Good news from Honduras!

On Sunday, the good people of Honduras voted "yes" for their country and "no" for Hugo Chavez's despicable attempt to overthrown their system.

Let's check some news reports:

"Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo has emerged as the new President of the Republic to govern the Country of Honduras during the years 2010-2014.

According to the TSE, more than 61.85% of registered Hondurans came out to vote on Sunday, a historic record.

The announcement from the TSE received a standing ovation from the attentive room of official observers and spectators."

Good news!

We are not partisans about Honduras politics. We are not attached to one political party or the other.

At the same time, we do support the electoral process, the rule of law and constitutions!

Again, Honduras did well on Sunday and sent a loud message to those who did not understand what was happening in their country.

Like Mexico in 2006, Honduras has shown that it can run a clean and orderly election. (Check El Heraldo in Honduras!)

Like Mexico, I do expect the left to make some noise!

Zelaya will probably find a strong ally in Mexico's Lopez Obrador and the rest of the clownish left!

We hope that Pres Calderon, a serious guy, does not welcome Zelaya again! We also hope that Pres Uribe, the other serious guy, steps up and welcomes what just happened in Honduras!

In the end, it was good that the Obama administration reversed course and supported the constitution and people of Honduras!

P.S. We recommend that you check with Fausta Wertz for updates and good analysis of the Honduras election: Honduras: Porfirio Lobo elected new president

What do we do about Iran now?

Today, we woke up to a very unpleasant report from Iran: Iran building 10 new enrichment sites

"The Iranian government on Sunday ordered the country’s Atomic Energy Organization to begin building 10 more nuclear enrichment sites – a strong rebuke to the United Nation’s nuclear watchdog, which on Friday censured Iran for building a secret nuclear facility near the holy city of Qom."

Strong rebuke? It's more like the middle finger!

It gets better, or worse: Iran responds: No more voluntary cooperation with IAEA

So what do we do now?

It looks to me that we are moving closer to some kind of military action.

We attack and blow up every facility or Israel attacks and blows up every facility.

They are both bad options but still better than Iran having a bomb!

Whatever happened to all of that new diplomatic approach?

So far, it's not working with Iran!

Let's talk with Dr. Roy Stringfellow about the bill before Congress.

Adryana Boyne and I spoke with Dr. Roy Stringfellow of Colorado about the bill before Congress.

We reviewed the bill, its cost and the unintended consequences of having the federal government run 16% of our GDP!

For example, The Cato Institute reported this:

"When we correct for both gimmicks, counting both on- and off-budget costs over the first 10 years of implementation, the total cost of ObamaCare reaches — I’m so sorry about this — $6.25 trillion.

That’s not a precise estimate.

It’s just far closer to the truth than President Obama and congressional Democrats want the debate to be." (from Ed in HOTAIR)

Listen to the show:

The Texas vs Texas A&M game was one of the best college games ever!

It's hard to believe but they've been playing this game for over a 100 years or the 19th century! It is one of the best rivalries in North American sports.

It's up there with Yankees-Red Sox or Ohio vs Michigan! It's the football game of the year in Texas!

Everyone should watch a Texas vs Texas A&M game.....it will change how you watch college football!

I mean that with all due respect to Texas Tech, another big school with lots of football history!

No knock on Coach Patterson and the '09 TCU "Frogs" of Ft. Worth! They've had a dream season and should play in a very important bowl game!

By the way, there was a great story today about Coach Patterson and his son in Iraq: TCU coach Gary Patterson proud but private about son's military service!

We enjoy all of Texas's college and universities. We love to watch the highlights every Saturday night!

Today, we add this: Congratulations to the undefeated Frogs! (No. 4 TCU wraps up 12-0 season with 51-10 win over New Mexico, waits for BCS bid)

Coach Patterson and the Frogs have had an amazing season!

However, we believe that the Texas-Texas A&M has a special place in the hearts of football fans in Texas.

How much did the Aggies hurt Texas's chances to play for the BCS title?

I don't know for sure but Coach Brown has a bit to worry about: Longhorns Slip by Aggies, but Maybe Not by Critics

It depends and here is why:

First, this is a rivalry game and the critics will take that into consideration. This is a game that brings out the best on both teams, specially the Aggies who have a lot to look forward to in 2010!

Second, Texas has to play Nebraska for The Big 12 title next week. The Longhorns need to play better, at least their defense has to be tougher!

If Texas clobbers Nebraska, and they should, then I expect the Longhorns to play Alabama or Florida for the BCS title.

