Last year the National League (NL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) award went to the San Francisco Giants’ Barry Bonds. Bonds wasn’t on a playoff team, but he was the best hitter in Major League baseball (MLB). His .362 batting average (AVG), 45 home runs (HR), 101 runs batted in (RBI), and a .812 slugging percentage (SLG) beat the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Adrian Beltre’s, who was on a first place team, and had a .334 AVG, 48 HR, 121 RBI, and a .629 SLG.

This year, on Nov. 15, the NL MVP award went to the St. Louis Cardinals’ Albert Pujols, who wasn’t the best hitter, because he was on a first place team, and he has been an MVP candidate ever since he has entered the major leagues in 2001. However, the award should have gone to the top hitter, who was the Chicago Cubs’ Derrek Lee.

In 2002, the sports writers chose the American League. MVP, Miguel Tejada because he had a .308 AVG, 34 HR, and 131 RBI, and he was on a first place team. On the other hand, the Texas Rangers’ Alex Rodriguez, had a .300 AVG, 57 HR, and 142 RBI, but his team didn’t make the playoffs.

In addition, Pujols got nominated for being in the top four of MVP candidates since he entered MLB in 2001. Also, according to mlb.com, he became the fourth player in Major League history to drive in 100 runs in each of his first five seasons this year. He joined Hall of Fame players’: Al Simmons, Ted Williams, and Joe DiMaggio in that club. And his overall hitting stats match if not surpass Williams, and DiMaggio’s first five years.

However, Pujols was out hit again this year by a new player, Derrek Lee.

Although it was a tight race with Pujols and Lee placed in the top ten in most of the categories, and the Atlanta Braves’ Andruw Jones had 2/3 of the Triple Crown, Lee placed in one more of the categories, doubles, than Pujols, and led the league and the majors in more categories than both of them. Although Jones won a gold glove, Lee did too. Also, the fans voted in Lee to start at first base in the All Star Game instead of Pujols.

However, the sports writers don’t agree with the people’s choice of who’s the better player between Pujols and Lee, and the fact that the MVP award should go to the player with the best statistics, like it did last year with Barry Bonds.