Albert Pujols views MVP voting a little differently these days.

“You have to consider everything. You have to put all the numbers together,” the St. Louis star said Monday after powering past Philadelphia slugger Ryan Howard to win the award for the second time.

Pujols won despite the Cardinals finishing in fourth place, the lowest spot for an NL MVP winner since Andre Dawson and Chicago Cubs wound up sixth in 1987. Howard led the majors in home runs and RBIs for the World Series champs.

The result surely will renew a debate that Pujols once raised himself: What qualifies as “most valuable”?

In 2006, a month after leading the Cardinals to the World Series crown, Pujols carped when Howard—whose Phillies missed the playoffs—captured the coveted award.

“I see it this way: Someone who doesn’t take his team to the playoffs doesn’t deserve to win the MVP,” Pujols said at that time.

Shortly thereafter, Pujols clarified his remarks and said Howard certainly was worthy of the award.

“I think the writers made the right choice in 2006,” Pujols reiterated Monday. “He did deserve it.”

Just as Pujols believed he earned it this year.

“I wasn’t surprised at all,” he said.

Pujols hit .357 with 37 home runs and 116 RBIs while playing with a sore right elbow that required surgery. Howard hit 48 homers with 146 RBIs for the Phillies.

Voting was completed before the playoffs began.

“I’m happy I didn’t have to make that decision,” Pujols said on a conference call from his St. Louis home. “What you do for your team. The players who take their teams to the playoffs should have some consideration.”

Los Angeles outfielder Manny Ramirez and Milwaukee pitcher CC Sabathia, who both led postseason pushes after being traded by AL teams in July, also drew strong support.

Pujols got 18 of the 32 first-place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and had 369 points. Howard drew 12 first-place votes and 308 points.

Pujols added to the MVP award he won in 2005, and was the only player listed on every ballot. The All-Star first baseman became the 25th multiple MVP winner in either league.

Milwaukee outfielder Ryan Braun was third with 139 points, with Ramirez fourth at 138. Houston’s Lance Berkman was fifth and Sabathia sixth.

Brad Lidge, perfect on 41 save chances for the Phillies during the regular season, drew the other two first-place votes and came in eighth.

Pujols was remarkably consistent all year—a trait he’s demonstrated throughout his career. He is the only big leaguer to hit at least 30 home runs in his first eight seasons in the majors, and has finished in the top 10 of the NL MVP voting each year.

Pujols led the league in slugging percentage and intentional walks. He drew 104 walks while striking out only 54 times, and was second in the NL with a .462 on-base percentage.

Almost single-handedly, when the Cardinals’ rotation was depleted by injuries, he kept St. Louis in contention while batting .398 in the month of August. The Cardinals finished 86-76, 11 1/2 games behind the Central champion Cubs.

In mid-October, Pujols had surgery for nerve irritation in his right elbow, an ailment that caused numbness, tingling in his ring finger and pinkie, a weak grip and pain inside his forearm. He hopes to resume weight training after Thanksgiving and is expected to be ready for spring training.

“I had some pain,” he said. “The worst part was the last two months.”

Pujols said there was still a slight chance he might need Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery.

“I’m crossing my fingers,” he said.

Howard was hitting under .200 toward the end of May. His slow starts have cost him—this year, he was the first player since Cincinnati’s Hank Sauer in 1948 to be left off the All-Star team despite leading his league in homers and RBIs at the break.

Howard’s best month came in September, when he set a team record with 32 RBIs and helped the Phillies rally to the NL East title. He hit .251 overall.

Ramirez had 138 points. He hit .396 with 17 home runs and 53 RBIs after the Dodgers got him from Boston on July 31, and led Los Angeles’ push to the NL West title.

Sabathia got 121 points. He was 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA after Milwaukee acquired him from Cleveland on July 6, and helped the Brewers win the wild-card spot.

Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who won the NL MVP last season, did not receive a single vote this year.

Pujols earned a $200,000 bonus for winning the award. Ramirez got $75,000 and Braun got $50,000.

The AL MVP will be announced Tuesday. A close vote is anticipated, with Minnesota’s Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau among the top contenders along with Boston’s Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis.

Congrats to Albert for winning the Roberto Clemente Award!

The Cardinals, coming into tonight’s game with the Phillies are 61-50, tied with the Brewers for the National League Wildcard. The Mets are 1.5 back, while the Marlins are 2.0 back. In those 111 games here is how our boy Albert Pujols has fared. MVP type season? Maybe!

