News
Pujols adds MVP to Cardinals' haul
Slugger wins second straight award; third since 2005
By Matthew Leach / MLB.com
11/30/09 4:55 PM EST
ST. LOUIS -- While Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter were denied the 2009 NL Cy Young Award, Albert Pujols could not be stopped.
Pujols picked up his third National League Most Valuable Player Award courtesy of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Pujols enjoyed what may have been his finest season at the plate in 2009, batting .327 with a .443 on-base percentage, a .658 slugging percentage, 47 home runs and 135 RBIs. Moreover, he did it for a division champion. That combination added up to another big trophy for the superstar slugger.
Hanley Ramirez and Chase Utley had fine seasons, but Pujols furthered his already compelling case as the NL's best player. He is only the 10th player in baseball history to win three MVP Awards and the fifth to be a three-time NL MVP.
The Cardinals suffered a bit of an upset when Carpenter and Wainwright finished second and third, respectively, in Cy Young voting. Wainwright had looked like a slight favorite -- and got the most first-place votes -- but Tim Lincecum picked up the award instead.
Carpenter was vying for his second Cy Young, while Wainwright was looking for his first. Wainwright would have been the third Cardinals pitcher to win the award.
Manager Tony La Russa also had a close-but-not-quite, but it wasn't so disappointing. He finished second to Colorado's Jim Tracy in the voting for Manager of the Year. Tracy, however, had been a heavy favorite after presiding over a dramatic Rockies turnaround.
And rookie Colby Rasmus fell well short of even serious consideration for the Rookie of the Year Award, but he did receive a vote. And in so doing, he ended a long dry spell for the Cardinals.
No St. Louis player had picked up a vote since 2002, when Jason Simontacchi also received one point. The last Cardinals player to win the Rookie of the Year Award was Pujols in '01. Rasmus simply ran into a stout group of candidates, falling well short of winner Chris Coghlan's vote total.
It's still been a pretty productive awards season for the Cards. Two Redbirds won Rawlings Gold Glove Awards, with Yadier Molina picking up his second and Wainwright his first. And Pujols picked up another Silver Slugger Award, his fifth.
| National Awards | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MVP | Cy Young | Rookie of the Year | |||
| Rogers Hornsby | 1925 | Bob Gibson | 1968 | Wally Moon | 1954 |
| Bob O'Farrell | 1926 | Bob Gibson | 1970 | Bill Virdon | 1955 |
| Jim Bottomley | 1928 | Chris Carpenter | 2005 | Bake McBride | 1974 |
| Frank Frisch | 1931 | Vince Coleman | 1985 | ||
| Dizzy Dean | 1934 | Todd Worrell | 1986 | ||
| Joe Medwick | 1937 | Albert Pujols | 2001 | ||
| Mort Cooper | 1942 | ||||
| Stan Musial | 1943 | ||||
| Marty Marion | 1944 | ||||
| Stan Musial | 1946 | ||||
| Stan Musial | 1948 | ||||
| Ken Boyer | 1964 | ||||
| Orlando Cepeda | 1967 | ||||
| Bob Gibson | 1968 | ||||
| Joe Torre | 1971 | ||||
| Keith Hernandez | 1979 | ||||
| Willie McGee | 1985 | ||||
| Albert Pujols | 2005 | ||||
| Albert Pujols | 2008 | ||||
| Albert Pujols | 2009 | ||||
| Manager of the Year | Rawlings Gold Glove | Silver Slugger | |||