Of course, everything could look different next Sunday morning. I guess that's why they play the game on the field!

P.S. My guess is that you will see this one as an ESPN "instant classic" very soon. Also, what's a home game without the Aggie marching band:

George Harrison died 8 years ago today!

George Harrison (1943-01) died quietly from cancer 8 years ago today!

Unfortunately, he had been battling cancer for a couple of years.

George's solo career got off very quickly with "My sweet lord" and the "All Things must pass" album.

He was less consistent after that but did release "All those years ago" after John's death and "When we was fab" about The Beatles.

Today, we remember George with three of his of songs. He was a great lead guitarist and the very "quiet Beatle" behind John & Paul's vocals and songwriting skills!

First, let's recall "Something", his biggest song with The Beatles. This is an acoustic version of "Something" released last year:

Our second selection is "This is love" from "Cloud 9", a good solo album from the late 1980's. I like this song and George's great guitar work:

Our third selection is "If I needed someone", a lead vocal, wonderful guitar work and Harrison composition from the UK's "Rubber Soul". It was released in the US "Yesterday and Today" album:

"If I needed someone to love
You're the one that I'd be thinking of

If I needed someone
If I had some more time to spend
Then I guess I'd be with you my friend
If I needed someone
Had you come some other day
Then it might not have been like this
But you see now I'm too much in love
Carve your number on my wall
And maybe you will get a call from me
If I needed someone
Ah, ah, ah, ah
If I had some more time to spend
Then I guess I'd be with you my friend
If I needed someone....."

# 1 son is real good at pre-game food parties!

Our family had a lot of fun at The Texas A&M campus on Thanksgiving Day.

Our #1 son has developed quite a reputation for organizing one of the best pre-game food parties around.

As you can see from this picture, he attracts a lot of beautiful visitors to his pregame parties.

By the way, the Texas vs Texas A&M game was great!

Texas A&M scored in the third play of the game and the stadium went crazy. The score went back and forth until Texas pulled away at the end of the game.

Yes, Colt McCoy should win The Heisman Trophy. McCoy is playing better than anyone else in college this season!

Vote YES for Bert Blyleven and let's finally put him in The Hall of Fame!

The 2010 Hall of Fame list of candidates includes some big names:

• Roberto Alomar: great player.....vote yes!

• Harold Baines: a pure DH! He was traded to Texas for Sammy Sosa & Wilson Alvarez in the summer of '89! We remember that! It was one of the worst trades that Texas ever made. I'm not holding that against him but it's hard to put a full time DH in the HOF!

• Bert Blyleven: my vote! YES!

• Andre Dawson: 50-50! It could happen because he came close last year!

• Andres Galarraga: not quite a Hall of Famer or "HOF-er"!

• Barry Larkin: great player but same as Galarraga, not quite a "HOF-er"!

• Edgar Martinez: too much DH! Same as Baines!

• Don Mattingly: good but 2100 hits is not enough! How can you put Don in the HOF and keep Tony Oliva (2,000 hits and a .304 BA) out?

• Fred McGriff: 493 homers is not good enough! Fred was not an impact player!

• Mark McGwire: he blew it before Congress....it's a shame because Mark was a very popular player! This is a terrible tragedy because we loved the summer of 1998! Let's hope that he can be looked at sometime in the future!

• Jack Morris; great pitcher, vote yes! He pitched a 10-inning complete game in game 7 of the '91 World Series! A money pitcher all the way.....good candidate for the HOF! Who else would you want starting a big game? Vote YES!

• Dale Murphy: great player but did not play long enough!

• Dave Parker: He looked like a sure bet in the late 1970's but something happened!

• Tim Raines: great speed!

• Lee Smith: #3 in all time saves.....could make it this year!

• Alan Trammell: superb shortstop and team player!

That's a very impressive list of players!

My vote is for Bert Blyleven:

"287 wins - 25th on the All-Time list
3.31 career Earned Run Average
4,970 innings pitched - 13th on the All-Time list
3,701 strikeouts - 5th on the All-Time list
685 career starts - 8th on the All-Time list
242 Complete games
60 shutouts - 9th on the All-Time list
15 (1-0 wins) - 3rd on the All-Time list"

Frankly, how was Blyleven overlooked year after year? What does a pitcher have to do to get into the HOF?

My guess is that Alomar, Dawson and Smith have a better than 50% chance of making it. However, let's not forget Blyleven again! How can a guy with 287 wins not be in the HOF?

