Although the World Series trophy eluded them once again, at least the Cardinals got some deserved recognition this postseason in the form of their first Cy Young winner since Bob Gibson and their first NL MVP since Willie McGee. It was comforting to know the rest of the Baseball Writers Association of America wasn't falling in line with most of the "experts" I saw on ESPN, who were claiming Dontrelle Willis and Andruw Jones would be their picks, respectively. Yes, Willis and Jones had better numbers in the two or three categories everyone talked about. But Carpenter and Pujols were frequently the only reason the Cardinals won the Central Division so handily — especially in a year where Scott Rolen, Larry Walker, Reggie Sanders and Yadier Molina were absent for frequent stretches. And I have to give it to Jones, who was classy when responding to the results: "I think he deserved it. The voting was the right vote. He was the right choice. He had the most solid season average-wise, home run-wise and RBI-wise."
Now, as for A-Rod edging out Big Papi, I'm not so sure. But I think there are other, bigger AL fans here who can argue that point better than I can.
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