AL MVP: Justin Morneau

[joely_the_goalie]

Morneau upsets field in AL MVP race
Twins first baseman tops Jeter, Ortiz and Thomas
By Kelly Thesier / MLB.com

MINNEAPOLIS -- Justin Morneau had some stiff competition when it came to earning American League Most Valuable Player honors, and that was just on his team.

But while the Twins had multiple candidates for the league's award, Morneau came out on top Tuesday as he was announced as this year's American League MVP.
Despite many people expecting Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter to win the award, Morneau's breakout season earned him the honor bestowed by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Morneau received 15 first-place votes, eight second-place votes, three third-place votes and two fourth-place votes for a total of 320 points. Jeter, the runner-up, received 12 first-place votes, 14 second-place votes and one fourth-place vote for 306 points.
Boston's David Ortiz finished third with 193 votes, and Frank Thomas finished fourth with 174.
It was the 10th-closest AL MVP election ever. The closest was 1947, when Joe DiMaggio beat Ted Williams, 202-201. Last year, the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez beat out Ortiz, 331-307.
All Morneau did in 2006 was to put together one of the best offensive seasons in Twins history. The first baseman hit .321 with 34 home runs, 97 runs scored and 130 RBIs, ranking second only to Ortiz, who led the AL with 137 RBIs. He was the first Twins player to hit 30 or more home runs in a season since 1987, and his 130 RBIs rank second best in team history to Harmon Killebrew's 140 in 1969.
But while it was a career year for the 25-year-old, it didn't begin that way. Coming off the 2005 season, in which he hit just .239 with 22 home runs and 79 RBIs, Morneau was on a similar track after the first two months of the 2006 season. A rough road trip on the West Coast at the start of June showcased all that had been going wrong for the both the club and Morneau, but everything soon changed.
After June 8, Morneau had the best batting average in the Majors (.362). In that stretch, Morneau also had the most hits in baseball (145) and the most RBIs in the AL (92). And it doesn't take much to link the Twins' turnaround to Morneau's emergence, as the club was 25-33 through June 7 before going 71-33 the rest of the season, the best record in the Majors during that span.
Morneau's turnaround came after a meeting with Twins manager Ron Gardenhire on that West Coast road trip, when the first baseman dedicated himself fully to baseball.
"I think [Morneau] put it best -- you get tired of making outs," Gardenhire said at the time. "You kind of have to figure out what you have to do to get better as a player and a person, and I think he said it best. He was tired of not getting it done."
Morneau certainly proved himself to be among the best in the league, but he wasn't the only Twin to receive votes for the award. Both Joe Mauer (116 votes) and Johan Santana (114 votes) also earned consideration for the prestigious honor.
Mauer made history in 2006, becoming the first American League catcher to win a batting title, as he hit .347 on the year. The 23-year-old was also the youngest batting champion since Alex Rodriguez (21) in 1996.
The consistency that Mauer showed throughout the season was enough to leave most of his teammates in awe, including Morneau.
"I watch Joe and he makes it look so easy," Morneau said earlier this season. "Everybody wants to hit like that. Everyone can kind of learn from the way he hits and his approach, as he doesn't seem to chase too much. Having a guy like that around helps me and everyone else, really."
Santana already earned some postseason hardware, as he was named the AL Cy Young Award winner last week. Santana held the honor of pitching's Triple Crown, as he was tied for the lead in wins (19) and led the league in ERA (2.77) and strikeouts (245).
But while others questioned who should be the MVP -- of either the Twins or the AL -- Santana felt the answer to both questions was simple. "My money would be on Justin Morneau," Santana said last week. "If you go by the numbers, he has the numbers. And if you go by what he did for our team, it's just amazing."

I still remember seeing him hit Sands Junior with a couple bombs back when he was playing with the N.D. Blue Jays.

Great day for Canadian Baseball and of course Justin.

 

[italian_stallion21]

Good for him, solid guy, my buddy played with him on the Jays and he still remembers the little guys, gets tickets for them when they play Seattle and stuff. Nice to see a Canadian doing it in the American dominated sport. Now if we can only get one in the NFL and NHL this year we would sweep.

 

[One Dart]

Brilliant stuff. Not a bad team the Blue Jays had in those days with Morneau catching/first base and Jeff Francis pitching along with a bunch of other solid players.

 

[Guinness]

posted by: Iti 21
he still remembers the little guys

Just because he had a big Halloween party this year, doesn't mean I'm short!!!

Congrats Morneau, that Beaver Buzz did help!!!

 

[Conductor]

[QUOTE

Nice to see a Canadian doing it in the American dominated sport. Now if we can only get one in the NFL and NHL this year we would sweep

NHL awards 2006- MVP was Joe Thornton who I believe is a Canadian. Which I also believe was this year!

 

[Dude]

Dropped something Guinness...

