Cards' Pujols captures second NL MVP award

Sports Digest

November 18, 2008

St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols won his second National League Most Valuable Player award, powering past Philadelphia Phillies star Ryan Howard by a comfortable margin yesterday. 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. Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez and Milwaukee Brewers pitcher CCSabathia also drew strong support after being traded by American League teams in July. Pujols got 18 of the 32 first-place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America and had 369points. The first baseman added to the MVP award he won in 2005. Howard, who led the majors with 48homers and 146RBIs for the World Series champion Phillies, drew 12 first-place votes and 308points.

Clemens: Country singer Mindy McCready said she broke off her relationship with Roger Clemens when the former baseball star wouldn't marry her, according to an interview that was to be broadcast yesterday by the syndicated show Inside Edition. McCready, however, was quoted on the Web site of the New York Daily News yesterday as saying she didn't want to marry Clemens. McCready told Inside Edition she met Clemens when she was 16, not 15, as reported by the Daily News in April. Clemens in May denied having an affair with a 15-year-old but didn't specifically address whether he had a romance with McCready.

Giants: Left-handed reliever Jeremy Affeldt became the first of 171 free agents to agree to a contract, striking a two-year deal that bolsters San Francisco's bullpen. Affeldt, 29, pitched for the Reds last season, going 1-1 with a 3.33 ERA in a team-leading 74appearances.

Et cetera: The Chicago Cubs will play the first exhibition games at the new Yankee Stadium, meeting New York on the night of April 3 and again the following afternoon. ... 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. The game replaces the Hall of Fame Game, which was discontinued this year after 68 years.

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Cards' Pujols captures second NL MVP award

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Cards' Pujols captures second NL MVP award

Related topic galleries: Albert Pujols, Mindy McCready, Major League Baseball, Philadelphia Phillies, National League, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals

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