Long known and recognized as one of baseball's finest players, Albert Pujols received what may be his most prestigious honor yet Wednesday, when he received the Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award from the MLB Players Association. Joining him as a Players Choice Award winner is Chris Carpenter, named the National League's Outstanding Pitcher.
The Miller Award is given annually to "the player in either league whose on-field performance and contributions to his community inspire others to higher levels of achievement." The Players Choice Awards are voted on by Major League players in September. Pujols was a finalist for the Miller Award in 2005, as well as being named Major League Player of the Year in 2003.
Carpenter is a repeat winner of NL Outstanding Pitcher honors, and it's the third straight year he's brought home Players Choice hardware. In 2004, he was named the Comeback Player of the Year.
"The best compliment we can give him is we've seen him do this the last two or three years over and over again," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "He's so strong between the ears that nothing fazes him. He has a great game, he gets ready for the next one. Besides the physical talent he's got a good head, good heart, good guts."
Players from each Major League team selected their team's nominee for the Miller Award. Those nominees were then put to fans, who selected six finalists, and that list was handed over to the players for the final vote. Joining Pujols as finalists were Derek Jeter, 2005 winner Mike Sweeney, Barry Zito, Andruw Jones and Todd Helton.
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Pujols, Carpenter draw peers' kudos
Pujols, Carpenter draw peers' kudos
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