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Hank Aaron Award

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Hank Aaron Award
Hank Aaron wearing an Atlanta Braves uniform in 1974
Hall of Fame inductee Hank Aaron, namesake of the award
SportBaseball
LeagueMajor League Baseball
Awarded forTop hitter in the American League and National League
Presented byMajor League Baseball
History
First award1999
Most recentAaron Judge (AL)
Shohei Ohtani (NL)

The Hank Aaron Award is given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players selected as the top hitter in each league, as voted on by baseball fans and members of the media. It was introduced in 1999 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Hank Aaron's surpassing of Babe Ruth's career home run mark of 714 home runs. The award was the first major award to be introduced by Major League Baseball in 19 years.

For the 1999 season, a winner was selected using an objective points system. Hits, home runs, and runs batted in (RBI) were given certain point values and the winner was the player who had the highest tabulated points total.[1][2]

In 2000, the system was changed to a ballot in which each MLB team's radio and television play-by-play broadcasters and color analysts voted for three players in each league. Their first-place vote receives five points, the second-place vote receives three points, and the third-place vote receives one point. Beginning in 2003, fans were allowed to vote via MLB's official website, MLB.com. Fans' votes account for 30% of the points, while broadcasters' and analysts' votes account for the other 70%.[1]

The award is handed out to the winners of both leagues before Game 4 of the World Series (mostly after Game 2 due to travel to a different venue) each year, with Aaron himself presenting the awards until the 2019 World Series and his death in 2021 (except 2018 when it is handed out in Game 3 and 2019 when it is handed out in Game 2). The first winners of the award were Manny Ramirez and Sammy Sosa in 1999, while the most recent winners are Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. Alex Rodriguez won the award four times, the most of any player.[1] Ohtani is the first player to win the award in both leagues. The winner with the most hits was Ronald Acuña Jr. in 2023, Barry Bonds in 2001 had the most home runs, and Manny Ramírez in 1999 had the most RBIs. Players from the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays have won the award five times, the most of any team.

Trophy

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The Hank Aaron Award has a maritaca granite base and an antique bat and banner combination on the top. It weighs 12 pounds (5.4 kg) and sits on a base of cherry wood.

Kris Bryant (far left) and David Ortiz (far right) pose with Hank Aaron (center left) and Rob Manfred (center right) after receiving the 2016 awards

Key

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Year Links to the corresponding Major League Baseball season
Player (X) Denotes winning player and number of times they had won the award at that point
HR Home runs
RBI Runs batted in
* Also named Most Valuable Player
Bold Bold denotes the player is in the Hall of Fame

