Mark It Down Now: Mark Teixeira for 2009 A.L. MVP

Before the 2009 season started, most Yankee fans were hoping Mark Teixeira would just fit in and be a good player on a playoff contender. In the middle of August, he's looking more like an MVP candidate every day. The Yankees snagged Teixeira away from the Red Sox two days before Christmas for an eight-year, $180 million contract and be a corner piece for the Yankees for a very long time. Teixeira's 2009 did not start out wonderfully, batting .200 with three home runs and 10 RBI in the month of April. His jump start really didn't come until May 9 in Baltimore, when Alex Rodriguez returned from the disabled list from hip surgery. Instead of pitching around Teixeira, they were throwing to him with A-Rod's bat as protection. By the end of May, he was hitting .281 with 16 home runs and 43 RBI; so in the month of May, he hit 13 homers and had 33 RBI, a huge improvement in just one month. Come to think of it, every first basemen since Don Mattingly who has put on pinstripe...