Pedroia wins AL MVP

After months of rampant speculation, it's official - Dustin Pedroia is the 2008 AL MVP (read it here).I'm sure there will be lots of posts about whether Pedroia should have won the AL MVP award this year. I'm not much of a stat junkie, so I really can't argue for or against the others who received votes based on stats. I will say this however, I don't know that any other player means more to his team than Pedroia does to the Red Sox. Now I should point out that I am a Red Sox fan and therefore probably not the most unbiased voice. I watched just about every Red Sox game this year (God bless MLB Extra Innings), and Pedroia was the motor that kept that team running for long stretches during the season. There were times when he was virtually impossible to get out. And in those rare instances when he did struggle, his presence on the field (Gold Glove anyone) and in the clubhouse more than made up for the lack of offense. If that's not the definition of an MVP, then I don't know what is. And its not like his offense wasn't worthy to start. He did leed the league in hits, runs, doubles and multi-hit games after all. In the absence of a standout performance from anyone in the American League, I think Pedroia is as worthy as anyone of winning.

In keeping with the theme of this blog, here's some historical trivia to share at work tomorrow. Pedroia is only the third player to win an MVP award the year after being named Rookie of the Year. The others:

Cal Ripken, Jr., 1982 AL ROY, 1983 AL MVP
Ryan Howard, 2005 NL ROY, 2006 NL MVP

Pedroia is the first AL second baseman to win the MVP since this guy won in 1959:


(This is one my favorite 56 Topps cards. There are a lot of 2008 Topps cards that don't have this kind of an action shot on them!) No position has won fewer MVP awards.

Congratulations to Dustin Pedroia for joining some elite company.