ST. LOUIS — Albert Pujols matched Stan Musial and did him one better, too.

Stan the Man never won any of his three MVP awards unanimously.

Pujols received all 32 first-place votes in balloting announced by the Baseball Writers' Association of America Tuesday, taking the NL prize for the second straight year and third overall.

Musial, also a St. Louis Cardinals star, won three times in the 1940s. Seven others have won exactly three MVPs and only Barry Bonds has more, with seven.

"Wow, I'm in the same place as Stan Musial," Pujols said. "It's pretty special to be on the same list with those guys."

Pujols, who also won in 2005, became the first player to repeat since Bonds won four in a row from 2001-04. He was the first unanimous MVP since Bonds in 2002.

The 29-year-old Pujols said he felt nerves before the announcement, even though he led the majors in several key offensive categories, including home runs with 47.

His slugging percentage of .658 was also the best in baseball, and his on-base percentage of .443 was a point behind AL MVP Joe Mauer's, enabling him to carry the Cardinals' offense all year, even before they traded for slugger Matt Holliday in July.

Last year, Pujols won a much closer race and had 18 first-place votes to finish ahead of Howard despite the Cardinals' fourth-place finish. This year, the Cardinals won the NL Central.