For the St. Louis Cardinals, Albert Pujols defined what a most valuable player should be.
With teammates Scott Rolen, Reggie Sanders and Larry Walker missing large parts of the season because of injuries, Pujols was forced to shoulder a massive load, despite playing with a painful foot injury. And yet the Cardinals still won a major league-best 100 games.
Little wonder, then, that when the votes were tabulated Tuesday, Pujols beat out Atlanta center fielder Andruw Jones for National League MVP.
“It’s amazing,” Pujols said. “Going into spring training and preparing yourself during the offseason, you never think that you are going to win the MVP.”
But he did, finally. Pujols finished fourth or better in each of his first four seasons. Twice he was runner-up to San Francisco slugger Barry Bonds, who won MVP honors the past four years. But with Bonds missing most of the season with a knee injury, the door was left open.
Pujols barged through with a typically sensational season. He was second in the NL with a .330 average, third in home runs with 41 – trailing only Jones (51) and Chicago’s Derrek Lee (46) – and finished tied for second in RBIs with 117, 11 behind Jones.
Consistency is Pujols’ trademark. He finished in the top three in the NL in 11 major offensive categories. In his first five major-league seasons, the 25-year-old has averaged 40 homers, 124 RBIs and has a .332 average.
“How can I explain that? I think it’s my dedication, my love and my passion that I have for the game,” Pujols said. “It’s about working hard every day.”
Pujols received 18 first-place votes and 14 second-place votes for 378 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Jones got 13 first- place votes, 17 second-place and two third-place for 351 points. Lee, the NL batting champion with a .335 average, got one first-place vote and finished third with 263 points.
Pujols earned a $200,000 bonus. He won the 15th MVP award for the Cardinals, the first since Willie McGee in 1985.
Jones, a perennial Gold Glove outfielder, led the majors in homers and helped lead the Braves into the playoffs but fell well short of Pujols in batting average (.263). Had Jones won, his average would have been the lowest by any nonpitching MVP in history. And Pujols hit .329 with runners in scoring position, compared with .207 for Jones.
Pujols missed only one game despite being dogged by plantar fasciitis, a painful foot injury.
“I tried to hide it,” he said. “But I got to the ballpark early and got treatment. That’s how I survived.”
Patrick Saunders can be reached at 303-820-5459 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
