Hank Aaron Award

Hank Aaron, after whom the award is named

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 given the opportunity 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 2004–2006 Hank Aaron Award was decided in three separate phases. In August fans voted at each Club's official Web site from among three players nominated by the respective Club. The leading vote getter from each Club became one of 30 finalists, from which a special Major League Baseball panel chose six finalists from each League. Online fan voting then determined the overall League winner.

In 2007–2008 five finalists in each league were determined in fan balloting on MLB.com, from 30 club nominees selected by a special panel assembled by Major League Baseball and MLB.com. Online fan votes decided the overall League winner.

For the 2009 Award fans selected both the finalists and the ultimate winners of the award. In September fans voted for one finalist out of three nominees from each MLB Club. Once those 30 finalists were selected, fans voted for one American League and one National League winner, from September 16–30.

The award is handed out to the winners of both leagues before game 4 of the World Series every year, with Aaron himself presenting the awards.

The first winners of the award were Manny Ramirez and Sammy Sosa in 1999, while the most recent winners are José Bautista and Matt Kemp. Alex Rodriguez has won the award four times, the most of any player. Barry Bonds has won the award three times, the second-most of any player. The winner with the most hits is Todd Helton, who won as a Colorado Rockie in 2000. The winner with the most home runs is Barry Bonds from 2001, and Manny Ramírez in 1999 has the most RBIs.^[1]

Key

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

Winners

Alex Rodriguez has won the award four times.

Barry Bonds won the award three times.

Kevin Youkilis

Year	League	Player	Team	Hits	HR	RBI
1999	American	Ramírez, MannyManny Ramírez	Cleveland Indians	174	44	165
1999	National	Sosa, SammySammy Sosa	Chicago Cubs	180	63	141
2000	American	Delgado, CarlosCarlos Delgado	Toronto Blue Jays	196	41	137
2000	National	Helton, ToddTodd Helton	Colorado Rockies	216	42	147
2001	American	Rodriguez, AlexAlex Rodriguez	Texas Rangers	201	52	135
2001	National	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds	San Francisco Giants	156	73	137
2002	American	Rodriguez, AlexAlex Rodriguez (2)	Texas Rangers	187	57	142
2002	National	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (2)	San Francisco Giants	149	46	110
2003	American	Rodriguez, AlexAlex Rodriguez (3)	Texas Rangers	181	47	118
2003	National	Pujols, AlbertAlbert Pujols	St. Louis Cardinals	212	43	124
2004	American	Ramírez, MannyManny Ramírez (2)	Boston Red Sox	175	43	130
2004	National	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (3)	San Francisco Giants	135	45	101
2005	American	Ortiz, DavidDavid Ortiz	Boston Red Sox	180	47	148
2005	National	Jones, AndruwAndruw Jones	Atlanta Braves	154	51	128
2006	American	Jeter, DerekDerek Jeter	New York Yankees	214	14	97
2006	National	Howard, RyanRyan Howard	Philadelphia Phillies	182	58	149
2007	American	Rodriguez, AlexAlex Rodriguez (4)	New York Yankees	183	54	156
2007	National	Fielder, PrincePrince Fielder	Milwaukee Brewers	165	50	119
2008	American	Youkilis, KevinKevin Youkilis	Boston Red Sox	168	29	115
2008	National	Ramirez, AramisAramis Ramirez	Chicago Cubs	160	27	111
2009	American	Jeter, DerekDerek Jeter (2)	New York Yankees	212	18	66
2009	National	Pujols, AlbertAlbert Pujols (2)	St. Louis Cardinals	186	47	135
2010	American	Bautista, JoséJosé Bautista	Toronto Blue Jays	148	54	124
2010	National	Votto, JoeyJoey Votto	Cincinnati Reds	177	37	113
2011	American	Bautista, JoséJosé Bautista (2)	Toronto Blue Jays	155	43	103
2011	National	Kemp, MattMatt Kemp	Los Angeles Dodgers	195	39	126

See also

• Silver Slugger Award: given to the best offensive player at each position.
• Edgar Martínez Award: given to the best designated hitter (DH) (American League).
• Major League Baseball Triple Crown
• This Year in Baseball Awards (including Hitter)
• Baseball awards
• List of Major League Baseball awards
• Ted Williams Museum and Hitters Hall of Fame (including "500 Homerun Club" exhibit)

References

General

• "Hank Aaron Award winners". Major League Baseball. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/awards/mlb_awards_content.jsp?content=hank_aaron_history. Retrieved 2009-05-24. 
• "Hank Aaron Award & Branch Rickey Award Winners". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/hank_rickey.shtml. Retrieved 2009-05-24. 
• "Hank Aaron Award presentation". Major League Baseball. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20041027&content_id=906724&vkey=ds2004news&fext=.jsp&c_id=null. Retrieved 2009-05-24. 

Specific

1. ^ ^{a b c} Sanchez, Jessie (2002-10-24). "A-Rod receives Hank Aaron Award". Major League Baseball. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20021024&content_id=164207&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=null. Retrieved 2009-05-24. 
2. ^ "Phillies' Howard, Yankees' Jeter win Hank Aaron Award". ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. 2006-10-06. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2638776. Retrieved 2009-05-24. 

External links