ST. . LOUIS - Lance Berkman didnt set out to prove the skeptics wrong. He just figured that, even after struggling through an injury-riddled 2010, he still had good years ahead of him. The St. Louis Cardinals outfielder made that clear in 2011, hitting .301 with 31 home runs and 94 RBIs to win the National League comeback player award. "It doesnt take long for people to move on to the next page, so to speak, in the game, and say, Well, hes lost it, or youre never heard from again. You see it happen all the time," Berkman said. Boston outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury won the American League award. The honours were announced Thursday, and were picked by the 30 team beat reporters from MLB.com. Berkman was not in the lineup in Game 4 of the NL championship series on Thursday night, given his lifetime 3 for 32 showing against Milwaukee starter Randy Wolf. Berkman also had a bruise on right hip after being hit by a pitch in Wednesdays 4-3 win over Milwaukee, and manager Tony La Russa said it was a good time to give him a day off. The Cardinals led 2-1 in the best-of-seven series. The switch-hitter ranked in the top 10 in the NL in homers (tied for ninth), walks (fourth with 92), slugging percentage (fifth at .547) and on-base percentage (third with .412). An injured left knee played a big role in Berkmans struggles in 2010, when the career .296 hitter batted .248 with just 14 homers and 58 RBIs in splitting time with the Astros and Yankees. Some believed that Berkman, now 35, was on the downhill side of his career. "I wasnt thinking that I had to come back and prove people wrong," Berkman said. "That wasnt my attitude at all." Berkman shed about 20 pounds over the winter while working with a personal trainer. In addition to a strong season at the plate, he was respectable in the outfield after playing most first base in recent seasons. He was a key player in the Cardinals remarkable run to the wild-card playoff spot after trailing Atlanta by 10 1-2 games in late August. "Hes just been a great player for our team," La Russa said. Berkman said it was actually the 2010 playoffs when he realized his career was far from over. Berkman was 5 for 16 (.313) with a homer and four RBIs combined in the Yankees divisional series win over Minnesota and ALCS loss to Texas. "That playoff experience last year was kind of what set me off in the off-season feeling like, all right, I can get back to swing the bat like I know I can," he said. Berkman had long been a Cardinals nemesis in his 11-plus seasons in Houston. After years of battling the Cardinals in the NL Central, St. Louis was one of the few places where he wanted to extend his career. In fact, he contacted the Cardinals in the off-season to see if they were interested in signing him. "Just the fit seemed perfect for me, just knowing those guys and coming over here, everything I thought it would be," Berkman said. "I felt like I fit in pretty quick." It worked out so well the Cardinals have already re-signed Berkman for 2012. The 28-year-old Ellsbury played just 18 games in 2010 because of injuries and hit only .192. Ellsbury came back as a force this season. He set career highs in most offensive categories, hitting .321 with 32 home runs, 105 RBIs, 46 doubles, five triples, 119 runs and 39 stolen bases. He became the first Boston player to hit 30 homers and steal 30 bases in a season and led the major leagues with 364 total bases and 83 extra-base hits. He was third in the AL with 212 hits, and tied for third in runs and doubles. The Red Sox missed the playoffs this year after a major collapse in September. [url=http://www.shopnflonline.net/Black-Friday-Buffalo-Bills-Thurman-Thomas-Jers... Thomas Cyber Monday Jersey . Coda Gordon and Colby Cave could not score for Swift Current in the first two rounds of the shootout, while Giorgio Estephan, Riley Sheen and Reid Duke came up short for Lethbridge. . "We cant go on like this. I cant go on like this," said the Jamaican international, sitting hunched on a mat in the team gym. "Its eating me up inside. [url=http://www.shopnflonline.net/Black-Friday-Baltimore-Ravens-Cyber-Monday/]ht... . Ainge said Monday he is hoping to keep intact the aging trio of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, who brought the Celtics their first NBA championship in 22 years in 2008. [url=http://www.shopnflonline.net/Black-Friday-Atlanta-Falcons-Brett-Favre-Jerse... Favre Cyber Monday Jersey . Chase Utley hit a three-run homer and drove in four, Halladay tossed six effective innings and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Miami Marlins 6-4 on Tuesday night. . "It doesnt even enter my mind most of the time," Ranger told TSN.ca, he and Rielly paired together yet again on Tuesday night. "Its moreso as hes just my partner and he just can play." Remaining in question for the Leafs with the opener in Montreal drawing near is whether its best for the 19-year-old to play right away.BAD GASTEIN, Austria -- Alize Cornet of France defeated Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium 7-5, 7-6 (1) on Sunday to win the Gastein Ladies for her first title in four years. The seventh-seeded Cornet, who is ranked 73rd, earned her second career title after winning in Budapest, Hungary in 2008 and is now 2-3 in WTA finals. She lost the final in Strasbourg last month. "I cant believe it," Cornet said. "This was the tournament I wanted to win this year. I cant believe I didnt win a title for the lastt four years so now its all happiness. [url=http://www.shopnflonline.net/Black-Friday-Buffalo-Bills-Bruce-Smith-Jersey-... Smith Black Friday Jersey. " The former 11th-ranked Cornet broke the second-seeded Wickmayers serve at 5-5 and then held to take the opening set. She was 5-3 up in the second set against the second-seeded Wickmayer but failed to serve out the match before dominating the tiebreaker. Cornet converted her first match point as Wickmayer sent a forehand into the net. Wickmayer is now 4-4 in finals after last winning a title in Auckland, New Zealand, in January 2010. ' ' '