Individual awards for the 2009 MLB season included new and old faces.
National League MVP: Albert Pujols
Albert Pujols repeated as National League MVP on the strength of a .327 batting average, 47 home runs and 135 RBI. Hanley Ramirez of the Marlins finished second and Ryan Howard came in third place.
National League Cy Young Award: Tim Licecum
Like Pujols, San Francisco’s Tim Lincecum won a major award for a second straight season. Although Lincecum won only 15 games (against 7 losses), his 2.48 ERA and a league leading 261 strikeouts.
National League Rookie of the Year: Chris Coghlan
Chris Coghlan of the Florida Marlins narrowly edged Phillies’ starting pitcher J.A. Happ for the NL Rookie of the Year. Oddly, the baseball writers were more impressed by Coghlan’s .321 batting average, 9 home runs and 47 RBI than Happ’s 12-4 record and 2.93 ERA for the division-winning Phillies.
American League Most Valuable Player: Joe Mauer
Joe Mauer is a catcher who hit .365 with 28 homers and 96 RBI and won the Gold Glove. He was clearly the Most Valuable Player in the AL.
American League Cy Young: Zack Greinke
His 16-8 record was offset by a ridiculously low ERA (league leading 2.16) and WHIP (1.073), and very high strikeout totals (242, 9.5 per 9 innings).
American League Rookie of the Year: Andrew Bailey
The Oakland A’s discovered a gem in their new closer Andrew Bailey. The 25-year old out of Voorhees, New Jersey had a marvelous debut, with a 6-3 record and 26 saves in __ opportunities. He had Mariano-Rivera like numbers in ERA (1.84), WHIP (0.876) and strikeouts per nine innings (9.8).
Most Decorated Player of the Year: Derek Jeter
World Series Championship, All-Star, Silver Slugger, Gold Glove, Hank Aaron Award, Roberto Clemente Award, and Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year.
American League Manager of the Year: Mike Scioscia
All he did was lead the Angels to 97 wins despite losing Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter and to injury for large chunks of the season.
National League Manager of the Year: Jim Tracy
When Jim Tracy took over the Colorado Rockies when they were 18-28 and led them to National League wild card.
Division Winners
New Yankees (AL East), Minnesota Twins (AL Central), Los Angeles Angels (AL West)
Philadelphia Phillies (NL East), St. Louis Cardinals (NL Central), Los Angeles Dodgers (NL West)
Wild Card Teams
Boston Red Sox (AL), Colorado Rockies (NL)
ALDS Results
The Yankees beat the Twins three games to none. The Los Angeles Angels also swept their series, knocking the Red Sox out quickly and easily.
NLDS Results
The Phillies beat the Rockies in four games, and the Dodgers swept the Cardinals.
ALCS Results
New York Yankees defeated Los Angeles Angels four games to two.
NLCS Results
Philadelphia Phillies defeated Los Angeles Dodgers four games to one.
World Series
New York Yankees defeated Philadelphia Phillies four games to two. Hideki Matsui won the MVP award on the strength of his 6 RBI in the deciding game.
Trade of the Year
Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco to the Phillies for three minor league prospects.
Most Likely to Bounce Back in 2010
Cole Hamels, Seattle Mariners, New York Mets
All in all, yet another great baseball season.
James Lincoln Ray - Real Name: James Lincoln Ray Jim has been the Feature Baseball Writer for Suite101 since March, 2007, where he has written more then ...
