18 AL ballots and 28 NL ballots. I only got to vote for the AL. We were only allowed to vote for the league our team is in, so I just did AL. I also had another ballot to give out to a reader, but I'll be super secret about who it was! You are intrigued.
Anyway, let's get it on.
2005 Winner: Alex Rodriguez, New York
Minnesota catcher Joe Mauer won a fairly tight race, beating New York shortstop Derek Jeter by nine points, 101-92. Mauer received five first place votes, while Jeter received zero. The other first place votes went to Justin Morneau (four, finished third overall), David Ortiz (one, fourth overall), Jermaine Dye (one, fifth overall) and Frank Thomas (one, seventh overall).
Mauer led the American League in batting average at .347. He also finished third (behind Manny Ramirez and Travis Hafner) in on-base percentage, at .429, and seventh in OPS (.936). He had 181 hits, 36 doubles, 13 homers and 84 RBI.
All four AL awards went to either Tigers (Verlander, Leyland) or Twins (Mauer, Santana).
2005 Winner: Albert Pujols, St. Louis
Pujols hit .331/.431/.671 with 49 homers, 137 RBI, 177 hits, 33 doubles and 119 runs scored. He played Gold Glove-caliber defense at first base. He missed 19 games, played at less than 100 percent, and still set a new career highs for homers and RBI.
The real story now is that it's almost a certainty that every year, Albert Pujols is going to be a very serious MVP candidate and very likely will be the best player in his league, which is rare for anyone. Barry Bonds was like that. Pujols is halfway to the 500 homer club after just six years in the league. He's 26 years old. He is a phenom, and if he keeps hitting like this (which, you know, knock on wood because Frank Thomas started similarly, too) will be up there with Babe Ruth and Ted Williams as one of the best hitters to ever play the game. He's an absolute monster.
Full voting results are available under the Read More link. If you voted this year, thanks!
AMERICAN LEAGUE MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 TOTAL
J Mauer, MIN 5 - 4 1 - 1 1 1 - - 101
D Jeter, NYY - 3 3 2 3 1 1 - - - 92
J Morneau, MIN 4 2 - - 1 2 1 1 2 - 85
D Ortiz, BOS 1 3 2 2 1 - 1 1 1 1 83
J Dye, CWS 1 3 1 2 - 2 2 - - 1 78
T Hafner, CLE - 1 - 1 3 2 1 2 1 - 56
F Thomas, OAK 1 - 1 2 - - 2 - 3 1 47
J Santana, MIN 1 1 1 1 - - - 1 - 1 38
J Thome, CWS - - - 1 - 1 1 1 1 1 22
M Ramirez, BOS - - - - 1 1 1 1 - 1 19
A Rodriguez, NYY - - - 1 2 - - - - - 19
C Guillen, DET - - 1 - - - - 1 2 - 15
M Tejada, BAL - - - - 1 - 1 - 1 2 14
V Guerrero, LAA - - - - - 1 - 1 1 1 11
G Sizemore, CLE - - - - - - 1 1 - 1 8
V Wells, TOR - - - - 1 - - - - 1 7
J Giambi, NYY - - - - - - - 2 - - 6
R Cano, NYY - - - - - 1 - - - - 5
C Wang, NYY - - - - - 1 - - - - 5
M Cuddyer, MIN - - - - - - - - 1 - 2
C Crawford, TBD - - - - - - - - - 1 1
R Ibanez, SEA - - - - - - - - - 1 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 TOTAL
A Pujols, STL 9 3 - - - - - - - - 117
R Howard, PHI 3 5 2 2 - - - - - - 105
C Beltran, NYM - 4 2 1 2 2 1 - - - 85
L Berkman, HOU - - 2 4 3 1 - - 1 - 69
M Cabrera, FLA - - 1 2 4 - 3 - 1 - 60
A Soriano, WAS - - 4 - 1 2 2 - 1 - 58
D Wright, NYM - - 1 1 1 2 2 - 2 - 43
J Reyes, NYM - - - 1 - 2 - - - 1 19
N Garciaparra, LAD - - - 1 - - 1 1 - - 14
C Utley, PHI - - - - - - 1 2 1 1 13
J Bay, PIT - - - - - 1 - 1 - 4 12
C Delgado, NYM - - - - 1 - - 1 1 - 11
M Holliday, COL - - - - - - - 1 1 2 7
F Sanchez, PIT - - - - - 1 - - - - 5
H Ramirez, FLA - - - - - 1 - - - - 5
A Dunn, CIN - - - - - - - 1 - 1 4
D Uggla, FLA - - - - - - 1 - - - 4
N Johnson, WAS - - - - - - - 1 - - 3
A Jones, ATL - - - - - - - 1 1 - 5
M Piazza, SDP - - - - - - - 1 - - 3
A Ramirez, CHC - - - - - - 1 - 1 1 7
J Rollins, PHI - - - - - - - 1 - - 3
B Webb, ARI - - - - - - - 1 - - 3
T Hoffman, SDP - - - - - - - - 1 - 2
C Jones, ATL - - - - - - - - 1 - 2
R Oswalt, HOU - - - - - - - - - 1 1
R Zimmerman, WAS - - - - - - - - - 1 1