Derek Jeter has been named Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year, the first time a member of the Yankees has ever won the honor. "It's unbelievable. It was completely unexpected. It came out of the blue," Jeter told The Associated Press during a break in the photo shoot. "When I heard it, what can you say? It's one of the greatest honors you can achieve in sports." Swimmer Michael Phelps was last year's recipient. "That's even harder considering all the great Yankee players that have played for this organization," said Jeter, standing under the banners depicting Yankees greats that hang in the Great Hall of the new stadium. "So I hope I've done them proud." Some other baseball players to win the award are Sandy Koufax (1965), Tom Seaver (1969), Cal Ripken Jr. (1995); and the recent nemeses of Jeter's teams, Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling (2001), and the Boston Red Sox (2004).

One strange name included in the MVP voting was San Francisco middle reliever Jeremy Affeldt. He was included as a 10th place vote by Mercury News beat writer Andrew Baggerly. 'OK, this is my ?sore thumb? vote. And no, I can?t really make an airtight case for Affeldt, a middle reliever, as the 10th most valuable player in the league. Especially when I don?t have Tim Lincecum, or any other pitcher for that matter, on my ballot. (Without glancing at Win Shares, I?d have to believe there are many pitchers who rank way above Affeldt.) In choosing Affeldt, I also bypassed several other worthy candidates. For instance, have you noticed there isn?t a single Dodger on my ballot? But hey, this is my ?prerogative? vote. If it were a three- or even five-slot ballot, I wouldn?t dream of making a ?statement? with my final selection. But this is a ballot that goes 10-deep, we all knew Pujols would win in a landslide, and there?s really no impact anyone can make with their final selection. So I think it?s completely harmless to give a tip of the cap to the relief pitcher who had the lowest ERA in the league while appearing almost exclusively in highly leveraged situations. Affeldt was an MVP in the bullpen, all right. He didn?t allow a run from May 8 to July 24 ? posting 27 scoreless innings over 28 games. He did his job ? a job of ever-increasing dependency ? better than anyone else in the NL, and given all the close games the Giants played, he made a huge impact in their final 88-win record.

Albert Pujols was unanimously voted NL MVP on Tuesday, becoming the first player to repeat since Barry Bonds won four in a row from 2001-04. Pujols received all 32 first-place votes and 448 points in balloting announced by the Baseball Writers? Association of America, according to an Associated Press report. It was the third MVP award for the Cardinals star, who also won in 2005. He became the first unanimous MVP since Bonds in 2002.

Joe Mauer has become only the second catcher in 33 years to win the AL Most Valuable Player Award, as reported by ESPN.com on Monday. The Twins star was a near-unanimous winner in voting announced Monday by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, receiving 27 of 28 first-place votes and 387 points. Yankees teammates Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter were second and third.

Giants ace Tim Lincecum has won the NL Cy Young Award, becoming the first repeat winner in the major leagues since Randy Johnson was voted the prize four straight times from 1999-2002, according to an Associated Press report. Lincecum led the NL with 261 strikeouts and tied for the league lead with four complete games and two shutouts. Only 10 points separated the top three in one of the closest ballots in the award?s history.

KNBR radio in San Francisco reports that Giants ace Tim Lincecum has won his second consecutive NL Cy Young award.

Jim Tracy of the Rockies has won the NL Manager of the Year award and Mike Scioscia of the Angels has been selected for the AL honor, according to an Associated Press report on Wednesday. Tracy became the second manager to win the award after taking over in midseason, joining Jack McKeon for the Marlins in 2003. Scioscia also picked up the AL award in 2002.

Kansas City Royals right-handed pitcher Zack Greinke Tuesday was the overwhelming choice as the 2009 American League Cy Young Award winner in balloting by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Greinke?s Cy Young season is the fourth in Royals history as he becomes the third pitcher to win the award, joining two-time winner Bret Saberhagen (1985, 1989) and David Cone (1994). The 26-year old Greinke was named first on 25 ballots and second on three ballots of the 28 total ballots cast by two writers in each American League city. He received a total of 134 points, based on the 5-3-1 tabulations system for first, second and third-place votes. The Mariners? Felix Hernandez was the runner-up to Greinke, with 80 points and two first-place votes. The Tigers? Justin Verlander picked up the other first-place vote. The Yankees? CC Sabathia and the Blue Jays? Roy Halladay also picked up votes.

Andrew Bailey of the A's and Chris Coghlan of the Marlins won the Rookie of the Year awards on Monday for their respective leagues. Bailey beat out his American League competitors Elvis Andrus, Rick Porcello and Jeff Niemann. Bailey had a 1.84 ERA and 26 saves. "I kind of thought Andrus was going to win, too," Bailey said. "He was awesome, and he plays every day." Coghlan, meanwhile, finished ahead of J.A. Happ, Tommy Hanson and Andrew McCutchen. Coghlan batted .321 with nine homers, 47 RBIs and eight stolen bases in 128 games.

Four first-timers were among the 2009 Gold Gloves winners in the National League on Wednesday. Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright, Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, Astros outfielder Michael Bourn and Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp were honored for the first time. The 2009 National League Champion Phillies had two winners -- shortstop Jimmy Rollins (third time) and outfielder Shane Victorino (second). Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina (second) and Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez (second) rounded out the winners.