Justin Verlander Wins The AL MVP Award
DETROIT (97.1 The Ticket/AP) - Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander has pulled a rare double dip in the award voting as he has been named AL MVP Award Monday afternoon.
He's the first starting pitcher in a quarter-century to win an MVP honor, receiving 13 of 28 first-place votes and 280 points in voting announced by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Verlander said he didn't know what to expect when the final vote totals were announced.
"I had told myself that it wasn't gonna happen. Because I got the phone call late I figured that someone else got the call," he said. "About right the time I was saying that I got the phone call and it was just a weight off my shoulders and just pure elation, really."
Hear more from Verlander:
AL MVP Win
Verlander almost immediately took to Twitter to thank the fans by saying "Other than 06 World Series, never been prouder to represent Detroit – city of resilience and pride. #DetroitPride"
Verlander also added "Thank you to everyone - teammates, fans, baseball writers). #DetroitPride (trend it - let's have some fun with this)"
Verlander went 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA and 250 strikeouts to take the AL pitching triple crown. He is the first pitcher to win MVP since Oakland's Dennis Eckerlsley in 1992 and the first starter since Boston's Roger Clemens in 1986.
Boston center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury was second with 242 points, followed by Toronto right fielder Jose Bautista with 231 points.
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