Wow…WHAT a difference a year makes…

After playing only 18 games in 2010 due to injury, Jacoby Ellsbury made a dramatic 180 degree turn to have a monster season. He played in 158 games this year, and batted .321, with 32 homers, 105 RBI’s, and 39 stolen bases. He was also a 1st time All-Star, and Play of the Week for the week of June 13, 2011…

He also had a monster season in the Boston Chapter voting, garnering (4)1st, (2)2nd, and (1)3rd place vote for a Total of 66 points to make him to clear winner in the chapter MVP Award voting.

Rounding out the Top 10:

47 Points: Jose Bautista, Toronto Blue Jays, (2)1st and (3)2nd Place Votes

42 Points: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers, (3)3rd and (3)5th Place Votes

32 Points: Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers, (1)1st, (1)2nd, (1) 3rd, and (1)6th Place Vote

23 Points: Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox, (1)4th, (1)5th, and (2)6th Place Votes

17 Points: Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays, (1)4th, (1)6th, (1)8th, and (1) 9th Place Vote

16 Points: Curtis Granderson, New York Yankees, (1)3rd, (1)5th, and (1)9th Place Vote

14 Points: Robinson Cano, New York Yankees, (2)4th Place Votes

11 Points: Alex Gordon, KC Royals, (1)6th, (1)7th, and (1)9th Place Vote

11 Points: Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers, (1)4th, and (1) 7th Place Vote

Also in the Mix: Adrian Gonzalez, Red Sox, Adrian Beltre, Rangers, Michael Young, Rangers, Alex Avila, Tigers, David Ortiz, Red Sox, Paul Konerko, White Sox, and Jered Weaver, Angels…

I only voted for 7 of the 10 available slots, as I could not come up with 10 players whom I considered MVP in the American League. Of course, Jacoby was my #1, followed by Jose Bautista, Justin Verlander, Evan Longoria, Miguel Cabrera, Dustin Pedroia, and Adrian Beltre. I know there is a lot of controversy about voting a pitcher as MVP, as he only directly impacts the games he pitches in. But he has such an astounding season, I thought he deserved to at least be mentioned in the discussion–although I am not totally sure how I feel about a pitcher actually winning the award–A position player cannot win the Walter Johnson Award, or even the Cy Young, so shouldn’t their own categories be enough?

Coming up: Over the next couple weeks, we will be hearing from the rest of the BBA as to what they think on the Postseason Awards–and we will also get to see how we match up against the Baseball Writers, as they do their awards as well…