For entertainment purposes only, here are the picks.
NL MVP. After much deliberation, we're going with Howard over Pujols in photo finish. The Phillies were a dead team at the trade deadline, given up on by fans, media and their own front office. Howard almost single-handedly lifted them into wild-card contention. He hit .348 in August with 14 homers and 41 RBIs, the most by any player in a month in 44 years.
Howard entered the final weekend leading the majors in homers (58) and RBIs (146). Since the all-star break, he was leading the NL in batting average (.364), homers (30), RBIs (75), walks (68), intentional walks (28), extra-base hits (44), total bases (195), on-base percentage (.504) and slugging (.767.)
Pujols is every bit as important to the Cardinals as Howard is to the Phillies. Pujols entered the final weekend hitting .398 with runners in scoring position, and he had 25 game-winning hits. Despite missing three weeks, he had 47 homers and had struck out only 50 times. His season OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging) was 1.093, tops in the NL. Howard was second at 1.086.
Pujols kept the Cardinals alive all season. Howard raised a team from the dead. For that, he gets the nod here.
AL MVP. Not everything that Derek Jeter does for the Yankees can be measured statistically. That's why we feel comfortable going with him over Boston's David Ortiz, Minnesota's Justin Morneau and the White Sox' Jermaine Dye.
Jeter entered the final weekend in the top four in the league in batting average (.340), runs (115) and hits (208). He had 61 multi-hit games. He was hitting .384 (second in the league) with runners in scoring position.
Players come and go in the Bronx, but Jeter's impact and leadership never wane. This year, it shone as brightly as ever as the Yanks dealt with injuries to key players Gary Sheffield, Hideki Matsui and Mariano Rivera, as well as the soap opera surrounding Alex Rodriguez.
