Its rare for a pitcher to win an MVP award.For the same pitcher to win it twice is almost unheard of.If the season ended now, Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers would have a good chance to do just that. With an 11-2 record and a 1.79 ERA, the left-hander is putting up numbers awfully similar to those of his MVP campaign in 2014. The big question now is how quickly he can come back from a back injury that landed him on the disabled list.In 2014, Kershaw became the first pitcher to win the National League MVP since Bob Gibson in 1968. It isnt exactly common in the AL either, and for one pitcher to win twice in three years would be a staggering achievement. Since the MVP was first awarded by the BBWAA in 1931, only two pitchers have won the award more than once. Hal Newhouser took AL honors in 1944 and 1945, and Carl Hubbell won the NL version in 1933 and 1936.Both those players did it before there was a Cy Young Award for pitchers to win. So Kershaw faces an additional obstacle: Now that pitchers have their own award, theres always a debate over whether they should have a chance to be the MVP as well.Working in Kershaws favor is the fact that no position player in the NL has emerged in the way Bryce Harper did last year, when he won MVP honors. Among NL position players in 2016, the best candidates might be batting leader Daniel Murphy or home run leader Kris Bryant. Neither is having the type of transcendent year that would keep Kershaw out of the conversation.Heres a look at some other major award races:NL Cy Young: Its still possible for Kershaw to miss out on the MVP and the Cy Young. He has plenty of competition for the latter, be it from San Franciscos duo of Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto or Jose Fernandez of Miami. And then theres Stephen Strasburg of Washington, who is 12-0 with a 2.62 ERA.AL MVP: Josh Donaldson of Toronto edged Mike Trout of Los Angeles for this award last year, and they might finish 1-2 again. Like in 2015, Donaldsons team is playing better than Trouts -- which could swing the race in the Toronto sluggers favor.AL Cy Young: Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox has the eye-opening record (14-3) but his 3.38 ERA is high enough to leave the door open for other candidates. Oaklands Rich Hill is 9-3 with a 2.25 ERA, but hes thrown only 76 innings. Clevelands Danny Salazar could also factor into this wide open race, and there might even be room for a reliever to make a case -- Baltimores Zach Britton has 27 saves and an 0.72 ERA.Here are a few other developments from around baseball this past week:STRUGGLING CHAMPSThe Kansas City Royals lost arguably their most intimidating player when closer Wade Davis went on the disabled list with a strained right forearm. Davis is 1-0 with a 1.23 ERA and 19 saves -- and thats actually a higher ERA than he had in 2014 or 2015. Kansas City is tied for third in the AL Central, seven games out of first place. The Royals are also 4 1/2 games out of a wild card.FANTASY FOCUSSpeaking of injured closers, Boston lost Craig Kimbrel to a knee problem, and the Red Sox acquired Brad Ziegler from Arizona to fill in. Ziegler is expected to share closing duties with Koji Uehara.LINE OF THE WEEKYasmani Grandal of the Los Angeles Dodgers hit three home runs and had six RBI in a 10-6 win over San Diego on Friday night. He became the third Dodgers catcher to hit three homers in a game, joining Mike Piazza and Roy Campanella.---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister Kevin Fiala Jersey . Ouellette, from Montreal, already has three Olympic gold medals since joining the team in 1999. Cody McLeod Jersey . The Dutchmans tenure got off to a poor start when referee Guido Winkmann awarded a penalty within two minutes for Niklas Starks clumsy challenge on Alexandru Maxim. http://www.nhlpredatorshockeyshop.com/anthony-bitetto-jersey/ . The Olympic champion curler and TSN curling analyst immediately went online to look at the Halls long list of honoured members. Thats when the enormity of the honour sunk in. Juuse Saros Jersey .ca look back at each of the Top 10 stories of 2013. Today, we look back at Boston Strong - a citys recovery from tragedy. Pekka Rinne Jersey . Here are his mid-season NBA awards. MVP: (KEVIN DURANT-Thunder) - Has been sensational this season and more importantly, the most consistent player in the league. Considering that his team has been without star guard Russell Westbrook and with the free agent departure of sharpshooter Kevin Martin, hes had to carry the majority of the load to not only keep his team afloat but more importantly, at an elite level. CLEVELAND -- Kris Bryant started to smile even before he fielded the ball. And with his throw to first for the final out, the agonizing wait `til next year was over at last.No more Billy Goat, no more Bartman, no more black-cat curses.For a legion of fans who waited a lifetime, fly that W: Your Chicago Cubs are World Series champions.Ending more than a century of flops, futility and frustration, the Cubs won their first title since 1908, outlasting the Cleveland Indians 8-7 in 10 innings of a Game 7 thriller early Thursday.They even had to endure an extra-inning rain delay to end the drought.It happened. It happened. Chicago, it happened, first baseman Anthony Rizzo said after gloving the ball for the final out. We did it. Were world champions. I tell ya, were world champions. I cant believe it.Rizzo put that final ball in his pocket as the Cubs piled up in the middle of the diamond, David Ross got carried off the field by his teammates and Bill Murray partied in the clubhouse.And the whole time, blue-clad fans who traveled from Wrigley Field filled nearly the entire lower deck behind the Chicago dugout at Progressive Field, singing Go, Cubs, Go! in rain. They held up those white flags with the large blue W on a night many of their forebears had waited for in vain.Lovable losers for generations, the Cubs nearly let this one get away, too. All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman blew a 6-3 lead with two outs in the eighth when Rajai Davis hit a tying, two-run homer.But the Cubs, after tormenting their fans one more time, came right back after a 17-minute rain delay before the top of the 10th.Series MVP Ben Zobrist hit an RBI double and Miguel Montero singled home a run to make it 8-6. Davis delivered an RBI single with two outs in the bottom half, but Mike Montgomery closed