News
Sandoval, Lincecum, Affeldt earn MVP votes
Giants trio recognized for outstanding individual seasons
By Chris Haft / MLB.com
11/24/09 3:21 PM EST
SAN FRANCISCO -- Three Giants were among the 30 players receiving votes for National League Most Valuable Player in balloting announced Tuesday.
Third baseman Pablo Sandoval, the NL's second-leading hitter with a .330 average, placed seventh in the voting conducted by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Sandoval, who led San Francisco with 25 home runs and 90 RBIs, was tied for second in the league with 57 multihit games and ranked third in doubles (44), fourth in hits (189), sixth in total bases (318), sixth in slugging percentage (.556) and seventh in extra-base hits (74). He also topped the league with a .361 batting average at home.
Sandoval received one third-place vote, two fifth-place votes, five sixth-place votes, five seventh-place votes, six eighth-place votes, a ninth-place vote and four 10th-place votes for 89 points. Right-hander Tim Lincecum, who won his second consecutive Cy Young Award last week, ranked 19th in the voting. He received eight points with a seventh-place vote, a ninth-place votes and two 10th-place votes. Ironically, the pair of St. Louis right-handers Lincecum edged to win the Cy Young, Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, outdistanced him in the MVP voting. Carpenter and Wainwright finished 14th and 15th, respectively. Setup reliever Jeremy Affeldt tied for last in the voting with one 10th-place vote. Affeldt led all NL relievers with a 1.73 ERA and 18 double-play grounders induced. He also collected 33 holds, sharing the Major League lead with Minnesota's Matt Guerrier.Albert Pujols was the runaway winner of the annual award, garnering all 32 first-place votes for the third NL MVP trophy of his career.
Chris Haft is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