 

[The Spy]

Americans wonder why they are so loved This is brutal. Only because he's Canadian


The day after Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau was named the American League MVP, the debate continues to rage.

Nowhere is that debate the loudest, perhaps, than in New York City, where the New Westminster, B.C. native beat out that city's favourite son, Derek Jeter, by 16 votes for the honour.

"JEETED" screamed the front page headline in the New York Post as columnist Mike Vaccaro blamed a Bronx bias against the Yankees shortstop for his failure to win the award.

"This time, it was an MVP Award, one that he deserved, one that should have his name on it, one that was taken from him primarily because of the team he plays for and the city he plays in," wrote Vaccaro. "The voters will tell you differently, but know this: If Derek Jeter had the season he had playing for the Minnesota Twins, and if Justin Morneau had the season he had playing for the Yankees, it would be Jeter who would be reserving space on his shelf for the MVP plaque.

"But Jeter doesn't play for the Twins. He plays for the Yankees. He plays in New York City. He makes a lot of commercials, and he dates a lot of starlets, and he makes a lot of money, and if you think that doesn't count in the minds of the people who cast these votes, you're a greater believer in the purity of human nature than I am."


Vaccaro does grudgingly concede that Morneau is indeed an MVP-worthy candidate.

"Jeter may have outhit him by 23 points and had the better on-base percentage by 42 points, but the Twin had 20 more homers and 33 more RBIs, and his .559 slugging percentage dwarfed Jeter's .483. It isn't an outrage that Morneau won."

Fellow Post writer George King was equally as baffled by the decision.

"Derek Jeter hasn't had to swallow much garbage in his career," writes King. "But finishing second in the AL MVP race to Justin Morneau likely required an ocean of flavored water to get it down the Yankee captain's throat."

Daily News columnist Mike Lupica reasons it was simply the baseball gods putting things right in the universe following last year's announcement.

"This year, somebody beats out the star Yankee. David Ortiz couldn't do it one year ago, even though Ortiz deserved the award more than Alex Rodriguez did. Now Morneau beats out Jeter. It is funny how these things work out, because Jeter deserved the MVP this year a lot more than A-Rod did last year."

Anthony McCarron of the Daily News says Morneau is very deserving of the award and that numbers are only part of the equation.

"Jeter, some voters say, is hurt by the talent around him in the Yankee lineup. and the perception that his team would have made the playoffs without him. Without Morneau, however, the thinking went, the Twins would have gone nowhere."

Wallace Matthews of Newsday says the baseball writers probably did Jeter a favour by not giving him the award.

"For the Twins to produce an MVP, their first in nearly 30 years, is a stupendous accomplishment," writes Matthews. "For Morneau, a 25-year-old, third-year player making $385,000 a year, winning the award may turn out to be the highlight of his career.

"For Jeter, it would have only served as one more reminder of what has gone wrong with the Yankees over the past six years. Too many MVPs. Not enough rings."

Across the river in New Jersey, Star-Ledger columnist Dan Graziano writes that Jeter is "really not an MVP-type player".

"Jeter is only a 'great' player because he plays on great teams. He has never, since arriving in the major leagues, played for a team that failed to qualify for the postseason.

"Is he the kind of player who could have done for the 2006 Phillies what Ryan Howard did? Is he the kind of player who could have done for the 2006 Twins what Justin Morneau did? He is not.

"There are good players. There are very good players. There are great players. There are MVP players. Jeter falls somewhere in between the second and third categories - very good, sometimes great."

 

[italian_stallion21]

Of course you know NY'ers are going to be biased but that's pretty bad.

"Jeter, some voters say, is hurt by the talent around him in the Yankee lineup. and the perception that his team would have made the playoffs without him. Without Morneau, however, the thinking went, the Twins would have gone nowhere."
"Is he the kind of player who could have done for the 2006 Phillies what Ryan Howard did? Is he the kind of player who could have done for the 2006 Twins what Justin Morneau did? He is not.

That's what makes an MVP. When Steve Nash won MVP it was because Phoenix was nothing without him. When he didn't play their record was like 2-10 (guessing), but with him they were the best in the West. That shows being "Most Valuable" more than (in Jeter's case) playing on a team where you can't pitch around anyone because they're all all-stars, so he gets good pitches to hit. Morneau did all this on a team where he was the go to guy, teams pitched aruond him because they didn't really have anyone else. Take both guys off their teams, Yankees still win the division, Twins come last. That's what MVP's do.

 

[Balsa]

My guess is Morneau would trade his MVP for one of Jeter's Rings.

As one of the reportsers said, Jeter plays surrounded by stars. This only makes a player better. Put Morneau in a line up like Jeter and the guys hitting around Morneau would have better numbers and his would shrink.........ask A-Rod.

Happy that Morneau won the award.......especially cuz the Americans can't stand that a non American won it.