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Twins' Morneau Wins AL MVP; Ortiz Finishes 3rd

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Nov 21, 2006 4:46 pm US/Eastern

Twins' Morneau Wins AL MVP; Ortiz Finishes 3rd

Dan Roche's Red Sox Blog

NEW YORK (AP) ― Minnesota's Justin Morneau edged the New York Yankees' Derek Jeter to win the American League's Most Valuable Player Award on Tuesday.

Morneau received 15 first-place votes, eight seconds, three thirds and two fourths for 320 points in voting by a panel of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Jeter got 12 firsts, 14 seconds, one fourth and one sixth for 306 points.

Boston's David Ortiz was third with 193 points, followed by Oakland's Frank Thomas (174), Chicago's Jermaine Dye (156), Minnesota's Joe Mauer (116) and Twins pitcher Johan Santana (114), who received the other first-place vote.

It was the 16th-closest MVP race since the current format began in 1938, and the 10th closest in the AL.

Morneau hit .321 with 34 homers and 130 RBIs, helping the Twins win the AL Central for the fourth time in five years. Jeter batted .344 with 14 homers and 97 RBIs, finishing three points behind Mauer, who became the first catcher to win an AL batting title.

Morneau became the second Canadian-born player to win an MVP following Colorado's Larry Walker in 1997. Morneau is the fourth Minnesota player to win -- Zoilo Versalles earned the honor in 1965, Harmon Killebrew in 1969 and Rod Carew in 1977.

Earning just $385,000 in just his third season as a regular, Morneau was a relative bargain. Philadelphia's Ryan Howard, voted NL MVP on Monday, made $355,000.

Ortiz earned a $100,000 bonus for finishing third in the voting and Thomas, who left the Athletics last week to sign with Toronto, got a $100,000 bonus for placing fourth. Dye gets $60,000 for winding up fifth.

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