Venezuelan baseball receiver Eliezer Alfonzo earned on Sunday
the nation's Professional Baseball League (LVBP) most valuable
player (MVP) award for 2007, for his performance for Anzoategui
team Los Caribes.
Some 21 of the 40 participating sports journalists voted for
him, earning Alonzo 137 points. Second placer Gregor Blanco, a
fielder from La Guaira team Tiburones, won 109 points, while third
placed Jose Castillo, a batter from Los Leones, won 84.
Alfonzo also won the Victor Davalillo Prize, Producer of the
Year, after scoring 15 home runs to beat his own record, and
winning 47 normal runs, six lower than the other record he set of
53.
He also received the home run Derby award in the All Star Match
organized by the Baseball players association.
Alfonzo has played for the San Francisco team the Giants in the
United States Major Leagues and is the second player from the
Caribes team to win the MVP after Magglio Ordonez for the 1996-1997
season.
The Caribes won four the league's seven awards: MVP and Producer
of the year, both won by Alfonzo; Pitcher of the Year, which went
to Alex Herrera; and Manager of the Year, which went to Marcos
Davalillo.
(Xinhua News Agency January 14, 2008)