Hank Aaron Award
The Hank Aaron Award is a Major League Baseball (MLB) baseball trophy . It is awarded annually to the best batsman from the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). In contrast to the Triple Crown , the winners of the Hank Aaron Awards are nominated by the public and the final winners are chosen by a jury, while the Triple Crown is awarded to batsmen who have dominated the AL and NL by statistics . The trophy was named after the baseball player Hank Aaron designated to the record level of 714 in the last years of his career homers of Babe Ruth surpassed. Aaron's trophy will be presented to the winners before the fourth game of the World Series .
The previous record winner is Alex Rodríguez , who received the Hank Aaron Award for the fourth time in 2007.
History and award
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Hank_Aaron_-_Baseball_HOF_Induction_2013.jpg/170px-Hank_Aaron_-_Baseball_HOF_Induction_2013.jpg)
The Hank Aaron Award was introduced in 1999, 25 years after Hank Aaron beat Babe Ruth's record for most home runs hit in the MLB. Ruth had a total of 714 home runs in his career as an active player. Aaron hit his 715th home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 8, 1974, beating Babe Ruth's record in 39 years. The three-time Hank Aaron Award winner Barry Bonds scored his 762nd home run in 2007, hitting the most home runs as an active player in the MLB .
The first award was based on a points system. For Hits (H), Runs Batted In (RBI) and Home Runs (HR) there was a fixed number of points. The players with the highest score won the trophy. In 1999 that was Sammy Sosa and Manny Ramirez . A year later, the scoring system was changed to a vote involving baseball analysts, radio and television commentators. Each participant had three votes. The player who received the first vote received five points. The player who was voted second received three points. The last player to vote received one point.
From 2003 to 2010 fans had the opportunity to vote for their favorites on the MLB website. The votes of the fans were weighted to 30%, those of baseball analysts, radio and television commentators to 70%. From 2004 to 2006 the winners were determined in three phases. In the first phase, in August, fans were given the opportunity to nominate three players from each team on the MLB franchise website . The players with the most votes from each team were grouped into a group of 30 players. A jury then selected six finalists from both leagues. In the third phase, the winners were determined by another vote on the Internet.
In the 2007 and 2008 seasons, a jury selected 30 players, from whom the two winners were chosen through a fan vote on the Internet. For the 2009 Hank Aaron Award, fans chose both the finalists and the final winners of the award. The public has been nominating candidates for the trophy online since 2011. A jury of former baseball players and members of the Baseball Hall of Fame then select the final winners. This jury includes Hank Aaron, Roberto Alomar , Johnny Bench , Craig Biggio , Ken Griffey Jr. , Eddie Murray and Robin Yount .
The trophy
The shape of the trophy is that of a home plate . The long side is raised so that a slope is created towards the lower tip. A baseball bat is located diagonally on this slope . A metal, unrolled and curved scroll with two lettering is loosely wrapped around this bat. The upper lettering reads Hank Aaron Award . The lower lettering Est. April, 8th 1999 represents the date on which the award was created. Exactly 25 years after Aaron beat Ruth's record.
Hank Aaron Award Winner
Since its introduction in 1999, the prize has been awarded to 28 different players.
Abbreviations: # = Player is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame , AVG = Batting Average , H = Hits , HR = Home Runs , RBI = Runs Batted In , C = Catcher , 1B = First Baseman , 2B = Second Baseman , 3B = Third Baseman , SS = Shortstop , LF = Left Field , CF = Center Field , RF = Right Field , OF = Out Field , DH = Designated Hitter
Leaderboards
Entire MLB
With four awards, Alex Rodríguez was able to win the Hank Aaron Award most often in the entire MLB. It is followed by Barry Bonds with three titles. Since its inception, the award has been given to 28 different players from both leagues.
67% of all trophy winners come from the United States , followed by the Dominican Republic with 24%. Andruw Jones from Curaçao was the first player from South America to win the award in 2005 . In addition, José Altuve and Miguel Cabrera from Venezuela were awarded the trophy.
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American League
The third baseman Alex Rodriguez won four times the award so far the only player. José Bautista , Miguel Cabrera , Derek Jeter , David Ortiz , Manny Ramirez and Mike Trout share second place with two awards each.
The most successful team are the Boston Red Sox , followed by the Toronto Blue Jays from Canada.
57% of the honored players in the American League are Americans. Players with Dominican citizenship get 28%.
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National League
The National League is led by Barry Bonds , who won the trophy in the San Francisco Giants jersey three times. Albert Pujols and Giancarlo Stanton share second place with two honors each.
The most successful team to date are the San Francisco Giants, followed by the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago Cubs .
76% of the trophy winners in the National League are from the United States. The Dominican Republic ranks second in the table of players by nationality with 19% .
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Web links
- Hank Aaron Award with statistics on ESPN.com (English)
- Hank Aaron Award on baseball-almanac.com (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ All-time winners. Hank Aaron Award. MLB.com, accessed February 3, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Mark Newman: Fans can help choose Aaron Award winners. MLB.com, October 12, 2017, accessed February 12, 2019 (video by Hank Aarons 715th Home Run April 8, 1974).
- Jump up ↑ Statistics for the Atlanta Braves versus Los Angeles Dodgers game. Baseball-Reference.com , accessed February 12, 2019 .
- ^ Career Leaders & Records for Home Runs. Baseball-Reference.com, accessed February 10, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Phillies 'Howard, Yankees' Jeter win Hank Aaron Award. ESPN.com , October 26, 2006, accessed February 3, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c d Hank Aaron Award. The Hank Aaron Award History. baseball-almanac.com, accessed February 3, 2019 .
- ^ Hank Aaron Award finalists announced. MLB.com, October 2, 2018, accessed February 10, 2019 .