Joe Mauer Named 2009 AL MVP

Joe Mauer won the 2009 American League MVP Award on Monday. Winning the 2009 AL MVP made Joe Mauer just the second catcher in the last 30 years to take home the honor, following in the footsteps of Ivan Rodriguez. With the victory in the AL MVP race, Joe Mauer adds the trophy to a case that already has several other awards stemming from the 2009 Major League Baseball season. That includes the 2009 American League Gold Glove Award that Mauer received for an outstanding season behind the plate, and shows just how well-rounded Joe Mauer is on the baseball field.

In 2009, Joe Mauer was the catcher for the Minnesota Twins, and actually started out the season on the disabled list with an injury. He came back quite strong though, and in his first at bat of the 2009 season he actually hit a home run. It was a nice arrival to the season, and at times Mauer was even flirting with possibly hitting .400 for the season. In the end, Joe Mauer ended with a .365 batting average, 28 home runs, 96 RBI, and an amazing on base percentage of .444 that led the American League. This could be statistically one of the best seasons at catcher we have seen, with the only real comparison being Mike Piazza offensively.

Joe Mauer received 27 of a possible 28 first place votes, with Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers receiving the only other first place vote in the balloting. It wasn't Miguel Cabrera that finished second overall in the voting though, as that honor went to New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira. Just behind Teixeira was Derek Jeter in third place, and then Cabrera in fourth place. Rounding out the top 10 in terms of voting was Kendry Morales, Kevin Youkilis, Jason Bay, Ben Zobrist, Ichiro Suzuki, and Alex Rodriguez. Just looking at the voting, it is pretty obvious that the New York Yankees had a pretty good season that culminated in their latest World Series Championship.

Joe Mauer is only 26 years old, but every season he has in the big leagues just proves how much better he is getting at the game. For his career, Joe Mauer has a .327 batting average, and while his power numbers may not measure up to the best home run hitters in the game, it's also because he doesn't swing for the fences all the time. Joe Mauer is simply a workhorse that gets the job done every night, and has been one of the forces behind the recent success that the Minnesota Twins have had in the regular season. This is one player that the Minnesota Twins want to make sure is happy to stick around for years to come.

Sources:

2009 AL MVP Voting

Joe Mauer Career Stats