| Whitey Herzog | 1985 | Ken Boyer, 3B | 1958 | Keith Hernandez, 1B | 1980 |
| Tony La Russa | 2002 | Ken Boyer, 3B | 1959 | Garry Templeton, SS | 1980 |
| Ken Boyer, 3B | 1960 | George Hendrick, OF | 1980 | ||
| Bill White, 1B | 1960 | Ted Simmons, C | 1980 | ||
| Bill White, 1B | 1961 | Bob Forsch, P | 1980 | ||
| Ken Boyer, 3B | 1961 | George Hendrick, OF | 1983 | ||
| Bill White, 1B | 1962 | Jack Clark, 1B | 1985 | ||
| Bobby Shantz, P | 1962 | Bob Forsch, P | 1987 | ||
| Curt Flood, OF | 1963 | Mark McGwire, 1B | 1998 | ||
| Ken Boyer, 3B | 1963 | Edgar Renteria, SS | 2000 | ||
| Bobby Shantz, P | 1963 | Scott Rolen, 3B | 2002 | ||
| Bill White, 1B | 1963 | Edgar Renteria, SS | 2003 | ||
| Bill White, 1B | 1964 | Albert Pujols, OF | 2003 | ||
| Curt Flood, OF | 1964 | Albert Pujols, 1B | 2004 | ||
| Curt Flood, OF | 1965 | Jim Edmonds, OF | 2004 | ||
| Bill White, 1B | 1965 | Jason Marquis, P | 2005 | ||
| Bob Gibson, P | 1965 | Albert Pujols, 1B | 2008 | ||
| Bob Gibson, P | 1966 | Ryan Ludwick, OF | 2008 | ||
| Curt Flood, OF | 1966 | Albert Pujols, 1B | 2009 | ||
| Curt Flood, OF | 1967 | ||||
| Bob Gibson, P | 1967 | ||||
| Bob Gibson, P | 1968 | ||||
| Curt Flood, OF | 1968 | ||||
| Dal Maxvill, SS | 1968 | ||||
| Curt Flood, OF | 1969 | ||||
| Bob Gibson, P | 1969 | ||||
| Bob Gibson, P | 1970 | ||||
| Bob Gibson, P | 1971 | ||||
| Bob Gibson, P | 1972 | ||||
| Bob Gibson, P | 1973 | ||||
| Ken Reitz, 3B | 1975 | ||||
| Keith Hernandez, 1B | 1978 | ||||
| Keith Hernandez, 1B | 1979 | ||||
| Keith Hernandez, 1B | 1980 | ||||
| Keith Hernandez, 1B | 1981 | ||||
| Keith Hernandez, 1B | 1982 | ||||
| Ozzie Smith, SS | 1982 | ||||
| Ozzie Smith, SS | 1983 | ||||
| Willie McGee, OF | 1983 | ||||
| Ozzie Smith, SS | 1984 | ||||
| Joaquin Andujar, P | 1984 | ||||
| Willie McGee, OF | 1985 | ||||
| Ozzie Smith, SS | 1985 | ||||
| Willie McGee, OF | 1986 | ||||
| Ozzie Smith, SS | 1986 | ||||
| Ozzie Smith, SS | 1987 | ||||
| Terry Pendleton, 3B | 1987 | ||||
| Ozzie Smith, SS | 1988 | ||||
| Terry Pendleton, 3B | 1989 | ||||
| Ozzie Smith, SS | 1989 | ||||
| Ozzie Smith, SS | 1990 | ||||
| Ozzie Smith, SS | 1991 | ||||
| Tom Pagnozzi, C | 1991 | ||||
| Ozzie Smith, SS | 1992 | ||||
| Tom Pagnozzi, C | 1992 | ||||
| Tom Pagnozzi, C | 1994 | ||||
| Jim Edmonds, OF | 2000 | ||||
| Mike Matheny, C | 2000 | ||||
| Jim Edmonds, OF | 2001 | ||||
| Fernando Vina, 2B | 2001 | ||||
| Fernando Vina, 2B | 2002 | ||||
| Jim Edmonds, OF | 2002 | ||||
| Edgar Renteria, SS | 2002 | ||||
| Scott Rolen, 3B | 2002 | ||||
| Mike Matheny, C | 2003 | ||||
| Edgar Renteria, SS | 2003 | ||||
| Scott Rolen, 3B | 2003 | ||||
| Jim Edmonds, OF | 2003 | ||||
| Mike Matheny, C | 2004 | ||||
| Scott Rolen, 3B | 2004 | ||||
| Jim Edmonds, OF | 2004 | ||||
| Jim Edmonds, OF | 2005 | ||||
| Scott Rolen, 3B | 2006 | ||||
| Albert Pujols, 1B | 2006 | ||||
| Yadier Molina, C | 2008 | ||||
| Yadier Molina, C | 2009 | ||||
| Adam Wainwright, P | 2009 | ||||
| Local Awards | |||||
| Darryl Kile Award | Year | ||||
| Mike Matheny | 2003 | ||||
| Woody Williams | 2004 | ||||
| Cal Eldred | 2005 | ||||
| Chris Carpenter | 2006 | ||||
| Russ Springer | 2007 | ||||
| Adam Wainwright | 2008 | ||||
Matthew Leach is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
