In an announcement that surprised absolutely nobody, the Padres revealed on Monday that Adrian Gonzalez was named the team’s Most Valuable Player and Heath Bell won the Clyde McCullough Pitcher of the Year Award.
The San Diego Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America handled the voting.
It was Gonzalez's third straight Padres MVP award. He has won it four of the five years he's played for the Padres. A-Gone hit .298 with 33 doubles, 31 home runs, 101 RBI, 87 runs scored, 93 walks, a .393 on-base percentage and .511 slugging percentage. He led the team in all eight of those offensive categories. Gonzalez's four 30-homer seasons are a franchise record. He's tied with Phil Nevin for the most 100-RBI seasons in club history.
Bell got his second straight Pitcher of the Year award after going 6-1 with a career-high 47 saves and a career-low 1.93 ERA. He was named to his second straight National League All-Star team and, following the season, was named Sporting News NL Reliever of the Year and MLB Delivery Man of the Year. He's the only Padre not named Trevor Hoffman to record a pair of 40-save seasons. Bell finished 2010 converting 34 straight save opportunities, the longest streak of his career and the longest ever by a Padre -- again -- not named Trevor Hoffman.
I really, sincerely hope these guys get a chance to defend their titles again next year.