Winners

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Alex Rodriguez won the award four times.
Barry Bonds won the award three times.
Albert Pujols won the award twice.
Shohei Ohtani is the only player to win in both leagues (with the Angels in 2023 and Dodgers in 2024)
Year League Player Team Hits HR RBI
1999 American Manny Ramirez Cleveland Indians 174 44 165
National Sammy Sosa Chicago Cubs 180 63 141
2000 American Carlos Delgado Toronto Blue Jays 196 41 137
National Todd Helton Colorado Rockies 216 42 147
2001 American Alex Rodriguez Texas Rangers 201 52 135
National Barry Bonds* San Francisco Giants 156 73 137
2002 American Alex Rodriguez (2) Texas Rangers 187 57 142
National Barry Bonds (2)* San Francisco Giants 149 46 110
2003 American Alex Rodriguez (3)* Texas Rangers 181 47 118
National Albert Pujols St. Louis Cardinals 212 43 124
2004 American Manny Ramirez (2) Boston Red Sox 175 43 130
National Barry Bonds (3)* San Francisco Giants 135 45 101
2005 American David Ortiz Boston Red Sox 180 47 148
National Andruw Jones Atlanta Braves 154 51 128
2006 American Derek Jeter New York Yankees 214 14 97
National Ryan Howard* Philadelphia Phillies 182 58 149
2007 American Alex Rodriguez (4)* New York Yankees 183 54 156
National Prince Fielder Milwaukee Brewers 165 50 119
2008 American Kevin Youkilis Boston Red Sox 168 29 115
National Aramis Ramírez Chicago Cubs 160 27 111
2009 American Derek Jeter (2) New York Yankees 212 18 66
National Albert Pujols (2)* St. Louis Cardinals 186 47 135
2010 American José Bautista Toronto Blue Jays 148 54 124
National Joey Votto* Cincinnati Reds 177 37 113
2011 American José Bautista (2) Toronto Blue Jays 155 43 103
National Matt Kemp Los Angeles Dodgers 195 39 126
2012 American Miguel Cabrera* Detroit Tigers 205 44 139
National Buster Posey* San Francisco Giants 178 24 103
2013 American Miguel Cabrera (2)* Detroit Tigers 193 44 137
National Paul Goldschmidt Arizona Diamondbacks 182 36 125
2014 American Mike Trout* Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 173 36 111
National Giancarlo Stanton Miami Marlins 155 37 105
2015 American Josh Donaldson* Toronto Blue Jays 184 41 123
National Bryce Harper* Washington Nationals 172 42 99
2016 American David Ortiz (2) Boston Red Sox 169 38 127
National Kris Bryant* Chicago Cubs 176 39 102
2017 American Jose Altuve* Houston Astros 204 24 81
National Giancarlo Stanton (2)* Miami Marlins 168 59 132
2018 American J. D. Martinez Boston Red Sox 188 43 130
National Christian Yelich* Milwaukee Brewers 187 36 110
2019 American Mike Trout (2)* Los Angeles Angels 137 45 104
National Christian Yelich (2) Milwaukee Brewers 161 44 97
2020 American José Abreu* Chicago White Sox 76 19 60
National Freddie Freeman* Atlanta Braves 73 13 53
2021 American Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Toronto Blue Jays 188 48 111
National Bryce Harper (2)* Philadelphia Phillies 151 35 84
2022 American Aaron Judge* New York Yankees 177 62 131
National Paul Goldschmidt (2)* St. Louis Cardinals 178 35 115
2023 American Shohei Ohtani* Los Angeles Angels 151 44 95
National Ronald Acuña Jr.* Atlanta Braves 217 41 106
2024 American Aaron Judge (2)* New York Yankees 180 58 144
National Shohei Ohtani (2)* Los Angeles Dodgers 197 54 130

Multiple-time winners

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15 players have won the award multiple times, with Alex Rodriguez (4 awards) and Barry Bonds (3 awards) being the only players to win more than twice. Shohei Ohtani is the only player to win in both the American and National League. David Ortiz won two awards 11 years apart (2005 and 2016), the largest gap of any player.

Player # of Awards Years
Alex Rodriguez 4 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007
Barry Bonds 3 2001, 2002, 2004
Manny Ramirez 2 1999, 2004
Albert Pujols 2003, 2009
David Ortiz 2005, 2016
Derek Jeter 2006, 2009
José Bautista 2010, 2011
Miguel Cabrera 2012, 2013
Paul Goldschmidt 2013, 2022
Giancarlo Stanton 2014, 2017
Mike Trout 2014, 2019
Bryce Harper 2015, 2021
Christian Yelich 2018, 2019
Aaron Judge 2022, 2024
Shohei Ohtani 2023, 2024

See also

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References

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General
  • "Hank Aaron Award". FineAwards.com. Archived from the original on 2016-11-20. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  • "Hank Aaron Award winners". Major League Baseball. Archived from the original on 2007-03-10. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
  • "Hank Aaron Award & Branch Rickey Award Winners". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2012-07-14. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
  • "Hank Aaron Award presentation". Major League Baseball. Archived from the original on 2009-02-05. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
Specific
  1. ^ a b c Sanchez, Jessie (2002-10-24). "A-Rod receives Hank Aaron Award". Major League Baseball. Archived from the original on 2012-11-02. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
  2. ^ "Phillies' Howard, Yankees' Jeter win Hank Aaron Award". ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. 2006-10-06. Archived from the original on 2013-11-04. Retrieved 2009-05-24.

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