• 97 games
• 342 at bats
• 121 hits
• .354 average
• 65 runs
• 26 doubles
• 0 triples
• 21 homeruns
• 67 rbi’s
• 70 walks
• 35 strikeouts
• 5 stolen bases

Chalk me up as one that is okay with making no trade deadline deals. This team can make the playoffs without a deadline deal. 50 games to go, and tie for the wildcard. The Brewers have the Ned Yost factor, the Mets are too bi-polar, the Phillies have Charlie Manuel, and the Marlins are too young.. Albert will lead the Cardinals to the NL Wildcard in 2008, and I will go as far as to say, the Cardinals and Cubs will meet in the 2008 NLCS!

The St. Louis Cardinals at the All Star Break are 1/2 game up in the Wild Card standings in the National League. The Cardinals, sitting at 53-43, will look to battle the last 66 games of the year to keep that wild card spot, or catch the Cubs in the Central- who are 4.5 games up.

The Cardinals have had good starting pitching, horrible bullpen pitching, and average to good offense. Albert Pujols has been steady, Ryan Ludwick and Rick Ankiel have been surprising and Troy Glaus has been hot and cold.

Let’s take a look at what Albert has done thus far:

• .350 batting average(2nd in NL)
• 18 homeruns
• 50 rbi’s
• 49 runs
• 100 hits
• 20 doubles
• 61 walks
• 30 strikeouts
• 3 stolen bases
• .466 OBP
• .608 SLG

Good luck to our boy Albert Pujols, as starting DH for the NL tomorrow night!!!

Albert has never faced Cliff Lee in his career…

Finally! Clint Hurdle made the right decision! Albert Pujols will be playing, and starting in the 2008 All Star Game. Pujols, who is hitting .350, will be the starting DH for the NL Tuesday night in New York. Albert will bat  fourth.

NL

1. Ramirez, SS- Florida
2. Utley, 2B- Philadelphia
3. Berkman, 1B- Houston
4. Pujols, DH- St. Louis
5. Jones, 3B- Atlanta
6. Holliday- RF- Colorado
7. Braun- LF- Milwaukee
8. Fukudome- CF- Chicago
9. Soto- C- Chicago

AL:

1. Ichiro- RF- Seattle
2. Jeter- SS- New York
3. Hamilton- CF- Texas
4. Rodriguez- 3B- New York
5. Ramirez- LF
6. Bradley- DH- Texas
7. Youkilis- 1B- Boston
8. Mauer- C- Minnesota
9. Pedroira- 2B- Boston

For the NL, Ben Sheets will be on the mound. For the AL, Cliff Lee will make the first pitch.

Think the St. Louis Cardinals missed Albert Pujols while he was gone? Think the fans won’t give him an ovation when he comes to the plate tonight in St. Louis? Albert has been back four games, and just mashed the baseball. Just goes to show how much of a hitting stud Albert is.

He came back Thursday in Detroit, and promptly went 4-4, a walk, and a RBI. The RBI was the go ahead RBI in the 9th until the Cardinal bullpen blew his chance.

On Friday in Kansas City, Albert may not have had his best, going 0-2, but the Royal pitchers still walked him twice. Okay, 4-6 since his return.

On Saturday, Albert went a quiet 1-4, but was smoking the baseball. Okay, 5-10 since his return from the DL, and on base in every game.

Sunday, Albert showed he still had some pop. He crushed a homerun in the 6th and almost hit one again later, in the 8th. Albert ended the day 2-4, with a double, and a homerun, driving home two runs, and scoring twice.. Okay 7-14, since his return.

Except Albert to stay hot. As the Mets and the Cubs come to town the Cardinals are only 2.5 games out of first place. Albert smells another opportunity at postseason, and when he gets that smell- LOOK OUT!

Check out the latest article on Y! Sports by a great writer Jeff Passan. On our guy!

Try to dissect Albert Pujols’ freakish ability to heal from injuries like a superhero, and the issue turns into baseball’s version of intelligent design, a God-vs.-Science debate that even Pujols can’t quite figure out.

First, he defers to the man upstairs. When challenged to put any of his accomplishments into context – say, returning from a calf injury a couple weeks ahead of schedule, then going 4 for 4 in his first game back Thursday and adding a monster home run Sunday in the St. Louis Cardinals’ 9-6 victory – Pujols falls back on faith.

“I give all the credit to God because he puts me on the field,” he said. “God is the only one who knows how quickly I heal.”