P.S. I am not alone in this crusade for Bert Blyleven:

The Hall of Fame Case for Bert Blyleven By Rich Lederer

The Case for Bert Blyleven: A Late Convert Joins the Flock, by Bob Klapisch

Afghanistan puts Pres BO in a "no-win" situation with Dems!

On Tuesday, Pres BO will apparently announce that 30,000 more troops will be headed to Afghanistan.

Yes, Afghanistan will now become Pres BO's war and the liberals are not pleased.

Today, we saw this: Liberals Vow to 'Spank' Obama for Sending More Troops to Afghanistan

We are not clear what they will do but we will know soon!

We also saw this: President vs. party on troop increase

"Top Democrats have made it clear to Obama that he will not receive a friendly reception should he announce what is considered the leading option: sending 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.

The legislators have indicated that a request for more money to finance a beefed-up war effort will be met with frustration and, perhaps, a demand to raise taxes."

Tax increase with 10.2% unemployment and a deep recession? No way!

And we saw this: President Obama must sell war to anti-war base

As we posted before, there are no pretty options over Afghanistan!

If Pres BO's new surge works perfectly, it will be a couple of years before we see results.

I support the surge.

We need to trust our commanders, specially after the very successful surge in Iraq.

At the same, Afghanistan is not Iraq!

In fact, Afghanistan is unlike anywhere in the world!

Over the next few months, we will see whether Pres BO's heart is in this mission.....we will also learn whether Pres BO is tough enough to deal with the adversity coming his way!

How much longer can we spend money like this?

Karl Rove and Michael Barone are on target this weekend about the out of control federal spending.

Barone: Damn the Deficit: Full Speed Ahead on Health Care

"In the fiscal year just ended, federal spending was nearly 25 percent of GDP, while federal revenues slipped below 15 percent because of the financial crisis and recession.

We have not seen a budget deficit of this magnitude since World War II, which surely was a greater challenge than recent economic troubles."

Rove: Voter Anger Is Building Over Deficits

"However, since taking office Mr. Obama pushed through a $787 billion stimulus, a $33 billion expansion of the child health program known as S-chip, a $410 billion omnibus appropriations spending bill, and an $80 billion car company bailout.

He also pushed a $821 billion cap-and-trade bill through the House and is now urging Congress to pass a nearly $1 trillion health-care bill."

And did I mention that Medicare and Social Security are on shaky grounds?

You can't keep this up! We can't tax people or grow fast enough to make up these deficits as a percentage of GDP.

At some point, Pres BO will have to deal with the reality that these levels of spending are not stimulating the economy. On the contrary, the federal government is soaking up all of the available liquidity and making it more and more difficult for the private sector to expand.

Cut the spending! We are in the wrong direction!

P.S. (Memo to Dem readers) Don't send me an e-mail saying that Pres Bush ran deficits!

Yes, Pres Bush had deficits of 2 to 4% of GDP.

In the real world, those deficits can be financed by selling treasuries or reasonable GDP growth.

On the other hand, you can't finance or grow your way out of back to back to back deficits of 10% of GDP.

Mr. Jones: Nice score, great team BUT what's with the uniforms?

Before the Texas-Texas A&M game, we watched Dallas beat Oakland outside Kyle Field in College Station, a.k.a. the A&M campus.

The food was great. I think that my wife was a bit surprised that her sons could cook turkey and the other holiday ingredients.

The students were great. It was so nice to see so many of my sons' high school friends attending both schools.

The "tailgate" party turned into a very nice high school reunion!

Great job: Defense has another big day in Dallas Cowboys' 24-7 win

Another great game for Miles Austin: Dallas Cowboys' 24-7 victory proves Austin is best asset

Nice to see Felix Jones rushing: Felix Jones back in form as Dallas Cowboys win, 24-7

Wonderful afternoon....except that everybody was asking:

What's with the uniforms?

Why mess with the Cowboys' traditional helmet and the white jerseys?

I don't know but can someone tell Mr. Jones to cut it out?

Jerry: We love the Cowboys' traditional uniform!

Davey Jones for my sister's birthday!

Years ago, my sister celebrated a birthday and listened to "Daydream believer"! My brother and I heard it over and over from the little stereo in her room.

I won't tell you how old she is today!

Nevertheless, I will confirm to Christine, Leslie, Stephanie and Courtney that "their mom" was one of the biggest Davey Jones fans in the world!

