Justin Morneau, first baseman for the Minnesota Twins, won the 2006 American League MVP Award. Morneau joins fellow Minnesota greats as Zoilo Versalles, Harmon Killebrew and Rod Carew as the 4th player in Twins history to win this prestigious award.
Morneau edged out new York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter for the top honor. Morneau received 15 first place votes, 8 second place votes, 3 third place votes and 2 fourth place votes for a total of 320 points. Jeter ended with 306 points in the voting from the Baseball Writer’s Association of America.
Morneau ended the season batting .321 while Derek Jeter batted .344 with 14 homers and 97 RBIs. Jeter got second in the batting title behind Joe Mauer, who ended the season with a .347 batting average. Mauer was the first catcher to win an American League batting title.
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"Last night even I was saying I don't expect to get it. I might have given myself maybe a 50-50 chance," Morneau said. "I didn't want to set myself up for disappointment if I didn't get it."
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Morneau helped the Twins win the AL Central Division and gain a playoff birth after hitting 34 homers and 130 RBIs. The 2006 Minnesota Twins organization racked up plenty of awards this year including Joe Mauer’s American League Batting Title and Johan Santana’s American League Cy Young Award.
Morneau became the second Canadian baseball player to win an MVP. Larry Walker was the first Canadian to win the title back in 1997 when he played on the Colorado Rockies.
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New York Yankees: +400
New York Mets: +650
Boston Red Sox: +1000
Los Angeles Angels:+1000
Chicago White Sox: +1000
St Louis Cardinals: +1100
Minnesota Twins: +1500
Detroit Tigers: +1500
Los Angeles Dodgers: +1600
Oakland Athletics: +2000
Philadelphia Phillies: +2000
Cleveland Indians: +2500
San Diego Padres: +2500
Houston Astros: +3000
Chicago Cubs: +3000
Toronto Blue Jays: +3000
Florida Marlins: +3200
Atlanta Braves: +3500
Cincinnati Reds: +4000
Milwaukee Brewers: +5000
San Francisco Giants:+5500
Arizona Diamondbacks: +6000
Texas Rangers: +6000
Baltimore Orioles: +10000
Seattle Mariners: +10000
Washington Nationals: +10000
Colorado Rockies: +10000
Pittsburgh Pirates: +11000
Tampa Bay Devil Rays: +12500
Kansas City Royals: +12500
