Jimmy Rollins win NL MVP award

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Jimmy Rollins beats out Holliday for MVP

Jimmy Rollins was award the National League MVP award. He just beat out Colorado Rockies' Matt Holliday. The voting was very close with Rollins beating out Holliday by only 17 points, the closest vote since 1991. The break was, Rollins listed first on 16 ballots, second on seven, third on four, fourth on four and fifth on one for a total of 353 points. Holliday's had 11 first-place votes, 18 seconds, one third, one fourth and one sixth for 336 points.

Rollins became the first player in history to collect at least 200 hits, 25 homers, 15 triples and 25 steals in a season. Overall, the switch-hitter batted .296, with 38 doubles, 20 triples, 30 homers, 94 RBIs, 41 stolen bases, 212 hits and 139 runs scored. Meanwhile, Holliday batted .340, with 50 doubles, 36 homers, 137 RBIs, 216 hits and 120 runs scored.

The stats only tell part of the story though. Many people thought Rollins was crazy when in January he start that the Phillies were the team to beat in the NL East. They had a good team but no one could have predicted that they would surmount one of the best comebacks to win a division in history. Rollins was the leadoff guy in the lineup and crucial to his success. He especially killed the Mets who were in first place in the division for most of the season. He batted .346 (28-for-81) with six homers, 15 RBIs and 15 runs in 18 games against those Mets.