Miguel Tejada wins his first MVP Award

November 12, 2002 -- Miguel Tejada won his first American League Most Valuable Player award Tuesday, easily beating Alex Rodriguez of the Texas Rangers and Alfonso Soriano of the NY Yankees.

The young shortstop for the AL West champion Oakland Athletics received 21 first-place votes, six second-place votes and one third place vote for 356 points from a panel of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

"I don't think there can be anyone on earth more happy than I am right now," Tejada said from the presidential palace in the Dominican Republic, where about 1,000 people attended a reception in his honor. "Inside, I feel fulfilled."

A-Rod only got five first place votes and a total of 254 points, while the Yankees' second baseman Alfonso Soriano got only two first-place votes and a total of 234 points.

Despite getting the majority of votes by a distinguished panel of baseball writers, Tejada thought A-Rod would be the sure winner of the AL MVP award. "He had a monster year. I've been thinking the whole way that he's going to win the MVP," Tejada said. "I got a surprise today when they made the announcement."

Tejada hit a career-high .308 with 34 homers and 131 RBI, helping the A's win the AL West. During Oakland's 20-game winning streak, the longest in the major leagues in 67 years, he hit a three-run, ninth-inning homer for the A's 18th straight victory, then had a winning bases-loaded single the next night.

Rodriguez had an outstanding year, leading the majors in home runs (57) and RBIs (142), but the Rangers had a losing record for the entire season and finished with the league's fifth-worst record at 72-90.

The only time a player on a last-place team won the award was when the "Hawk" Andre Dawson did it in 1987 while playing for the Chicago Cubs.

Tejada is the third Dominican to win an MVP award, following Toronto's George Bell in 1987 and the Chicago Cubs' Sammy Sosa in 1998. Tejada gets a $100,000 bonus for winning added to his $3.5 million salary, and Rodriguez gets $200,000 added to his $21 million salary.

TOP TEN VOTE GETTERS FOR THE AL MVP
Player - Team	Points
Miguel Tejada, Oakland A's	356
Alex Rodriguez, Texas Rangers	254
Alfonso Soriano, NY Yankees	234
Garret Anderson, Anaheim Angels	184
Jason Giambi, NY Yankees	162
Tori Hunter, Minn. Twins	132
Jim Thome, Cleveland Indians	69
Magglio Ordoñez, Chicago White Sox	59
Manny Ramirez, Boston Red Sox	39
Bernie Williams, NY Yankees	32