Monday’s Sports in Brief
NEW YORK(AP) —Joe Mauer became only the second catcher in 33 years to win the American League Most Valuable Player Award, finishing first in a near-unanimous vote.
The Minnesota Twins star received 27 of 28 first-place votes and 387 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Yankees teammates Mark Teixeira (225 points) and Derek Jeter (193) followed, while Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera drew the other first-place vote and was fourth with 171 points, one point ahead of the Angels’ Kendry Morales.
Mauer became the second Twins player to win in four years, following Justin Morneau in 2006.
After missing April with a back injury, Mauer homered in his first at-bat of the season and went on to lead the AL in batting average (.365), on-base percentage (.444) and slugging percentage (.587), the first AL player to top all three categories in the same season since George Brett in 1980.
CHICAGO (AP) - Omar Vizquel is joining a team with a long history of Venezuelan shortstops, and that was part of the attraction in coming to the Chicago White Sox.
The 42-year-old Vizquel agreed to one-year contract worth nearly $1.4 million to add depth, experience and perhaps advice to a young infield. Last season, the White Sox made 113 errors.
Now they have an 11-time Gold Glove winner around, one who has spent most of his days at shortstop during a 21-year career.
Vizquel, who will turn 43 in April, will play for fellow Venezuelan Ozzie Guillen, a former shortstop who will be 46 in January.
GOLF=
RICHMOND, Texas (AP) - Lorena Ochoa and Jiyai Shin’s duel for LPGA player of the year came down to the final hole of the season.
Anna Nordqvist won the LPGA Tour Championship and Ochoa finished second to earn the top player title for the fourth consecutive year.
The 22-year-old Nordqvist shot a final-round 65 to finish 13 under par. Ochoa was two strokes back and won the top player honor when Shin couldn’t chip in for birdie from the front of the 18th hole.
Shin led Ochoa by eight points (156-148) in the race entering the tournament. Once Ochoa secured second place, Shin had to finish no worse than seventh to win the player of the year award. Point totals are based on top-10 results.
PRO FOOTBALL=
ST. LOUIS (AP) - St. Louis Rams quarterback Marc Bulger will be sidelined 3-6 weeks with a fractured left leg sustained in Sunday’s loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
The team said it would not place Bulger on injured reserve.
Bulger underwent two MRI exams, one on his groin and hamstring and a second for what the team believed was a swollen knee. He also was to be tested for concussion-related symptoms Tuesday after a physically demanding loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
Bulger has completed 56.7 percent of his passes for five touchdowns and six interceptions for the Rams (1-9). Backup Kyle Boller will make his third start of the year Sunday against the Seahawks.
TENNIS=
LONDON (AP) - Rafael Nadal lost to Robin Soderling for the second straight time, falling 6-4, 6-4 in their opening round-robin match at the ATP World Tour Finals.
Soderling, who handed the Spaniard his first ever loss on clay at the French Open this year, powered his way through the Group B match by mixing a hard forehand with a solid backhand to keep Nadal running all over the hard court at the O2 Arena.
In the late match, Novak Djokovic rallied from a poor start to beat Nikolay Davydenko 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 and move a step closer to the semifinals of the season-ending tournament for the top eight players in the world.
The second-ranked Nadal can still advance, but likely needs to win his two remaining group matches. He also has a chance to claim the year-end No. 1 ranking from Roger Federer, but Monday’s loss hasn’t helped.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL=
BOSTON (AP) - Northeastern University is ending its football program after 74 seasons because the investment required to make it competitive was too high.
The school announced the decision after president Joseph Aoun and the board of trustees endorsed on Friday the recommendation by athletic director Peter Roby after a two-year review of the Boston school’s sports programs.
Roby said an investment of “tens of millions of dollars” to replace or upgrade spartan Parsons Field would be required to help make the football program competitive with others in the Colonial Athletic Association.
SOCCER=
NEW YORK (AP) - The U.S. bid to host the World Cup again in 2018 or 2022 has been endorsed by CONCACAF, soccer’s governing body for North and Central America and the Caribbean.
Mexico withdrew its bid in September, leaving the United States as the region’s lone contender.
Warner is a member of FIFA’s 24-man executive committee, which will decide the 2018 and 2022 hosts in December 2010.
Australia, England, Indonesia, Japan, Netherlands-Belgium, Russia, and Spain-Portugal have also bid to host both World Cups, and Qatar and South Korea bid for 2022 only. England and Spain are viewed as the leading contenders to host in 2018, while the United States is viewed as a top candidate for 2022.
HOCKEY=
TORONTO (AP) - The NHL suspended Montreal Canadiens enforcer Georges Laraque five games for a hit on Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall.
Laraque received the suspension for an incident on Nov. 21. against the Red Wings when he collided with Kronwall resulting in a leg-on-leg, open-ice hit.
The NHL said Laraque, who was assessed a minor penalty for tripping on the play, deliberately extended his knee and, through his actions, caused an injury to Kronwall.
