Pujols voted top player by players

[Murphy3]

Pujols voted top player by players


November 5, 2003
NEW YORK (AP) -- St. Louis outfielder Albert Pujols was voted player of the year by his peers in balloting conducted by the Major League Baseball Players Association.

Pujols also won NL outstanding player in the Players Choice Awards, which were announced Wednesday. Texas shortstop Alex Rodriguez was voted AL outstanding player for the third straight season.

Atlanta closer John Smoltz was voted the Marvin Miller man of the year award, given for on-field performance and community service.

Toronto's Roy Halladay was voted the AL's outstanding pitcher, and Los Angeles reliever Eric Gagne was selected the NL's outstanding pitcher.

Kansas City's Angel Berroa and Milwaukee's Scott Podsednik were voted the outstanding rookies of their leagues. Esteban Loiaza of the Chicago White Sox and Rod Beck of San Diego won the comeback player awards in their leagues.

[Murphy3]

Cardinals LF Pujols named Player of Year by peers


November 5, 2003
NEW YORK (Ticker) - St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Albert Pujols, who made a bid for the first Triple Crown in 36 years, was named Player of the Year by his peers Wednesday.

Pujols captured the marquee Players Choice award over San Francisco Giants left fielder Barry Bonds and Los Angeles Dodgers closer Erig Gagne.

"It's just an honor to get this award," Pujols said. "I want thank all the players. It shows a lot of respect that the players have for me. There were so many players that had a great year."

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Texas Rangers shortstop Alex Rodriguez was voted Oustanding Player in the American League.

"Barry's proabbaly the best plyer in the league, him and A-Rod," Pujols added. "What they have done for this game in just the past five years is amazing. Those are the two guys that I voted for. You have a lot of guys around the league that had a great year, like Gary Sheffield. For me to be honored with this award is amazing."

Also in the AL, Roy Halladay of the Toronto Blue Jays was named Outstanding Pitcher, Kansas City Royals shortstop Angel Berroa garnered Outstanding Rookie honors and Chicago White Sox righthander Esteban Loiaza was voted Comeback Player of the Year.

The NL also honored Gagne as Outstanding Pitcher, Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Scott Podsednik as top rookie and San Diego Padres righthander Rod Beck as Comeback Player of the Year.

Atlanta Braves closer John Smoltz won the Marvin Miller Man of the Year award, which honors a player whose "on-field performance and contributions to his community inspire those to higher levels of achievement." Smoltz contributes the Atlanta Food Bank's "Close Out Hunger" campaign and co-hosts a celebrity pro-am golf tournament to benefit Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. He also won the award last year

Pujols has been inspiring for three years now, but never more so than in 2003, when he hit an NL-best .359 with 43 homers and 124 RBI. He finished just four home runs and 17 RBI of capturing the first triple crown since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. The 23-year-old also established career bests with 212 hits, 137 runs and 79 walks.

Pjuols is the only player ever to hit .300 with 30 homers, 100 runs and 100 RBI in each of his first three major league seasons.

Bonds, who has risen to fourth on baseball's all-time homer list, missed out on his second Player of the Year award in three seasons. He also has been named the NL's top player three times.

Gagne has been successful in 63 consecutive save opportunities over the past two seasons, including 55 in 2003. The record for saves in a season is 57.