NEW YORK -- Reds star Joey Votto said the voters got it right when they picked Bryce Harper of the Nationals as the unanimous choice as National League Most Valuable Player.
"I was not surprised. I thought it was very deserving," said Votto. "I would have been surprised had it not been unanimous ...With a year like that, it just felt like one of those fantastic years in the history of baseball."
Votto, whose second hall of the year was one of the best in the history of baseball, finished third behind Arizona's Paul Goldschmidt.
Somehow, two of the 30 voting baseball writers left Votto off their 10-spot ballots, but that didn't make any difference in the outcome. Votto got one second-place vote and six for third place. Goldschmidt got 18 second-place votes and three for third place.
WCPO contributor John Fay voted Votto fifth behind Harper, Goldschmidt, Zack Grienke of the Dodgers and Jake Arrieta of the Cubs.
Votto, 2010 NL MVP, led the majors in hitting (.362) and on-base percentage (.535) after the All-Star break and finished the season batting .314/.459/.541 with 29 home runs and 80 RBI.. He missed only four games.
That's significant because the first baseman was coming off an injury-marred 2014 when he played only 62 games and hit .255.
If anything, Votto deserved to win Comeback Player of the Year, but he lost out to Mets pitcher Matt Harvey, who came off Tommy John surgery to go 13-8 with a 2.71 ERA for the NL champs.
Harper batted .330/.460/.649 in 153 games for the Nationals with 42 homers and 99 RBI.
Toronto third baseman Josh Donaldson took the AL MVP with 23 first-place votes. Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout got the other seven first-place votes and finished second for the third time - he won the award last year. Kansas City outfielder Lorenzo Cain was third.
