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Pujols Takes 2nd NL MVP Award

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The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 18, 2008

Updated: 11/18/2008 12:23 am

NEW YORK - St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols won his second NL MVP award, powering past Philadelphia star Ryan Howard by a comfortable margin Monday.

Pujols hit .357 with 37 home runs and 116 RBIs while playing with a sore right elbow. He was rewarded despite the Cardinals' fourth-place finish in the NL Central.

"I wasn't surprised at all," Pujols said. "You have to consider everything. You have to put all the numbers together."

Los Angeles outfielder Manny Ramirez and Milwaukee pitcher CC Sabathia also drew strong support after being traded by AL teams in July.

Pujols got 18 of the 32 first-place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America and had 369 points. The first baseman added to the MVP award he won in 2005.

Howard, who led the majors with 48 homers and 146 RBIs for the World Series champion Phillies, drew 12 first-place votes and 308 points.

Milwaukee outfielder Ryan Braun was third (139 points), with Ramirez fourth (138).

MINDY NOT PROUD: Country singer Mindy McCready claims she broke off her relationship with Roger Clemens when the former baseball star wouldn't marry her, according to an interview broadcasted Monday by the syndicated show "Inside Edition."

McCready, however, was quoted on the Web site of the New York Daily News on Monday as saying she didn't want to marry Clemens.

McCready said she met Clemens when she was 16, not 15, as reported by the Daily News last April. She told the news magazine they met in a karaoke bar, that her relationship with the pitcher didn't turn sexual until several years later and the relationship lasted for a decade.

"Carrying on a relationship with him is not something I'm proud of," she said, according to a partial transcript released by the show. "Roger Clemens is one of the most wonderful men I've ever known. ... He treated me like a princess."

CUBS-YANKEES: The Chicago Cubs will play the first exhibition games at the new Yankee Stadium, meeting New York on April 3 and again the following afternoon.

GIANTS: Reliever Jeremy Affeldt became the first of 171 free agents to agree to a contract, striking a two-year deal with San Francisco.

HALL OF FAME CLASSIC: Baseball's legends and old-timers will play in a new Hall of Fame Classic game beginning in 2009. The inaugural Hall of Fame Classic will be held on Father's Day, June 21 in Cooperstown, N.Y.

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