NEW YORK – Joey Votto became the third Canadian player to win one of baseball’s most valuable player awards by claiming the National League honours Monday in a near unanimous vote over Albert Pujols.
The Cincinnati Reds first baseman from Toronto received 31 of the 32 first-place votes for 443 points, crushing the St. Louis Cardinals first baseman, who picked up the other first-place vote and finished with 279 points.
Carlos Gonzalez of the Colorado Rockies was third with 240 points.
Votto and Larry Walker are the only Canadians to win the National League award. Justin Morneau won the American League prize in 2006.
The American League MVP will be revealed Tuesday.
Votto batted .324 with 37 homers, 113 RBIs and 106 runs scored in leading the Reds to their first NL Central title since 1995.
His remarkable season followed a 2009 campaign that was interrupted by a bout of severe anxiety and depression issues.
One panic attack was so bad he called 911 at three or four in the morning and was taken to hospital because, "it got to the point where I thought I was going to die."
"It was a very, very scary and crazy night," Votto recalled on June 23, 2009, when he came off the disabled list and rejoined the Reds. "It was probably the scariest moment I had ever dealt with in my life."
The Reds wisely provided Votto with time off to deal with his problems and he missed about a month. He finished 2009 strong with a .322 batting average, 25 homers and 84 RBIs.
This season, he took his game to another level.
The 27-year-old was the driving force on a young and exciting Reds team, consistently delivering quality at-bats in the middle of the lineup to help end his team’s lengthy playoff drought.
That was the difference against Pujols, who posted similar offensive numbers (.312, 42 HR, 118 RBIs, 115 runs) on a Cardinals club that ended up second to the Reds in the NL Central.
Gonzalez (.336, 34 HR, 117 RBIs, 111 runs) went on a mad binge with the bat in the second half of the season but it wasn’t enough to help his Rockies break through in the NL West.
"I believe Votto deserves to win as he was on a playoff team, and was the main force in a lineup of a team that hadn’t made the playoffs in a long time," Morneau said in an email to The Canadian Press over the weekend. "If you take Joey Votto out of the equation I can’t see them making the playoffs, therefore deeming him most valuable player.
"Gonzalez and Pujols had great seasons, but I believe the playoffs have a big impact on it."
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