…well, it’s more than that. Not even the best players in the game have done what he has before he’s even turned 30. Not Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr. etc.
He is one of two pitchers in the history of the game to win a Rookie of the Year, a Most Valuable Player, and Cy Young Award. Don Newcombe is the other. The only awards the BBWAA votes on that he can receive is the Hall of Fame induction (of which Newcombe has yet to be voted in and most likely will never be). I really can’t embellish anymore on how special Verlander is. It’s pointless as you have to see him to get it. We as Detroit Tigers fans are lucky to be able to watch him pitch year in and year out. Hopefully, we will be able to see him finish his career here.
A.L. MVP Voting:
| Player, Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Verlander, Detroit | 13 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 280 | |||
| Jacoby Ellsbury, Boston | 4 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 242 | |||
| Jose Bautista, Toronto | 5 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 231 | |
| Curtis Granderson, NYY | 3 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 215 | |||
| Miguel Cabrera, Detroit | 2 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 193 | |||
| Robinson Cano, NYY | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 112 | ||
| Adrian Gonzalez, Boston | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 105 | ||
| Michael Young, Texas | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 96 |
| Dustin Pedroia, Boston | 4 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 48 | ||||||
| Evan Longoria, Tampa | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 27 | ||||||
| Ian Kinsler, Texas | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 25 | |||||
| Alex Avila, Detroit | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 13 | ||||||
| Paul Konerko, Chicago W | 5 | 1 | 11 | ||||||||
| CC Sabathia, NYY | 2 | 10 | |||||||||
| Adrian Beltre, Texas | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |||||||
| Ben Zobrist, Tampa | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||||||||
| Victor Martinez, Detroit | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | |||||||
| James Shields, Tampa Bay | 1 | 5 | 7 | ||||||||
| Mark Teixeira, NYY | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||||||||
| Asdrubal Cabrera, Cleveland | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||||||||
| Alex Gordon, Kansas City | 3 | 3 | |||||||||
| Josh Hamilton, Texas | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| David Robertson, NYY | 1 | 1 |
The A.L. MVP voting:
for reference, the A.L. Cy Young voting:
| Pitcher, Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers | 28 | 196 | ||||
| Jered Weaver, Los Angeles Angels | 17 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 97 | |
| James Shields, Tampa Bay Rays | 5 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 66 | |
| CC Sabathia, New York Yankees | 5 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 63 | |
| Jose Valverde, Detroit Tigers | 1 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 28 | |
| C.J. Wilson, Texas Rangers | 1 | 7 | 9 | |||
| Dan Haren, Los Angeles Angels | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees | 4 | 4 | ||||
| Josh Beckett, Boston Red Sox | 3 | 3 | ||||
| Ricky Romero, Toronto Blue Jays | 1 | 2 | ||||
| David Robertson, New York Yankees | 1 | 1 |
Voting source: bbwaa.com
Stats source: baseball-reference.com
