Jimmy Rollins wins MVP; Prince in 3rd

Jimmy Rollins, who spurred the Philadelphia Phillies to their first playoff berth in 14 years, won the National League MVP award in a close race over Matt Holliday on Tuesday.

The Gold Glove shortstop received 16 of 32 first-place votes and finished with 353 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Holliday, who led Colorado's surprising charge to the World Series, got 11 first-place votes and 336 points. Milwaukee slugger Prince Fielder came in third, with five first-place votes and 284 points. It was the closest election for NL MVP since Atlanta third baseman Terry Pendleton beat out Pittsburgh's Barry Bonds by 15 points in 1991.

Rollins batted .296 with 30 homers, 94 RBIs and 41 steals from the leadoff spot, helping Philadelphia rally from a big September deficit to win the NL East. He led the league in runs (139) and triples (20), becoming the second consecutive Phillies player to win the MVP following Ryan Howard last year. Rollins, left off the All-Star team in July, proved a prophet after saying in spring training that Philadelphia was the team to beat in a competitive division.

Holliday, the NL Championship Series MVP, hit .340 with 137 RBIs, becoming the third player since 1967 to lead a league in both categories. He also had 36 homers and topped the NL in hits (216), total bases (386) and doubles (50).

The Brewers' failure to hold off the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central was probably reason that Prince Fielder did not garner more votes. Fielder certainly did everything in his power down the stretch to help the Brewers' cause. He batted .333 in September with 11 homers and 22 RBI, so he certainly didn't wilt under the pressure. Fielder, 23, got some publicity by becoming the youngest player ever to hit 50 homers, but it was not enough. Overall, he batted .288 with 50 homers, 119 RBI, 109 runs scored and a .618 slugging percentage.

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