Except when Pujols is reminded of how hard he works. Now, there are some players for whom recovering from an injury is a task so Sisyphean, they end up getting crushed beneath the boulder. See: Pavano, Carl; Johnson, Nick; Sweeney, Mike; and other such denizens of the disabled list.

In his eight-year career, Pujols has spent two stints on the DL, and the first was much like the recent: An injury expected to sideline him for up to six weeks took less than three to heal. And as much as he defers to otherworldly beings, Pujols also doesn’t want to shortchange himself.

“It’s not amazing,” he said. “I work hard for it. Why should I be surprised about it?”

Hey, Pujols is batting .356, getting on base at a .483 clip and swatting balls to every part of the field, so let the man have his cake and eat it. What Pujols has done, and continues to do, is play at a level stratospheric among his peers, unique in the purest sense of the word, joyous to partake in.

“He is an amazing player,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. “You’re seeing it. Comes off the disabled list and gets four hits. That’s amazing. If you watch him on a daily basis, he does something good every day. He does some amazing things often.

“I never take him for granted. I don’t take greatness like that for granted. I enjoy it too much.”

Well, that and the production. The Cardinals worried that without Pujols, their surprising start would go for naught. Instead, at 47-36, they own the National League’s second-best record, behind Central Division rival Chicago, are one of only five teams with winning marks at home and on the road, and now get energized by the league’s most fearsome hitter.

All of which makes June 11 laughable in hindsight. The Cardinals’ clubhouse transformed into a wake that night, the mood somber, everyone recounting stories about the deceased: St. Louis’ season. Pujols pulled up lame running to first base, and panic set in. He left the stadium on crutches. A return before the All-Star break was optimistic.

Along the way, something happened. Pujols started to say he would be back soon. No one knew how or why. The Cardinals just trusted him, like recovering from injury was some sort of a skill Pujols had mastered.

“You ever see ‘Rudy’?” Cardinals trainer Barry Weinberg asked. “Rudy asks why he can’t get into Notre Dame. Remember what the priest told him? There are two facts in life. One, there’s a God. Two, I’m not him.”

In other words, Weinberg hasn’t the faintest clue. Nobody understands how Pujols continues to play at such an elite level with a high-grade tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, which, at some point or another, will require Tommy John surgery. They can’t fathom how he shook off his last disabling injury, one to the rib cage, an integral part of a hitter’s swing, as though it were a hangnail.

“I don’t think there’s some magic button or special potion he’s taking,” Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said. “Albert loves to play the game of baseball. That’s where he gets his joy from. Regardless of whether we’re 15 (games) up or 15 down, in first place or last place, he just wants to play baseball.”

Such has been evident over recent days, when Pujols would retire to his sanctum, the batting cage, and work through the routine that has helped him hone his swing in the fashion Tiger Woods does his. Pujols is, as teammate Jason Isringhausen notes, “a maniac” with his workouts, and he means that in the most complimentary way.

So to see Pujols slash a double down the line in the first inning Sunday astounded no one, and to see Kansas City issue him his 19th intentional walk of the season in the third inning was no shock.

“I think anybody will take the way I’m swinging now,” Pujols said.

True enough, which is why the only flabbergasting moment of the afternoon came when Royals pitcher Joel Peralta actually believed he could throw a 3-2 fastball by Pujols in the sixth inning.

Pujols turned on the 93-mph pitch and sent it soaring into a stiff wind, and it kept going, long over the left-field fence. Nothing in this world was going to stop it, and nothing – neither God nor science – could explain how he did it, either.

Brian Barton hit his second homerun of the season, and drove home two, reaching base three times, before being pinch hit for, which turned to gold as Skip Schumaker came up with a 2 run basehit, which put the Cardinals up for good. Nick Stavinoha, and Brendan Ryan also came up with big rbi hits, as the Cardinals knocked out Kenny Rogers and the Tigers 8-4.

Braden Looper picked up his 9th win, pitching 6 innings, allowing 7 hits and 4 runs. Looper has had t hree straight games of pitching exceptionally well. Kenny Rogers picked up the loss for the Tigers, falling to 5-5, as he could not get out of the 6th inning, going 5.1 innings, yielding 9 hits, 5 runs- all earned.

The Cardinals and Tigers will be back at it today with 9-2 Kyle Lohse taking on 7-2 Armando Galarraga.

Go Cardinals! This could be the last time the Cardinals are without Albert’s services!