Berkman is peers' Comeback Player of Year

ST. LOUIS When the St. Louis Cardinals signed Lance Berkman last December, some questioned why they would give 8 million to a 35-year-old who looked to be trending down coming off the worst season of his career. But Berkman proved he wasn't finished, helping anchor the middle of the lineup as the Cardinals overcome a 10-12-game deficit to win the National League wild card on the final day of the season. His peers noticed the bounce-back year, honoring him Thursday night with the Players Choice Award for National League Comeback Player of the Year. The award comes less than a month after Berkman was chosen the NL Comeback Player of the Year for Major League Baseball. Berkman hit .301 with 31 home runs, 94 RBI and 90 runs in 145 games. He had a .412 on-base percentage and a .547 slugging percentage, putting together his best all-around season in three years. The switch-hitter battled a knee issue for much of 2010, when he hit only .248 with 14 home runs and 58 RBI with the Houston Astros and New York Yankees. But when the Astros decided to begin a youth movement, Berkman put the Cardinals atop the short list of teams he wished to play for in 2011. The Cardinals swooped in fast. After being convinced Berkman was finally healthy and primed to return to form, they signed the veteran to a one-year contract. Berkman hit .290 with 24 home runs and 63 RBI before the All-Star break, earning a trip to his sixth All-Star Game. With what the slugger overcame the previous year, getting the start in right field for the Midsummer Classic was one of the more gratifying honors of his career. When rumors swirled in late August about the Texas Rangers' interest in Berkman, the veteran came out publicly and said he wanted to remain with the Cardinals because he thought they were good enough to win. The Cardinals were 10-12 games behind the Atlanta Braves with barely a month left in the season when Berkman made that statement. Whether it was just a coincidence, the Cardinals' amazing late-season surge began almost immediately after, as they went 18-8 in September and 23-9 after Aug. 24 to sneak into the playoffs. They disposed of the top-seeded Philadelphia Phillies in five games and the Milwaukee Brewers in six games to reach the World Series, where Berkman hit .423 (11 for 26) in leading the Cardinals to a seven-game victory against the American League champion Texas Rangers. His two-out, two-strike RBI single to center in the bottom of the 10th tied Game 6 and allowed the Cardinals to pull off a dramatic comeback. Berkman, who signed a one-year extension for 2012 in September, is the second Cardinal in the past three years to win the Players Choice Award for NL Comeback Player of the Year. Pitcher Chris Carpenter won the award in 2009 after missing nearly all of 2007 and '08 because of injuries.