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Let's face it, in the line of work we pursue here at MLB Insider, nothing beats a vote like the 2003 American League MVP award. With 10 different players getting first-place votes and opinions so polarized among voters that nine of those 10 did not even make it onto every ballot, there was plenty to seize upon when analyzing the award voting.

Not so in the National League, however, where nearly 90 percent of the voters thought Barry Bonds was the most deserving of the award and a like amount thought Albert Pujols was the next-most deserving. To be honest, I thought Pujols was going to get more than three first-place votes this time around. I didn't think he'd win, but I thought it would be much closer. He certainly had much better credentials this year than he did last year when Bonds was a unanimous choice.

On Tuesday, I examined the most idiosyncratic picks in the American League voting, but the N.L. does not afford quite the same opportunity. A few things do leap out, however.

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