Howard and Pujols finished 1-2 in the voting two years ago, with Howard winning. Howard, who leads the majors in home runs (48) and RBIs (146), gets the edge here because of what he has meant to a division champion.
Pujols entered Saturday ranked second in the majors in batting average (.357) and first in on-base plus slugging percentage (1.111). He has done this with an elbow that is in need of reconstructive surgery. He also has done this with a fourth-place club.
Entering Friday, Pujols hit .293 with six homers, 23 RBIs and a 1.023 OPS in 22 September games. His team faded from wild-card contention during that span. Over the same time frame, in as many games, Howard hit .342 with 10 homers, 28 RBIs and a 1.267 OPS while leading his team to first place in the division. When Chase Utley slumped in August and September (0 homers, five extra-base hits, 12 RBIs in a 27-game span), Howard had 10 doubles, a triple, 12 homers and 35 RBIs in 27 games to carry the Phils to the cusp of a postseason berth.
American League MVP
This might have been Carlos Quentin's award to win, but the White Sox' slugger broke his wrist with a month to go. That left Boston's Dustin Pedroia and Minnesota's Justin Morneau as the top two candidates.
The nod here goes to Pedroia, the Red Sox' dynamo of a second baseman. In a year when Manny Ramirez was traded and David Ortiz missed time with a wrist injury, Pedroia and teammate Kevin Youkilis made the Red Sox' offense go.
Pedroia entered the final weekend leading the majors in hits (211) and doubles (54). He was second in runs (118). He ranked second in the AL in batting (.325) and fourth in total bases (320.)
Pedroia helped pick up the offense after Ramirez was traded. He entered the final weekend hitting .343 with 35 extra-base hits, 51 runs and a OPS of .948 since the all-star break. He entered the weekend with just one error in his previous 90 games and had made just six for the season.
