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Even late on the night before he was named the AL's Most Valuable Player, an anxious Justin Morneau couldn't hide from the attention.
Out at the store with teammate Joe Mauer to stock their fridge, Morneau couldn't hold back his laugh as he heard customers chanting "MVP!" while they walked the aisles past the Minnesota first baseman.
"I can't imagine what it's going to be like to go get groceries now," Morneau said with a smile on Tuesday after learning he edged Yankees captain Derek Jeter to become the first Twins player to win the award since 1977.
So much for a no-name team. Sure, Minnesota still has a small market, a modest payroll and nowhere near the scrutiny that surrounds Jeter in New York. But with Morneau, Mauer's batting title, and Johan Santana's second AL Cy Young Award, the Twins -- who won their fourth division title in five years -- have found their share of the national spotlight this fall.
"We have a great young team," the 25-year-old Canadian said.
And the price of keeping it together will be going up for general manager Terry Ryan, who sat next to Morneau at his news conference at the Metrodome. Morneau made $385,000 this season, a big bargain by market standards, but he's eligible for salary arbitration -- as are Mauer and several other regulars.
"He's going to be rewarded. There's no doubt," Ryan said.
Morneau received 15 first-place votes, eight seconds, three thirds and two fourths for 320 points in voting by a panel of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Jeter got 12 firsts, 14 seconds, one fourth and one sixth for 306 points. Boston's David Ortiz was third with 193 points, followed by Oakland's Frank Thomas (174), and Chicago's Jermaine Dye (156).
"I think I've said, 'amazing,' about 1,000 times," Morneau said, clearly in awe of the achievement and admittedly a bit surprised.
Morneau finished with a .321 average, 34 homers and 130 RBIs, helping the Twins turn around their season after starting 25-33. Mauer was sixth in the MVP voting, and Santana was seventh.
Jeter batted .344 with 14 homers and 97 RBIs. His average was three points behind Mauer, who became the first catcher to lead both leagues in batting.
In a statement issued by the Yankees, Jeter called Morneau "a special player" and added: "I suspect this won't be the last time you will hear his name mentioned when awards are being passed out."
Morneau took more than two minutes to thank people, saving the most praise for his father, George. Mauer had a big influence on him, too, after inviting him to live in his St. Paul home and helping him stay grounded and focused throughout the season. So did manager Ron Gardenhire, who pulled Morneau into his office on June 7 when he was hitting only .236 with 11 homers and 38 RBIs.
AP - Nov 21, 8:28 pm EST
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"There was a lot of stuff going on off the field that didn't need to be," Morneau said, acknowledging he was too distracted by the major league life away from the ballpark.
It was the day after the talk that Morneau got hot and Minnesota did, too.
"It woke me up. He lit a fire under me," Morneau said, adding: "There wasn't too much said that was bad or anything. It was just, 'Your focus needs to be on the field. You can do a lot of things in this game that people can't do."'
Zoilo Versalles (1965), Harmon Killebrew (1969) and Rod Carew (1977) were the other Twins MVPs, and Killebrew showed up at Morneau's news conference to congratulate him.
"I don't have any doubt in my mind he's going to come back and have a good year," Killebrew said.
Morneau became the second Canadian-born player to win an MVP following Colorado's Larry Walker in 1997. He is the third Canadian-born athlete to win an MVP in a major pro league this year, following Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash and San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton.
Walker phoned Morneau Tuesday as he arrived at the stadium.
"He said he thought he was more excited than I was," Morneau said. "I said, 'I kind of doubt that."'
A native of Westminster, British Columbia, Morneau is heading back there for another honor.
"Parade marshal in the Santa Claus parade," he said.
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