We do wish her a happy birthday! ("Cheer up sleepy sis")

Here is Davey Jones and The Monkees:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and family!

Pres Lincoln signed this proclamation in 1864, the last winter of the US Civil War:

"Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby appoint and set apart the last Thursday in November next as a day which I desire to be observed by all my fellow-citizens, wherever they may be then, as a day of thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God, the beneficent Creator and Ruler of the Universe.

And I do further recommend to my fellow-citizens aforesaid, that on that occasion they do reverently humble themselves in the dust, and from thence offer up penitent and fervent prayers and supplications to the great Disposer of events for a return of the inestimable blessings of peace, union, and harmony throughout the land which it has pleased him to assign as a dwelling-place for ourselves and for our posterity throughout all generations."

Of course, Thanksgiving has grown way beyond that proclamation.

Today, we will drive to College Station to spend some time with our sons.

We will participate in a pre-game food party, catch the Cowboys and enjoy the pre-game activities for the annual Texas vs Texas A&M game.

Good luck to the Cowboys.

Good luck to Texas A&M but it will be very hard to beat Texas this year!

More importantly, enjoy this day with your family!

Enjoy our Wednesday night show:

Please tell me that the Navy Seals story is false......

Can this administration get any crazier?

First, we grant constitutional rights to a terrorist!

Second, we see this: Navy SEALs Face Assault Charges for Capturing Most-Wanted Terrorist

"Navy SEALs have secretly captured one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq — the alleged mastermind of the murder and mutilation of four Blackwater USA security guards in Fallujah in 2004.

And three of the SEALs who captured him are now facing criminal charges, sources told FoxNews.com."

Why? Read on:

"Ahmed Hashim Abed, whom the military code-named "Objective Amber," told investigators he was punched by his captors — and he had the bloody lip to prove it."

I guess that one of the Seals gave the terrorist a bloody lip!

We understand military cohesion and discipline. We accept that US solders have a code of ethics!

At the same time, US soldiers have performed admirably under awful conditions in the region.

It's hard to believe that Pres BO will allow this to go on!

Let's hope that this story is corrected or Pres BO steps up and stops this nonsense immediately.

Wonder why Pres BO's approvals are dropping fast?

P.S. I like this from Michael Goldfarb:

"Maybe there's a whole lot more to this story than is currently being reported, but it'd have to be pretty terrible stuff to convince me that three Navy SEALs who successfully captured a high-value target now deserve to be court martialed for their service.

A fat lip?

That's enough to get you rough military justice from the Obama administration, but blow up the World Trade Center and you get all the due process rights of the civilian criminal justice system.

Sounds fair, right?"

Gov Perry is right: Keep the federal government out of our schools!

Right on Gov. Perry!

Stand up for Texas! Stand up for local and state governments under siege by an out of control federal government!

Today, I saw this: Perry says Texas, not U.S., should set state public education standards

""The citizens of Texas, not the federal government, know what is best for our children," said Perry, who has hammered away at various federal programs as he runs for re-election next year.""

Gov Perry is right!

It's time for state governments to stand behind the 10th Amendment.

P.S. As you pray tomorrow, and even cheer for a Cowboys' win, think about the 10th amendment to the US Constitution:

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

If BO was a stock, you'd be selling and selling very fast!

It's a very bad morning for "the yes we can" screamers!

It's specially hard for those who invested all of their hopes and dreams in a man who told them what they wanted to hear.....rather than a statesman who told them what they needed to hear!

First, liberal Richard Cohen hit BO very hard again:

"The Obama who was leading a movement of professed political purity is the very same person who as president would not meet with the Dalai Lama, lest he annoy the very sensitive Chinese.

He is the same man who bowed to the emperor of Japan when, in my estimation, the president of the United States should bow to no man.

He is the same president who in China played the mannequin for the Chinese government, appearing at stage-managed news conference and appearances -- and having his remarks sometimes censored.

When I saw him in that picture alone on the Great Wall, he seemed to be saying, "What the hell am I doing here?"

If so, it was a good question."

Let's add Arianna Huffington to the growing list of liberals a bit worried that "hope and change" smells like an electoral disaster:

Will The Unemployment Disaster Be Obama's Katrina?

Let's check this from Roger Cohen:

"As an Obama admirer, I’m worried.

He feels over-managed, over-scripted to me, to the point where he’s not showing the guts that prevailed at various difficult moments in the campaign.

The ideas are good, but the warmth, cajoling and craft that make ideas more than that are lacking."

Is he over managed? Is it BO's Katrina? Is he a mannequin?

