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Sports Briefs: Pujols wins MVP of NL in landslide
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Published: November 25, 2009
NEW YORK -- Albert Pujols' third National League MVP award put him in select company. Only Barry Bonds has more.
"I'm just humbled," Pujols said.
Pujols won unanimously yesterday, becoming the first player to repeat since Bonds won four in a row from 2001-04. Pujols, who also won in 2005, received all 32 first-place votes and 448 points in balloting announced by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. He became the first unanimous MVP since Bonds in 2002.
Pujols led the majors in homers (47), runs (124), slugging percentage (.658) and intentional walks (44), and topped the NL in on-base percentage (.443). He was second in the league in doubles (45) and third in batting average (.327) and RBIs (135).
He was especially dangerous with the bases loaded, going 10 for 17 with five grand slams, three doubles and 35 RBIs.
Florida's Hanley Ramirez, the NL batting champion, was second with 233 points, followed by Philadelphia's Ryan Howard (217) and Milwaukee's Prince Fielder (203), who tied Howard for the big league lead in RBIs at 141.
Pujols didn't homer in his final 89 regular and postseason at-bats after Sept. 9, then had surgery Oct. 21 to remove a bone spur from his right elbow. He had feared he might need ligament replacement, which probably would have forced him to miss the first half of next season.
More baseball
■ The Mets will have a different look next season -- both in the dugout and on the field.
Dave Jauss is the team's new bench coach and Chip Hale will take over as third-base coach on Manager Jerry Manuel's staff. Razor Shines, who coached third base this year, shifts over to first.
New York retained hitting coach Howard Johnson, pitching coach Dan Warthen and bullpen coach Randy Niemann after finishing 70-92 in 2009. Terry Collins, a former major-league manager, was added as the team's minor-league field coordinator.
The Mets also announced yesterday that they are switching their home pinstriped uniforms to a retro design with a natural color similar to what they wore when they won the 1969 World Series.
Recruiting
■ Dee Stokes, the women's basketball coach at Winston-Salem State, yesterday announced the signing of Justin Taylor during the recently completed early-signing period. Taylor, a 5-9 point guard at Gastonia Ashbrook, scored 827 points in her first three high-school seasons and averaged 15.4 points and 4.6 rebounds last season.
"We have tried for four years to recruit a player of Justin's caliber," Stokes said. "Justin is my kind of player because of her competitiveness. She hates to lose."
Basketball
■ Coach Roy Williams of North Carolina underwent surgery yesterday morning at UNC Hospitals to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, an injury he suffered in early October when he slipped on a wet step at a local golf course in a charity tournament.
Williams is expected to be on the bench on Sunday when North Carolina hosts to the University of Nevada.
Williams will wear a sling on his left arm for approximately four weeks with rehabilitation expected to last several months.
The Tar Heels did not practice yesterday.
■ The official uniforms for NBA players could soon be made in Asia, a move drawing sharp criticism from a New York Democratic senator.
Sports-apparel maker adidas plans to end its contract with American suppliers and move production of NBA jerseys to a factory in Thailand. The move could cost about 100 jobs at a factory in upstate New York that makes more than half the uniforms worn by Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and other NBA players.
Sen. Chuck Schumer said the switch would blemish more than a century of history for the marquee American sport. He called on adidas to reverse its decision and keep making the uniforms in the U.S.
American Classic Outfitters of Perry, N.Y., has been making NBA jerseys for 40 years.
■ Geno Auriemma and the United States women's team were placed in Group B at the world championships that begin next September.
The draw announced yesterday pits the Americans against Greece, Senegal and France in opening pool play, which begins on Sept. 23. The U.S., which won its fourth straight Olympics gold medal in 2008, will be trying to recapture the world title. The Americans lost to Russia in the semifinals of the 2006 worlds.
The U.S. is 8-1 in world championship play against pool opponents. The loss came against France in 1971.
Group A features defending world champion Australia, Canada, Belarus, and China. Mali, Korea, Brazil, and Spain make up Group C. Japan, Russia, Argentina, and the host Czech Republic are in Group D.
Miscellaneous
■ Ben Olsen, a veteran midfielder with D.C. United and the U.S. national team, is retiring from pro soccer at the age of 32.
Olsen, who played at Virginia, said yesterday that ankle injuries over the years made it difficult to keep playing.
He was the MLS rookie of the year in 1998 and helped United win the MLS Cup in 1999 and 2004. He also played 37 games with the U.S. national team from 1998 to 2007.
■ The future of Alberto Contador's Astana team is again in doubt after the International Cycling Union made new demands for financial guarantees.
Nikolai Proskurin, the deputy president of the Kazakh Cycling Federation, said yesterday that UCI is demanding a bank guarantee of Astana's annual budget before it will renew its ProTour license.
Proskurin says the demand is unreasonable and that he is unsure whether Astana can meet today's deadline.
■ Roger Federer bounced back once again after losing the first set, rallying to beat Andy Murray 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 yesterday at the ATP World Tour Finals in London and ensuring he will have the year-end No. 1 ranking for the fifth time.
Federer dominated Murray in the final two sets, finally controlling play from his serve and also getting his forehand on target. Murray struggled to win points when he wasn't serving.
Federer, who has two wins from two matches in Group A and is favored to reach the semifinals at the season-ending tournament, still has to play Juan Martin del Potro in the round-robin stage. Del Potro beat Federer in the U.S. Open final.
■ The Pontiac Silverdome in suburban Detroit was built three decades ago for $56 million. Now it's being practically given away after a judge approved its sale for a paltry $583,000.
That comes out to $7.25 a seat as the once-proud arena in Pontiac, Mich., is relegated to being another symbol of Detroit's economic collapse.
The Silverdome opened in 1975 as home of the Detroit Lions and housed the NBA's Pistons in 1978-88. It hosted the Super Bowl in 1982, Elvis Presley in 1975, even a Mass conducted by Pope John Paul II in 1987.
Since being abandoned by the Lions in 2002, the stadium has saddled Pontiac with a $1.5 million a year maintenance bill.
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