A St. Louis Cardinals first baseman was one of the biggest stories in baseball this season. A different one ended up winning MVP.
Paul Goldschmidt notched his first career MVP on Thursday after an impressive season at the plate, hitting .317/.404/.578 (an NL-best .981 OPS) with 35 homers and 115 RBI. Goldschmidt had already received the NL Hank Aaron Award as the league's top hitter, and now he's been recognized as its top player.
Goldschmidt received 22 first-place votes, while runner-up Manny Machado had seven and Nolan Arenado had one.