Finally, Albert Pujols won his second National League Most Valuable Player award. He beat out Our Town’s Ryan Howard by a healthy margin.

You have seen what all the Post-Dispatch guys had to say on this topic. Here was the mixed reaction from experts outside St. Louis:

Tom Haudricourt, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “With the Cardinals finishing fourth, I voted Pujols seventh on my ballot. I don’t consider MVP to be ‘the most outstanding player’ award and therefore don’t just go by who had the best stats. I like to credit players for lifting their teams to the post-season or at least keeping them in the race until the very end. I understand that the Cardinals would not have been even close to the wild-card berth without Pujols, but I still like players who elevate their game in crunch time and lift their teams to new heights. And I thought Ryan Ludwick had just as much to do with keeping the Cards in the hunt as Pujols did. St. Louis did stay in the wild card race until mid-September, but mainly because the Brewers and Mets were gagging at the time.”

Joe Posnanski, SI.com: “It’s funny, Pujols’ team didn’t make the playoffs this season, and because of that there seem to be some who would not vote for him as MVP. What a shame. There are even a few who would vote for Brad Lidge, who had such a nice comeback year for Philadelphia (and even retired Pujols two of the three times they faced each other). Seems a bit odd. I’ve seen that match-up. I know how it turns out.”

Phil Sheridan, Philadelphia Inquirer: “If the MVP is the player with the best all-round statistical season, a computer could figure that out. And a computer might well have spit out Pujols’ name this season. He was terrific. But Howard got hot in September, hitting 11 home runs and driving in 32 runs to carry the Phillies into the playoffs. That’s the very definition of valuable. The group-think association argument for Pujols, if I’m smart enough to get it right, is that he single-handedly kept the Cardinals in the wild-card race. That is brilliant, except it ignores the presence of Ryan Ludwick, Rick Ankiel and Troy Glaus (so much for ‘single-handedly’), and the fact that the National League wild-card race was a watered-down farce.”

Scott Miller, CBSSports.com: “Should a player’s value to his team’s playoff run factor heavily into the final voting? By all means. But should the award simply boil down to choosing a player from one of the four playoff teams in each league? Not even close. Albert Pujols’ claim to the National League award Monday was right on the money. In a perfect world, the MVP award should be one part player-of-the-year and one part importance-to-team. Pujols was the MVP in the NL because, in addition to superior numbers, he was the most consistently best player — hands down — from early April through late September.”

Rob Neyer, ESPN.com: “In Howard’s defense, he did exceptionally well — .320/.439/.589 — with runners in scoring position. Unfortunately (again) for Howard’s viability, Pujols did significantly better: .339/.523/.678. What’s more, Howard is easily neutralized; in late-and-close situations — when the enemy manager can usually summon a lefty reliever from the bullpen — he batted just .158/.306/.337 this year. Meanwhile, Pujols was his usual awesome self in those same situations.”

WHY STADIUM SHOULD LIMIT BEER SALES

Thanks, again, to Deadspin for sharing.

Shouldn’t more guys rock the midriff shirt?

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while wondering what, if anything, the NBA will do about the awkward Mark Cuban situation:

• Should the FBI examine the bizarre actions of NFL officials at the end of the Steelers-Chargers game?
• Say, wouldn’t Jeremy Affeldt have looked good in the Cardinals bullpen?Who could have possibly guessed Steven Jackson would miss another football game?
• Will the John Greco Era finally dawn at Rams Park?

QUIPS ‘R US

Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:

Dan Daly, Washington Times: “Manny Ramirez merely sniffed at the guaranteed two-year, $45 million deal the Dodgers put in front of him. It must not have included bathroom privileges in the L.A. bullpen during the seventh-inning stretch.”

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “Happy couple Chris Evert and Greg Norman have begun designing tennis courts. Wait — aren’t all tennis courts the same? Isn’t that like announcing you’re going to design bowling lanes?”

Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle: “What a wonderful story, 22-year-old Peter Eastgate winning the World Series of Poker and $9.15 million. That kid is set for the rest of his life, or until his next poker game, whichever comes first.”

Bill Simmons, ESPN.com, on expanding the World Series of Poker concept: “I just want to know when ESPN is going to create the WSOP for sports figures so we can see MJ, LeBron, Mickelson and everyone else battling it out. Why do it in the secrecy of a hotel suite, fellas? Why not for a national TV audience? Couldn’t this happen after the ESPYS every July? Twenty-five entrants, $50,000 per person, a penthouse suite at the Mondrian that’s covered in cameras, unlimited open bar, Texas Hold ‘em, winner takes $700,000, second place gets $200,000, the Jimmy V Foundation gets the rest. And this wouldn’t work … why?”

MEGAPHONE

“I’m sure there are plenty of rules that guys don’t understand, but I don’t think that has any factor whatsoever to do with the outcome of this game and how they played in the overtime. I think that’s absurd. You play to win in that time, whether you think you have another overtime period or you don’t. And you play your heart out to win it in that time, and that’s how we approached it and that’s how the players approached it.”

Eagles coach Andy Reid, forgiving quarterback Donovan McNabb for not realizing that NFL games can end in a tie after one overtime period.