He did it folks! He did it!!
Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia was named American League MVP this afternoon by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
Pedroia is just the third person, Cal Ripken and Ryan Howard are the others, to be named MVP and Rookie of the Year. Fred Lynn (1975) and Ichiro Suzuki (2001) won both in the same year.
Pedroia is the first second baseman in Red Sox history to win the award and is the first AL MVP for the Red Sox since Mo Vaughn won it in 1995. He is the 10th AL MVP for Boston since 1931.
He finished second in batting average this season hitting .326, had 17 home runs, 83 RBI and 20 stolen bases. He led the league in runs scored with 118 and had 54 doubles.
This is the third postseason honor for Pedroia as he was awarded a 2008 Gold Glove and won the AL Silver Slugger Award at second base.
Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins finished second in the voting and Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis finished third.
Here is how the writers voted for the AL MVP. Each city’s writers got two votes. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News left Pedroia off his ballot entirely.
| Player | Club | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Points |
| Dustin Pedroia | Boston Red Sox | 16 | 6 | 4 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 317 |
| Justin Morneau | Minnesota Twins | 7 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | 257 |
| Kevin Youkilis | Boston Red Sox | 2 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | — | — | 201 |
| Joe Mauer | Minnesota Twins | 2 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | 188 |
| Carlos Quentin | Chicago White Sox | — | 1 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 4 | — | 1 | 1 | 160 |
| Francisco Rodriguez | Los Angeles Angels | 1 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 6 | — | 3 | 2 | — | 2 | 143 |
| Josh Hamilton | Texas Rangers | — | — | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 112 |
| Alex Rodriguez | New York Yankees | — | — | — | — | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 45 |
| Carlos Pena | Tampa Bay Rays | — | — | 1 | — | 2 | — | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 44 |
| Grady Sizemore | Cleveland Indians | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 42 |
| Evan Longoria | Tampa Bay Rays | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 38 |
| Cliff Lee | Cleveland Indians | — | — | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | — | 24 |
| Miguel Cabrera | Detroit Tigers | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | 1 | 4 | 1 | 17 |
| Vladimir Guerrero | Los Angeles Angels | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 2 | 1 | — | 16 |
| Jermaine Dye | Chicago White Sox | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | 2 | — | 2 | 14 |
| Aubrey Huff | Baltimore Orioles | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | 2 | 3 | 12 |
| Milton Bradley | Texas Rangers | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | 9 |
| Jason Bartlett | Tampa Bay Rays | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | 6 |
| Mike Mussina | New York Yankees | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | 3 |
| Raul Ibanez | Seattle Mariners | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 1 |
| Ian Kinsler | Texas Rangers | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 1 |
| Ichiro Suzuki | Seattle Mariners | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 1 |
| Mark Teixeira | Los Angeles Angels | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 1 |
