What rookie player from the 2004 Minnesota Twins won the 2009 American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award?
Joe Mauer
Joe Mauer
Joseph Patrick Mauer (born April 19, 1983) is an American professional baseball player for the Minnesota Twins.
 He has played as a catcher, designated hitter, and first baseman for the Twins in Major League Baseball (MLB).
 He is the only catcher in MLB history to win three batting titles, and the only catcher to ever win a batting title in the American League.
 He also won three consecutive Gold Glove awards (2008–2010), and the 2009 American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award.
2004 Minnesota Twins season
The 2004 Minnesota Twins met their goal of three-peating as American League Central Division champions.
 The team was able to do this in spite of several new players and the absence of three former all-stars.
 Closer Eddie Guardado, set-up man LaTroy Hawkins, starter Eric Milton, and catcher A. J. Pierzynski had all been dealt prior to the beginning of the season, while first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz was traded midway through the season.
 The season had both highs – such as Johan Santana winning the Cy Young Award – and lows, such as highly anticipated rookie catcher Joe Mauer injuring his knee and playing for only 35 games.
 For the second year in a row, the team was not able to carry its regular season success into the post-season.
 The New York Yankees eliminated the Twins for the second year in a row in four games in the 2004 American League Division Series.
Don Baylor
Donald Edward Baylor (June 28, 1949 – August 7, 2017) was an American professional baseball player and manager.
 During his 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), Baylor was a power hitter known for crowding the plate, and was a first baseman, left fielder, and designated hitter.
 He played for six different American League (AL) teams, primarily the Baltimore Orioles and California Angels, but also played for the Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees, Minnesota Twins, and Boston Red Sox.
 In 1979, Baylor was an All-Star and won the AL Most Valuable Player Award.
 He won three Silver Slugger Awards, the Roberto Clemente Award, and was a member of the 1987 World Series champions. Don Buschhorn
Buschhorn spent the entire 1965 campaign — his second as a professional — on the Athletics' roster per the bonus rules of the mid-1960s.
 His first three appearances of that season were as a starting pitcher, and in his debut game against the eventual American League champion Minnesota Twins, Buschhorn struck out the first two big-league batters he faced: Zoilo Versalles and Rich Rollins.
 Versalles would be the AL Most Valuable Player for 1965.
 The Twins eventually reached Buschhorn for two runs, including one on a home run by Jerry Kindall, and Buschhorn was tagged with the 2–0 loss, his only MLB decision. Frank Thomas (designated hitter)
Frank Edward Thomas Jr. (born May 27, 1968), nicknamed "The Big Hurt," is an American former first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for three American League (AL) teams from 1990 to 2008, all but the last three years with the Chicago White Sox.
 One of the most fearsome and devastating hitters of his era, he is the only player in major league history to have seven consecutive seasons (1991–1997) with a .300 batting average and at least 100 runs batted in (RBI), 100 runs scored, 100 walks and 20 home runs; over that period, he batted .330 and averaged 36 home runs and 118 RBI per year.
 A perennial MVP candidate through the 1990s, he was named the AL's Most Valuable Player by unanimous vote in 1993 after becoming the first White Sox player to hit 40 home runs, leading the team to a division title; he repeated as MVP in the strike-shortened 1994 season after batting .353 and leading the league in slugging average and runs.
 After two subpar seasons, he lost the MVP in a close vote in 2000 after posting career highs of 43 home runs and 143 RBI, also earning AL Comeback Player of the Year honors, as Chicago finished with the AL's best record. 2004 American League Championship Series
The 2004 American League Championship Series was the Major League Baseball playoff series to decide the American League champion for the 2004 season.
 A rematch of the 2003 American League Championship Series, it was played between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, at Fenway Park and the original Yankee Stadium, from October 12 to 20, 2004.
 The Red Sox became the first (and so far only) team in MLB history to come back from a 0–3 deficit to win a seven-game series.
 The Red Sox, who had won the AL wild card, defeated the Anaheim Angels in the American League Division Series to reach the ALCS, while the Yankees, who had won the AL East with the best record in the AL, defeated the Minnesota Twins. 2009 Chicago White Sox season
The 2009 Chicago White Sox season is the organization's 110th season in Chicago and 109th in the American League.
 The Sox entered the 2009 season as the defending American League Central champions, attempting to repeat against the Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins.
 They finished the season 79–83, 3rd place in the American League Central, 7½ games behind the AL Central champion Minnesota Twins. 2009 American League Central tie-breaker game
The 2009 American League Central tie-breaker game was a one-game extension to Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2009 regular season, played between the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins to determine the champion of the American League's (AL) Central Division.
 It was played at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on October 6, 2009.
 The Twins won the game 6–5 in extra innings and advanced to the 2009 AL Division Series where they were swept by the New York Yankees; the Tigers failed to qualify for the postseason. Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award
The "Sporting News" Rookie of the Year Award is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award established in 1946 by "Sporting News".
 For the first three years (1946–48) and again in 1950, there was a single award.
 In 1949 and since 1951, the award has been given to a rookie from both the American League and National League.
 In 1961 and from 1963 through 2003, "Sporting News" split the rookie award into two separate categories, Rookie Pitcher of the Year and Rookie Player of the Year (in each league).
 In 2004 those two awards were discontinued, in favor of a single award, one for each league. Zoilo Versalles
Zoilo Casanova Versalles Rodriguez (] ; December 18, 1939 – June 9, 1995), nicknamed "Zorro", was a Cuban professional baseball player.
 He played as a shortstop in Major League Baseball, most notably for the Minnesota Twins.
 He was the catalyst who led the 1965 Twins to their first World Series after moving from Washington to Minnesota.
 The same year he also won the American League Most Valuable Player award.