The National League of Major League Baseball not only crowned the World Series champion in 2008, it always rewarded some familiar faces in its postseason awards. Both the the National League MVP and the Manager of the Year 2008 have already won those titles at least once. The Cy Young Award, and, of course, the National Rookie of the Year went to newcomers.
In his eighth season in the big leagues, Albert Pujols has already won two National League MVP awards. He is now one baseball MVP title short of joining just four players in league history who have captured three MVP titles or more in their career. The St. Louis Cardinal slugger also joins Stan Musial as the only player in that club’s rich history to win the baseball MVP twice. His season was not only spectacular with a .375 batting average, he also was the portrait of consistency in a season in which he never averaged under .300 in any month
With a 95-mph fastball and a diminutive stature, San Francisco Giant pitcher Tim Lincecum hurled his way into becoming the the National League Cy Young Award winner for 2008. Despite a small frame that always brought him doubters and the fact that this was his first full season in the league, the right-hander struck out 265 batters on his way onto the list of Cy Young award winners. That strikeout record was the most of any Giant since 1900. Lincecum’s 18-5 record for the season gave him the highest win percentage in the league and his 2.62 was the second lowest.
The National League named Geovany Soto the national Rookie of the Year for 2008. The young catcher impressed the Chicago Cubs so much that he was called up from the minor leagues to protect the plate. Though he was adept behind the plate at handling the hard-throwing Cubs bullpen, he really impressed when he was standing at the plate. His batting was sensational throughout the season, hitting .285 with 86 RBIs on his way to winning all but one of the 32 rookie of the year votes. He also hammered 23 homers during the season. Soto is a rare catcher to get this honor, the last time it happened was 15 seasons ago. The highlight of his season came when he hit a fabled two-out, bottom of the ninth inning home run to send the game into extra innings.
Lou Pinella, the manager of the Chicago Cubs, won the honor as National League Manager of the Year 2008. Pinella, who won manager of the year for the third time in his career, guided the hard luck Cubs to their second straight postseason appearance. His team also ended the season with the best record in the National League with a 97-64 record. It had been one year short of a century since the Cubs last went to the playoffs two years in a row. Pinella also won manager of the year twice as the skipper of the Seattle Mariners and this time donated the $100,000 prize to a local Chicago charity.
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