Actually, it's none of the above.

BO is not over managed. On the contrary, it's the opposite. BO has stayed away from the heavy lifting preferring to let Congress write a stimulus or health care bill.

Overall, a lot of frustration and bad polls for everyone with a "D" next to their name!

Again, what would you do if you owned a stock named Obama?

You'd sell and sell fast!

It's hard to believe that everything is collapsing so rapidly. Again, this is what happens when you vote for someone who tells you what you want to hear.

Let's talk with Jason Villalba, Dallas Republican Hispanic National Assembly

The China trip was bad all around!

Our friend Ed Morrissey is exactly right: Gathering consensus: Obama’s Asia trip a flop

Even The NY Times, the world's biggest cheerleader for the Obama presidency, had some concerns:

"It was also dispiriting that Mr. Obama agreed to allow China to limit his public appearances so markedly.

Questions were not permitted at the so-called press conference with Mr. Hu, and his town hall meeting with future Chinese leaders in Shanghai not only had a Potemkin air, it was not even broadcast live in China.

It’s obvious that the last thing Mr. Hu wanted was to get questions about issues like his brutal repression in Tibet and Xinjiang.

That doesn’t explain Mr. Obama’s acquiescence in such restrictions."

We understand that Pres BO was a guest in China. However, I can't recall a US president allowing the host country to limit questions or set him up with such a travesty as the arranged town hall meeting.

We add the article in London: Barack Obama dream fades as China visit fails to bring change

We add this from Der Spiegel: Obama's Nice Guy Act Gets Him Nowhere on the World Stage

We add this: Amateur Hour at the White House by Leslie H. Gelb:

"President Obama’s nine-day trip to Asia is worth a look back to fix two potent problems, past and future.

First, the trip’s limited value per day of presidential effort suggests a disturbing amateurishness in managing America’s power.

On top of the inexcusably clumsy review of Afghan policy and the fumbling of Mideast negotiations, the message for Mr. Obama should be clear:

He should stare hard at the skills of his foreign-policy team and, more so, at his own dominant role in decision-making.

Something is awry somewhere, and he’s got to fix it.

Secondly, the Asia trip presented an important opportunity to carve out a new American leadership role in the world’s most dynamic economic region, and Mr. Obama missed it.

He only scratched the surface in his calls for multilateralism and mutual understanding. He needs to paint pictures of how Washington will help solve regional security and trade problems.

Otherwise, most Asian nations will continue their unwanted drift toward China and away from the United States."

Is Pres BO taking trips to get away from the job and stand before cheering crowds?

It looks that way to me!

Let's close with Ed's post:

"Clearly, Obama is in way over his head, and his choice for Secretary of State isn’t helping.

He needs a seasoned diplomat at the helm of State, and he needs to abandon his “smart power,” “reset buttons,” and campaign trail-style diplomacy in exchange for professionalism and protocol.

And he needs to do it fast, before our allies in the Pacific and Europe write him off entirely."

Yes, he needs to shake up his team because it's not working.

To be fair, Sec of State Clinton has been pushed aside.

Unlike Sec Rice or Sec Powell under Pres Bush, Sec Clinton seems to be doing all of the minor league stuff.

Here is a video that speaks loudly about the trip. It also raises the ghost of Carter, the last thing that Dems want to hear about:

Dear Pres BO: We urge to listen to the job creators NOT the House Dems!

Matthew Continetti has a great post: What the World Needs Now...!

Yes, this is what CEO's are calling for:

"Recently the Wall Street Journal asked the CEOs of Amex, Westpac, and Marriott, and Sen. John McCain, what the global economy needs to rebound.

Here's what they said.

The panel had five top recommendations, including, in the Journal's words:

(1) "[P]olicies that stimulate sustainable job growth by identifying national competitive strengths, encouraging innovation, reforming tax policy and avoiding regulatory disincentives."

(2) "Encourage entrepreneurship. Be blunt about U.S. competitive strengths and weaknesses. Remove the risk of protectionism. Reduce uncertainty. Don't demonize success or overpenalize failure."

(3) "Reduce uncertainty for consumers and businesses over energy, tax, health and other policies to encourage hiring and capital investment."

(4) "Sign and ratify by the end of 2010 a global free-trade agreement with all willing countries to encourage greater world growth."

(5) "Change tax code, in revenue-neutral fashion, to encourage savings and investment and discourage consumption and debt over the long term."

Judging by these criteria, the Obama administration is 0 for 5 (so far!)"

