No surprise, Ryan Howard, a BlueClaw in 2002, finished 3rd in the 2009 National League MVP balloting behind unanimous winner Albert Pujols of St Louis and Florida shortstop Hanley Ramirez.

Howard hit .279 with 37 doubles, four triples, 45 home runs and a Major League-leading 141 RBIs this season. He also had a career-high eight stolen bases. He ranked first in baseball with 43 go-ahead RBIs, second with 86 in extra-base hits and game-winning RBIs (22), third in homers and total bases (352) and fifth in slugging percentage (.571). (from MLB.com)

If Howard hits another 40 home runs next year he will become the 2nd player (Babe Ruth) to have 40 home runs in five consecutive seasons.

Howard was just 16 points behind Ramirez for second place and appeared on 31 of 32 ballots.

BlueClaws Blog says: No surprise at all. Pujols was magnificent (.327-47-124). It’s his 3rd MVP.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 at 6:40 pm and is filed under Past BlueClaws, Phillies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.