Dustin Pedroia of the Boston Red Sox finished his first season, in 2007, by winning the World Series and the American League Rookie of the Year award. Pedroia was named the American League’s MVP on Tuesday, winning 16 of 28 first-place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Minnesota first baseman Justin Morneau finished second, with seven first-place votes, followed by Red Sox teammate Kevin Youkilis, who had two The 25 year old Red Sox Second Basemen is the first A.L. 2B to win the award since Nellie Fox took home the honors in the late 1950's. Pedroia joins Cal Ripken Jr. and Ryan Howard as the only players to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in consecutive years - not bad company to be in at all.
Pedroia was not in the top 10 in on-base percentage or slugging percentage, but his performance in other areas compensated for this deficit. He finished a very close second in batting average behind Joe Mauer. Pedroia’s 118 runs and 54 doubles led the league, and his 213 hits were tied for the most with Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki.
The American League's Newest MVP discussed told MLB.com, "I really didn't know what to expect. I was just excited to be named with all those players. There's a ton of great players. When you hear your name come up in that category, you definitely get excited and nervous. I wasn't nervous or overly excited. For me, just to be in that category is an extreme honor."
Pedroia was a critical component of the Red Sox's postseason run. He hit a healthy .346 in Boston’s 7 game loss to Tampa Bay in the A.L. Championship Series, although the m.v.p. votes were cast before the postseason.
Twins catcher Joe Mauer also had two first-place votes and finished fourth. The rest of the top 10 included the White Sox’ Carlos Quentin, the Angels’ Francisco Rodriguez, the Rangers’ Josh Hamilton, the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez, the Rays’ Carlos Pena and the Indians’ Grady Sizemore.
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