Sadly, the Obama administration seems bent on doing everything possible to raise our taxes, regulate our businesses, stop free trade and just make a mess out of the world's most prosperous nation.

So we urge Pres BO to listen to the people who are actually creating jobs and meeting a payroll every other Friday.

How about a funny Canadian who gets "hope and change?

Greg Morton is a very funny Canadian comedian.

This guy is funny and he has blog.....a comedian with a blog.....why not?

Check out "Obama man" to the music of Sammy Davis's "Candy Man":

Dear Pres BO: What do we do about Iran now?

Where are we with Iran?

Let's get this update from NRO:

"The latest development is that Iran will break its promise — made in its most recent negotiations with the West’s powers of note — to export much of its uranium for enrichment abroad.

Its fulfillment of this promise would hardly have been a victory for us:

There would still have been every reason to think it was secretly developing an atomic bomb alongside its “civilian” activities, and the Iranian regime would still have been able to enrich the uranium further after its foreign custodians returned it (having done the favor of getting it closer to weaponizable levels).

Barack Obama sold this deal as a triumph of his brand of diplomacy.

He had to.

He had campaigned for the presidency vowing not to allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, but in office had preferred a group-therapy approach, effectively apologizing for the provocations of his big bad predecessor and striving to “engage” the theocrat mullahs.

He was then caught off-guard by discovery of their second, secret enrichment facility at Qom and tried to recover by talking up the uranium-export plan as though it counted for something."

So let's translate: Iran lied to the West again!

Translation # 2: BO sought to prove that the anti-Bush could get different results.

Unfortunately, he didn't!

So what happens now that China and Russia won't work with Pres BO?

Option 1: We do nothing and we hope for the best.

Israel won't wait so Option 1 is a pipe dream for leftist professors in Western universities!

Option 2: We do a naval blockade and keep gasoline from going in.

It could work and make life very difficult for the thugs running the country. At he same time, are we really willing to stop a Russian ship trying to deliver gasoline? Also, isn't there a land pipeline that can bring in some energy?

Option 3: We bomb the nuclear facilities to rubble! We bomb 24/7 for as long as our generals are satisfied that we've destroyed the plants. Also, we bomb with or without support from the UN or our allies!

I don't know but Option 3 is starting to look more and more realistic.

Can the anti-Bush order a premeditated aerial attack on Iran?

Time will tell. At the same time, does anybody have a better idea now that the diplomatic course has turned into a farce? Are we ready to accept a nuclear Iran and all of its unintended consequences?

The economy and Afghanistan have pushed Iran off the front pages. However, the Iranian chickens are coming home to roost! And they are flying or running at full speed!

Joe Mauer 2009 AL MVP: A great choice!

It wasn't close: Mauer handily catches AL MVP Award

Frankly, I thought that Mark Texeira would get a lot of 1st place votes!

I thought that it'd be a very close MVP race!

No way! Joe Mauer got 27 of the 28 first-place votes and ran away with the MVP!

Mauer is a 26-year old catcher with 3 batting titles (a catcher?) and a Gold Glove, too:

"Mauer put together the best season of his already impressive young career in 2009.

He batted .365 to earn his second straight AL batting title.

It was his third batting title in four seasons, making the 26-year-old the only catcher in Major League history to accomplish the feat.

He is the 10th player in AL history with three or more batting titles.

In addition to leading the league in batting average, Mauer also was the leader in on-base percentage (.444) and slugging percentage (.587), giving him what some stat gurus have deemed the modern Triple Crown.

The last AL player to lead in all three of those categories was George Brett of the Royals in 1980.

Mauer set career highs in home runs (28) and RBIs (96).

And it was that unexpected power surge that was the biggest change for Mauer in 2009, as he more than doubled his previous high in homers (13 in 2006)." (MLB)

Again, did I tell you that he is only 26?

Congratulations to Joe Mauer for a fine season and the award!

Mauer was the first catcher to win the AL MVP since Ivan Rodriguez did it with Texas in 1999! (Munson won it in 1976 and Bench won the NL MVP in 1970 & 1972)

P.S. It's a shame that Michael Young of Texas went down with injuries around September 1st.

At the time, Young was hitting .322, headed for another 200-hit season and clearly one of the most valuable players to his team.

In other words, he was a serious MVP candidate specially given the way that the Rangers were fighting for the AL West.

Not surprisingly, the Rangers collapsed after Young's injury, another indication of how important he was to the team!