it out at 12:47 a.m., and the celebration was on.I think about so many millions of people giving so much love and support to this team for so many years, said owner Tom Ricketts, who family bought the team in 2009.Manager Joe Maddons team halted the longest stretch without a title in baseball, becoming the first club to overcome a 3-1 Series deficit since the 1985 Kansas City Royals.This is an epic game. Its epic. I cant believe we were able to do it -- 108 years in the making, Zobrist said. We did it.They never quit, either, Zobrist said. They kept coming at us.Cleveland was trying to win its first crown since 1948, but manager Terry Franconas club lost the last two games at home.World Series favorites since spring training, Chicago led the majors with 103 wins this season.The Cubs then ended more than a century of misery for their loyal fans -- barely. Bryant, one of Chicagos young stars, began to celebrate even before fielding a grounder by Michael Martinez to third base and throwing it across to Rizzo for the last out.Its the best rain delay of all-time, Rizzo said.Zobrist got a Series-high 10 hits, a year after he helped the Royals win the championship. Zobrist was among the players brought to the Cubs by Theo Epstein, the baseball guru who added another crown to his collection. He also assembled the Red Sox team that broke Bostons 86-year drought by winning in 2004.From Curse of the Bambino to the Billy Goat Curse, he ended another jinx.We dont need a plane to fly home, Epstein said. Its fitting its got to be done with one of the best games of all time.Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward had called a meeting during the rain delay, talking to his teammates in the weight room.I just had to remind everybody who we are, what weve overcome to get here, he said.While Cubs fans hugged with delight, there was only despair for the Indians, who now have gone longer than anyone without a crown. In the Indians previous World Series appearance, they were a double-play grounder from winning the 1997 title before losing Game 7 in 11 innings to the Marlins.Its going to hurt. It hurts because we care, but they need to walk with their head held high because they left nothing on the field, Francona said.Earlier this year, LeBron James and the Cavvaliers ended Clevelands 52-year championship drought by overcoming a 3-1 deficit to beat Golden State for the NBA title.dddddddddddd James and teammates were in a suite, rooting hard, as the Indians absorbed the same blow as the Warriors.After defeating San Francisco and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the playoffs, Chicago became the first team to earn a title by winning Games 6 and 7 on the road since the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates.Dexter Fowler homered on Corey Klubers fourth pitch of the game, 23-year-old Javier Baez and the 39-year-old Ross -- set to now retire -- also went deep for the Cubs, who led 5-1 in the fifth inning and 6-3 in the eighth.Chapman wound up with the win, and Montgomery got one out for his first save in the majors.Bryan Shaw, who gave up a leadoff single to Kyle Schwarber in the 10th, took the loss in just the fourth Game 7 that went to extra innings.Albert Almora Jr., pinch-running for Schwarber, alertly took second on Bryants long fly to center. Rizzo was intentionally walked, and Zobrist slapped an opposite-field double past a diving third baseman Jose Ramirez. Montero singled to make it a two-run lead.Then in the bottom half, Carl Edwards Jr. struck out Mike Napoli, Ramirez grounded out, Brandon Guyer walked and Davis hit an RBI single. Montgomery took over, and helped set off a wild celebration on Chicagos North Side.Even a dedicated White Sox fan could appreciate the victory.It happened: (at)Cubs win World Series. Thats change even this South Sider can believe in. Want to come to the White House before I leave? President Barack Obama tweeted.Twenty-one other teams had won the World Series since Cubs last were champions. They reached the top again on the 39,466th day after Orval Overalls three-hit shutout won the 1908 finale at Detroit in a game that took 1 hour, 24 minutes -- this latest Game 7 lasted 4:24, not including the rain delay.Back then, Theodore Roosevelt was president, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska and Hawaii were not yet states, and the first Ford Model T car was two weeks old.The Cubs were last champions when Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers and Frank Chance won consecutive titles in 1907-08, until now the only ones in team history. The Cubbies had not even reached the Series since 1945.This one was for Ernie Banks, Ferguson Jenkins, Ron Santo and Billy Williams, who never reached the postseason.For Gabby Hartnett, Ryne Sandberg and Greg Maddux, whose October runs fell short.For Lee Elia and the nickle-dime people who spent so many wind-swept afternoons in the Friendly Confines watching loss after loss.For Bill Veeck, who planted ivy vines against Wrigley Fields outfield walls.For William Sianis, the Billy Goat Tavern owner said to have proclaimed when he was asked to leave Wrigley with his pet during the `45 Series: Them Cubs, they aint gonna win no more.For Steve Bartman, whose life was upended when he tried to catch a foul ball as the Cubs came apart in the 2003 playoffs.And for Harry Caray, who promised viewers after the 1991 finale that sure as God made green apples, someday the Chicago Cubs are going to be in the World Series.Maddon, hired before the 2015 season, won his first Series title after establishing a loose clubhouse that featured at times Warren the pink flamingo, Simon the magician and the motto: Try not to suck.It was just an epic battle, Zobrist said. Just blow for blow, everybody playing their heart out. The Indians never gave up, either, and I cant believe were finally standing, after 108 years, finally able to hoist the trophy.PEN PALSThis was the first World Series in which no starting pitcher got at least one out in the seventh inning, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The only other in which no starter finished at least seven innings was in 2002, when San Franciscos Russ Ortiz threw 6 1/3 innings in Game 6.UP NEXTClevelands spring training opener is scheduled for Feb. 26 against the Cubs in Mesa, Arizona. Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Jerseys 2020 Wholesale Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys ' ' '