New York ? Vladimir Guerrero won the American League MVP award Tuesday, just the fifth time a player switched leagues and earned the honor in his first season with his new team.

The Anaheim Angels right fielder received 21 of 28 first-place votes and 354 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

New York Yankees right fielder Gary Sheffield finished second with five first-place votes and 254 points. Boston players split the remaining two first-place votes, with left fielder Manny Ramirez finishing third with 238 points and designated hitter David Ortiz winding up fourth with 174 points.

Guerrero was prepared for a close vote.

“I was in no way expecting it to be the way it came out,” he said through a translator during a conference call from the presidential palace in the Dominican Republic.

Guerrero, 28, signed a $70 million, five-year contract with the Angels last January after eight seasons with the Montreal Expos. He hit .337 with 39 homers and 126 RBIs as Anaheim won the AL West, and led the league with 124 runs and 366 total bases.

He batted .371 in September with 10 homers and 23 RBIs and went 14-for-30 (.467) with six homers and 11 RBIs in the last six games of the season, helping the Angels finish one game ahead of Oakland.

The only other non-rookies who became MVPs in their first AL seasons were Baltimore’s Frank Robinson (1966), Chicago’s Dick Allen (1972) and Detroit’s Willie Hernandez (1984). In the NL, Kirk Gibson accomplished the feat with Los Angeles in 1988.

Guerrero became the second Angels player to win, joining Don Baylor (1979). He is the fourth Dominican to be MVP, following Toronto’s George Bell (1987), the Chicago Cubs’ Sammy Sosa (1998) and Oakland’s Miguel Tejada (2002). He became the ninth straight player from the AL West to win.