Pujols claims second straight NL MVP award

ALBERT Pujols was unanimously selected as the National League's Most Valuable Player on Tuesday, the second straight year and third time overall the St Louis Cardinals slugger has taken the accolade.

The 29-year-old batted .327 with 47 home runs and 135 RBI while leading the Cardinals to the Central Division title with a 91-71 record.

"I'm humbled to receive this award," Pujols told a conference call. "At the same time you can't do it by yourself. You want to thank your teammates too.

"It's an award only one person can get but I would say it's a team award because they helped me out as much as I helped them."

Pujols led the league in home runs for the first time in his career and was third in batting and RBI. He also topped the NL in runs, total bases and on-base percentage.

The eight-time All-Star totaled a perfect 448 points in voting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Florida Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who won the batting title (.342) and had 24 home runs and 106 RBI, was second in the voting with 233 points.

Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies and Price Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers, who tied for the league lead in RBI with 141 apiece, finished third and fourth, respectively.

Pujols became the sixth NL player to win the award by a unanimous vote, the first since Barry Bonds in 2002. He also won the MVP award in 2005.

"Every day I wake up I thank God I get the opportunity to do what I love to do - which is play baseball," he said.

Pujols, who turns 30 in January, joined Hall of Famer Al Simmons (11) as the only players with 100 or more RBI in each of their first nine seasons. He also set a MLB record for assists by a first baseman with 185.

Pujols became just the fourth player to win the NL MVP three times. Bonds won seven in the 1990s and 2000s. Stan Musial (1940s), Roy Campanella (1950s) and Mike Schmidt (1980s) each won three.

Five players have won three American League MVPs: Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle and Alex Rodriguez.

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