Twins' Morneau wins MVP award
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This time last year Morneau was coming off a mediocre season in the batting box. He ended with a slumpy .239 average and 22 home runs. A year later, the first baseman's hot bat, especially in the last half of the season is one of the ingredients credited for bringing the Twins into the playoffs. Morneau credits batting coach Joe Vavra for believing in him, even as he opened the season with a shaky start in April.
"We worked hard. We were in the cage every day. He was always there and we just battled. And suddenly it turned around and he was right there beside me saying, 'See I told you you were going to have a great year'. And that's confidence. Once you get a little confidence in baseball it goes a long way," he said.
The stony-faced Canadian from New Westminster, British Columbia ended the season with .341 batting average, 130 RBIs and 34 home runs. Combined with the Twins momentous surge toward the Central Division Championship, Morneau was able to beat out New York's Derek Jeeter for the MVP. Morneau says he took a lot of cues from Twins catcher and St. Paul native Joe Mauer.
"He's always got a smile and he's always proud to meet somebody who went to school with his cousin. Somehow everybody knows Joe and it's fun, that's the great connection. And to be around a guy like that who handles it so well it kind of rubs off on you a little bit and his work ethic and the way he prepares is something I definitely learned from him this year," he said.
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Only three other Twins have won the MVP Award. The most recent was Rod Carew in 1977. Before him was Harmon Killebrew, who showed up at Morneau's press conference at the Metrodome. Killebrew says he could see Morneau's confidence build as the season progressed.
"I didn't ask him what was going on but you could just see it. You could just see it happening and he had that determination and, golly, he just got so many big hits for the Twins during that stretch during the second half of the season and I think everybody in the Twins organization has got to be proud of Justin Morneau," he said.
The Twins aren't the only ones proud of the accomplishement. Morneau says it was a dream fulfilled to be able to call his father back in Canada and say he's won the MVP.
"He's there sitting with my mom, they watch it on the MLB.com, on the internet. For them to be able to say that's my son out there and they're pretty proud and it's a pretty good feeling to know that," he said.
Morneau was elected MVP with 320 points in the ballots cast by two sports writers from each league city.
Twins players Joe Mauer and Johan Santana also finished in the top seven in the MVP voting. Mauer won the AL batting title this year and Santana won the AL Cy Young last week.
