2009 Major League Baseball Awards Overview | IXGAMES

With the 2008-2009 MLB season long over, it’s a great time to take a look at some of the players who have earned their fame and reputation.  When you play in a league as professional, international, and exclusive as the MLB, awards don’t come so often, since there are only four major awards that are given per conference.  In this article, we’ll be taking a look at the winners of the Most Valuable Player Award, the CY Young Award, and the Rookie of the Year Award.  As for the Manager of the Year Awards, the winners are Mike Scioscia of the Angels in the American League and Jim Tracy of the Rockies in the National League. The Most Valuable Player Awards The MVP Award is one of the most coveted of all MLB awards, because it is truly a symbol of a player’s contribution to the team in the field.  Albert Pujols is the MVP award-winner in the National League Conference and, to some, it comes as no surprise.  This is Pujols third MVP award so far in his career and this is his second-consecutive one.  The only player who has more MVP awards than Pujols is Barry Bonds, who has four.  Pujols led the MLB in numerous categories, including home runs, runs, and slugging percentage.  In the American League Conference, the MVP awardee is Joe Mauer, who became only the second catcher to win the MVP award in the last 33 years.  Playing for the Minneapolis Twins, Mauer  had a .365 batting average (winning his third AL batting title). He also made AL records in the on-base percentage and slugging percentage categories. The CY Young Awards The CY Young Awards are reserved for only the best pitchers in the majors, and this year, the awards went to Tim Lincecum in the National League and Zack Greinke in the American League.  Playing for the San Francisco Giants, Tim Lincecum has won two, consecutive CY Young awards.  With a record of 15-7. an ERA of 2.48, a strike out total of 261, a WHIP of 1.05, and a walk total of 68, Lincecum definitely deserved the award.  Greinke of the Kansas City Royals won the American League CY Young Award.  Greinke had a record of 16-8, an ERA of 2.16, total strike outs of 242, WHIP of 1.07, and total walks of 51. Rookie of the Year Awards The Rookie of the Year Awards celebrate the best of the best among the newcomers in the major leagues.  For 2009, the winners are Andrew Bailey from the Oakland Athletics (American League) and Chris Coghlan (National League) from the Florida Marlins.  Bailey had a record of 6-3, a 1.84 ERA, 91 strike outs, 24 walks, and 26 saves.  Coghlan has a batting average of .321, 9 home runs, 47 RBIs, 84 runs, and 8 SBs.