Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander named American League MVP
Posted: 11/21/2011
DETROIT (WXYZ) - He already won the American League Cy Young and today Justin Verlander adds the title of American League MVP to his trophy case.
The 28-year-old Detroit Tiger is the first starting pitcher to be named MVP in 25 years. in 1986 the honor was awarded to Boston Red Sox Roger Clemens.
LISTEN TO VERLANDER'S MVP CONFERENCE CALL WITH THE MEDIA IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ON THE LEFT
Since then only one other pitcher has been named AL MVP. That was the Oakland A's Dennis Eckersly in 1992.
By winning both the Cy Young Award and being named AL MVP this year, Verlander becomes only the second player in major league history to win those awards as well as the American League Rookie of the Year Award. The first was Don Newcombe, who played with the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1940s and 1950s.
Verlander won pitching's version of the triple crown this season, leading the league in wins, strikeouts and ERA.
Verlander is the seventh Tiger and fourth Tiger pitcher to be named MVP. The former honorees include Guillermo Hernandez, Denny McLain, Hal Newhouser, Hank Greenberg, Charlie Gehringer and Mickey Cochrane.
In the moments after hearing the good news, Verlander sent out this tweet on is official Twitter account:
Thank you to everyone - teammates, fans, baseball writers). #DetroitPride (trend it - let's have some fun with this.)
Congrats to Justin Verlander for his outstanding performance for the Detroit Tigers.
Copyright 2011 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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