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Mauer takes home the big prize

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By Kelly Thesier / MLB.com

12/21/09 4:49 PM EST

MINNEAPOLIS -- Joe Mauer knows that an MVP Award changes things. He witnessed it when teammate Justin Morneau took home the honor in 2006.

"[Life] definitely changed for him," Mauer said of Morneau. "I think that's good for me to realize that, 'Hey, I've got to work out. I have to get ready for a season.'"

Mauer understands that he will have to lean on advice from Morneau after being named the near-unanimous winner of the 2009 American League MVP Award.

The Twins catcher received 27 of the 28 first-place votes to easily beat out the Yankees' duo of Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter for the honor.

Mauer finished with 327 points, well ahead of Teixeira, who had 225, and Jeter, who had 193. Detroit first baseman Miguel Cabrera, who received the only other first-place vote, was fourth with 171 points.

He became the fifth Twins player to win the AL MVP award, joining Morneau, Zoilo Versalles in 1965, Harmon Killebrew in '69 and Rod Carew in '77.

But while things often get hectic following such an honor, Morneau is determined to try to deliver a repeat performance in 2010. So he's going to try to not let all of the offseason demands take away from what he wants to do on the field.

"I have to remember this is my job and what I do for a living, my career," Mauer said. "You have to take pride in what you are doing, and I definitely do that."

Mauer put together the best season of his already impressive young career in 2009, despite missing all of April due to a back injury. He led the AL in batting average (.365), on-base percentage (.444) and slugging percentage (.587), giving him what some consider the modern Triple Crown. The last AL player to lead in all three of those categories was George Brett of the Royals in 1980.

In addition to becoming the first catcher in Major League history to win three batting titles, Mauer also set career highs in home runs (28) and RBIs (96).

A front-runner for the MVP honor as he flirted with hitting .400 into the month of July, Mauer saw his candidacy surge thanks to the late-season run by the Twins.

Sitting seven games in back of the Tigers on Sept. 6, Minnesota won 17 of its final 21 games -- including a one-game tiebreaker against Detroit -- to capture the club's fifth division title in eight years. With Morneau out for the final three weeks of the season due to injury, Mauer's production was even more critical. The Twins went 11-11 in April without Mauer but went 76-65 after he returned to the club.

Mauer undoubtedly played a significant role in the Twins' success in 2009, and the MVP was far from the only honor he took home during the awards season. The All-Star catcher repeated as both a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger winner for his work behind and at the plate. It was his second straight Gold Glove and the third Silver Slugger of his career. He also was named the 2009 Hitter of the Year in the This Year in Baseball Awards.

While Mauer walked away with baseball's most prestigious award, he wasn't the only Twins player to receive votes on the MVP ballot. Michael Cuddyer received an eighth-place vote and a 10th-place vote from two of the 28 reporters who cast ballots. Jason Kubel received an eighth-place vote.

The Twins' other strong award contender fell just a little short yet again. For the second straight year, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire finished as the runner-up in the voting for American League Manager of the Year. Gardenhire was second behind Angels' skipper Mike Scioscia when the award balloting was announced on Wednesday. It was Gardenhire's fifth second-place finish for the award since he took over as the Twins manager prior to the 2002 season.

Kelly Thesier is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.