MVP Watch 2006

With the emergence of Jermaine Dye as an American League MVP candidate, I've decided that for the final month of the season I will keep tabs on what each of the candidates are doing to earn the award. My 5 contenders for the AL MVP are:Jermaine Dye, Derek Jeter, David Ortiz, Travis Hafner, Justin Morneau.

1. Jermaine Dye - 3-5 2 runs 2SB- .327 39 HR 106 RBI -Jermaine Dye was a spark plug yet again for the Sox last night. After falling down 4-0 early, the Sox had plenty of chances to get back into the game and failed. Finally, they broke through in the 8th when Tadahito Iguchi hit a 2 run homer to tie the game at 4. Dye followed that up with a single and then stole second, allowing him to score on Jim Thome's single. The Sox won 5-4.
2. Derek Jeter -4-8 2RBI 1 run 1SB- .339 12 HR 83 RBI -Jeter and the Yankees split a double header against the Tigers yesterday. Jeter went 3 for 5 in the day game, and 1 for 3 in the nightcap. In the second game Jeter had a two-run single to tie the game at 2-2, though the Yankees would go onto lose.
3. David Ortiz -1EKG 1Bedpan 1 Gurney barely large enough to cover him- .287 47 HR 121 RBI - Papi was released from the hospital yesterday, but there's still no telling when he will return to the Red Sox lineup.
4. Justin Morneau -0-3 2K- .317 32 HR 110 RBI - Justin went o for 3 as the Twins lost their second consecutive game against the Royals and fell 1.5 games behind the White Sox for the wild card.
5. Travis Hafner -2-4 2HR 2RBI 2R- .310 42 HR 116 RBI - Pronk had 2 home runs, including one to tie the game at 2 in the 8th inning. Jhonny Peralta would be the Cleveland hero, though, hitting the game winner in the 10th inning. If Pronk were on a winning team, he'd be on top of this list.