Pedroia, the second baseman for the Boston Red Sox, handily won the award by beating out Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins and his teammate Kevin Youkilis. Pedroia not only was very good in the field, at the plate he was one of the most dangerous players in the AL.

He finished the season with a .326 batting average and 17 homers, 83 RBIs, 118 runs scored and 213 hits. The 25-year-old improved his numbers across the board in his second full season in the big leagues.

Morneau, the first baseman for the Minnesota Twins, also had a really good season. He finished 2008 with a .300 batting average to go with 23 homers, 129 RBIs and 97 runs scored. Fellow first baseman Youkilis had 29 homers, 115 RBI to go along with a batting average of .312.

However, when it was all said and done, the big award in the American League was won by the smallest candidate.

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5. Carlos Quentin, Chicago White Sox
Carlos Quentin had a rule shot at this award until he broke his hand in a freak incident. After fouling off a pitch, Quentin hit his bat with his wrist and ended up breaking his wrist — and his chance at the AL MVP.

4. Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees
Each and every season, you can go ahead and pen Alex Rodriguez’s name as a candidate for the American League MVP. This year his stats are once again very good and he’s especially hot as of late, but he doesn’t quite have the numbers this year to be a legit contender.

3. Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins
Not only are Justin Morneau’s numbers very good, he’s on a winning team that isn’t supposed to be a playoff contender. Morneau still has a shot at this award but he’ll need a red hot finish to the season and for the Twins to advance to the postseason.

2. Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox
Many league pundits are leaning toward Dustin Pedroai as AL MVP and while he’s not a bad candidate, I don’t quite have him on top of the pile. However, there is no question that without Pedroai, the Red Sox would be in a world of hurt.

1. Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers
The Josh Hamilton story is in need of a storybook ending — and the American League Most Valuable Player award certainly can put a ribbon on his breakthrough season. Hamilton has had the best stats for almost the entire season. The Rangers aren’t winning much but Hamilton has led Texas to a better than expected finish.

Can Josh Hamilton end his season with the 2008 AL MVP award?

Photo: Newscom

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