Ryan Braun beat out Matt Kemp to win the NL MVP for 2011!
I'm honestly a little shocked. Kemp had pretty much swept all the other awards and so it seemed like Braun was something of a long shot. But he won handily, receiving 388 points to Kemp's 332.
Braun was voted in first or second place on every ballot, which might be an even bigger accomplishment. There was no one that doubted that he was one of the absolute top players in the league.
Teammate Prince Fielder came in third in voting, with 229 points.
It was the first time the Brewers had two players in the top 5 of voting since 1982 when Robin Yount won the award and Cecil Cooper took fifth.
Braun received 20 of the 32 first place votes. Kemp received 10. Fielder and Justin Upton each received one.
This was the fourth MVP won by a Brewer and the first won in 22 years - the last was Robin Yount in 1989.
Many think Kemp was going to be left behind because his team wasn't in contention. Braun was the hottest he was all season down the final stretch. He was the NL Player of the month in September
The Brewers, prepared for such an announcement, created the awesome image below.
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